Aix-en-Provence — Travel Off the Beaten Path
Introduction
So you’ve been to Paris? You think you’ve seen France? Paris is no more representative of all France, than New York is of all the United States. My travel advice has always been: once you have visited the major cities of the world, visited the land of your ancestors, and perhaps seen the Seven Wonders of the World, consider traveling “Off the Beaten Path”. In the travel series that I have written, I suggest, Bunlap, Vanuatu; Tari, Papua New Guinea; Irkutsk, Siberia; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; or closer to home, Baddeck, Nova Scotia, as typical destination alternatives. Aix-en-Provence may not be an Eighth Wonder, but it is an excellent, off-the-beaten-path destination to begin to experience the Real France. My wife and I attended six-week’s of classes in Aix, learning the French language and culture. The city is not only an interesting place to visit on its own, but it is also the gateway to many other attractions in Provence:
Provence
Provence, which stretches from the Rhone River to the Italian border, and from the Alps to the Mediterranean, is one of thirteen geographical and administrative regions of France. Provence is further divided into departments where there are a variety of places of interest, all within a short distance of the centrally located city of Aix:
Alps-de-Haute-Provence, the alpine region, with quaint towns such a Roussillons
Vaucluse, with ancient cities of Avignon, Gordes, and Luberon
Bouches du Rhône, including the Camargue in the delta formed by the Grand Rhône and Petit Rhône, home to bullfights, black bulls, and white horses.
Côte d’Azur ports of Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez, Marseilles, Antibes, and Cassis, on the Riviera
The weather in Provence is affected by the Mistral wind that brings cold air from the Alps down the Rhone Valley, interrupts the weather patterns, and brings strong winds, with bright and clear skies. The clear weather and bright colors attracted many well-known Impressionist artists to the area. Here you can visit studios of Cézanne, Van Gogh, Monet, Chagall, Matisse, Gauguin, and Picasso.
Popular souvenirs of Provence are santons, small terra cotta figurines in traditional dress. Locals collect the small animal figures for a tableau, or for a Christmas crèche. At a santon workshop, we watched an artist painting, in mass production, dozens and dozens of tiny white sheep.
Provence is also famous for lavender, textiles, good food, and famous wines such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape. (Although, I personally prefer California wines.)
History of The City of Aix
Some time after Marseille had been established as a Greek colony, Romans came to the area to put down tribal warfare, and established Provincia Roma, selecting as its capital the town of Aquae Sextiae, later to become Aix-en-Provence. One of the reasons for selecting the town was the existence of natural hot springs.
As a present day regional capital, Aix has many government buildings, courts, lawyers’ offices, and a college with more than 40,000 students from all over the world, with one of the finest law schools in France. It is also a banking center. The father of Cézanne was one of those bankers with offices on the main thoroughfare, Cours Mirabeau. Because of the college crowd, the downtown streets of the city are always bustling with some kind of activity: festivals, parades, movie revivals, an Ironman competition, or just crowds of students hanging out in the cafés and pizza parlors.
The city abounds with hot springs and fountains. The Roman baths, built to take advantage of the natural hot springs, still operate as a hotel, Thermes Sextius. The ruins of an ancient city gateway and walls still stand, with the main road leading to Rome. In those days, “All roads lead to Rome”. An elaborate fountain is the centerpiece of Place du Général de Gaulle, at the crossroads of Cours Mirabeau.
French Lessons
The five years that I spent studying Parisian French as a teenager at Oakwood Collegiate Institute was of little help once I had the opportunity to speak to real Parisians. Nor did it help me to understand the chatter of my Québecois barrack buddies in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Montrealers spoke a chopped dialect that omitted many of the word endings. The six weeks that my wife and I attended classes in the French language in Aix-en-Provence was an opportunity to refresh our knowledge. We were both relegated to the “beginners” division.
