Learning to Love Cézanne in His Picture-Perfect Hometown
Aix is where Cézanne (1839-1906) was born and first put brush to palette. It's where he painted many of his masterpieces, and it's where he died. This year, from June to October, the city is honoring that legacy with a series of events linked to the reopening on June 28 of both the renovated Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, the artist's 18th-century family manor, and the Atelier des Lauves, his last workshop. This celebration, Cézanne 2025, made Aix one of The New York Times 52 Places to Go in 2025 and will bring up to 400,000 more visitors to a city that's already a prime summer destination. Key sites will be open only for guided visits, so reserve ahead.
This outpouring of admiration would have never happened a century ago. The Aixois generally derided the painter during his lifetime: The Impressionists aimed to please with their pretty palette. The Post-Impressionist Cézanne shocked with his bold colors and geometric forms. 'It takes time to like Cézanne because he is more complex than you realize,' said Bruno Ely, director of the Musée Granet, which will present the largest collection of Cézanne's work to date as part of Cézanne 2025.
Blvd. Aristide Briand
Paris
France
St.-Sauveur Cathedral
Aix-en-
Provence
Rue Mignet
Las Galinas
Place Richelme
Palais de Justice
Aix-en-Provence
Palais Comtale
Bar Le Grillon
Rue d'Italie
Cours Mirabeau
Mazarin
District
Ave. Victor Hugo
Rue cardinale
Musée Granet
Gallifet
Cours Gambetta
Maison du Collectionneur
Blvd. du Roi René
Château de Vauvenargues
2 miles
Barrage
de Bimont
Jardin des Peintres
Ste.-Victoire
Priory
Atelier des Lauves
Bastide du
Jas de Bouffan
Bibemus
Quarries
Croix de
Provence
Detail area
Montagne Ste.-Victoire
A51
France
A8
Bastide Bourrelly
A52
By The New York Times
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
What's on Cupid's Mind at Versailles? AI Can Tell You.
Early one midsummer afternoon in the Palace of Versailles' gardens, a pigeon landed effortlessly on a masterpiece of French outdoor sculpture: a 17th-century statue of Apollo on a chariot, pulled by four horses. The statue, made of gilded lead, has stood in a vast fountain at Versailles in the three-plus centuries since Louis XIV was king of France — and it has now entered the digital age via a new feature on the historic site's app: Powered by the tech giant OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, an audio tool lets visitors (on or off site) converse with 20 outdoor statues in three languages. On that summer afternoon, I put the chatbot to the test. I asked Apollo a few obvious questions — who had put him there, what he represented — and received textbook answers, delivered in perfect English by a confident male voice. Then, spotting the pigeon still perched on Apollo's head, I opted for a bolder line of questioning: What if a pigeon took a toilet break on this peerless treasure? 'When pigeons show their affection on my chariot, it's hardly a grand moment. But the caretakers of Versailles are vigilant,' Apollo replied. 'They ensure I remain in shining condition, restoring my brilliance after such interruptions. So no lasting harm from those little birds!' Versailles receives 8.4 million visitors a year, according to France's culture ministry, more than any other French heritage site except the Louvre Museum. Yet 80 percent of them are international tourists, and their average age is 40. So the palace is engaging with OpenAI and other big tech companies with the hope of not just informing visitors, but also luring audiences that are younger and more homegrown. (The New York Times filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI for using published work without permission to train its artificial intelligence. OpenAI has denied those claims.) Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
Immersive Luxury Travel Goes Next-Level With This Exclusive Paris Game
Paris by night Leonard Cotte/Unsplash/Courtesy of Ariodante 'Everyone can go to space if they have the money,' says Ricardo Araujo, the founder and CEO of the discreet ultra-luxury agency Ariodante, which creates extraordinary travel experiences rooted in art, history and culture. 'You just pay some millions to get there. You call SpaceX and that's it.' He's talking about a segment of ultra-high net worth travelers who have been (or could have been) everywhere and done everything. 'I've spent the past ten years working with centimillionaires and billionaires. I know very well their mindset,' says Araujo. 