Jean Cocteau: Museum, Sculpture, Life, in Menton, the South of France, and Trail to His Grave

Problem
What can you do in Menton (after, before, or if you missed the lemon festival)? What can you do near Nice? What can you do near Cannes, if you are not invited to the film festival, or if you are?

Answer
Go to the Jean Cocteau museum.

Who was Jean Cocteau? I recognize the name, but have trouble identifying who he was, when he lived and what he did.

All becomes clear if you visit the museum about him in Menton, in the south of France, or trawl through the internet.

Jean Cocteau Museum in Menton, South of France. Picture by Paolo Schubert, from Wikipedia.

What a beautiful picture of a beautiful museum. Modern, yet fits the landscape. A contrast of light and dark. Functional yet beautiful. Usually, I think that top-heavy columns and buildings or parts of buildings look like they are the wrong way up, unnerving and unnatural. Yet here the parts which are wider on top are elegant, like wine glasses or beakers.

Those white bendy pillars you see outside arch over the interior creating delightful secluded areas to sit with a view to the outside. 

The café, with white chairs, offers occasional buffet brunches (you can see a picture of the food the the website), which must be booked the week before, for about £9? (18 euros? - check current prices and exchange rates) to the accompaniment of free classical music.

Sculpture of Jean Cocteau. Picture by Berthold Werner in Wikipedia.

This sculpture of the man is in VilleFranche-sur-mer, next to Nice.

Villefranche means free town. Sur mer is French for on sea. At first glance this sculpture is messy, quite hideous. You are reminded of what Jean-Cocteau said:

'Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful. Fashion produces beautiful things which frequently become ugly.'

You can find a whole page of quotations by Jean Cocteau in Wikiquote.

He was prolific. He wrote poetry, books, wrote screenplays, directed films.

Jean Cocteau knew everybody. Modigliani. Piaf. Picasso.

 He died the day after the French singer Edith Piaf. (My favourite song of hers is Je Ne Regrette Rien - I regret nothing.) It was said that he died of a broken heart, after hearing that she had died.

The original museum opened in the 1960s, three years after he died, and features objects and art works the artist left, plus a later collection by the American benefactor Wunderman (born in Belgium).

In addition to the ultra-modern Jean Cocteau museum building, the more traditional looking Bastion Museum, only 150 yards away, has a joint ticket, and currently (October-November 2017) has an exhibition on Jean Cocteau's favourite actress, Sarah Bernhardt, who was said to be the first French international star. (For more on her see the next post.)

Your Jean Cocteau Trail:

1 Jean Cocteau Museum, Menton, France

2 Jean Cocteau Bust Sculpture, Villefranche-sur-mer, France

3 Jean Cocteau grave and artworks in Chapel.

Travel Tips And Information From These Handy Websites:
https://wikitravel.org/en/Menton
http://uk.france.fr
https://www.tourisme-menton.fr/-Menton-French-Riviera-.html?lang=en
https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/
https://www.easyjet.com/en/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villefranche-sur-Mer
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau#/media/File:Jean_Cocteau
https://www.museecocteaumenton.fr/La-Donation-Wunderman.html
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6629 Cocteau's grave, portraits, biography.

Author

 Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Author of Quick Quotations for Authors and Speakers. Who Said What When (quotations for every day of the year, featuring people who were born or died on that day or on that day did something remarkable.

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