Museums (Musées) Provence-Beyond (Beyond the French Riviera) ® Below: [ List | Cork | Lavender | Santons ] Beyond country is full of museums. The region is rich in history and art and numerous other fascinating subjects. The larger towns and cities of Beyond, such as Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Cannes, Marseilles, and Nice have so many museums that you'll need the guides made especially for them. A complete list of the Beyond museums is beyond the scope of Beyond. We will (and do) list what we consider the more interesting or out-of-the-ordinary museums, those that fit the spirit of Beyond. We will also add the more classical museums for selected towns and villages following requests from our readers (you). You should find these museums listed with the village where they are located. This "museum" page is intended as an index to those village pages with the museums, along with a few that don't yet have a village page. Museum Cards Carte Musées Côte d'Azur New cards (summer 1997) allow prepaid entry into the museums of the Côte d'Azur. These cards can be purchased any time during the year, and become active the first time they are used. They're accepted in 58 museums and monuments, roughly between Cannes and the Italian border, including Antibes, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Nice, Blausasc, Eze, Le Cannet, La Trinité, Levens, Mougins, Saorge, Vallauris and the Vallée des Merveilles. A card is for one named person only, and good for an unlimited number of visits during its time period. The cards are available from museums, monuments and Offices de Tourismes. For 3 consecutive days - 70 F. For 7 consecutive days - 140 F. Carte-Pass Musées de Nice This card allow prepaid entry into the museums of the Nice. This card is valid for 7 days, from the date of purchase. For 7 immediate days - 40 F. Reductions There are no reductions for the museum cards. Some museums have reductions (for kids or senior citizens) that apply to normal entry. Reductions, if any, apply to everybody, regardless of nationality. For more information, contact the Intermusée: Tel: (33) 493 52 33 25. List [Top] These towns and villages have one or more museums. The most unusual have been specified here, otherwise they are usually local history or archeology museums. Aix-en-Provence (13) - Many! Antibes (06) - Picasso, Archeology, History Avignon (84) Barrème (04) Beuil (06) Bonnieux (84) - Bread Museum Cannes (06) - Archeology, Ethnology Castellane (04) - Art et Traditions Populaires Cavaillon (84) Eze (06) Entrevaux (04) - Motorcycle Museum; with old motorcycles (all working), located inside the fortified, medieval town. Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (84) Forcalquier (04) Gordes (84) - Glass Making, Olive-Oil Mill Grasse (06) - Perfume, others Joucas (84) - Oil mill Levens (06) Mane (04) Marseilles (13) Many! Mazan (84) Nice (06) Many! Oppéde (84) Roquebrune-sur-Argens (83) Roure (06) St. Paul (06) St. Rémy (13) Sault (84) Valbonne (06) Vence (06) Verdon Museum of Prehistory (Quinson, 04) Barcelonnette (04) (map B4) Musée de la Vallée tel: (33) 492 81 27 15 Open: Wed, Thur, Sat; School holidays: daily Breil-sur-Roya (06) Ecomusée du Haut Pays Open: mid June-mid Sept: Wed-Mon; Open: Easter-mid June and mid Sept-end Oct: Sat-Sun Crillon-le-Brave (84) Musée de la Musique Mecanique (Mechanical Music) tel: (33) 490 65 61 59; fax: (33) 490 12 82 28 Open: Summer: daily; Winter: Sundays; Hours: 15h-19h Cabrières d'Avignon (84) Musée de la Lavande tel: (33) 490 76 91 23 Digne-les-Bains (04) (map C3) Musée Municipal Prehistoric and Gallo-Roman archeology; paleonthology, entomology tel: (33) 492 31 45 29; fax: (33) 492 32 38 64 Open: July-Aug: daily; Sept-June: Tue-Sun Musée d'Art Religieux (Religious Art) tel: (33) 492 31 34 61 (Archives Départmentales) Open: July-Sept Musée de Géologie Centre de Géology, Saint-Benoît