Picasso Opens March 2 in Les Baux...and Paris News

The Carrières de Lumières (Quarries of Light) is a magical space in a vast cave-like quarry at the base of the hilltop village of Les Baux de Provence. There in the cool darkness, close to 100 video projectors and 27 speakers generate the choreographed movement of 2,000 images over an area of more than 75,000 square feet, onto walls as high as 45 feet, onto the ceilings and even the floor. The sound-and-light show changes once a year and has become one of the most-popular sites in Provence. Since its opening in 2012, Les Carrières de Lumières has attracted roughly 2.5 million visitors.

The last show, called Bosch, Brueghel, Arcimboldo: Fantastique et Merveilleux, (March 2017 to January 2018) drew 554,000 people. If you missed it, you'll have another chance as it will be reprised this summer as part of a program called Les Intégrales des Carrières; more on that appears below. 

The quarry is now closed, awaiting the March 2 opening of the next show, called Picasso et les Maitres Espagnols (Picasso and the Spanish Masters). It runs through January 6, 2019.

The Picasso show lasts 32 minutes and plays on a continuous loop, tracing a century of modern Spanish painting. Part #1 highlights portraits and scenes of daily life painted by Goya, Rusiñol, Zuloaga, and Sorolla; part #2 focuses on Picasso. This year's soundtrack--providing the perfect emotion and rhythm as the images dance from sequence to sequence--blends Beethoven, Bizet and Debussy with Glenn Miller, Keith Jarrett, Otis Redding and many others.

Picasso and the Spanish Masters is part a major international initiative called Picasso-Méditerranée, initiated by the Musée National Picasso-Paris. Between spring 2017 and spring 2019, more than 60 cultural institutions are staging programs or exhibits based upon the artist's Mediterranean work.

Following the Picasso show at the Carrières there's a short (nine-minute) program called Flower Power, celebrating the  pop culture of the 1960s and "the idealistic generation that changed the world." Music comes from Jimmy Hendrix, the Stones, the Beatles, the Beach Boys and more. The Flower Power show was created by Danny Rose, an art and design studio known for immersive audiovisual works.

Once again, this summer the Carrières will reprise the last three shows on ten special evenings in July, August and September. Called "Les Intégrales des Carrières," these special 8:30 pm projections will allow visitors the chance to experience ), Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael: Giants of the Renaissance (2015), Chagall: Midsummer Night's Dreams (2016) and Bosch, Brueghel, Arcimboldo: Fantastique et Merveilleux (2017). On each of these ten nights, you'll get to see all three shows. The dates are July 23, 24 and 25; August 6, 7, 8; and September 14, 15, 21 and 22.  Tickets for these special reprise showings are €24 and can be purchased here.

The Carrières de Lumières are located in the Val d’Enfer, a stone's throw from the hilltop village of Les Baux. The quarries here first produced white limestone, used in the construction of the village and its château. In 1821, aluminum ore bauxite was discovered here by geologist Pierre Berthier, who named it after the village. In 1935, economic competition from modern materials led to the quarries' closure. Dramatic and otherworldly looking, the area has inspired artists of all sorts; it provided the setting for Dante’s Divine Comedy and Gounod created his opera Mireille here. Later, Cocteau came to film The Testament of Orpheus in these very quarries. The Carrières du Val d’Enfer have been awarded Natural Monument status in France. 

Formerly known as the Cathedrale des Images, this particular quarry was closed in 2011 and re-opened (after a €2 million re-do) as the Carrières de Lumières the following year, under the management of Culturespaces, the leading private organization managing French monuments and museums.

Based on the success of the digital exhibits at the Carrières de Lumières,  Culturespaces will launch the new Atelier des Lumières in Paris on April 13. Located in a former foundry in the 11th arrondissement, the Atelier will offer three exhibits in two areas. The opening "long program" will focus on Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele while a shorter program looks at the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, another artist who symbolised Viennese creativity. To see a very nice teaser for the new venue, click here.

Back in Les Baux, adult tickets to the Picasso show are €12.50, kids under 7 are free. There are also family rates and combined-visit prices (Carrières + Chateau des Baux +Musee Brayer) on the website, along with opening hours, directions and much more. 

