Aix-en-Provence,
France
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
We got back on the train, and made our way to Aix-in-Provence through Lyon, with a quick stop, just at the train station. This was now the train that Geoff was waiting for. He especially wanted a seat on the upper deck of the TGV, which he was lucky enough to get, and knowing him, he probably planned for it, but he didn't let on. The train was actually relaxing and the scenery was beautiful. We arrived in Aix at the TGV train station and had to find the bus that would take us to the center of town. The bus was at the bottom of the train station, and the driver spoke very little English. All we knew was that we needed to break our big bills in order to ride, and we debated on going to the little bookstore in the station, or to the ticket counter. I did have to tell Geoff "I told you so" on that one, because I was right that the ticket counter would be able to make change. I only reserve that sentence for special occasions and this definitely was one of them. The bus took us into the center of town, and I am glad that first impressions do not always ring true for the entire experience. We got off the bus at the bus stop at the end of town, and it was overcrowded and loud. And I knew we had to walk, so we just started walking (again, I am sure Geoff had planned way ahead of time which way we needed to go, but it seemed like he was just guessing). We walked for a short few blocks and the crowed dissipated, and the little town of Aix quickly transformed into a very interesting town. We stopped in at the visitors center, but we didn't really find anything there but our bearings, and off we were, east down cours Mirabeau, the main drag, where Paul Cézanne once walked the streets and visited the small shops and cafés. We continued walking south onto rue d'Italia which turned into cours Gambetta until I thought for sure we were off track. The road signs were not the best but eventually on our way down the hill and to our left we saw an open gate to an area that looked like a park. Way down the sycamore lined driveway we could see our B&B, Pavillion de la Torse.
View of Pavillion de la Torse
The garden was beautifully manicured, in the traditional English style, and we were greeted in French by the owner who had opened the gate for someone else, but was equally happy that it was us. She realized that we were not French by the blank looks on our faces when she expected a response, and she switched to her native New York accented English. Turns out she met her husband, who is a local in the States, and they eventually decided to return to Aix and start this B&B about 3 years ago. She showed us to our room, and explained that at 6pm they traditionally have aperitif with all the guests. We unpacked and made it downstairs in time to learn more about the area, and where we should go for dinner. They introduced us to Pastis, which is anise flavored liquor. It was delicious, but left me very hungry for dinner. We walked into town, which only ended up being a 15 minute walk to the restaurant that they recommended. Dinner was at a very romantic little restaurant called Les Agape, which had the best salad I have ever tasted. They had apples on a bed of romain, with a horseradish dressing. We had our dinner, local rose wine, dessert of sorbet then made our way back through Aix-in-provence to the B&B. Our room had it's own bathroom, a loft upstairs, and a king sized bed.
Our Room
Definitely not something usually found in Europe. We fell asleep watching a movie on Geoff's laptop.
