Vive le Carnaval de Nice

When most Americans hear the term Mardi Gras, they think of the wild partying that goes on in New Orleans on the day before Ash Wednesday. However, Mardi Gras is part of a season of partying that takes place in the Crescent City, and it’s just as popular in other parts of the world. The festival dates back to the thirteenth century in Nice, France, which is considered one of the first cities to hold the event.

If you’re looking for a fun winter getaway in a mild climate, Carnaval season is an excellent time to visit the South of France. It usually runs from late February to early March, when temperatures are in the upper 50s to low 60s, and the sun is generally shining. While the price of lodging is higher than the rest of winter, it’s still cheaper than the summer months. In addition, flights are much cheaper, and other than Carnaval events, crowds are significantly thinner. While the temperature is not quite high enough for sunbathing, it’s still nice enough to enjoy a stroll or a bike ride on the Promendae des Anglais, the pedestrian area that runs along the sea. You can also relax with a picnic on the beach or a drink at one of the beachfront cafés.

Performers at the Bataille de Fleurs

The Carnaval experience

Carnaval is fun for both adults and kids. The festival starts off with opening ceremonies on a Friday night at Place Masséna, one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. People come from miles around to enjoy the circus performers, music, dancing, fireworks and super-charged atmosphere. Throughout Carnaval, visitors can attend daily events until the closing ceremony, including the nighttime parades called the Carnavalesque Illuminés or the daytime Batailles de Fleurs, which are best described as a scaled-back version of the American Rose Parade.

Carnaval traditions
While Carnaval in Nice and Mardi Gras in New Orleans are held for the same reasons, the traditions are a bit different. 

Mardi Gras mask

• You won’t find women exposing themselves for beads in Nice, but everyone in the crowd will try to catch the flowers thrown from the floats during the Bataille de Fleurs.
• On Mardi Gras, New Orleanians enjoy king cake, but in France, this treat is served on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany. Pancakes are common for dinner in both cities, but in Nice, where they are known as crêpes, they are flat and stuffed with meat and vegetables. Dessert crêpes are sweet and covered with a variety of toppings, including fruit, jelly, Nutella or powdered sugar. Fried dough, similar to the beignets found in New Orleans are another Mardi Gras treat sold in all the bakeries in Nice.
• Whether you are in new Orleans, Nice or any other city that celebrates Mardi Gras season, you will find the famous Mardi Gras masks and fun-loving people dressed in crazy costumes.
• In addition to throwing confetti, spraying silly string at other Carnaval-goers is a popular tradition in Nice. Since there are vendors selling cans on almost every corner, it’s easy to join in the fun.

More interesting Carnaval facts

• At least 75 percent of the plants and flowers that cover the floats that participate in the daily Bataille de Fleurs parades in Nice are grown in the region. The floats cover the parade route several times until the people aboard them have tossed all of the flowers to the crowd.
• Most of the parade participants are circus and carnival performers who come from other parts of Europe and the rest of the world.
• Carnaval attracts more than a million visitors every year.
• Many neighborhoods throughout the city throw their own traditional celebrations throughout Carnaval season. Schedules are available throughout the city.

Bataille de Fleurs, Villefranche

If you're going to Carnaval, you can also enjoy some nearby festivals that take place at the same time:

• The Lemon Festival, which celebrates the special lemons grown in the area, takes place in Menton, a lovely city about 30 minutes from Nice by train. 
• Villefranche sur Mer, a stunning seaside village five minutes by train from  Nice, has a one-day Bataile de Fleurs that takes pace on the waterfront. Ask for the date at the tourist office. 

Ready to go?
Carnaval season ends this year on March 6, but it takes place every year, so you can start panning for next year. The Nice Convention and Visitors Bureau has produced a website with plenty of information on this year’s Carnaval, and it should be updated for 2014 in a few months.

If you're looking for lodging, be sure to read my previous post on renting an apartment.

Get Your Art on in Baltimore

If you’ve never been to Baltimore, your impression of the city has probably been formed by the television shows Homicide and The Wire, two gritty series about drugs, murder and corruption. After living downtown for 16 years, I can tell you that everything you see is accurate–broken families, failing schools, political corruption, gang violence, teen pregnancy, STDs and substance abuse. We’re known to many as the City that Breeds, the City that Bleeds and a few other titles that are nothing to be proud of.

John Waters has made Baltimore
famous for its quirky characters.

But there’s a lot more to Baltimore than you see on TV. There’s also the Baltimore of John Waters, creator of the hit Hairspray and several other quirky films that accurately portray the many lovable, offbeat characters with big hair and strange accents who have earned us the name Charm City.   

Art Lives Here

If you scratch off the grimy reputation, you’ll discover that Baltimore is a cultural gem. The city is filled with so many museums and other sites that feature world-class art, music, literature, history and theatre that you’ll never have time to see it all if you visit. In fact, after all these years, I still haven’t.

This weekend, Baltimore showed off its finer side by putting on Artscape, the largest free arts festival in the US. For three days every year, visitors from across town and across the country try to take in as much of Artscape as they can cover. The festival features every form of art you could think of and then some. The most popular attractions are the hundreds of booths filled with unique treasures created by local artists and at least five stages that offer music of every genre. This year’s national acts included Brian McKnight, Clutch and Rebirth Brass Band. Artscape also offers visitors the opportunity to find out about what’s new at local museums, pick up giveaways from national sponsors, enjoy street performers and take in short features by local filmmakers.

A walk down Charles Street is a surreal experience during Artscape. 

Welcome to Wonderland

Artscape’s borders have expanded to include Charles Street, which was converted into a fantasy land. In strolling the few blocks, I felt like I was living Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. I passed three stages, one of which was made of pallets; a knitted port-a-potty; a houseboat topped by a guy wrapped in a snake and a band; a rock opera performed by a cast of medieval punks; a turkey breast children’s ride; an enormous crash-test dummy; a large drawing of John Waters’ head, an art car exhibit and a fashion show. My favorite was a human exhibit that I think was supposed to be an artful interpretation of some down and out folks.

The most impressive part of the festival was that it brings together people of just about every race and economic class, and everybody gets along. Funny thing about art. It always seems to melt away the differences among people, yet it’s the first thing that gets cut when budgets are tight. Perhaps if we started replacing guns with guitars, our streets wouldn’t be littered with bullets and drug paraphernalia.

Dance more, sing more, make art more, Baltimore.

Check out more of my photos from Artscape.