Day 32 - Nov. 14 - Visiting Biot and Renoir

Walking in Biot. Ron on left with computer - in search of  WI-FI

After breakfast of bacon and eggs, which where quite unidentifiable after cooking on the induction range, we set off for Biot, a few miles from St. Paul. It is famous for glass-making, and Jean-Claude Novaro, the artist who created several of the glass bottles in my collection, lives and works here. I wanted to see his gallery. We parked in a lot and walked up a steep hill to the village center, which was supposed to be a pedestrian zone. (However, cars and motorcycles kept driving by creating hazardous conditions!)

In front of pottery/ceramic museum in Biot

We walked several blocks and located the gallery - only to find it closed, despite all literature saying it would be open. This is a big problem not having the Internet freely available - can't check on the latest status of anything. I later inquired in the small tourist office, and learned Novaro no longer has a gallery there. To view his work you must visit La Gallerie International du Verre in the Verrerie du Biot (the glassworks established in 1956), which we may do another day.

We wandered into a courtyard and asked at a cute pub, Cafe Brun, if they had Wi-Fi. The fellow said they didn't, but that many customers seems to be able to "catch" a connection which required no password. We ordered a drink, and Ron told the owner we would stay to have lunch IF we could get on-line. We were able to, and we both ordered a chicken breast in a creamy mushroom sauce. We then shared a creme brulee. The pub was cozy with a fire place. As we sat, rain began coming down - even though no rain was predicted until Monday. The owner was friendly and spoke good English. I asked him if he knew Jean Claude Novaro, and he said he visited the pub every evening at 6 PM. He offered to call him if we were interested in making a purchase, but Ron told him we are at the age where we are no longer buying "dust collectors" (although I do think the bottles are beautiful)!

Biot was originally known for pottery until Eloi and Lucette Monod opened the glassworks, and created a successful commercial enterprise specializing in "bubble-flecked" glass. Many artists came to Biot to learn the techniques, and Novarro studied and worked under Monod.

Biot is also the home of th Fernand-Leger museum - another cultural sight we managed to "skip". You could visit two or three museums every day here, and still not see them all in a month or more.

The weather was still unpleasant, so we decided to go to CAP 3000, a big indoor shopping mall (with over 100 shops and Galleries Lafayette Department Store) to browse and visit the gourmet grocery the owner of the house had told us about. The center was huge, and every person in the area must have had the same idea we did. There were no parking spots to be found, and people were parked illegally everywhere making driving up and down the narrow rows very stressful. After making two circuits of the enormous car parks, we decided we didn't need anything bad enough to brave the crowds and impossible parking situation. I later read there are 3,500 parking spaces - that afternoon each and every one of them was taken!

Ron at Renoir's estate

I thought the Renoir Museum in Collettes just outside Cagnes-sur-Mer would be open. Everything has irregular hours this time of year, and most of our brochures were out-of-date. We went there, and for a change, luck was with us, and it was open. Renoir designed the home in 1907, and lived there the last 12-years of his life, and it has been preserved as it was, including his studios. However, a renovation in 2013 apparently took away much of the furnishings and left a rather sterile feeling. There were videos of him painting in later years when his rheumatism was so painful and crippling that he had to have brushes tied to his hands. He had moved away from Impressionism quite a bit earlier, and his later works are not much in vogue with art critics and historians. The grounds of his estate were beautiful with citrus and olive trees throughout, and views to the Mediterranean. He also built a separate building where he tried his hand at sculpture.

In Renoir's large atelier

After visiting the house, where there are several of his paintings and sculptures displayed, we walked in the gardens.

Mary under magnificent tree

The workshop that was used for sculpture and we think his son's ceramics

Leaving Renoir, I suggested we stop at a place we had passed not far from our "home", Hotel Domaine Cocagne, as I read the bistrot should be open and had WI-FI. (Since our French is atrocious, we pronounce it "Domaine Cocaine".) It was up yet another terrible road, wide enough for only one car in many places, sharp turns with mirrors posted to help see oncoming traffic. There was a pleasant fire in the bar/lounge area, and we settled into comfortable chairs and spent an hour or so on the Internet. The bartender was Dutch, so spoke excellent English, and was very friendly. Ron made a reservation for us to have breakfast there the next morning. The Domaine is a 4-star hotel, which is under new ownership (less than two years), and the owners are working to bring it up to the standards expected in a 4-star establishment. The place was originally a camping ground, and slowly, the previous owners had purchased buildings in the immediate area to convert to hotel rooms and suites.

Leaving there in the dark, the drive home was slightly easier since Ron could see headlights approaching on the many blind curves. I would need a bottle of wine and a major tranquilizer (and maybe a blindfold) to ever relax on these streets. I get so nervous my feet become cramped from the tension!

We got home before 7 PM - but called it a night. The rain came down heavily during the night, and when we awoke around 5 AM, we could hear a noise - which turned out to be a leak in the bedroom ceiling! Ron placed a bowl and towel beneath it, and used the owner's phone in the downstairs apartment to report it to him, leaving a message on the answering machine. He later e-mailed where we could locate a bucket to put beneath.