alpha.b Activities: Afternoon Excursions

Although when you think of alpha.b you might primarily think of high-quality French lessons, we also offer a comprehensive activities programme that you can participate in after lessons, should you wish.

The activities are organised and run by our French native-speaking activities leaders, so you can continue to practise your French outside of the classroom.

The activities are also a great opportunity to spend more time with the international friends that you will make at alpha.b whilst experiencing some of the local culture and must-see aspects of Nice and the surrounding Côte d’Azur area.

One of the Nice-based activities that we offer is the afternoon visit to the Musée MAMAC – the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art that was built in 1990. The museum is located right next to ‘Place Garibaldi’ – a lively square which is filled with lots of bars, cafés and restaurants.

The museum itself has 4 floors and its first floor is often home to various temporary expositions. This time, the exposition was based around the theme of nature and the works of art were inspired by the elements: air, water, earth, fire and wind. Some of the work in this exposition was extraordinary, in particular, there was a set of paintings that were actually created using the force of a volcano! It was wonderful to view each of the artist’s individual take on the central theme.

We then moved on to the museum’s permanent collections, which features many pieces of ‘pop art’, where you can view a diverse and large selection of artists. I really appreciated the vast variety of mediums on display in the collections. Whether it was sculpture, computer graphics or painting, this made the visit both interesting and captivating. From small, intricate canvases… turn the corner, and you’ll see a life-sized car sculpture!

However, don’t miss the 4^th floor terrace which is an essential part of the visit. The top floor is, in fact, an outdoor terrace that offers an outstanding 360° panoramic view of beautiful Nice, including the mountains, the old town and the sea.

Following our museum trip, we walked to the near-by Confiserie Florian. Located next to Nice’s old port, the Confiserie was opened in 1974 after their other location had received the “Coupe d’Or du Bon Goût Français”/ “Gold Cup of French Good Taste” prize in 1972. This sweet-manufacturing company is a family-run business renowned in the area for making: jams, candied fruit, chocolate, crystallised flowers, teas, sweets, caramels…The candied fruit and crystallised flowers are specialities of the South of France region and Confiserie Florian takes the best local produce to then transform them into delectable confectionary products.

Today, you are able to see them hard at work as you take part in the guided tour of this small factory. You will finish up in the gift shop where you can sample the produce for free and see (or taste!) the quality for yourself! It really is the perfect place to pick up a unique and delicious souvenir for friends or family (I would personally recommend the violet jam – a surprisingly tasty flavour).

Unfortunately, the pictures in this article do not do the works of art, scenery or treats any justice what-so-ever! Therefore, why not sign up for a French language course at alpha.b – our language school in the heart of Nice on the French Riviera, to see/taste them yourself!

If you would like to find out more about the activities programme that we offer at alpha.b, visit our website: https://www.alpha-b.fr/en/activites-at-alpha-b/