'They aren't bored; that's not the right word. But you're at the point in life where you have everything and you start living on the surface because everything feels the same.' The grand events, the luxury hotels and the Michelin meals become a blur. What's really appealing is 'engaging with something, being yourself and being challenged.' Now he's making his biggest bet yet on that mindset. Ariodante—which usually creates private games only for member clients who pay a sizable retainer—recently announced a first-of-its-kind, player-led, live-action game that takes immersive travel to a new level. It's called the Queen's Lost Diamonds and is themed around a real, centuries-old royal scandal. And in this case, anyone can apply to play (though Araujo is interviewing candidates to make sure they really get it before inviting them to sign an NDA and buy a ticket). Unlike a space jaunt, for instance, the Queen's Lost Diamonds is a one-off experience that can't be bought simply with money. 'You can't experience it again because it's never going to happen again,' says Araujo. 'And each person who experiences it is going to have a completely different experience' because of the choices they make throughout the game. A company announcement likens would-be players to Indiana Jones or Nicolas Cage's character in National Treasure , unraveling mysteries in glamorous locales. The Queen's Lost Diamonds will take on one of the most scandalous conspiracies in French history as it unfolds over three days with all of Paris as its playground. Nearly a year in the works, it's based on input from historians and scientists, with the assistance of hundreds of actors, appearances from real-life experts and access to secret spaces in iconic venues. Looking for clues in Paris Tristan Colangelo/Unsplash/Courtesy of Ariodante Araujo has also said he was inspired by the parallel reality exhibited in David Fincher's film The Game, though he says the complexity and scale of his venture make comparing it to producing a film 'too easy.' Players will investigate real manuscripts and historic accounts that complicate established theories; probe characters portrayed by actors and explore restricted areas in landmark monuments, some of which have never been accessed by non-custodians. The dates, which will be sometime in 2025, are under wraps for obvious reasons. There's security and privacy for high-profile clients, of course, but also to preserve the exclusivity. Participants will be told just a short time beforehand, 'so it's not something [other people] can prepare for,' explains Araujo. 'If I tell them the story of the game, they know what's going to happen' and might try to play along. (That said, he's been teasing with a few hints on his Instagram.) Even once the NDAs have been signed, the advance information given to actual players will be limited. 'If I say how many actors there are going to be, they're going to be expecting the people they meet to be actors when maybe they're not. If I'm bringing in whatever fashion designer, they're going to think that the guy is fake while he's actually the real fashion designer.' He continues, 'This is about architecture rather than me being fancy. I'm not withholding information just for marketing reasons. This is the first time something like this is happening.' (Likewise, the price is not being published, largely because it's changeable based on hotel preferences, possible extensions and the usual travel choices, though it's safe to say it will start in the mid-six figures.) The something—or rather, somethings—that are happening will be big. The scenarios that Araujo's team are devising are complex, filled with high-stakes challenges, tests of bravery and morale, and situations that call for using powers of persuasion and deduction. Players choose their own path, making countless decisions based on whom they consider to be allies or enemies. This means they've come up with about 150 scenarios that might play out, depending on whether, say, players leave a hotel via the front door or sneak out the back, whether they turn right or left, or maybe just stay and have another glass of wine. And the players 'are never going to notice anything [about all the other possibilities] because they'll have no idea that I've planned 20 other things that they'll never see.' All of these potential scenarios have been designed with the on-the-ground travel logistics wizards that have powered Ariodante's trips for a decade, as well as scholars, historians and archaeologists. Getting the serious people on board was a snap, says Araujo: 'It's something so unique and so fun that everyone wants to be part of it.' He reiterates: 'We are basing this on something real, something that really happened and hasn't been understood.' He knows better than to imagine they might solve a mystery that has flummoxed historians for decades, but perhaps 'we are going to shed new light on something.' Along with that draw, he mentions scholarly participants who were theater kids in high school and eager to act again, experts who want to share their knowledge in an engaging way, and others who simply enjoy a good game. 'I haven't had a single person saying, 'No, I don't want to be part of it.'' MORE FROM FORBES Forbes This Travel Startup Is Bringing Adventure Racing To New Audiences By Ann Abel Forbes This New Extreme Hotel In Patagonia Takes Adventure Travel To New Heights By Ann Abel Forbes Inside A Billionaire Banker's Laboratory For Sustainable Luxury Travel By Ann Abel
