A lasting impressionist in Provence

Provence is not only the subject of that book, it was also home to an artist of enduring appeal, writes DENISE McNABB*.

Like a sleek silver missile, slicked in an indigo stripe, the train races through the outer suburbs of Paris, a bullet sure of its trajectory.

September 11's terrorism had inadvertently done us a favour. At Charles de Gaulle Airport, five armed gendarmes had taken our six seats in the first-class salon. That the sixth seat had a shackled prisoner needed no explanation. Unapologetic, they simply gestured to us to sod off.

Some Americans had cancelled so, in what would have been a full first-class section, we took their vacant seats on the TGV (high-speed train) south to the beautiful university city of Aix-en-Provence.

There we had an appointment on the anniversary of the region's most famous son, Paul Cezanne. Exactly 95 years to the day he died of pleurisy while painting at his easel we would visit his studio, Les Lauves.

An ash-grey sky has peeled away, revealing cloudless blue and sunshine, giving credence to the belief that the internet lies. Rain and more rain, it had forecast. But we were going to Provence, where images of a sun-soaked countryside have become larger than life following the scribblings of British writer Peter Mayle in A Year in Provence.

We settle in to our zebra-striped seats with petite red pillows, velcroed strategically at head level, and tables that flip down from the seat in front, as on planes.

While fast trains have been have part of the French transport system for decades, the Mediterranee line has not long been completed. It is bound to hit another nerve with Air France, which last year was forced to abandon the Paris-Brussels route and book its passengers on the train because it was quicker.

To travel by car to Aix through gnarled traffic and behind large, diesel-belching trucks is a seven-hour journey. We will do it in three at 300 km/h in uninterrupted comfort.

A single one-way train pass between Paris and Aix costs €53.43 ($114), but there are numerous deals, particularly for foreigners.

Wherever the French go, expect their pets in tow. An overweight cat lies on a table in a smoking carriage next to the restaurant salon. In a compartment a snowy toy terrier pokes its head out of a carry-bag beside its owner.

Across the aisle another man pauses from his pile of papers to eat lunch - sliced tomato, chunks of yellowy potatoes, Coeur de Lyon Camembert cheese, vanilla yoghurt and bananas, produced from a brown paper bag.

The train's horn wails as we leave Lyons. A barge plies a nearby river. Hills are gentle, green, tanned and undulating, broken by the occasional chalky escarpment, and in the distance, mountains - including Mt Sainte-Victoire, a dominant feature of Cezanne's landscapes.

"For a long time, I remained helpless, unable to paint the Sainte-Victoire, simply because I pictured it having a concave shadow. Whereas look for yourselves, it clearly has a concave shadow that elopes from its centre. Rather than shrinking, it evaporates, it fluidises. It contributes its blue tones to the colours of the breeze," Cezanne wrote.

His canvas is framed momentarily by a train window.

Aix-en-Provence is a Roman city. Its main street, Cours Mirabeau, flush with trees with a spectacular fountain at its foot, is said to be the most beautiful street in the South of France.

It was here that Cezanne was born in 1841, above a shop where his father once sold hats. Later in life he would dine further along the street at the Cafe des Deux Garcons, meaning Two Waiters. It is today a fetching place, gilt and glam and the place to dine and be seen.

On a winding road, overlooking the city, Les Lauves rests in a peaceful garden. Of course, you won't find a single painting by the famous artist in the cavernous upstairs studio - the 44 oils and 43 watercolours are housed in the best museums or private collections of the wealthy.

But at Les Lauves there are the original props he used for his stills - pottery jugs and plates, fruit (replaced daily, of course) and cloths, perfectly positioned to replicate what he painted.

Copies of the originals sit behind the displays and there is a fine collection of Cezanne memorabilia.

The studio now belongs to the University of Aix-Marseille, its future preserved by wealthy Americans who collected funds for its renovation in the 50s.

Aix's tourism office has an excellent brochure that maps Cezanne's haunts, revealing vignettes of his life, which included an estranged relationship with his wife, Hortense, and son, Paul.

* Denise McNabb travelled to Provence as a guest of Cathay Pacific Airways, Maison de la France, Rail Europe and Chateaux & Hotel de France.