We attended classes at the British-American Institute, located on Rue Victor Hugo. Class was held in the morning, then we spent the rest of the day learning to live like the locals. The early French lessons were about food: learning to order food in a restaurant, shopping for fresh foods in the market, getting calibrated to costs in euros/kilogram, and how to ask for a tasting sample of cheese before buying it. The markets of Aix included wonderfully fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh seafood from Marseilles, with octopus, and unfamiliar species of fish. If you shopped in the open market for food, by necessity, you would be eating a healthy Mediterranean diet,
Near the school was a boutique candy store, La Cure Gormande, part of a chain with stores in Paris, New York, and Barcelona. The store featured gift assortments in a tin box, decorated in 19th century style. It also sold the traditional Provençal candy, calissons. Calissons are made from a paste of candied fruit and ground almonds, in a lozenge shape that suggests the shape of an almond, and covered with a hard white icing (sometimes known as “royal icing”). They have a texture similar to that of marzipan, but with a fruitier, distinctly melon-like flavor. Another popular treat sold in Aix was the macaron, comparable to the original sold by the exclusive patisserie on Champs Élysées in Paris. A macaron is a round, colored sandwich cookie made with egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds, with a buttercream, ganache, or jam filling. To be truthful, the Italian-made version, available at Cosco, beats both the Aix and Parisian versions, when filled with a matching flavor of gelato.
To cross the busy thoroughfare of Rue de Victor Hugo after class, there was a “Commercial Passage”, a pedestrian tunnel that allowed you to avoid contending with traffic. In the tunnel were two shops: a shoemaker and Crêpes à GoGo. It was worth the extra steps to visit the crêpe maker. The crêpes with apricot confiture were delicious. However, I enjoyed the “savory” as well as the “sweet”, and the crêpes with mushrooms were good too. The shoemaker, whose shop shared the passage, had posted notices to “please do not line up in front of my shop”. At times, the crowd of university students buying crêpes blocked all traffic through the passage. Lunch break at the Institute allowed for brioche at the nearby café. I favored un sandwich avec jambon blanc et guyere, and a local draft, only 3,50 euros when ordered with lunch. We usually ate outside in the sunlight, although the weather was sometimes a bit chilly for April. After class, we often joined the other members of the class, the instructors, and our guide for gustation and cocktails. A must was to try a tiny glass of Pastis 51, an anise-flavored liqueur, diluted with water. One of life’s simple pleasures: sipping a glass of Pastis 51 and watching the world pass by at a sidewalk café on Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence. My favorite café, Les Deux Garçons, was also a favorite of Churchill.
Cézanne
In the hub of the city is a bronze statue of Cézanne, the famous native son. Imbedded in the concrete sidewalk are brass footprints leading to Cézanne’s atelier. Cézanne did over 1000 paintings, loved painting the local mountain, Mont Sainte-Victoire. He introduced many other artists to the area, known for its bright skies, to paint, and Picasso considered Cézanne as his master. Braque, Derain, and Dufy also came to this area,
Cézanne painted many nudes, but preferred to paint from photos because he didn’t like working with nude models in person. He admitted that his nudes ended up looking like tree trunks. His first model, Hortense, bore him a son, before moving back to Paris while Cézanne stayed in Aix. Cézanne’s father insisted they marry to preserve the reputation of his bank.
Cézanne attended the law school in Aix, with Émile Zola, a childhood friend from Paris, as a classmate. Cézanne’s father was a prominent banker in Aix and financed him, including providing him with his own atelier, and leaving him a large inheritance. From his studio, Cézanne would carry his easel and painting supplies to the foothills of Mont Sainte Victoire. He painted the mountain many times. He died while trekking to the mountain with his paints and easel just one more time, trying to capture its colors as they changed each day.
The Cathedral
The most prominent building in Aix is the Cathedral Saint Saveur, known locally as “La Cathedral”, a structure built in a mixture of styles from the 14th and 18th centuries. Its tower could be seen from the window of the hotel-apartment that we were assigned during our stay. I was disappointed to learn that the yellow buildings in the watercolor scenes of La Cathedral that I painted from my window in midday were a different color the next morning. No wonder that Cézanne was continually painting Mont Sainte-Victoire when it changed color every day.
If you are fortunate enough to attend mass at the cathedral on Easter Sunday, you might have the distinction of being greeted by the Bishop of Aix himself. The Easter mass included a performance of Handel’s Messiah, with the choir singing the words in English.
Field Trips
Our first field trip for our French class was a visit to Camout Centre d’Art, to see Les Collections du Prince de Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is a tiny country that has an elected government, but it is a monarchy in which the Hereditary Prince, Alois, has considerable political clout. The current Prince has inherited an inventory of fine art amassed by the royal family over the last few hundred years, a collection greater than that of the Metropolitan. The exhibit on display in Aix had just one Raphael, one Rubens, one Van Dyck, one Rembrandt, etc., but the finest of each.