Carrières de Lumières 

Route de Maillane  

13520 Les Baux de Provence 

Tel: +33 4 90 54 47 37

carrieres-lumieres.com

Photos: (1) You can be sure everyone is tres busy at the moment in the chilly caves at Les Baux, putting finishing touches on the upcoming show at the Carrières de Lumières. (2, 3) Two of the many images you'll see in the show: Picasso's 1922 "Deux Femmes Courant Sur La Plage" and "Just Out of the Sea" by Joaquin Sorolla, 1915. (4) This looks like fun: after the 32-minute Picasso sound-and-light show, you'll see a nine-minute projection called Flower Power, celebrating the 1960s. (5) The old bauxite quarry, now the Carrières de Lumières, in daylight. The geologist who first discovered aluminum ore here named it after the village. (6) One section of the vast space is often lit beautifully for private parties and other events. (7) One of my favorite photos of the village of Les Baux, taken by Philippe Clairo. (8) I went looking to see if Picasso was ever photographed in Les Baux and found a number of great shots taken by the late Arles-based photographer Lucien Clergue, on the set of "The Testament of Orpheus," in 1959. To the left of the artist are Jacqueline Picasso and Luis Miguel Dominguin. On the right, Jean Cocteau, actress Lucia Bose and choreographer Serge Lifar. (9, 10) Based on the success of the Carrières de Lumières, Culturespaces will open the Atelier des Lumieres in Paris on April 13. The new digital art center will host three shows at once, in a former foundry in the 11th arrondissement.

For general information including upcoming activities in Les Baux, click here.

Want to spend the night in a quarry? Sure you do! All the details on one very cool Luberon rental are here. 

Luminessences Opens in Avignon Aug 12

Les Luminessences d'Avignon, a monumental 360°sound-and-light show at the Palais des Papes, is one of those annual spectacles (as the French call them) that seems to grow more and more popular each year.  This year's show, the 5th annual, opens Saturday night August 12 and runs until September 30th, in the Palace's Honour Courtyard.

The Palais des Papes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was home to nine successive popes, was considered the heart of the medieval Christian world and was the scene of several sieges. It played a very unique and vital role in European history...and Luminessences tells its story. (For more on the Avignon papacy, click here.) The show--the same production as the one shown last summer but with the addition of new scenes--cloaks the four wings of the palace in enormous images and surrounds the audience "in a poetic fusion of architecture, light and music." Mostly everyone stands for the 40-minute show but small folding chairs and wheelchairs are welcome. 

The show will be offered every evening, in French at 9:15 pm and English at 10:15 pm. 

Tickets can be bought online here...or at the Palais des Papes during opening hours... or at the Avignon Tourist Office (see link and phone below). 

Prices are 12 € for adults, 10€ (reduced rate) and free for kids under age 8. Info on group sales, private events, getting to Avignon, tickets and much more  is on the Luminessences website in English here. They're also on Facebook. For info by phone, call the Avignon Tourist Office at +33 (0)4 32 74 32 74. 

You're Invited: Cannes Film Fest Luncheon

The annual Cannes Film Festival Luncheon Party hosted by the American Club of the Riviera always attracts a great mix of locals and visitors. This year it's Saturday May 14 and everyone is welcome. There are 75 seats available on the terrace but if they sell out and the weather looks good, more tables will be set up on the beach.

Guests will gather for Bellinis and hors d'oeuvres at noon at the restaurant Vegaluna Plage Restaurant, just in front of the Carlton Hotel. During the three-course lunch (foie gras, sea bream, apricot tart), film industry folks will provide insider insights and, as in years past, there will be a famous film quiz.

If you're going on to the Palais des Festivals afterwards, it's an easy ten-minute walk along the seafront.

Water, wine and coffee are included in the price: members 65€, guests 75€. The reservation deadline is Monday May 9th and the event is expected to sell out. For all the info or to reserve: americanclubriviera.com. 

The 69th annual Cannes Film Fest launches with a screening of Woody Allen's new film, Café Society, on Wednesday May 11 in the Palais des Festivals’s Grand Théâtre Lumière. The festival runs until May 22 and all the info is here.

Princess Grace: On Film and In Provence

Action! The cameras have just begun rolling here in France for Grace of Monaco, the new movie with Nicole Kidman playing Grace Kelly. The story centers on a six-month period in 1962 when French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle and Monaco's Prince Rainier III were at odds over the opulent principality's standing as a tax haven. The Philadelphia-born Kelly, who had quit Hollywood to marry the Prince in 1955, was said to have been instrumental in helping to sort out the political hoo-ha. The film is directed by Olivier Dahan, whose Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose earned Marion Cotillard the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2008. Princess Grace died in a car accident in 1982 (her daughter Stephanie survived the crash) and it's said the funeral was watched on TV by 30 million people. Speaking of 30 million, that's the estimated budget for the film. Following her appearance at the Emmys on Sunday night, Kidman joined the cast at the Victorine Studio in Nice, which is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed Kelly opposite Cary Grant in 1955’s To Catch a Thief.

