Museums and exhibitions around the mas
From Salon-de-Provence to Marseille, via Aix and the Alpilles: our favourite cultural venues less than an hour from the mas. To find out about current exhibitions and to book, follow the links for each venue.
Château de l’Empéri and Nostradamus’ House · Salon-de-Provence (≈ 20 km)
One of the oldest castles in Provence towers over the town: it houses a museum of art and military history, from Louis XIV to 1914, with themed tours all year round. Just below, the house where Nostradamus lived and wrote his Prophecies tells the story of the famous astrologer.
Caumont – Art Centre · Aix-en-Provence (≈ 30 km)
An 18th-century mansion with its salons and French formal garden: every season, a major exhibition devoted to a master of painting or photography. Make time for a break in its elegant tea room.
Musée Granet · Aix-en-Provence (≈ 30 km)
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Aix’s fine-arts museum: Cézanne, Ingres, Rembrandt, and the Planque collection (Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, Giacometti) in the Chapelle des Pénitents blancs, Granet XXe. Regular temporary exhibitions.
Fondation Vasarely · Aix-en-Provence (≈ 30 km)
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A building that is itself a work of art, designed by Victor Vasarely, the father of Op Art: 44 monumental works that play with colour and movement. Spectacular for children and adults alike.
Cézanne in Provence · Aix-en-Provence (≈ 30 km)
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The Atelier des Lauves, where Cézanne painted his last works, and the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, his family home. These sites sometimes close for works: check opening dates before booking.
Carrières des Lumières · Les Baux-de-Provence (≈ 45 km)
In a former stone quarry, immersive digital exhibitions projected onto walls 14 metres high. Combine it with a visit to the village and castle of Les Baux. Booking recommended in summer.
Mucem · Marseille (≈ 45 km)
The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, linked to Fort Saint-Jean by a footbridge over the sea. Temporary exhibitions, gardens and terraces overlooking the Old Port.
Musée Ziem · Martigues (≈ 25 km)
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In the heart of the ‘Provençal Venice’, a museum devoted to the painter Félix Ziem and to the artists who painted Martigues and the Étang de Berre. An ideal stop before dinner on the quays.
Musée départemental Arles antique · Arles (≈ 55 km)
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Mosaics, sarcophagi and a 31-metre Roman barge recovered from the Rhône: a fascinating museum for understanding Arles, before visiting the arena and the ancient theatre.
See also our ideas for visits, our restaurants and our ice-cream parlours.