Our plan today was to visit the Palis Lascaris, which was a 17th century palace build by the
order of St. John. We know these guys from our stay in Malta where we learned that they were the hospitallers. The were in on the crusades and as hospitallers one of their core missions was tending to the sick and injured. After the first crusade, from Jerusalem they moved to Rhodes and stayed there for 200 years before being driven out by the Ottoman Turks. At that point they were ceded the Island of Malta. Here they fortified the island and built up their naval presence. These efforts were instrumental in stopping the advancement of the Ottoman Turks a few decades later. They continued in Malta until Napoleon forced them out, then off to Russia until the Russian revolution, then Yugoslavia and finally they settled in the US in 1912. They still exist as a sovereign order and have returned to their roots of helping the sick and poor. One of the most influential Grandmasters of the order built this palace in 1648 and it was occupied by his family until the French revolution. It was purchased by the city of Nice in 1942, restored and is now a museum. It houses over 500 ancient musical instruments making it the second largest collection of instruments in France
WE walked over and saw signs that AirBnbs must be close
We wanted to get better pictures of the giant octopus in the park
But they were removing it and kept this area of the park closed off
Perhaps it is even more interesting to watch the removal
Nice and Messina
100 years!
Passing the Jamon
I bought some of this to try
This little guy was waiting for Mom to get her coffee
Down the stairs
Past the cathedral
Several Saints are watching
Most ornate
WW1 memorial
Life sized wacky sculpture
Here we are
A double headed eagle with the coat of arms
A very cool art piece, "The Harvest of Years"
The entryway is most grand
Every square inch is decorated in the Genoese baroque style
The story of the Knights of St John is told frpm a geopolitical point of viewo
Here we see Nice when it was part of Savoy
Carry me on your shoulders
Old time Nice
A ship's figurehead
Important medals
Malta!
A chest and a painting of the fortifications in Malta
Raise a glass
Passing the ladder again, this time from the second floor
The Kit is a three or four stringed violin, very popular in the 1600's and 1700's. Even Stradivarius built a series of kits
The name kit probably comes from kitten and the mistaken belief that violins were strung with cat gut
The kit sounds a fourth, fifth or an octave above the normal violin
It is hard to get the scale but this kit is about 8 t 10 inches long
On to the harps
Delightfully displayed
This could be part of a building
A picture book and a cabinet
Dressed to the T's
Full sized violins
A walking stick and a violin!
Big lutes and little lutes
Fantastic workmanship
These 16 strings all belong to one instrument
It looks like they ran out of room for more strings
The mother of pearl inlay was something else
This looks like rosettes of ivory
Several pianos were on display
A mandolira
A harp lute
A lyre shaped mandolin
A hurdy gerdy! This is a hand cranked string instrument where the crank makes a wheel spin that rubs against the strings
So many very beautiful instruments
Painted ceilings
Now the pianos and the predecessors of the piano
Built to fit in a corner?
In the chapel
Some smiting still to be done
Relics up on the altar
One fantastic ceiling
The building next door
Gilded to the max
Another fine ceiling
It is good to be the Grandmaster
Elegant bedding
A harpsicord restorer made this harpsicord on his won using old wood and old hardware
Lovely area where the strings are
Even the feet are special
Octopus are very curious
The sign on a cafe
A very colorful street topper
Flowers, umbrellas and more
A fine pub
An even better logo
A section of the street housed architectural salvage. Sphinxes in this case
A large eagle banner
Lunch with the horses
A bottle of red for Lou and I
A half bottle of rose for Leslie
The classic Nicoise salad
A selection of veggies in a salad
The beef stew
A chocolate cake dessert
Mr. Mouse
Teh minimalist stairs
The cat knows
