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Let's say you're walking along an overgrown path in Provence with a view of the Mediterranean, mountains in the background along with a little village, boats bobbing in the crisp spring air and your sweet honey turns to you, eyes moist, and says something like, "Honey, it's sooooo beautiful, like a painting. You'd think that one of those famous painters would have put brush to canvas right on this spot..."

And then there's a beep from the mobile device in your pocket. You "answer" it. There it is, on your screen. Art representing the exact scene in front of you, painted by Claude Monet: Cap Martin, 1884.

"And not a lot has changed in all those years, has it?" She might say to you, enjoying her vacation even more than she ever thought she could.

The World of the Art of Provence in a Free App, Who Can Complain?

The free Provence Gallery app was produced for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Tourist Board by an outfit called Zevisit, whose website has some interesting information on destinations in France, like this stroll through the old town of Lille.

The app is available for iOS or Android devices. I tried it on a Nexus 7. It worked flawlessly.

Besides notifying you when you are approaching a place where art has been committed by a recognized artist and giving you a short background on how the art came to be (in voice or text), the app does several things that are fun to toy with during the vacation planning stage.

For example, from the home page I can simply shake the screen as if I were trying to erase an Etch-a-Sketch and a random work of art will appear where I can learn more about it or find it on a map.

I can also find out the locations and contents of art museum in Provence. I can call them from my device or get driving directions from within the app.

If I'm at a picture spot, I can find out what's near me and how I can walk to get there.

Finally, If I'm looking at say one of Monet's views of Provence, I can aim my camera and try to make an artistic rendering of it. If I think it's good enough, I can send the picture in an I might, if I please the judges, win something, or get my picture in the app somewhere. You can view other entries within the app as well.

Oh, and it's not just landscapes, the work of Van Gogh and Gauguin in Arles is represented as well, for example.

Provence Gallery Bottom Line

I really liked this app. This spring when I'm in Provence I'll be certain to have it on hand. Provence, you see, is an amazing place for the kind of eye candy that goes right to your soul, and I'd like to learn a little more about the art and the artists who recognized this fact from the beginning. Provence, like Tuscany, is a place where humans have augmented the beauty of a beautiful place rather than destroyed it, and thus both are known for art, artists, architecture and for a high standard of (slow) living. And to think that it has remained this way linked to its past through art is amazing.

Provence Gallery will fill in all the details of art Provence you might be missing, especially if your time in Provence is short and you want to fill yourself with its famous light and get an understanding of the artists attracted to it.

Provence Gallery is highly recommended--and the price is right!

The Compare Prices button below takes you to the iOS page, the app is available for Android devices here.