I have to confess driving round/past/through Gardanne several times but never stopping to have a look round. We did, this week, and found it interesting. It wasn’t a good start as the tourist office was shut. We had checked the opening hours on the website but when we got there, they had one of those completely infuriating ‘Fermeture exceptionelle’ signs stuck on the door…there were staff inside but clearly not available to help. Happily the lady in the mairie gave us a map and off we set.
It’s typical of Provence in that there is an old town with the usual cobbled climb and maisons de village, next to a
from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
spacious 19th century area of shops, bars and seating areas. This is where Cézanne came to live for a year in 1885-6. His house at 27 cours Forbin is still there but privately owned. The family settled in apparently happily with little Paul at the local school while his father produced 10 canvases. It was the only Provencal village he ever painted.
Our map helped us locate the Colline des Freres which was one of his favourite painting spots. They have installed what is described as a ‘musée de plein-air’ in the woods up there, with benches and boards showing the paintings he produced, most of which are now in the US.
As you can see in my photo, the view is a little different today, as Gardanne is surrounded by industry, providing much-needed employment but rather altering the view!
But the tourist office have wisely decided to build on this heritage and are offering (in season), tours of:
- Mining in Biver
- The Alteo plant (aluminium)
- The Wastewater Treatment Plant
- The Morandat Mining Shaft (one of the most modern in Europe and very deep)……and finally,
- A workshop at the Riederer Chocolaterie. Sounds wonderful!
All these guided tours can be booked via the tourist office (http://www.tourisme-gardanne.fr/en/tourism-gardanne)
and they have a good guide-book which can be downloaded here: http://www.tourisme-gardanne.fr/en/download.
My recommendation to them though is this: if you are closed, it’s very helpful for visitors if you display a map in the window or on the door to help them get the most out of your town!
PS: The markets in Gardanne are renowned, especially the one on Sunday which I want to try!
aixcentric 
The Gardanne Power station is managed by a company called Doosan Power Systems, UK Head Office is based in Crawley, a short drive down the M23 from a place called Whyteleafe. I understand Employees from Doosan find Gardanne an exceptional place to work and Aix a terrific place to visit during their time off!
I bet they enjoy their visits. Gardanne has an excellent patisserie and M Aixcentric can’t wait to go back for another quiche!!