Cézanne's studio — Attraction in Aix-en-Provence

Daylight robbery/De l’arnaque.

First of all, let me say that I am extremely grateful to be under 26; to have had to pay more than €3.50 for the unrivalled pleasure of visiting Cézanne’s studio would have been an ordeal that I wish upon nobody.

If you wish to recreate the ambiance of the studio at home, the following instructions may be of use: first, head to your local greengrocer and pick out 5 semi-putrified stone fruits, and place them in wicker baskets; then, head down to your local Emmaüs and grab some shabby furniture that you deem somehow provençal. If you have it to hand, your grandfather’s dusty coat would also not go amiss. Finally, be sure to be equipped with some highly-toxic mosquito repellent. If you are visiting in the summer months, it will not just be the rude, off-hand students who man the building that are sure to be demanding their pound of flesh from you - the mosquitos in the garden area will be at that too.

If the disinterested tourists’ sweaty pilgrimage up the Avenue Paul Cézanne isn’t enough to deter you, let this review be adequate forewarning: this is the biggest disappointment since Courbet, Manet, and Pissarro were rejected from the Paris Salon in 1863. The difference? You won’t go on to birth Impressionism. For this museum fails to leave any impression, bar that you’ve just been mugged off for €3.50 (or €7, if you aren’t a student), for the pleasure of standing in an old, poorly-curated, objet-ridden room (that does no justice at all to the artistic wonders of Cézanne himself), surrounded by other idiots who have also fallen for the same scam, and who are trying to convince themselves that it’s...

RESERVATION REQUIRED! DO NOT walk up the hill to get here unless you have a reservation, which you can apparently get online or at Tourist Information in town (though I was at the TI today and the guy didn’t mention that I would need a reservation… merci beaucoup monsieur…). It’s like something from a surrealist film when you walk through the gate at 14:20 and the employee at the gate says, with an absolutely straight face, “Okay, you can come inside at 17:30.”

From reading reviews (sort low to high!) it seems I’m not missing much. The gardens are unkempt (not in the English Garden style), the free video is on a screen smaller than my computer screen back at the office, and if you do pay the €6.50 (plus €3 for audio guide, I believe?) you get to see just one room with some staged objects (the Lonely Planet guidebook says many objects in the room are not original).

It is absolutely unacceptable that there is no signage at the bottom of the hill about the reservation requirement. There are many signs pointing pedestrians up the hill, but NONE warn that once you’re up there, you won’t be allowed in. It shows a lack of respect for the people...

It's not cheap to visit (your paying to see one room! The studio) Be aware the house is up a steep hill away from the town centre and a pain to get to if your pushing a heavily laden pushchair. By the time we got there my wife and child were so tired they couldn't be bothered and just sat outside. I was impressed by the amazingly well preserved studio and you can even recognise some of the backgrounds and artefacts used in some of his still life works. The grounds are nothing but not very well maintained scrub and woodland. Nothing to see there. The staff are helpful. I didn't sign up to the tour. I tagged onto a French school tour. It's not a bad attraction. I should have...