YOUR PROGRAM

Day 1 :

Arrival in Paris. Greeting from your driver and guide and panoramic city tour of the French capital: place de l’Opéra, place de la Concorde, the bridge Alexandre III, the Hôtel de Ville, the Louvre Museum and its Pyramid, the famous Champs Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe… Pass through the rue de La Boétie, where Picasso lived nearly 19 years in an apartment with his wife Olga. The workshop of the Grands Augustins where Picasso painted “Guernica” in 1937 is one of the most important places to mention. Installation in your hotel rooms. Dinner. Evening in the cabaret « Lapin Agile »: conservatory of French Music, talented artists, composing authors, an atmosphere where the audience sings, a unique ambiance from Montmartre district. Picasso had his own habits in this famous « café » of the Montmartre Hill. The owner, Frédé, is ilustrated on a painting at the back of the today’s cabaret, playing his guitar with his trapper bonnet and peasant hooves. Transfer back to the hotel. Overnight stay.

Day 2 :

Breakfast. Departure towards the famous district of Montmartre, the picturesque village of Pablo Picasso, for a vertiginous ascension by the little train: a stroll that will lead you to the place Blanche (Moulin Rouge) to the place du Tertre. Then, guided tour of the hill with the theme « Paris Artsy », at the time of insouciance and joy of living. Pass by the «  Bateau-Lavoir », the most well-known place of artistic creation of Montmartre. Mostly famous for welcoming a city of artists since 1889, it’s the home and place of sharing between many painters, men of letters, theatre and comedy actors or arts dealers. Pablo Picasso, started there the basis of cubism, but also Kees van Dongen, Juan Gris, Max Jacob or Modigliani lived and worked there. After the fire of 1970, only the front building exists, that reminds the memory of this place. Lunch. In the afternoon, head to the Picasso Museum. Entrance and visit at your own pace. At the end of the visit, get back to the hotel or free time in Paris. Dinner at the « Rotonde », restaurant attended by the artist. Transfer back to the hotel. Overnight stay.

Day 3 :

Breakfast.  Check out and transfer by coach to Gare de Lyon train station to get your TGV train to Cannes. Free lunch. At your arrival, transfer to the hotel. Free afternoon in the city-centre and the famous Croisette.  Stroll amongst the streets of the old town “Suquet”, with its Provence charm and its markets. The historical tour leads you from the beach and its fine white sand, the Palaces on the 3km-long Croisette bay and prestigious houses belonging then to royal families at the time when they came to stay during winter time. Each year in May, at the time of the Cannes Film Festival, the city is the centre of the world. The Croisette, the glitter, the red carpet, the stars of the 7th art, a flamboyant showcase which hides two centuries of a surprising history. Dinner. Overnight stay.

Day 4 :

Breakfast.  Start 3 days discovery of Pablo Picasso’s beloved places in South France, or locations that are dedicated to him: he has painted Cannes Bay, the Demoiselles of Avignon, got married in Vallauris and is buried in the parc of Vauvenargues Castle. Pablo Picasso has been an incredible standard-bearer of Provence and French Riviera’s natural beauty. A journey through time that enlightens more than ever the unlikely and rich life of the Frenchiest of the Spanish artists. Departure towards Antibes and guided visit of the Picasso Museum at the Grimaldi Castle. This re-contextualisation in a larger historical perspective of the artist’s production, from the immediate post war to the end of the forties, will allow to register the « Picasso of Antibes » in a particularly rich creative chronology during these happy years in which the painting  « La Joie de vivre » represents a kind of emblem. To this can be added a great collection of modern art constituted by exceptional donations offering pieces of great currents of art from the 20th and 21st centuries. Lunch. Continue to Cannes. Guided tour of Cannes with the « Picasso » theme. The Villa Californie on the heights of Cannes was one of the painter’s home. Today, the owner of the property full of souvernirs is his granddaughter Marina. Pablo Picasso moved in the Villa Californie in 1955 with his wife Jacqueline Roque. He was looking for light, nature and inspiration, as well as a great space to work. That’s where he painted « La baie de Cannes ». In 1961, the Spanish painter leaves the place, as a building obstructs the sea view. He moves to Mougins, where he will spend the rest of his life. (No visit of the Villa Californie possible). Transfer back to the hotel. Dinner. Overnight stay.

Day 5 :

Breakfast. Departure to Aix en Provence and guided tour of the town. In the light of a privileged climate, Aix-en-Provence is nicknamed “the city of the thousand fountains”. Guided tour of the town where someone can enjoy the dignity of patrimony and the pleasure of shopping, the joy of a shaded terrace and the architectural beauties, streets wandering and baroque marvels. Each fountain has its own secrets, each private mansion its stories, places and landscapes drawn by the painter Cezanne, father of modern painting. Lunch. Guided tour of the

Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs (extension of the Granet Museum). In 2011, the Fondation Jean and Suzanne Planque gave to the Museum, made of around 300 paintings, drawings and sculptures from the impressionists (Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas) until the major artists of the 20th century as Bonnard, Picasso, Braque, Léger, de Staël or Dubuffet. To present the essential of this magnificent collection, the museum expanded into the Chapel of the « White Penitents », jewel of the architecture of Aix in the 17th century. Transfer back to the hotel. Dinner. Overnight stay.

Day 6 : 

Breakfast. Guided tour of Mougins on the « Picasso » theme. The Mas Notre-Dame-de-Vie de Mougins is a big Provençal farmhouse of 800m², in a park of two hectares, in Mougins. He organized there many art exhibition evenings, with his muse and second wife Jacqueline Roque. Picasso died there in 1973, leaving a significant artwork to his heirs. The place was since rebaptised « l’Antre du Minotaure » (the cave of the Minotaure), as a tribute to his favourite artistic theme, that is a real personalized symbol (bulls, bull fights, labyrinth of the Minotaure, fabulous monster half-man and half-bull of the Greek mythology…). Enter the photography Museum André Villers: created in 1986 after the donation of this famous photgrapher, the collection shows the precious photos of the intimate moments of Pablo Picasso. You will also see a collection of ancient cameras and photography accessories. Lunch. Continue to Vallauris. Guided tour of the National Museum of Picasso « La Guerre et la Paix » (War & Peace). The Castle Museum, former priory church of the Lérins Abbey, rebuiltin the 16th century, is one of the rare Renaissance buildings in the region. It shelters the Museum in the Roman Chapel, as well as the Magnelli Museum and the Pottery Museum. Pass by the statue of the Man and the Sheep: first sculpture of Picasso installed in a public place (on the market place). Discovery of the agricultural corporation Nérolium : during his stay in Golfe-Juan, Picasso goes to Vallauris to visit the exhibition « ceramics, flowers and perfumes » taking place in the corridor of the corporation Nérolium. Built in 1904, the factory sells products coming from bitter orange: marmalade, flower water, Neroli (essential oil) or orange wine… Marmalade sampling. Madoura: place of art, history and creation: this unique and exceptional place, pottery workshop has hosted Pablo Picasso from 1946 and many other artists after him like Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. Picasso created there more than 3600 original pieces. Exhibition of original lino-cuts of Picasso. Transfer back to the hotel. Dinner. Overnight stay.

Day 7 :

Breakfast. Check out of your hotel rooms and free time until your coach transfer to the train station or Nice’s airport.