Too Much of a Great Thing
So, you might not believe it, but one can get tired of seeing a beautiful thing, and Provence is not an exception. Call me jaded, which we know I am, but I’ve felt this before. My first time seeing the Grand Canyon in Arizona I was awe-struck. It was huge and beautiful and unique and so new to me. We stayed at this first spot for almost an hour, and I took so many photos. We drove around more (we were doing the Southern rim) and each time we stopped I repeated the same pattern, just a little less enthused each time. Finally, after hours that day seeing the canyon from various views, I ended up being numb to each new vista, until finally I was fine with us driving back to Las Vegas. (Don’t worry, I still am in awe of the canyon each time I see photos of it.)
This is how it got when I was in Provence during lavender blooming season. (You will see my blogs from that trip soon) How beautiful it was as you can see in the photos below, but after three days of lavender fields (over 20 easily) I ached to see anything else and more of Provence.
Saint Remy
Thus, I went to Saint Remy de Provence to see what a town (village?) in southern France was like. After walking through a beautiful park, I stopped for a cup of coffee. Sitting down I opened my phone and researched “best things to do in Saint Remy”, and the usual things came up: walk in Van Gogh’s steps, drink local wine, see the lavender fields (no thank you, been there), bike tours and such. I tend to avoid those top sites when I do a search like this, the ones built just to sell tours and “experiences” and look for blogs more like mine. On my fourth or perhaps sixth one I found an unusual item: Carrières de Lumières. This turned out to not only be a highlight of my trip, but a top highlight of any trip I’ve ever been on. Let me share it with you now.
Google Maps said the drive looked to be 20 minutes tops; I am going for sure now. Well, the drive was much closer to half an hour, as this was up a mountain on winding roads in the Alpilles. But at this point with three days of driving to small lavender fields on mostly one lane roads, I was fearless. The drive wasn’t so bad, but finding a parking spot took an additional 20 minutes itself. Luckily, I was rented an incredibly small car, so I squeezed into sort of a spot, hoping that no tow trucks could find me. Walked back up the hill to the entrance (following people as there were no signs but there was an unusual statue park) and by this point I am sure I have made a mistake.
No Mistakes Here: Carrières de Lumières
I was so wrong. Carrières de Lumières is in a former quarry, Les Grands Fonds, located at the foot of the village of Les Baux de Provence, in the heart of the Alpilles. While very popular, it doesn’t get over touristed like so much of Provence during lavender season. The quarry produced limestone known for being very white from about 1800 until just before World War II went it closed. While the site was an inspiration to writers, even movie directors like Jean Cocteau, it was for the most part abandoned and little used. Then in 2012 Culturespaces Digital opened up Carrières de Lumières and it quickly became a great, immersive art exhibition space.
As you walk into the space after paying €14,50 admission price (they have several discounts for older or younger or groups) you go through a set of doors and then out from behind a thick black set of curtains and you are hit with immensely tall walls, in a cavernous space, all being used as a backdrop for Mondrian paintings. And they aren’t just projected on the walls, there is music and the photos move and fade in and out and are replaced with others, I was stunned. I love Mondrian ever since the bus on the Partridge Family but seeing it 100 foot high and moving across football field size rooms, walls and floors timed perfectly to the music was breathtaking. You see I walked in at the end of the smaller of the two shows, this one focused on Mondrian.
Then the lights came up and you get to realize the vastness of this space. And after July heat in Provence, I welcomed the refreshing coolness of being in a quarry. I could not wait for the main attraction to start! I went around and examined the space some more and yes, it was like the Grand Canyon, where every turn or path had different views and stunning heights. There were stairs to get higher views and ramps and multiple connected rooms left over from the limestone being sliced out of there.
On the wall was a countdown to the start of the next show, so I searched for my spot. It ended up being at the top of stairs, just off toward the edge where I knew I could see all the way down the largest room and had a huge wall in front that was perfect for projection. If I turned to the left, I saw columns and other rooms that were near the ramp, each with large walls as well, this was the perfect spot.
And Now the Show: Carrières de Lumières
Finally, the lights dimmed (and boy was it dark), the music started and the program, The Dutch Masters: From Vermeer to Van Gogh, began. At this point it makes no sense for me to keep babbling on, look at the photos and the videos below:
While I enjoy the Renaissance to Post-Impressionism eras of painting a lot, I am very far removed from being any type of art scholar, and still I loved this! The program, as you saw in the photos, began with Vermeer then moved onto Rembrandt and several more Dutch painters until ending with Van Gogh. The colors on the walls were both vivid when they needed to be to showcase the Girl with the Pearl Earring, and dark as well, to show the moodiness of The Night Watch, and all over 100 feet tall (ok possibly 70-80 feet, they wouldn’t let me measure). The music was perfect to highlight the 30 pieces of art that moved and faded in and out both on the walls and the floors. Later I discovered that the playlist is available on their site.
A small intermission was followed with a shorter piece that I had walked in on at the beginning, Mondrian, the Architect of Colour, which is much more autobiographical about the artist and his art style adapting as he got older, ending to the colorful style most of us think of when we hear his name. This too was incredibly enjoyable. In all it was perhaps an hour and a half of programs and roughly two and a half hours of being there, and spending all that time in the cool during July in southern France was great.
Their scheduled programs change several times a year, so you can always go back for a new experience. I also learned that they have many more of these exhibits around the world: Paris, New York, Seoul, Amsterdam and more. As far as I could tell, this was the only one in a quarry, most are just large halls or buildings, but all are immersive and if you find yourself near one, GO. For more information on this exhibit and their other sites: https://www.culturespaces.com/en/network
Thank you for reading my article. If you would like to read about other travel posts you can go to Articles to see all posts, or to Destinations to see them grouped by location. General travel tips can be found here.