tel: (33) 492 31 51 31; fax: (33) 492 32 40 74 Open: all year Musée de la Seconde Guerre Mondial (WW II) tel: (33) 492 31 54 80; 92 31 28 95 Open: May-Oct: Wed, 14-18:00; Nov-Apr: 1st Wed of the month Jardin Botanique des Cordeliers (Botanical Garden) A garden in "squares" typical of the middle ages, with over 350 aromatic and medicinal plants tel: (33) 492 30 81 50; fax: (33) 492 32 43 73 Open: Apr-Sept Gonfaron (83) Cork Museum - Eco-Musée du Liège de Gonfaron This Cork Museum has information about the cork oak tree, and a partially reconstructed old cork factory. Gonfaron in on the N97, 10 km northeast of Carnoules (map E4). Open: all year; hours: 9-12, 14-19; closed Mondays tel: (33) 494 78 25 65; fax: (33) 494 78 25 99 Gréoux-les-Bains (04) (map D3) Musée du Santon (Santons) tel: (33) 492 77 61 08; fax: (33) 492 77 64 59 Open: 1 Mar - Sept: daily; Sept - 4 Jan: closed Mon. Ecomusée du Vitrail et des Métiers du Verre A museum about glass making, covering 500 BC to the present tel: (33) 492 74 27 85; 92 87 57 05 Open: 1 Mar - 23 Dec Moustiers-Ste-Marie (04) (map D3) Musée Historique de la Faience (Pottery) tel: (33) 492 74 61 64; fax: (33) 492 74 62 23 Open: all year Nice (06) (map D5) The Miniature Train Museum at Nice is one of the largest personal collections in France. There are at least 45 trains running continuously on eleven circuits, and some of the layouts depict specific regional sites. The displayed collection includes around four thousand pieces, lovingly built up over the past several years. Musée des trains miniatures; Parc des Miniatures, boulevard Imperatrice-Eugenie, Nice; tel. 93 97 41 40.   Nice- Cimiez (06) (map D5) The archeological museum at Cimiez, overlooking the city of Nice, is built on an ancient Roman site, and the museum includes an outdoor walk through the restored ruins of the Roman buildings and baths. Musée et site archeologique de Cimiez; 160 ave. des Arenes, Nice; 93 81 59 57.   Pontis (04) (Vallée de l'Ubaye) Musée de la Vallée tel: (33) 492 44 26 94 Open: all year   Puget-Rostang (06) Ecomusée du Pays de la Roudoule tel: (33) 493 05 07 38; fax: (33) 493 05 13 25 Open: May-Sept: Tue-Sun; Oct-June by rendezvous This very interesting little museum shows the geology, history and heritage of the Roudoule region. Exhibitions include ancient agricultural tools, crafts and trades, and rebuilt building interiors. There's even a set of reproductions of Bréa.   Reillanne (04) (map D2) Musée des Amis des Arts tel: (33) 490 76 46 25; 92 76 42 46 Open: 8 July - 31 Aug   Riez (04) (map D3) Musée Lapidaire (Stone work ) Gallo-Roman examples tel: (33) 492 77 82 80; fax: (33) 492 77 79 67 (Office de Tourisme) Open: Apr-Oct; Nov-Mar by rendezvous   Musée de l'Abeille (Bee keeping) tel: (33) 492 77 84 15; fax: (33) 492 77 82 73 Open: all year   Musée Nature en Provence tel: (33) 492 77 82 80; fax: (33) 492 77 79 67 (Office de Tourisme) Open: Oct-Dec   St. Martin-de-Brômes (04) (Verdon) Musée Gallo-Romain tel: (33) 492 78 02 07; 92 77 63 82 Open: 1 May - 15 Sept, Tue-Sun   St. Paul-sur-Ubaye (04) (Vallée de l'Ubaye) Musée de la Vallée tel: (33) 492 84 36 23 Open: 8 July - 31 Aug; Hours: 15:00-17:00   Sospel (06) (map D5) Gare SNCF - Orient-Express Visit the Orient-Express, at the Gare de Sospel (Railway station) Open: all year tel: (33) 493 04 00 43; fax: (33) 493 04 04 69 (Restaurant l'Escargot d'Or)   Vachères (04) (Montagne de Lure) Musée - Regional antiques; Fossils; Roman artifacts tel: (33) 490 75 62 16 (Mairie) Open: all year   Valensole (04) (map D3) Musée Vivant de l'Abeille (Bee keeping) tel: (33) 492 74 85 28 Open: Jun-Sep, Mon-Sat; Oct-May, Tue-Sat   Vallauris (06) (map E4) Musée de la Poterie   Villeneuve (04) (La Durance) Musée tel: (33) 492 78 45 45; 92 78 44 74 Open: all year, Saturdays   Volx (04) Ecomusée du Savon (Soap) tel: (33) 492 70 35 21 Open: Jul-Aug, every day; Sep-June, closed Saturdays