The film is slated for a 2014 release. Tim Roth will play Prince Rainer III and Paz Vega will appear as Grace Kelly's friend and confidante, the opera legend Maria Callas. Frank Langella is set to play Father Tucker, the priest who set Rainer and Kelly up and served as an important adviser to the couple throughout their relationship. Parker Posey plays the scheming social climber Madge Tivey-Faucon, Grace's lady-in-waiting who ''couldn't wait to sell unflattering tell-alls to the French press once she left Kelly's employ.'' Milo Ventimiglia plays Grace's publicist Rupert Allan, who served as consul general for the principality of Monaco and was made a Chevalier of the Order of Grimaldi in 1989.

If the life of Princess Grace interests you, then this is the perfect time to see The Princess Grace Photo Album in Les Baux de Provence, the striking Medieval hill town in the heart of Provence. It's an exhibit of photos taken by reporters from Paris Match, grouped according to era and subject and hung in three indoor/outdoor spaces around the village: in the courtyard and gallery of the Hotel de Manville (along with letters and other historic memorabilia), in the Jardin de l’îlot Post Tenebras Lux and in La Citerne. The show remains on view until November 15, 2012.

So what's the connection between the Princess and Les Baux?  The show marks the 30th anniversary of the Princess's visit with Prince Albert, the young Marquis de Baux.  In June 1982, the people of Les Baux gave an official reception for Prince Albert of Monaco and presented him with the keys of the town. A bit of history: The barony of Les Baux was raised to the status of a marquisate in 1642 by King Louis XIII, to thank the Prince of Monaco, Hercule de Grimaldi, for his assistance in the fight against the kingdom of Spain. A map of Les Baux was drawn at that time, bearing the arms of Les Baux and Monaco. The Eyguieres gate was raised in the 17th century by the Princes of Monaco. Their coat-of-arms, which was hammered down during the French Revolution, can be seen in a scroll with baroque foliage decoration.To this day,  the Grimaldis continue to contribute to the restoration and enhancement of Les Baux, such as the donation, in 1962, of the stained-glass windows in St. Vincent's Church and the restoration of the frescoes in the Hotel de Porcelet. 

At one time (in the 13th century), the village of Les Baux was home to as many as 3000 people. Now the year-round population is just 22.

To celebrate the opening of The Princess Grace Photo Album, a group of regional dignitaries, tourism authorities and local business owners were welcomed for a private tour and gala luncheon this summer. The guest of honor was Diane E. Kelly, the Consul General of the U.S. in Marseille and Monaco. 

Entrance to the Princess Grace show is free. A guide to the show and the sites pertaining to the history of the Grimaldi Family in Les Baux can be found at the Tourist Office or online here. For more info on the show or Les Baux itself, call (04 90 54 34 39), email (tourisme@lesbauxdeprovence.com) or click here.  

*For still more on Les Baux, you can see two great shots here and here. To read about a Les Baux quarry that does custom stone work, click here.

Photos: (1 & 2) Kelly, left, is being played by Kidman in "Grace of Monaco," which just began filming in France. Photos via MGM/Will Davidson/Swisse via Getty Images. (3) Poster photo by Jack Garofalo/Paris Match. (4 & 5) Large photos from many chapters of Grace Kelly's life are hung in three indoor/outdoor venues in Les Baux. (6, 7, 8) Photos from the show. (9)  Odette Girard, owner of the Les Baux restaurant Bauthezar, greets Diane E. Kelly (Consul General of the U.S. in Marseille and Monaco) in Les Baux this summer, and shows her a photo taken in June 1982 during Grace and Albert's visit.

Five Evenings for Wine, Gardens and Pagnol

Every Tuesday evening in July, the splendid winery Chateau Val Joanis in Pertuis is showing Pagnol films outdoors. The evening begins at 7:30 with a glass of rosé and a garden tour. The films, in French with English subtitles, begin at 9:30 pm and the evening wraps with a tombola (raffle). Dates are July 3: Jean de Florette. July 10: Manon des Sources. July 17: La Gloire de Mon Pere. July 24: La Chateau de ma Mere. July 31: La Fille du Puisatier. Tickets are 10€ for adults; 6€ for kids under 16. For info or reservations, see contact info below.

