An afternoon of poetry & art

Our visit to the church if Notre Dame de Toute Grâce at Plateau d’Assy was not our only encounter with the arts while we were in France. Our first was when we went over to Aix les Bains.

We arrived at lunchtime, when all good French places close for lunch. This being so, we found somewhere to pass the time, a nice bar.

We had gone over to Aix primarily to visit the Musée Faure. We noted as we passed how the gallery is sited in the fork between two rather steep roads with no apparent easy parking. We thought our first stop, therefore should be to the Office de Tourisme to find out if there is any parking.

After our bit of a stroll around the town centre, we therefore headed to the Office de Tourisme. This meant passing through the square in front of the town hall. In the square there were loads of stands, celebrating the Lamartine bicentenary, specifically his time in Aix, when he discovered romance which became the inspiration for his poetry. The Lac de Bourget, on which Aix les Bains stands, is the lake in Lamartine’s poem, “Le Lac”. I recalled how much I had enjoyed Lamartine’s poetry when I was at school studying French, all those years ago.

The town hall with one of the several boards

Eventually we got to the Office de Tourisme. As suspected, there is a parking area for Blue Badge holders within the grounds of the Musée Faure. We headed up there.

The Musée Faure is noted for its fine collection of Impressionist art. All the works were part of Dr Faure’s (1862-1942) private collection. These may not be the well-known works, but nonetheless there are some impressive works.

Downstairs, there was an exhibition of works by Ernest Filliard (1866-1933) of floral-themed works. He is an artist we’d never heard of, however his skill is undoubted. His use of watercolour in particular was wonderful. Here were some paintings I would have happily have owned if we’d been in a position to afford them.

The main collection included works by all the great artists of the period, Cezanne, Pisarro, Sisley, Bonnard, Degas, Vuillard to name but a few. They well arranged to tell you the story of the progression of impressionism with some very helpful leaflets, in English & French, telling you a bit of each artist & their work. The top floor of the gallery was devoted to some sculpture by Rodin, some sculptures & a reconstruction of the bedroom where Lamartine lived & worked when he was staying in Aix in 1816.

Lamartine's room (We suspect the fan is a newer addition!)

It all made for an interesting & inspiring afternoon.