Any other business

A few years ago (I don't remember if it was just before COVID or just after), at any dinner in Paris you could be sure you'd find someone looking into moving to Arles or Marseille. The professionals and gallery people were buying flats or opening Airbnbs or boutique hotels in Arles, while the hard-up artists were drawn to cheap housing and studios in a sunny, messy place by the sea: Marseille. I used to spend some time in Provence every year in the 80s, staying at Les Baux during summer holidays in France. Arles, I knew from that time, is one of the nicest towns in the area. My acquaintance with Marseille was more limited: basically, I knew the station and the Old Port, and that was it. But both towns have undergone quite a renaissance since then, in terms both of trendiness and of contemporary art. The phenomena are, I suppose, linked. I'd been on the odd business visit, or passed through Marseille on the way to somewhere else, but I hadn't even visited the MUCEM muse...