Vitebsk, nonetheless, meant only boredom for a person like Chagall. All of Russia could not offer him enough. In May 1911 he journeyed to Paris, where he took up painting like one possessed. He returned to Vitebsk in 1914 and married a childhood friend, Bella. After World War I and several years of Communist rule, Chagall was certain that he would turn his back on this part of Europe for good. Travelling via Berlin, he went again to Paris, now with his wife and daughter. France became his second home, which he left only when World War II forced him to take refuge in America. There, his wife died suddenly in 1944. Chagall returned to France when the war was over. He married Vava, who proved to be an equally inspiring wife. In Nice, the French government built the Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, a museum dedicated to Chagall. He died not far from it, in his place of residence Saint-Paul-de-Vence in 1985.