Ramped up

Some friends had mentioned that Besançon is a pretty, little city, and maybe worth a visit on our way back from the Jura. Although it’s only 2½ hours from our home, once I’d started to research it, I felt it might be worth having a stopover. So we booked a night at the Hôtel de Paris, in the centre of town, and planned our little jaunt.

One of the places that looked like a ‘must visit’ was Besançon’s Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology, which was originally founded in 1694, and apparently has the oldest public art collection in France. Silly not to go! For comparison, The Louvre was opened in 1793, almost a 100 years later.

The construction of the museum’s new site began in 1967 and was finished in 1970. The internal structure of the museum has been left as rough, unfinished concrete, with the wooden shuttering, used to form the walls, still visible in its surface. Black ceramic tiles are used for the floors. The lighting is a mix of natural and artificial, which works well with the various art pieces.

The visit starts with the archeology, with some interesting pieces that have been found in the local area, or donated for display from other collections.

The various exhibits are cleverly split into their own spaces, even though the museum is essentially one vast open building. It’s a bit like when you go round IKEA, it just flows well.

Once we’d completed the ground floor, we followed the central spiral of ramps up through the spine of the museum, viewing each set of works as they unfurled on each of the floors. Often not realising we were ascending, as we viewed the exhibits displayed along the wide ramps.

With works by Bronzino, Renoir, Rodin and Pompon, there are some beautiful masterpieces to be enjoyed, all set in a glorious and carefully considered space. Well worth a look in if you are visiting the area.