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
He's the 'Clark Kent of pommel horse': Stephen Nedoroscik on Rubik's Cube, math videos and his nightly 700-calorie ice cream bowls
'I love a challenge.' The glasses. The contemplative breaks with his eyes closed. The one-armed spins. There's a reason why U.S. gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik emerged from the 2024 Paris Olympics with two bronze medals and a new nickname: 'Clark Kent of pommel horse.' Nedoroscik parlayed his popularity into a stint competing on Dancing With the Stars, in which he placed fourth. Touring with the show hasn't given his body much of a break, he says during our conversation for Yahoo's OT Diaries. 'As gymnasts, we always say that if you take a week off, it's going to take a month to get back in shape,' Nedoroscik tells me. 'So, taking nine months off was quite a hurdle for me. I was scared of taking that time off.' This, after all, is a guy who likes to keep his body and brain busy — the latter with math videos and Rubik's Cubes. But as he gears up for gymnastics competitions again, the bespectacled breakout star of Paris is feeling pretty good. Here's what he says about dancing, keeping his mind sharp and using ice cream to keep his weight up. What a whirlwind of a year it's been for you! After getting bronze in the Olympics, you finished fourth on . Why was that show something you wanted to pursue? It was a sort of victory lap for my success at the Olympics. So I thought to myself, I've earned this time off to dance and travel the country. One of the things that Dancing With the Stars did for me was show me that I can be confident and comfortable in environments that are not meant to be comfortable. Being able to dance in front of millions of people, a sport that I have never done before, really raised my confidence level. Not only from a viewership standpoint of people watching me while I'm working on this craft, but also from the standpoint of competition: being in the zone, staying present and being able to execute certain things that are hard for me. So I do think that it has definitely increased my confidence, and I'm hoping to be able to show that off [in gymnastics] on the world stage soon. The training is notoriously pretty rigorous. What impact would you say it had on your body? Dancing With the Stars demands a lot out of your body, and we were dancing every day for a minimum of four hours. Toward the end, we were doing eight-hour days of dance, so throughout the whole process, I stayed in shape. Not only was I working cardio, but with the lifts that we were doing, I actually gained muscle mass in my arms and legs, which was amazing to me. One of the best things about dancing was that I didn't have to support too much on my elbows or wrists. On the pommel horse, that's where we get injured. So being able to let those body parts relax a little bit was awesome. After dancing for nine months, my wrists are feeling great, and my elbows are feeling a little bit better. Were you keeping up any other fitness routines during that time? I don't usually do a whole lot of running or weightlifting or anything like that. In fact, the only thing that I really did during the Dancing With the Stars tour to stay in gymnastic shape was during our stretching sessions. I would do a few flairs, hit a couple of planches, do my minute hold of a handstand … just making sure that I was hitting those gymnastics basic conditioning elements. So that way, when I came back to the sport, I'd be feeling pretty good. I've returned to [gymnastics] training as of [May], and now that I'm back to the sport, I'm realizing that maybe the stigma around taking time off isn't true. Maybe we can take a little more time off for our bodies. Honestly, my body's feeling a lot better than it was a year ago. I'm training five days a week, slowly getting back all the skills that I was training a year ago. In fact, I'm actually pretty far ahead of where I estimated myself to be. I'll