MAISON ZOLA - MUSÉE DREYFUS

Set in a green setting, this is the house the writer bought in 1878. Since then, the house has been a tribute to two men with exceptional careers: Zola and Dreyfus.

Zola House: considered the leader of naturalism, Zola is one of the world's most popular novelists. The last years of his life were marked by his involvement in the Dreyfus affair in 1898. Thanks to the success of L'Assommoir, Zola acquired this "modest country house" in Médan in May 1878. In three years, he turned it into a vast estate where he lived an ideal rural life, with its vegetable garden, farm and greenhouses. He designed the park he had always dreamed of and planted the avenue of lime trees. The original "rabbit hut", flanked by two towers designed by an architect by the name of Zola, took on the air of the Gothic manor house we know today. In the rooms of the house, still as they were at the time, you'll find the furniture and decor as designed by the writer. For his publisher, Georges Charpentier, and his many guests, Zola built the annexed "Pavillon Charpentier". Alexandrine Zola was an unrivalled hostess who delighted in entertaining artists, lovers of good food and fine cuisine: before passing into literary posterity, the famous "Soirées de Médan" were elaborated, if we are to believe Maupassant, around her table. Life at Médan was healthy, rustic, comfortable and cheerful. Summertime country parties brought together childhood friend Cézanne, Manet, Pissarro, Goncourt, the Daudets, Huysmans and the entire group of writers known as Naturalists. Today, the house is managed by the AROEZ association, whose aim is to make Médan a place of memory dedicated to the defense of Zola's work and the history of the Dreyfus Affair. In fact, the museum's guide is the writer's granddaughter, no mean feat!

The Dreyfus Museum: housed in the outbuilding of the Zola house, this is the first museum dedicated to the famous scandal that divided public opinion at the dawn of the ^20th century, and for which Emile Zola's public involvement marked an essential turning point. The abundance of historical documents, combined with innovative mediation tools, provide fascinating insights into the affair and its lasting impact on French society. The museum's aim is to "tell and show" the Dreyfus affair, and to raise questions about tolerance, secularism, human rights... Fascinating.