The terraced gardens at Val Joanis were inspired by the 17th-century Provencal manor which stands on the site. They’re classifed by the French Ministry of Culture among the Notable Gardens of France. On separate terraces you’ll find a a kitchen garden and flower garden, lots of varieties of tomatoes, extensive herbs, pyramids of ivy, roses galore, fruit trees (particularly old varieties of apples and pears) and a collection of asters and ornamental boxwoods. Meanwhile, the chateau itself is built on the site of an ancient Roman villa, some of whose stones decorate the garden today. In July and August, Val Joanis offers a guided visit of the winery and gardens, with a wine and olive oil tasting, for 6.50€ per person on Thursdays at 4 pm. Otherwise they're open for visits seven days a week: from 10 to 1 and 2 to 7 in April, May, June and September;  from 10 to 7 straight through in July and August; and from 10 to 1 and 2 to 6 in October. To visit the gardens on your own is 4.50€. For info click here, or call +33(0)4 90 79 20 77 or email:  info@val-joanis.com.  

This Post Has Nothing To Do With Provence

Anytime I come across something I think you might like, I try to find a French connection to justify posting it on my blog. If I can't, I don't. But these videos of Lotte and Vince growing up? I just had to. Their dad is the Dutch filmmaker and photographer Frans Hofmeester, who's been filming his kids since they were born and assembling the clips using time-lapse technology. Lotte is now 12 and Vince, 9. 

Hofmeester began the project when he noticed how quickly his first-born was changing...and he wanted to capture each and every moment. “I filmed Lotte every week,”  he told ABC News. “I felt the need to document the way she looked to keep my memories intact.”  When the kids aren't in the mood, he distracts them by asking questions.

Frans says he's always had a hunch that what he was doing was special but that he never expected the response: there have been more than 700,000 views on his Vimeo page to date. “I’m flabbergasted. This is overwhelming,” he said.  In the meantime, the proud papa continues to record his kids’ growth. “There will be a lot of changes in the coming years,” said Hofmeester.  “And of course I'll continue filming.”

Monte Carlo Stars in New Summer Comedy

Comment dit-on "Chick Flick"? In the new summer romantic comedy Monte Carlo, three young American women use their savings for a long anticipated dream trip to Paris, which turns out to be a bummer. Then one of them is mistaken for a spoiled British heiress (don't you hate when that happens?) and before they get the chance to reveal their true identities, they're whisked off to Monte Carlo where they have a whole bunch of charming misadventures--and tons of fun. ("Polo? How hard could that be?") A bit of trivia: Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts were originally the stars of the movie, but the producers decided they wanted a younger cast. Monte Carlo comes out in the U.S. on July 1st. For release dates in other countries, click here.

Woody Allen's "Paris" Opens Cannes Fest

Woody Allen's 41st feature, Midnight in Paris--starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy--opens this year's Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 11 to 22nd, 2011. Robert DeNiro is president of the Jury. See more trailers and read all about the fest here and here.

Make Your Village A Star!

RendezVous Films  is producing a romantic comedy feature film called Kiss the Frog  in which an American businesswoman falls in love with a French farmer. Most of the story takes place in a tiny and remote village in the South of France and production will begin in April. Now they just need to find the village.

Writer/director Kevin Dole describes Kiss the Frog as “my love letter to France.” He and his family have been here many times and their experiences inspired the story.  Kevin believes there are hundreds—maybe thousands--of villages which would work but since he can only choose one, it has to be perfect. So he’s spreading the word and asking for help.

The ideal village will be small and historic with a remote, isolated feel.  It needs to have a small square for a farmers’ market and a village festival. Its houses should be mostly stone and be maison mitoyennes, sharing common walls.  It can be anywhere in the south: from the Italian border down through Languedoc-Roussillon to the foothills of the Pyrénées.

But Kevin and the producers are looking for more than just a pretty face.  They’ll ultimately choose the village based not just on what’s best for the film but on how the production might benefit the community as well.

“I want to find a village with a compelling story so that the project, the making of the film, takes on even more meaning,”  he says.  “I know there were villages devastated by terrible windstorms a couple years ago; others which have suffered from declines in the wine industry.  I know some have lost so many of their young people to the city that they’re almost ghost towns.  I want to find one which is both ideal for the film AND which, by being chosen, might be revitalized--which is exactly what happens in our story.  A location scout rarely has the time to learn the story of the places they photograph.  Only the residents can tell us this.”

Kevin tells me that the production pledges to:

* Hire as many local services as possible.

* Hire as many local workers as possible.

* Credit and promote the village as the film's location, if desired.

* Care for the village and leave it in the same or better condition.

Logistical requirements are: roads accessible by trucks and buses, accommodations nearby for a cast and crew of up to 100 people and residents who’ll welcome the disruption and excitement of production for 8-10 weeks.

