Castle Hill and Modern Art

Bon jour, mes amies,

I ended up doing a lot of climbing today of stairs and paths.  I went down a lot as well.
I began my day with a stroll along the sparkling Mediterranean.  I'm thinking I might begin every day that way.  This time I took the opposite direction from my walk yesterday.  I was headed toward the hill where the Greeks founded Nikaia, their City of Victory.  The hill is a great strategic location over looking a natural harbor and the sea lanes passing by.  Eventually the Romans took over, and the city became part of their Trans Alps Provence.
The hill was once the site of the Medieval city and held a fortress as well as the city's Romanesque Cathedral.  All is in ruins now except for the Tour Bellenda (Louis XIV took a very dim view of anyone but himself holding military power, so he had the castle razed.), but the top of the hill holds a lovely park, some interesting ruins, and snack bars.  It is possible to climb up.  I did not.  I took the free elevator up, but I did walk down.
Then having armed myself with a bus/tram pass that I got at the airport bus station, I went to catch the tram. I like trams!  They are not busses.  My goal was the Musee d'Arte Modern et de Contemporain.  I don't like all Modern Art, but truth to tell I don't like all the art from any period.  Nevertheless, I have been pleasantly surprised by Modern and Contemporary works.  Even if you don't care, the building is interesting and the views out the windows are spectacular!  You can also get even more fun views from the roof terrace.  I used my museum pass, which has now officially paid for itself, and I still have five days left on it.
The collection is solid.  I especially enjoy Nikki de St. Phalle.  She lived in the city and gave Nice some of her works.  The exhibit of Yves Klein was good although some of my fellow visitors seemed fed up with so much blue. Rauschenberg and Christo are also represented.
I still had some gumption left so I decided to walk home.  My way took me through a series of lively parks.  The afternoon was perfect, and a lot of folks enjoyed the outdoors.  Many had their dogs with them.
I'm still jet lagged, but I am hoping all this exercise will help.
Food and drink would help, too, Pil.
Ok. I'll start with a disc of Rocamador and some rose.  By the way, I'm not having this on fancy bread.  I got some whole wheat at the grocery store, and I like to toast it.  It's good! You can probably find yucky, empty calorie bread in Europe, but you'd have to look hard.  Plenty of processed junk in the grocery stores though.  Reminds me of home.
Dinner will be ravioli filled with goat cheese and herbs and dressed with Provencal olive oil and garlic accompanied by Provencal rose.  Look for food clearly labeled that does not have palm oil or hydrogenated oil.  Both are bad for you and the environment.  Europeans are also keen on avoiding GMOs.  I don't care as much, but oh boy do I love olive oil.  Demand is outpacing supply at the moment.  It may be expensive, but I think the taste and health benefits are worth it.
And dessert.  In this case it's a piece of that whole wheat bread spread with raw milk burre (i.e. butter) demi sel (lightly salted) churned rather than centrifuged or whatever they do with cream these days.  I tasted it by itself.  This is a supermarket brand. Nevertheless it's divine.  On top we find thick spreading of lavender honey.
Slaver.  Drool.
I will taste on your behalf.  Oh My God.  It is almost like a religious experience.  I think it's the underlying saltiness with the floral scent and taste on top.  It's very rich, and I expect best taken in small doses because of sugar and saturated fat--both of which I love passionately.
 A demain