The art center was the former home of the Camout family, and once one of the largest mansions in Aix. It was built in the 18th century when Aix expanded South of Cours Mirabeau, the boundary of the old city. The house was built in the Parisian style, with a courtyard in front, and an English garden in the rear, but has a few decorations in the Southern style, added by the Aix architect who oversaw construction. It is beautifully restored, the limestone bright yellow like new.
Our class also made a behind-the-scenes visit to the kitchen of a Boulangerie Patisserie (Baker and Pastry Maker), to observe the preparation of baguettes, croissants, and pastries. The bakery prepares hundreds of baguettes daily, quickly scooped up by their regular customers, fresh from the oven. There is nothing better for breakfast than a portion of fresh baguette, served with a bowl of hot café-au-lait, and a characuterie of cheeses, fruits, and meats.
Cooking School
Instead of language class one morning, we went to L’Atelier, a cooking school. We took a tour of the market, near the city hall, where we were supposed to purchase the ingredients for our meal, but in the interests of time, we just circumnavigated the market, and asked a few questions. By now, my wife was an experienced shopper, knew the produce and what to look for. Even the chef admitted that he does not shop in person; the shop people all know him and will have his order all ready, or will deliver it to his establishment. We broke up into teams to wash and cut vegetables, chop the meat, or mix the ingredients. The meat was a mixture of beef and lamb (traditional Provençal) with a bit of porc for fat and flavor. After browning the meat in a large pot, like an oversize wok, cooked eggplant, tomatoes, squash, and red peppers were added, to cook some more, then added to the empty vessels of tomatoes, squash, and eggplant. Pea meal was used to make a cake that was cut into pieces and deep fried, like chips, an accompaniment for a glass of red wine, along with slices of baguettes spread with an olive tapenade and dressed with an anchovy. The shop backed on to Place de Cordiers, where a table had been set up for us to enjoy wine before the meal. For dessert, we had crèmes brulées.
Fête de la Chèvre
Typical of the attractions near Aix was Le Fête de la Chèvres (Goat Festival) in the nearby village of Rognes, a one-euro bus ride away. This trip was an opportunity to learn about the various breeds of goats, about goat cheese production, and to sample a variety of locally produced cheeses, cheese dishes, honey, macarons, and wines. A serendipitous find was the local Rognes museum that had artifacts from the liberation of Provence by US troops in 1944. During World War II, Provence was occupied by the Italian Army, and later the German Army. Local French Résistance supported amphibious landings east of Marseilles, and aided US Army advance to free the city. Among the groups present at the festival were the gold-medal winners of the national barbecue competition, providing samples of their prize-winning veal roast, accompanied by samples of wine from local vintners. As entertainment for the children, there was a pedal-operated merry-go-round, with the operator providing musical accompaniment, while a medieval troubadour reenactment troupe performed traditional music and dancing, dressed in authentic costume. Their band included a bagpipe, and they wore slippers with curled toes. They looked like a group right out of one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Galoubet et Tambourin
Entertainment at the Goat Festival in Rognes was also provided by a band of Galoubet et Tambourin (fife and drum), dressed in a traditional Provençal uniform of multicolor ribbons. The flute-like galoubet is played with the left hand, while the tambourin drum, slung over the shoulder, is beat with a baton in the right hand. The fife has been a part of military formations since the 1500s, when it was introduced by the Swiss to provide directions for troop movements, because of its ability to be heard at great distances above the din of battle. The popular fife gradually replaced brass instruments in some European and American armed forces. The fife was the musical instrument of choice when Von Steuben drilled the Revolutionary Army at Valley Forge. Bugles and trumpets had always been apart of military organizations, as far back as the armies of Egyptian pharaohs. During the 1800s, Galoubet et Tambourin bands also became popular as non-military entertainment, playing at weddings, festivals, and other civic affairs. One theory of the origin of the decidedly non-military uniform of the Provençal bands, with colorful stripes and feathered hats, is that they developed as a parody of the Vatican’s Swiss Guard, and added the tattered look of ribbons to indicate their humble origins. Galoubet et tambourin bands in civilian dress and including children, were an essential part of parades we watched during festivities in the city of Aix.
Alpine Region
It is only a short drive North of Aix to reach the colorful towns of the Alpine Region, where you may see Pont du Gard, a unique three-tiered aqueduct on the Gardon River, part of a 31-mile system that the Romans built to provide water to the city of Nîmes.
