MIND, BODY & SOUL CULTURAL BREAKS


From top: The Musée La Piscine in Roubaix; Les


Deux Magots, a longtime literary haunt on the Left Bank; Paul Cézanne's La Mer à l'Estaque (1878-1879)


“You can pick up the trail of Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence with a visit to his studio on the hillside just outside of town”


Lille, which also boasts a hardy industrial heritage, tends to surprise visitors thanks to its recent regeneration. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, fresh from a six-year renovation, has a huge collection of medieval and Renaissance treasures, which features ceramics, sculptures and such European materpieces as Rubens’s justly revered triptych, The Descent from the Cross (1612-1614).


The birthplace of President Charles de Gaulle is now a museum, the Maison Natale Charles de Gaulle, which traces his career using photos and memorabilia, while another jewel in the area is the Musée La Piscine in Roubaix, a unique Art Deco public swimming pool turned art centre. Easily accessed by Métro from Lille (get off at Gare Jean Lebas), the Musée La Piscine ➤


FRENCH HOLIDAY Inspirations 2015 87


De Gaulle's birthplace


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