“In the Meadow” by Claude Monet projected onto the walls
In the charming little village of Les Baux de Provence over which towers the massive ruins of its castle, a fabulous light show awaits visitors each year at the underground quarries hidden in the next-door small valley.
These white quarries are so spectacular that Jean Cocteau chose this place to bring to life his famous film “Orpheus” and thus, gave the world, an eduring image of the quarries. From March to the last days of December an annual light show, “Les Carrières de Lumière,” -The Quarries of Light- takes place attracting tens thousands of visitors who enter a dream world of art and beauty. Many stay all day.
This year’s light show links one of the outstanding late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s artists – Gustave Klimt –with his home city of Vienna.
the ligt show dwarfs the size of visitors
Today, his paintings sell for tens of millions and which of us has not seen copies of perhaps his most famous painting, “The Kiss,” one of the most recognisable paintings in the world.
I can’t show you yet what this year’s light show will be like but surely “The Kiss will be there.” But the show last year will give you some idea of how striking the light show images can be.
Last year, the show was called “Travel through the Mediterranean”, which presented a great trip through the works of famous artists from Impressionism, Pointillism and Fauvism movements and included images taken from works by Monet, Renoir and many more right up until Marc Chagall.
The nearest airport to Les Baux de Provence is Nimes (about 30 miles away) which has direct flights on Ryanair from Liverpool and Luton. Many will find it more convenient to fly to Marseilles ( about 55 miles away) which has a wider range of flights including Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted.
The entrance fee is €10 for adults, €8 forchildren over 7 up until 17 and it is free for those under 7.
Images: © Frederic de Poligny
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