Martigues was a magnet for painters in the 19th- and early 20th-century. Painters from the schools of French Romanticism, Barbizon, and even Fauvism were drawn to the charm of this picturesque port and its luminous colors. Today, the “Venice of Provence,” still lovely and luminous and now also known for its flowers and gardens, may capture your heart, too. It is off the beaten path of the typical tourist, but well worth a stop if you are in the area. Église Saint-Louis d’Anjou in Ferruères Photo: WT Manfull Located just 21 kilometers (15 miles) from Marseilles-Provence Airport in Marignane, we were in the area one August day after dropping our daughter off for a mid-morning flight. So, we decided to go see where Eugéne Delacroix, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Félix Ziem and, especially, Raoul Dufy hung out to create their now famous paintings, inspiring other painters to come and set up their easels in Martigues, too. The Port of Martigues by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1888 Martigues is located on the southwest banks of the Étang de Berre* where the Channel de Caronte connects the Étang with the Golfe de Fos and the Mediterranean Sea. Martigues is [...]