So I went on a bus route which took me along the Promenade des Anglais. Got off and wandered around for a bit, appreciated all the flowers (it's been a long time since Spring, for me).
Also, went down to the beach and watched and listened to the waves for a bit. Oh, the sea... I didn't appreciate it like I should have when I was right beside it in NZ!
Then I went on the tram... because I could. Stopped for lunch in a Chinese resto.
Got back on the tram and took it right to the end, and saw there was a hill nearby. I'm always keen to go somewhere I can get a good view over a city, so the next logical step was to get a bus up the hill. At the bus-stop, I met several nice people who could see from the way I was studying the map that I didn't know where I was going, and offered to help me. One lady was especially nice, and told me about how there was a Matisse museum on one of the bus routes, and it was free entry. Sold.
How Mediterranean-looking is this museum?
And, all that facade is a trompe l'oeil (ie it's painted on). Spent quite some time in the museum. It was interesting to have a museum dedicated to one artist, as it allowed all the works to really be organised to show how he had progressed throughout time. And there were some really awesome photos that were not taken by Matisse, but by a photographer who knew and had taken pictures of him.
Next to the museum was a nice park, which also backed onto these ruins for which I, unfortunately, have no historical info. Except for what Wikipedia can tell me: that one can find 'an arena, amphitheatre, thermal baths, and paleochristian basilica,' and that the Nice Jazz Festival is held in the ruins each July.
There was also some kind of archaeological museum next door, but I was museumed out by this stage, and decided to go to the Cimiez monastery instead. Destination 360 informs me that this monastery was founded by Franciscan monks in the 9th century, the garden was planted in the 1500s, but revamped in the 1920s!
I'm going to admit it now: I absolutely cannot remember what it was like inside. Too many religious buildings in a short time and I generally don't take photos inside. I remember that some of the staff were moving scaffolding and the like around, and making quite a lot of noise (for a religious building, anyway).
In fact, I spent more time in the gardens next to the monastery than in the building itself. Also had a look through the old cemetery beside it.
By this stage, it was time to wander back down the hill, get back into town, and have some food.
After dinner and a rest, I felt like I could still make better use of my transport pass. So I caught the tram in the other direction, and then got a bus back into town. Then I caught another bus going who-knows-where, with a young driver who seemed to have aspirations of racing in Monaco... Pity it was getting dark by this stage as, I think, this route would have had spectactular views over the city if I'd done it a bit earlier!
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