Le Clos Arsène Lupine, Maison Maurice Leblanc

The Clos Arsène Lupine Museum , Maison Maurice Leblanc in Étretat

Le Clos Arsène Lupine, Maison Maurice Leblanc is a museum set up in the former villa of the French writer Maurice Leblanc . The building houses photos, paintings, writings and other personal accessories, some of which are original, as well as clothing and other utensils from his fictional hero Arsène Lupine . The museum is located in the French seaside resort of Étretat in the Seine-Maritime department in Normandy and can be visited by the public.

history

In 1918 the internationally known writer Maurice Leblanc bought a historic villa in Étretat, which he wanted to use for living and working personally. Leblanc lived in this house for more than twenty years, which he renamed “Clos Lupine” as a personal homage to the fictional and famous hero Arsène Lupine , whom he “created” . In the garden he planted lupins . The house was confiscated during the German occupation in World War II ; subsequently it was sold by Leblanc's son in 1952. In 1998 Florence Boespflug, Maurice Leblanc's granddaughter, was able to buy back the “Clos Lupine” and established a museum with accessories from her grandfather and his most famous fictional character, Arsène Lupine, in this old villa. The museum opened in 1999 under its current name Le Clos Arsène Lupine, Maison Maurice Leblanc . From its opening in 1999 to 2004, it had more than 125,000 visitors. In February 2011 the owner changed.

description

Public signpost in Étretat

The museum building is a two-story Anglo-Norman style villa from the 19th century. Parts of the ground floor and the first floor are used as museum rooms today. The tour takes place in the following seven stages:

Le cabinet de travail de Maurice Leblanc
Le repaire d'un gentleman
La chambre du cipher
La salle des 47 "Lupine"
On touche au but!
Le secret de l'Aiguille
Lupine court toujours

During the guided tour of the museum in English or French via audio guide , the visitor learns numerous personal things about his life and work from the supposed voice of Maurice Leblanc. The stages are accompanied by a variety of special visual effects, and the writer is haunted by his fictional character Arsène Lupine during this audio-visual tour and an informative dialogue (radio play) develops between the two of them, in the course of which the museum visitor in particular learns the secret of “L 'Aiguille creuse' (hollow needle) is revealed; L'Aiguille creuse is one of Leblanc's best-known crime novels.

The museum building is located on a closed garden plot with old pine trees , lupins, statues, a historic fountain and a pergola overgrown with wisteria .