DIARY PLANNER ❘ WHAT’S ON


NEW FOR 2020 There’s always something


new going on in La Belle France… Here are three of the newest to put in the diary for your next visit.


FESTIVAL LASTING IMPRESSIONS


Anyone who has ever swooned at Monet’s waterlilies or drifted away into the charms of a Renoir luncheon party will want to pop a visit to the Normandy Impressionist Festival on their itinerary this year. Normandy is known as the birthplace of


Impressionism and, not surprisingly, the likes of Claude Monet, Eugène Boudin, Edgar Degas and Raoul Dufy all called it home and developed their style here. Drawing on key works as well as museum


collections in the region, the festival reveals Impressionism in all its forms, with a series of exhibitions of painting and photography, music


concerts, film screenings, theatre and dance performances, as well as conferences, educational workshops and ‘lunches on the grass’, in honour of Manet’s famous painting Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe. The festival runs from April to September


throughout the Normandy region, with most of the activities concentrated around the cities of Rouen and Caen. This year marks its 10th outing, and a unifying


theme of colour has been chosen for the various events and exhibitions set to delight visitors over the five and a half months of the festival. April 3 to September 6  www.normandie-impressionniste.fr


FANCY NANCY? Fans of Art Deco will want to make an elegantly curved beeline to Villa Majorelle in Nancy, which has just reopened its doors after a major renovation project. Designed by the architect Henri Sauvage, it was built in 1901-1902 for the artist Louis Majorelle and has since been classifi ed as an Historic Monument. Visitors can explore the meticulously restored interiors and go on a journey back through time to the early 20th century, as well as experiencing an intimate portrait of the family life of Majorelle. musee-ecole-de-nancy .nancy.fr


SAY CHEESE! The Jura mountains are home to the new Maison du Comté, where it’s all very cheesy – in a good way! The wood and zinc building boasts a shop in the shape of a cheese wheel, a Comté bar and, of course, new displays and activities that will take cheese afi cionados on a journey through the different stages of production and maturing that Comté undergoes. And, bien sûr, you’ll be able to taste some too! www.maison-du-comte.com


DIGITAL DELIGHTS The happening neighbourhood of Bacalan in Bordeaux is to welcome the Bassin des Lumières, the world’s largest digital art centre, to its former WWII submarine base. Visitors will be able to marvel at the monumental immersive digital exhibitions devoted to some of the major artists in the history of art to the modern day. From April 17 www.bassins-lumieres.com


RAISE A GLASS The Avenue de Champagne in Épernay welcomes a new neighbour in the form of the Champagne Wine and Regional Archaeology Museum. Twenty years in the making, it will contain one of the most important archaeological collections in France centred on the historical legacy of champagne. archeochampagne.epernay.fr


Apr/May 2020 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 13


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IMAGES © BASSIN DES LUMIÈRES, ORR10, LINÉ1, SHUTTERSTOCK,


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