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Museums

The French Riviera was sought after by artists because of the fantastic light and beautiful landscapes.

Overview of Some Museums On the French Riviera

Apparently Nice has the second largest number of museums in France after Paris. We have not visited most of them but many of our clients have and they really enjoy them. Here is a selection of some of them. In Villefranche we have a lovely museum of our most famous artist, the sculptor Volti (after which one of the streets in the Old Town is named). He is famous around the world and the museum in Villefranche’s citadelle is definitely worth visiting.

Nice

  • Chagall museum. This is a small museum dedicated exclusively to Chagall’s works, primarily his paintings of the Old Testament. It is excellent and will take an hour or so to visit.
  • Matisse museum. This is a larger museum in a lovely setting in an olive grove park and next to Nice’s Roman ruins. It does not have a lot of his work but it does have some and is also worth visiting. You can visit Matisee and Chagall in the same day as they are within walking distance of each other in the residential neighborhood of Cimiez. They have a snack kind of place for lunch in the garden or just up the Blvd. of Cimiez is a lovely little neighborhood restaurant called Cote Sud in between the museums. +33 (0)4 93 01 36 40.
  • Museum of Arte Contemporaine MAMAC. This is Nice’s contemporary art museum located in downtown Nice, just outside the Old Town and next to the wonderful park called the Promenade du Paillon. It is hard to believe, but we have never been to this museum, but our guests have and they like it. The Promenade du Paillon is wonderful to walk through and worth a visit.
  • Museum of Beaux Arts. This lovely museum located on the Promenade in an elegant mansion features beautiful paintings and sculptures from the 15th to 20th centuries. This is an easy museum to visit when exploring Nice as you can have a pleasant walk along the Promenade des Anglais, enjoy an hour or so visit, and then tuck in behind the museum to the side streets and have a wonderful lunch. There are many great restaurants in the area but one we can recommend is Le Canon +33 (0)4 93 79 09 24, 23 Rue Meyerbeer.
  • Museum of Art Naif. This museum is set up in Chateau Helene, the previous home of the perfume maker Francois Coty. The home is surrounded by a park with rare species of essences. It has an impressive collection of art Naif. It is located in the Fabron neighborhood of Nice, just up from the Promenade des Anglais but quite a ways down the Prom towards the airport.
  • Museum of Asiatic Arts. This museum is near the airport and the Parc Phoenix which is a lovely botanical garden. It has an impressive collection of Asiatic arts.

Antibes

This Picasso museum in Antibes is one of two Picasso museums in the area, the other being in Vallauris, the village where Picasso did his pottery work while working with local artisans of the village.

Vallauris

While visiting the Picasso museum in Vallauris, you can also enjoy visiting the many beautiful pottery shops. Vallauris was and is still renown for its pottery.