be competing this summer in August at the U.S. Championships. Gymnastics also seems to be a very mental sport. Did the time away from it feel like a reset for your mind? A year ago, I was struggling in the gym as I was chasing that Olympic dream. So over these last nine months, I've just processed a lot of feelings that I've had regarding the Olympics and the whole process leading up to it. I'm reframing it in my head and trying to keep a positive mentality, so that I can gear up for the competition this summer and hopefully the world championships in the fall. As if that wasn't enough, you've also been competing in chess and Rubik's Cube… I'm kind of like a mouse running around on that thing that spins. I feel like I can't stop. So even when I'm not doing gymnastics, I move on to my other hobbies, like Rubik's Cube or chess or video games. I always have hobbies and things that take a really long time to get better at. That's kind of what I love. Pommel horse is the same way. Chasing those marginal gains and taking years to see the progress. That's just the type of guy I am; I love a challenge. They all take a lot of focus, right? In all my hobbies, there's this aspect of staying focused and locked in to what you're doing. It's one of those skills that's transferable in almost everything, and it's gotten me a lot throughout my life. Do you have a specific approach to fueling your body or resting that allows you to stay on top of all of these physical and mental challenges? For the most part, I'm very relaxed when it comes to nutrition. … I need to make sure to get enough calories, but I never really concern myself with where those calories come from. It's kind of well-known that I eat a lot of ice cream, because I struggle to get enough in me throughout the day to not lose weight. So every night I have a 700-calorie bowl of ice cream. Sleep is another thing that I struggle with. Like I said, I keep spinning, I keep moving, and that is a problem for me when I'm trying to settle down for bed — especially when I wake up at 7 a.m. every morning for my workout. After the tour, I had to do a whole readjustment to what my schedule looked like so that I could sleep on time. I would say right now I'm averaging around seven hours of sleep a night, which isn't where I want to be. But I'm slowly chipping away at getting to bed closer and closer to the time that I'm projected to. Is there ever a time when you're doing nothing? What does an actual day off from training, dancing or cubing look like for you? I'm a pretty calm, laid-back dude. I love to just stay at home, whether that's watching a TV show or playing a video game with [my girlfriend] Tess or one of my best friends. It's kind of the day that I take for myself to sort of just charge back up for this next upcoming week. That's good to hear! Let's wrap up with a round of rapid-fire questions … Who is your No. 1 call when you have good news? That's always going to be my mom. Every time. What is your comfort watch? I love The Office. What is your guilty pleasure? It's not a guilty pleasure; it's a proud pleasure of mine: my big bowl of ice cream every night. What gives you the ick? Honestly, not a lot of things give me the ick. Actually, nothing comes to mind. Even if something is weird, I always think, Oh, that was different and kind of cool, I guess. What is something that you eat or drink every day? If I could eat a food for the rest of my life and guarantee my survival, it's going to be mint chocolate chip ice cream. One thing apart from ice cream that I always have is a lot of water. I drink, minimally, a gallon of water a day. What is your internet rabbit hole? Math videos on YouTube. It's my favorite thing ever. People will upload hour-and-a-half-long videos, and I can't wait to get home and watch the whole thing. I'll rewind it so I understand it, so sometimes it takes me three hours to get through. What is one go-to item that never leaves your bag? My inhaler because I have asthma. It's the one thing I will always triple-check I have. What song or album is your personal soundtrack right now? I've been rotating the Beatles a lot recently. What is a wellness trend that you swear by? I don't know any wellness trends. But I do snore, so maybe I should try mouth taping. Gymnastics aside, what are you best at? Cubing. I actually just broke my record last week, 7.86 seconds. What is a skill or hobby that you're trying to get good at? One of the video games I play, Rocket League. I have a lot of hours and experience and years in it. I want to get better at it, and overall, I just want to rank higher. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Solve the daily Crossword
