Exploring Aix-en-Provence

Trip Start Mar 13, 2008
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Trip End Mar 23, 2008


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Friday, March 21, 2008

March 20, 2008 Today we spent the entire day in Aix. It was the perfect day for walking. We awoke and had breakfast with the entire household, which comprised of a family from Austrailia, who were actually leaving that morning, an two couples that lived in California, but actually were from different parts of the world. The two couples knew each other, and actually lived not to far from where our hosts lived when they lived in California! Breakfast was wonderful, cereal options, yogurt parfait, fresh fruit, COFFEE! Juice, etc. We got a map and suggestions for the day from our hosts, had our showers (which were absolutely wonderful by the way) and made our way out for the day! I first made Geoff stop at the Santon Shop right next door, which was called Santon Fouque. Santons are little ceramic figurines that are painted by hand and are regional in the style and the figures offered. They are specifically for nativity scenes, which are very popular in Europe, and this particular shop featured a santon that represented a man walking through the mistral wind that is famous in the area (luckily we didn't experience that) Cours Mirabeau
Cours Mirabeau
 . We did do some shopping here, which was about all we could carry in our bags, but I wont tell you who the items will go to! We were so close to the hotel that we took our purchase to the room before heading out to Cours Mirabeau. The day was beautiful, probably in the 70s, and because it was Thursday, we were off to the local market! There were 3 parts to the market: old treasures and antiques, local foods, and clothing items. I found some lavender, which was local to take back with me, and Geoff seemed to enjoy looking at the different foods. It did get cold as we made our way to the clothing area, but that was fine because neither of us was too interested in that. We decided at this point to get a bite to eat, so we stopped at a little paninni stand got a sandwich, and people watched in the sun for a bit. It was neat to see all the dogs in the area, and to see that they were welcome. After lunch, we decided to go to Musée Granet, which housed some of Cézanne's earlier works, and actually had a huge Cezanne show a few years back. It was interesting to note that while walking around town in Aix you can trace Cezanne's steps by following brass plates in the sidewalk. It really is interesting to think that he walked in the same places, just a few years ago. After the museum we walked back to the B&B to relax in the sun by the pool. Aperitif's were again at 6, and we had a great dinner suggestion by our hosts to go to a place called Chez Féraud, which was run by a mother and son team. They spoke very little English, we spoke very little French, but pointing at the English menu does go a long way with our attempts at communicating. We ate well, and again treated ourselves to dessert and a nice bottle of wine. Of course, we walked back to the hotel and just fell asleep as fast as possible!
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