Musee Paul Valery

The museum overlooks the Cimetiere marin. Image published under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license.

The Musee Paul Valery, which is located at the summit of Mount Saint Clair, overlooks the sailor's cemetery (cimitiere marin) and commands impressive views of the Mediterranean coast.

Paul Valery (1871-1945) did not achieve fame as a poet until he published "La jeune parque" at the age of forty-six in 1917.

This poem is written through the eyes of a young girl who contemplates love, life, death and isolation on cliffs overlooking the sea during a starry night and as a new day dawns.

Mount Saint Clair, the ideal setting for such symbolist poetry, was the backdrop for another critically-acclaimed poem: "le cimitiere marin". This explains why the municipal museum, located a short distance from the cemetery, is dedicated  to Paul Valery.

One of the five exhibition halls contains manuscripts, first editions, water colours and paintings by the poet. Valery, who served on the cultural committee of the League of Nations, became something of a statesman and social commentator in later life. He is affectionately remembered for his refusal to collaborate with the Vichy Regime.

The second hall is dedicated to paintings of Sete which date from the year of its foundation in 1666 to the modern day. The light at Sete is supposed to possess a particular quality which inspires dramatic and colourful seascapes.

Nautical jousting at the Festival of Saint Louis, Sete 2005. Image published under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license

The third hall is dedicated to traditional local sport of nautical jousting.  It contains numerous paintings of past jousts and the costumes, lances and musical instruments which belonged to the participants. All the shields awarded to the victors of the Saint Louis jousts, from 1666 to the present day, are also on display.

The fourth hall is dedicated to modern art exhibits  which may be borrowed by local organisations and institutions, and the fifth hall is used for temporary exhibitions. Recent exhibitions have included a collection of graffiti and abstract art.

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