Day Trips from Aix Part 4 - Carrières de Lumières and Château des Baux
Carrières de Lumières and Château des Baux was an awesome day trip an easy hour's drive from Aix en Provence. We combined two very different experiences in this trip, both found within walking distance of each other.
Carrières de Lumières is a super cool art exhibit that is held in an old limestone quarry. As you walk through the entrance door you walk into the earth where over decades limestone has been scrapped out in chunks, leaving towering walls and columns of white limestone and cavernous halls to walk through. That would be impressive enough, but the most recent incarnation of this space is that it is now the canvas for an innovative audiovisual immersive experience during which famous works of art are projected on the walls and columns, in a fluid and dynamic way.
According to a plaque that outlines the history of the quarry, "the unique atmosphere and cool temperature of the site have always inspired artists to get creative. For them, the quarries served both as a muse and a setting, an inspiration and a stage for their creations." However the quarry did not become primarily a setting for art and culture until after it was abandoned, not long after World War One. In the 1960s it served as the set for Jean Cocteau's film, "The Testament of Orpheus" and then in the 1970s its walls served as the canvas for the first audiovisual show held in the space. In the 2000s the town turned the management of the quarry over to the group "Culturespaces" who developed the current concept, dubbed "AMIEX" (Art & Music Immersive Experience). Every year (or so) the featured artist changes and this year Van Gogh's work is on display. For us this was a nice piece of continuity since we had visited Arles and seen the site of inspiration for many of his works, as well as seen some of the originals in the museum in Aix.
The show runs on a loop and there is no set time to enter or exit. You can roam at will, watching the changing images, or you can stand still and soak it all in. There are pockets of space without anyone nearby, or you can join a cluster of people, all gazing at the colours and images in a shared collective experience. The images expand and contract, appear and disappear. They are fluid and alive. The movement of the images is coordinated with music that emanates from speakers hidden all around. It is such a unique experience to see a static painting projected onto huge walls in a moving form accompanied by sound. The size of the space forces you to feel overwhelmed by the images (but in a good way).
The other show that alternated with the Van Gogh show was called "Japan dreamed, images of the floating world" and is a series of iconic Japanese images from Japanese prints that began circulating in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. Images such as floating lanterns, Samurai, fans, Koi, and crashing waves wash over you in a colourful and hypnotizing way. Everyone decided the Japan show was our preferred one, especially the lanterns and the underwater scenes. We stayed for three rounds of both shows, soaking it all in. The kids claim to be unimpressed with Van Gogh's art, but come on now, this was a pretty cool way to experience it!
Outside the main hall there was an area of the quarry that was not being used in the exhibit and which showed you what the walls of the working quarry would have looked like. It also offers a sense of scale:
All in all the Carrières de Lumières was a really unique experience and definitely worth the time. I suppose for an art purist there might be an element of horror that such classic masterpieces have been distorted and manipulated to appeal to the common eye. But I say whatever works to experience art in whatever form. The originals are hanging on walls in museums and we can still go see them, but this was truly an immersive and unique experience that took art out of a two dimensional gallery experience and put it in the multi-sensory box. Given our relatively low conversion rate to art gallery aficionados, I am happy to have this experience on offer.
The other super cool thing about Carrières de Lumières was that it was right next to a medieval castle. After a tailgate picnic (delicious cheese and bread from the back of the car, but while gazing at mountains and forest), we walked over to the fortified town of Chateau des Baux. As we meandered along the narrow cobbled streets we noted well curated tourist shops and galleries. At the entrance to the castle grounds we got our kid guides and audio tour headsets and launched onto a self guided tour, with the castle ruins towering over us on a hilltop that overlooks the rolling fields below.
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| Walking through the old streets of the village of Chateau des Baux. |
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| The Castle was built in the 10th century! |
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| Pigeon houses. |
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| Listening to the audio tour. |
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| Looking out to the realm below. |
Like all good museums and attractions, the exit was through the gift shop, and this was a rare time we stopped for a souvenir. How could we resist a wooden medieval sword? And if you get one, you need two to duel. Well, there are probably lots of ways to resist, but we didn't, and they provided hours of entertainment. We not only have our memories of a great day at Chateau des Baux, but those swords even made it all the way home!
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