Marc F.
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The Bastion is a small fortification built on the coast in the early 17th century. Its great age make it interesting, its smallness means there isn’t much to see.
It houses a “museum” – more of a small collection, really – of works by the Jean Cocteau, the famous 20th century French artist (and poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, and critic). Most, though not all, of the Cocteau works are prints or drawings. At the time of this visit (2025), there is an exhibition of brightly-coloured sculptural multimedia pieces by Michèle Kleijnen.
Curation was mostly in French only (there might have been a little English, but not much).
I felt it was barely worth the handful of euros it cost to get admission.
Being inside the beautifully-restored building is a bit of a treat. It’s fascinating to see how this atmospheric bit of history was built, seemingly out of re-purposed bits of other buildings. But there is not much to it: an entrance foyer, then stairs up to one large room which has three or four very small rooms off it. And also the pebble mosaics, inside and out which apparently were hand-made by Cocteau. One unexpected pleasure was the way that one of the narrow windows framed the rocks and sea outside – see photo. Oh, and the smallest museum shop in Christendom, possibly.
I’m not one for Cocteau’s art, with the exception of a very few pieces. And I did not think much of the artistry of Kleijnen’s thingies. So this really was not a place for me, save for the architectural history angle. But much better if you appreciate Cocteau.
