A gloriously sunny February day – perfect for exploring ‘les plus beaux villages de France’ in the Dordogne Valley.

Beynac-et-Cazenac

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

At the Halle aux Grains, Toulouse for an extremely enjoyable concert by the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. In the first half was Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 21, with the excellent Adam Laloum, who performed with a wonderful touch and was deservedly called back for two encores.  In the second half was Mahler Symphony no. 1, always one of the most enjoyable symphonies to hear, extremely well played under the very enthusiastic Singaporean conductor Kahchun Wong.

Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 21; Mahler: Symphony no. 1.

At the Auditorium de l’Opera in Bordeaux, France, for an excellent Bartók concert by the Orchestre National Bordeaux under Michail Jurowski.

Beethoven: Coriolan overture; Bartók: Miraculous Mandarin Suite; Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

San Sebastián is a beautiful coastal city in northern Spain. Known as the ‘gastronomic capital’ of the country, it is home to several world-renowned restaurants.

San Sebastián cathedral

Playa de la Concha

At the Guggengheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain for an exhibition of selections from the Thannhauser Collection from the Guggenheim, New York. The collection was donated by the German-born art dealer Justin Thannhauser and his wife Hilde and is particularly rich in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.

Edouard Manet ‘Before the Mirror’ (1876)

Vincent van Gogh ‘Mountains at Saint-Remy’ (1889)

Paul Gauguin ‘ Haere Mai’ (1891)

Paul Cezanne ‘Bibemus’ (1894 – 95)

Pablo Picasso ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ (1900)

Georges Braque ‘Guitar, Glass and Fruit Dish on Sideboard’ (1919)

Pablo Picasso ‘Woman with Yellow Hair’ (1931)

Also an opportunity to see a retrospective of the works of the Swiss-born sculptor Alberto Giacometti, including his famous ‘Walking Man’

Alberto Giacometti ‘Walking Man I’ (1960)

St. Just and St. Pasteur Cathedral, Narbonne, begun in 1272

At Musée Fabre in Montpellier, south of France, for the fascinating ‘Picasso, Donner à voir’ exhibition. It looks at the whole of Picasso’s career by examining fourteen milestone moments in which a new style emerged or he began a fresh direction in his artistic practise.

It begins with Picasso as a teenager painting in Spain, moves on to his arrival in Paris and continues through the blue period, ‘Demoiselles d’Avignon’, Cubism, the return to classicism after World War I, Surrealism, the ‘Guernica’ period and his late career.

Pablo Picasso ‘Self-Portrait’ (1896)

Pablo Picasso ‘Woman Ironing’ (1901)

Pablo Picasso ‘Three Figures under a Tree’ (1907 – 08)

Pablo Picasso ‘Still-Life with Chair Caning’ (1912)

Pablo Picasso ‘Pan’s Flute’ (1923)

Pablo Picasso ‘Harlequin Musician’ (1924)

Pablo Picasso ‘Portrait of Marie-Thérèse’ (1937)

Pablo Picasso ‘Women of Algiers, after Delacroix’ (version H, 1955)

In Montcabrier in the Lot , south-west France, for the ‘8 de Montcabrier’ festival. An extremely enjoyable concert with wind quintet and the excellent pianist Morgane Fauchois-Prado.

Bach: ‘Suite francais no.2’; Ravel: ‘Tombeau de Couperin; Poulenc: ‘Sextet for piano and wind quintet’.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tournai has an eclectic collection of paintings from all periods but is especially rich in modern art, having the only two works by Manet exhibited in Belgium.

Edouard Manet ‘Argenteuil’ (1874)

Edouard Manet ‘The Père Lathuilk Restaurant’ (1879)

Henri Fantin-Latour ‘L’etude. Portrait of Sarah Elizabeth Budgett’ (1883)

Georges Seurat ‘Beach at Bas Butin, Honfleur’ (1886)

James Ensor ‘Pierrot and Skeletons’ (c.1905 – 07)

In the ‘Old Masters’ section of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in the Belgian capital of Brussels, whose permanent collection includes an excellent display of early Netherlandish art.

Robert Campin ‘Annunciation’ (c.1420s)

Rogier van der Weyden ‘La Pieta’ (c.1441)

Rogier van der Weyden ‘Portrait of Antoine de Bourgogne’ (c.1460)

Quentin Metsys ‘Madonna Enthroned’ (c.1595)

Hieronymus Bosch ‘Temptation of St. Anthony’ triptych (c.1500 – 05)

Pieter Bruegel the Elder ‘Fall of the Rebel Angels’ (1562)

Paul Gauguin ‘Breton Calvary’ (1889)

James Ensor ‘The Strange Masks’ (1892)