In the painters of light's footsteps

In the footsteps of the artists of Provencal Venice

Martigues

By coach – day trip – approximately 100 km (free highway: A55 + A7)

Morning: arrival at the hotel in Aix en Provence.

Free time for lunch

Afternoon (2 pm): departure for Martigues by coach. The charming fishing harbour offered great inspiration to the 19th century landscape painters, with the luminosity and soft colours Olive, Casile, Pellegrin, Decanis, Garibaldi, Allegre and the vanguardists such as Dufy and Picabia.

Option: possibility of visiting the Ziem museum. Ziem remains the reference, his work has anticipated the impressionist’s’ styles and recalls Monet’s’ Art.

Back to the hotel of Aix en Provence for dinner – free evening.

Impressionism in Provence

Marseilles – L’Estaque

By coach – day trip – approximately 80 km (free highway: A51)

Morning: after breakfast, departure for Marseilles and a guided visit of the “Vieux Port”, the bay, the “Panier quarter” and Goudes.

Possibility of visiting the Art museum and its 19th century Gallery showing the local Provencal landscape painters (Monticelli, Guigou, Olive) or the Cantini museum with works from Marquet, Lombard, Dufy, Camoin, Derain, Matisse, Picasso, Chagall or either the Grobet Labadie museum with the landscapes of Guigou, Loubon, Ziem…

Lunch in one of the restaurants of the “Vieux Port”.

Afternoon: after the meal, departure for “l’Estaque”, a small popular picturesque harbour. Impressionism, fauvism and cubism are three painting adjectives linked with the name “l’Estaque”, which are the bases of modern painting.

Back to Aix-en-Provence, free time for dinner and a visit of the town by night.

Van Gogh's influence

in Arles

By coach – day trip – approximately 180 km (free highway: A7+A54)

Morning: after breakfast, departure for Arles, international renowned town thanks to Vincent Van Gogh, who lived there. There are numerous sites to visit, the Roman arenas, the Trinquetaille Bridge painted in 1888 by the artist.

Free lunch

Afternoon: to complete the liaison of Arles and its painters, visit to the Reattu museum (Picasso drawings, modern and contemporary art) and to the Van Gogh foundation.

Dinner in Arles.

Back to Aix-en-Provence.

In the footsteps of Cézanne

Aix-en-Provence

Mixed circuit (walking / coach) – day trip

Morning: A 2 hours trip on foot accompanied by a guide-lecturer will allow you to discover the principal steps in Cezanne’s life, where he was born, lived, researched and died. Paul Cezanne is buried in the Saint Pierre cemetery in Aix.

Lunch in a down- town restaurant.

Afternoon: guided tour around the Sainte Victoire Mountain (40 km), will allow you to perfect your knowledge of Cezanne’s works (Chateau noir, le Tholonet) or visit of The Granet Museum and Chapel of penitent white ( Collection Jean Planque).

Free time for dinner

Source of inspiration of Van Gogh

Saint-Remy de Provence / Les Baux de Provence

By coach – day trip – approximately 200 km

Morning: departure for St Remy de Provence where Van Gogh lived in the St Paul de Mausole Asylum. During his period of madness he painted “les Iris”, “l’hôpital St Paul”. The “Antiques”, the roman vestiges from Glanum and the environment inspired the artist.

Lunch in St Remy.

Afternoon: visit of the Estrine hotel, manor house from 18th century, which now stores the “centre d’art presence Van Gogh-art contemporain” and departure for the Baux de Provence driving through landscapes that inspired the artists, olive fields and the hilly countryside.

Option: Possibilities of including a visit of the monumental “Carrières de Lumières” which host extraordinary multimedia shows about painters of the Mediterranean which are unique in the world.