aixcentric

Spent an interesting Sunday  in Toulon but….have a look at the photo below.

It was Sunday, tick

It was 11 am, tick

…..but the gallery was firmly shut!  It is so exasperating when this happens after driving all the way from Aix.  I found out, finally, later in the day, that the place was shut for several days to hang a new exhibition.  Why have a website if you don’t use it to communicate with your visitors?

Things did get better though!

We visited the very grand Musée d’Art which we had entirely to ourselves.  Not just the odd gallery but the entire place. I get insanely excited by this type of experience having had years of London queuing and then straining to see the pictures.

The Musée d’Art has a very large collection of mainly Provencal artists, with an emphasis on Toulon-born painters or local scenes.  As they only have three galleries, they draw on this collection to mount temporary shows.  At the moment, ‘Elles s’exposent’ takes the theme of women in art – as saints, as sinners, as goddesses, or as the subject of portraits, and very good it is too.

There are numerous paintings but also photos and drawings and, as usual, you discover new artists. I had never heard of Jean-Baptiste Paulin-Guerin, born in Toulon in 1783, but loved his portraits – here is one of his young wife which is delightful.  He painted in Paris, even the official portrait of Charles X, but also enjoyed painting his family.  I wonder why he isn’t better known?  This exhibition has been extended to 22nd January.

There is a very busy market in Toulon’s old town; if you want a town tour, there’s a petit-train or even a catamaran for a trip around the harbour.  We got down to the quayside just in time to see a boat set off for the west coast of France for the beginning of the Vendée Globe race – lots of excitement around that.

The 19th century part of Toulon is very Parisian – wide boulevards, but with lines of palm trees which give a real Mediterranean vibe. 

Looking forward to another visit – and hopefully the Hotel des Arts will be open next time!