Giant white rabbits and an invisible man clad in a lolly-pink suit were the last things I expected to see when wandering around downtown St Louis, in the USA’s state of Missouri.
I had stumbled upon Citygarden, two blocks of lush parkland set amongst office towers featuring 24 sculptures by internationally renowned artists, including Tom Claassen, Igor Mitoraj and Kan Yasuda.
The sculptures are thoughtfully dotted around a tranquil space filled with native Missouri trees, exotics, evergreen hedges, wildflowers and water features.
The big kid in me was drawn to the sculpture of Pinocchio by Jim Dine, while my former art student side appreciated the head titled “Eros Bandato” by Igor Mitoraj. His work also appears at the main entrance to the British Museum in London.
Aware that sculptures are tactile creations that we are drawn to touch and feel – I never see a public sculpture without a kid climbing on it – the Gateway Foundation, which funded the Citygarden project, avoids “do not touch” signs.
Just a few blocks from St Louis’ famous Gateway Arch, the US $30 million Citygarden even features a lawn-covered mound for children to roll down.
The three-acre garden was designed to ensure that those with disabilities will find it easy to navigate. Citygarden is open all-year round, with the look of the garden evolving with the changing seasons.
Apart from brushing up on my atrocious school-girl French, there were many reasons why I hired an apartment one street back in the famous seaside resort of Nice in the south of France. Setting aside Nice’s azure-coloured seas on the appropriately named Côte d’Azur, its balmy spring and summer nights, and the fact that the area’s golden light lured most of the 20th century’s most famous artists, here’s six more reasons to visit.
1. Its laid-back Italian style of architecture
If you were suddenly transported into Nice’s old town (Vieille Ville), you might be fooled into thinking you had landed in Italy. That’s because Nice belonged to Italy until the 1860 Treaty of Turin when, after 150 years of brawls between France and Italy’s royal House of Savoy, it was annexed by France. But you know you are in France when you spot the typical Provençal blue shutters on buildings or wander into one of the many patisseries seeking a pastry fix.
The narrow laneways and Italian-style buildings of old Nice.
2. Its fantastic markets
Nice’s most famous market street lies a street back from the beach-side promenade on the Cours Saleya. Filled with goodies ranging from vintage jewellery, antiques and retro junk, to soaps, spices, flowers, and food, it attracts bargain hunters.
3. Fabulous day trips
The star-studded towns of Cannes, Antibes, Menton, the municipality of Monaco and the delightful hill villages of Eze, St Paul de Vence and are all within an easy train or bus ride of Nice.
During its annual international film festival in June, I hopped onto a train from Nice and went star-spotting in Cannes (a 40 minutes train ride away). While I only identified only a C-grade celebrity and snapped a producer stretching on his hotel balcony above his film banner, you might have better luck.
About to hit the red carpet at the annual Cannes film festival.
Rub shoulders with the very rich and mega-rich in the quaint super-yacht village of Antibes (xx train ride from Nice) or Monaco (a 1-hour trip). Alternatively, rev-heads can enjoy Monaco’s Grand Prix – or try pretending you are James Bond at the casino, with your just-released Lamborghini parked outside.
4. Galleries featuring world-famous artists
Being based in Nice means an easy half-day or day trip to fabulous art galleries. Ones I visited included the Musee Picasso in Antibes, Musee Renoir in Cagnes sur Mer, Musee Jean Cocteau in Menton, Musee Matisse in Nice and of course, the renowned Fondation Maeght near the hill town of St Paul de Vence. Fabulous!
5. Fabulous food
Old Nice is all about outdoor dining in the narrow laneways of the old town. From pizza and pasta through to steak tartare (designed, I am sure, for patrons’ drooling canine friends), seafood, and more traditional fare, you can find it here. And Old Nice has gelaterias galore serving ice-cream to suit all taste buds, no matter how unusual. Beer gelato, anyone?
At night the Cours Saleya turns into a dining precinct.
6. Amazing sunsets
Instagram-ready sunsets, anyone? Sunset-lovers make their way up the esplanade towards the huge red white and blue #ILoveNice sign on the headland to watch the sun set over the town. My month-long stay featured many fabulous sunsets and skies, included many pink and mauve sunsets.
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