Musees des Beaux-Arts, Beziers, France

Friday, October 29, 2010

We have another day in Bezier and have decided to visit the Musees des Beaux-Arts, which is actually two museums. A paltry two Euro will get you into both and it is well worth it. The two buildings are completely separate old houses and its about a three minute walk to get from one to the other. 

The first we visited is called Hotel Fabregat which houses the Jean Moulin modern collection and some classic works by famous Dutch, Italian, French and Spanish artists. We saw works by the artist to King Henry the VIII of England, Hans Holbein, the junior.

The second is at Hotel Fayet. This old house was as beautiful as the sculpture that fills it. Some of the works by Jean-Antoine Injalbert who resided in Bezier can be found in the town itself at the Place de Poets, where you can see a gorgeous war memorial and deeper into the park you can see the stunning fountain and grotto by the artist.

Later on in the evening we went for dinner at the restaurant up the street from us that had a rainbow flag sticker in the window. While there we discovered that in the basement was the town's gay bar; Le Michel-Ange. It is a discreet, low-key place with a completely separate address from the restaurant and hotel. The bar is spacious with plenty of seating and a large video screen. The hosts are a charming couple who have been together for more than twenty years. Look for the yellow light over the door and ring the bell to be let in. 

The address is: 47 rue du Midi -34500 Beziers, France. Smoking is allowed.  Le Michel-Ange is open: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 22:30 until late. The bar does not have a website. Tel: 04 67 49 20 78.