Painters Route: Throught the south of France

Welcome to your Europamundo Trip Style tour!


We will leave NICE around 8.30 in the morning. Between hills we will visit SAINT PAUL DE VENCE, people like Signac, Dufy, Matisse, Picasso, Braque or Modigliani frequented this typical village of the French Midi. A regular meeting point was the hostel run by art aficionado Paul Roux "La Colombe d´or" where artists often paid with their works, which makes it today an emblematic hotel-restaurant which walls are a real museum. With our guide we will walk through the narrow streets of the village, and we can visit the grave of Marc Chagall in the local cemetery.


In VENCE we visit the Chapel of the Rosary (entrance included), headquarters of the Dominican Sisters where Jacques Marie (Monique Bourgeois), nurse and assistant of Matisse in the 1940s, did not hesitate to ask the painter for advice to decorate its interior and make the stained glass. Matisse, already very old and frail, threw himself for four years into his last major project that he considered his masterpiece.


After this exciting visit, we will go to CAGNES SUR MER, the sanctuary of one of the fathers of impressionism, Renoir. In search of mild winters, Renoir, as an already established artist, settled in this town in 1903. We include the entrance to the Renoir Museum, in the villa of the Domaine des Colletes where he would reside until his death in 1919. This villa-museum is the best way to immerse yourself in the creative universe of the painter thanks to his collection, but also to the intimate spaces: the workshop, the kitchen, the bathroom and the beautiful garden in which he so often installed his easel.


Next, we will go to the nearby city of ANTIBES, a lively tourist center by the sea where we will take the opportunity to walk and have lunch. In a castle that belonged to the Grimaldi family from the fourteenth century to the French Revolution, is the Picasso Museum (entrance included). When the artist visited the castle in 1945, admired for its terraces overlooking the sea, he did not hesitate to accept the offer of the curator of the museum to install a workshop in the castle itself. "I´m not just going to paint for myself here, I´m goingto decorate the museum," he said then. After visiting the museum, we will go to the village of ceramic tradition VALLAURIS, to continue deepeningin the work of Malaga’s genius in the Picasso National Museum War and Peace (entrance included). Picasso painted two large canvases of over 10m in length representing War and Peace, completed in 1952 and installed in a Romanesque chapel that today houses this museum. Later, in the same chapel the artist will paint the fresco "The four parts of the world".


Continue to CANNES, where we can tour the historic center and the promenade, home of the glamour of the Côte d´Azur and meeting point for movie stars who meet at one of the most important festivals in the world.

Today is a sea day. We will leave for SAINT MAXIME, a delightful coastal town where you can stroll and get lost in its narrow streets and enjoy its magnificent architecture of art deco, Provencal and modern styles. In its center, be sure to approach the "Square Tower" of the sixteenth century. From its port, we will take a tourist boat (ticket included) that will allow us to contemplate the magnificent views of the gulf until we reach the beautiful city of SAINT TROPEZ, one of the jewels of tourism on the coast that has received countless famous people but that, nevertheless, maintains its traditional charms. A walk with our guide through the historic center, the walls and its old fishing port, today, luxurious marina. We continue our route following the Mediterranean to CASSIS, a charming coastal town in magnificent landscape, famous for the white and rosé wines produced with grapes grown in the nearby hills. Free time to stroll through its streets, its port, its bay and have lunch.


In the afternoon we continue to MARSEILLE, capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur region, second city in France and largest port in the country. Upon arrival we will go up with our vehicle to the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, affectionately called the Bonne Mère by the Marseillais, which reminds us of Montmartre. The view from the place where it is located is fabulous. Inside the church hang models of boats that thank the Virgin for her protection. Once in the city center, with our guide we will visit the Vieux Port and the fantastic architecture of the museum of civilizations (exterior panoramic visit, if you want to enter our guide can help you in acquiring the tickets).

We leave for AIX-EN-PROVENCE, and we do it through a very special road: the Cézanne road. Always linked to Provence, Paul Cézanne was born, died, and spent long periods in Aix. We will visit the Cézanne´s Workshop (entrance included), where he worked every morning for the last four years of his life. Entering his studio where the light and objects that starred in his still lifes are kept, is a sublime experience for lovers of his work. Then we will go to the "Terrain des peintres", a garden from which we can see the majestic Sainte Victoire mountain, where the artist made a series of nine reproductions that will give us an idea of his obsession with the search for the nuances of light and color.


We continue to ARLES where we will have some time for lunch. This World Heritage city, with its grandiose remains from Roman times, is especially evocative for the presence of one of the most fascinating figures in the history of art: Vincent van Gogh. The Dutchman, who lived in this area less than fifteen months between 1888 and 1890, immersed in a frenetic creative activity, painted about 200 canvases, 100 drawings and watercolors and wrote more than 200 letters. It is in Arles that his painting acquires its culminating maturity and innovation. Here he met Gauguin, with whom he worked for two months in a period of mutual inspiration until he ended up in the well-known crisis that led him to cut off his left ear. With our guide you will have the opportunity to visit the Hotel Dieu, today Van Gogh Space, hospital where the artist healed from his wound and where he had to return on multiple occasions suffering from hallucinations during the following months. We will also see (externally) the Roman archaeological heritage such as the thermal baths, the Theater or the Roman Amphitheater, where bullfights are held today.


We continue our journey until we reach NIMES. Once an important colony of the Roman Empire, today itis known for its well-preserved monuments, such as the Arena of Nîmes, a two-story amphitheater dating from approximately 70 AD and still used for concerts and bullfights. Its white limestone Roman temple Maison Carrée is about 2000 years old.

We will go to AVIGNON, on the banks of the Rhône, city of the popes and capital of the theater. Here you can enjoy a coffee on one of its terraces before visiting the center declared a World Heritage Site. We include the entrance to the Papal Palace, an impressive Gothic fortress built in the fourteenth century that served as the residence of the Popes during the exile of the Catholic Church in the fourteenth century. The palace has huge halls, chapels, gardens and an impressive tower with panoramic views of the city. Today the palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Afterwards we travel to LES BAUX DE PROVENCE, a picturesque village, one of the most impressive medieval ensembles of Provence, furrowed with narrow streets and crowned by a castle that sits on a rock discovered in the nineteenth century, time for a stroll and have lunch. We will include the entrance to CARRIERES DE LUMIERE, an impressive show of art, image and sound underground, in some old quarries. We continue towards SAINT RÈMY DE PROVENCE. Next to the Roman site of Glanum is the Sanatorium of Saint Paul de Mausole (entrance included), a Romanesque monastery converted into a psychiatric hospital where a Van Gogh tormented by outbursts of despair arrived in May 1889. In this place is reconstructed his room, which he also painted, and a number of reproductions of his works in the gardens where they were conceived. The institution also has a psychiatric recovery center through painting. Afterwards, we will transfer to the center of Saint Rémy, hometown of Nostradamus, to soak up the Occitan culture in a short walk with our guide. In the afternoon, we will start our return to NICE to end this impressive trip.


End of services. We hope you enjoyed your trip!