“The village of my dreams should have character and charm which inspires the devotion of its residents but may not be apparent to casual visitors,” Kevin adds.  “The level of restoration is unimportant.  We’re not making a superficial ‘postcard’ of France, but rather offering a glimpse of its heart, disguised within a comédie romantique.”

If you live in or know of the perfect village, please click here and fill out the research form in French, if possible.  (The page includes directions for sending photos and you can click the link “Retour” for a descriptive page, also in French.)  Or you can email Kevin directly: village@kissthefrogmovie.com.  Or, simply leave a comment by clicking COMMENT below. RendezVous Films is seeking village nominations until January 1, 2011. If you’d like to learn more about the movie, you can watch a video here and visit the main website here. 

Danger! Drama! Dessert!

"I’ve never seen so many strong men sobbing at once," proclaimed the The Guardian about Kings of Pastry, a new documentary about pastry chefs competing for the prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF) title. The MOF ("Best Craftsmen in France"), is awarded to artisans in a number of trades and seen as one of the country's highest honors. For many French chefs, it’s considered the ne plus ultra. Once they obtain MOF, chefs get to sport a highly recognizable red, white and blue collar on their chefs’ coat.

The grueling three-day competition takes place every four years in Lyon and the chefs work under constant scrutiny from the crème de la crème of pastry judges, including legendary patissier Pierre Hermé. Even President Sarkozy was there.

To make Kings of Pastry, filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus followed Jacquy Pfeiffer, co-founder of Chicago's French Pastry School as he journeyed to Alsace, his childhood home, to practice for the contest. Two other finalists are also profiled: Regis Lazard, who was competing for the second time (he dropped his sugar sculpture the first time), and Philippe Rigollot, from Maison Pic, France’s only three-star restaurant owned by a woman.

The Independent called the film “heart-stopping and exquisite,” and said “the last moments (are) as thrilling as any Olympic final.” It’s in English and French, with English subtitles. You can see a wonderful trailer here, find cities and play dates here (no screenings planned in France yet, unfortunately) and get all the rest of the info here. You'll never look at cake the same way again...

Yes You Can Do Cannes...Sort Of

The travel website Jaunted has a post today about how regular folks like us can take part in the Cannes Film Festival, coming up next month. Go HERE.

Passion! Ambition! Butter!

Tomorrow can't come fast enough for foodies here in the States, because that's when Julie & Julia comes out. The new movie has gotten huge press but if you haven't heard about the it, here's the gist. A young woman named Julie Powell, working in a depressing job in lower Manhattan and dreaming of becoming a writer, decides she's going to cook every dish--that's 524 recipes--in Julia Child's landmark book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking...and do it in one year....and blog about it. She called her blog "The Julie/Julia Project" and it was terrific. I followed it--and so did scores of other people.

So there was poor Julie Powell, working all day at that job she hates, then shlepping store to store trying to find all the ingredients, many of them esoteric, that she'd need for that evening's recipe, be it pigs' feet or bone marrow or beef bourguignon or whatever. Then dragging it all home to her apartment in Queens, complete with miniscule kitchen and patient young husband, and spending the whole evening turning out yet another classic French masterpiece (or flop). And then, before falling into bed, writing about it....articulately, amusingly, insightfully. What an amazing, insane, wonderful, terrible thing to do, I remember thinking.

The blog developed a huge following and Julie got a book deal. And now it's been turned into a movie, with a screenplay by Nora Ephron, who also directed. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child and everyone says she's brilliant. Stanley Tucci plays Paul Child the adored husband, the man responsible for giving Julia her very first taste of France. (He was in the foreign service and they accepted a posting to Paris.)

In France, Child "found herself" in the kitchen. She studied cooking at the Cordon Bleu and in Provence, then returned to the US and introduced Americans to French food though her books and TV shows, the first of which, The French Chef, you've probably seen parodied once or twice. Child broke barriers left and right, charmed everyone she met, paved the way for celebrity chefs and did scores of great things for the food world. (Her kitchen is now in the Smithsonian.)

The movie also follows the lives of Julia and Paul Child during their years in France (1948-1954), through Child's memoir, My Life in France (a wonderful book). Ephron, the critics say, has woven the two memoirs together beautifully...two strong and talented women finding professional purpose through food.

Julie & Julia opens Friday in the U.S. and I'll be there for sure, with a gaggle of my foodie gal pals beside me. It opens in the U.K. Sept. 11th and in France Sept. 16th. Reviews and features are all over the internet so I won't bother to give you a link. But I will do as Julia always did and wish you a hearty "Bon Appetit!"