This morning I took a city bus to a point up, up and out to the car park for the Carrieres de Bibemus at the edge of town. Once we arrived at the car park, I got on the tour bus to take me out to the site — I was the only person who had come for the tour (having purchased my ticket yesterday at the tourism office). At first I was told that the tour had been cancelled because of the weather; however, a woman appeared, Marianne, who, as it turned out, was to be my guide. The van took me through a long stretch of forest along a long, narrow road, until we came to the entrance, and I had my own private guided tour of the Carrieres de Bibemus.
Although I was the only person on the tour, Marianne was very thorough and, as we walked through the cool, pungent smell of pine, under an overcast sky with occasional spots of rain, she shared her knowledge of the history and geology of the area, how stone was quarried, as well as her very good understanding of Cezanne's principles, explaining how he was the father of modern art. As she told me, people came to Paris during the teens and 20's from other parts of the world and they valued Cezanne's works and took them home. She said that the French were among the last to really appreciate Cezanne's work — "the French could just never understand it." She said it wasn't until the 80's that Cezanne was really appreciated in France. Found that curious.
Prior to modern construction, the City of Aix-En-Provence was entirely constructed of the stone from the quarries. As she explained, the Romans were the first to mine the quarries, using it for bridges and monuments and buildings. The name of the place "Bibemus" means "we drink," and refers to the need for water as a result of the back-breaking, thirst-inducing work involved in extracting stone from the quarries.
Another major period of quarrying was during the time of Louis XIV, when the aristocracy began to settle in Aix; and the last major quarrying was done in the 17th century, when another major era of building took place.
There was a phase when the quarries were dynamited to mine salt; however, the salt was not good, and the quarries were left to sit. In the 60's and 70's the quarries were havens for drinking and drugs, and people could pretty much come and go as they pleased. Fortunately, an American bought the land, and when he died, he bequeathed the site to the city of Aix.
At one point the value of the place finally became apparent, and the site was walled in and enclosed, and now people can only enter as part of guided tours. Areas were constructed with wooden walkways and places where one can see tiled replicas of works Cezanne painted that are placed at the viewpoint he would have seen as he was painting each work. And there were other paintings that were composed of various views put together. On the centenary of his death (2006), thousands of tourists came, and now the site is, of course, one of the major tourist attractions in Aix.
It was very special to be here, and she told me how fortunate I had been, since the afternoon tour had been cancelled because of impending rain. (And this morning's tour was the only English-speaking tour that I could attend, so I was doubly lucky!)
In the afternoon I visited the atelier Cezanne had built on the outskirts of town, where he painted. Many of the objects that he used are still in the large room, and, as we were shown photographs of his works, the objects were pointed out to us.
Here is a link to the site:
http://www.atelier-cezanne.com/anglais/visites.htm
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