Châteuaneuf du Pape (New Chateau of the Pope) is not a singular vineyard as we had always thought, but an appellation contrôlée for wine produced at various vineyards in the valley. The ancient chateau, once owned by the Pope and which now gives name to the region, is high on a hill that overlooks the many vineyards in the valley. The chateau was destroyed in the 1800s, and was reduced to ruins by the German Army during World War II.
Isle sur La Sorge, St. Rémy, Foutaine de Vaucluse
On a Sunday off from French class, we drove north with our guide for a full day visiting Isle sur La Sorge, St. Rémy, and Fountaine de Vaucluse. La Sorge has the biggest antique market outside of Paris, and it has grown to include a flower market, food market, clothing market, flea market, etc., so that it now spreads on both sides of the river, to every open space in the city. You can buy almost anything here. There are many abandoned mills along the river that once were used to make paper. This is Van Gogh country, and it is from a bridge over La Sorge that he is reputed to have thrown his severed ear. It is such a quaint place that we would love to come back when it is not a market day to explore all of it back alleys and side streets.
St. Rémy is another quaint town, where we planned to return the next day, only to find that the buses were not running because of a holiday. Instead we saw only the Roman ruins that were once the gateway to the town, and visited the retreat at the Monastery St. Paul de Mausole in St. Rémy, where Van Gogh was treated for depression. His painting Starry Night was painted as a view from the window of his room. The roadway leading to the cloister was lined with fig trees, and fields of tall wheat. You can stand today at the exact spot where Van Gogh painted the wind-driven waves of golden wheat, with fig trees in the foreground and mountains as a backdrop.
St. Rémy has an ancient history, having been named for St. Remigius, who is said to have visited the site, circa 500 AD. Remigius was the Bishop of Reims who established many churches and converted many pagans to Christianity throughout Europe. But is has an even older history as the Roman city of Glanum buried beneath its feet. Just south of St. Rémy is the ruin of the triumphal arch that marked the entrance to Glanum. Excavations show that it was a prosperous city, with temples, a forum, public baths, fountains, sacred spring, and basilica. The local museum displays many of the ancient artifacts from the excavations.
Another day, after class, we took the bus to the Luberon region in the mountainous area north of Aix, where we visited the villages of Loumain, Roussillons and Gordes. We had lunch in Loumain, a pretty little town with narrow streets and beautiful gardens. It was there that this chat perché caught my eye. Some day, when I have the time, I will capture the scene in a watercolor. That was eight years ago, and I’m still waiting for the chance.
Roussillons is an artists’ center, as well as being a good stop for some of the best locally-made ice cream. In the days when artists prepared their own paints in situ by mixing pigments with linseed oil, Roussillons was famous for the cliffs composed of various oxides of iron, as a source of pigments of more than fifteen shades of ochre.
Gordes is a walled city, with a fortified chateau built on a mountain top. Our bus could not park there, but fortunately, the best views are from the roadway on the other side of the valley.
Avignon
Avignon is famous for the Palais des Papes. From 1309 to 1377, the papacy was moved from Rome to Avignon. A succession of seven French popes resided in Avignon. Papal control of the city persisted until 1791, when, during the French Revolution, it became part of France. The town is now the capital of the Vaucluse department and one of the few French cities to have preserved its city walls. The importance of Avignon is preserved in the children’s song, Sur La Pont d’Avignon for the famous bridge across the Rhône River, now destroyed. When Pope Gregory returned the papacy to Rome, there followed a period of the Great Divide within the Catholic Church, with each faction promoting its own candidates for Pope.
The Camargue
The delta formed by branches of the Rhône River, the Grand Rhône and Petit Rhône, is know as the Camargue. It is an agricultural area, known for the raising of white horses and black bulls. The black bulls are bred for fighting. Unless advertised as Spanish-style mise d’morte, the bull is not killed. Corridas are held in the arena in Arles, a repurposed Roman coliseum. The ancient Roman arena was once the scene of gladiator battles and chariot races. Today, it is home to musical concerts and bullfights. Once a year, at the Fête des Gardians, the cowboys of the Camargue parade their horses to the cathedral for benediction.
Les Baux
Les Baux-de-Provence is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of Southern France. It is located in the Alpilles mountains, atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle, overlooking the plains to the south. The chateau at Baux-en-Provence is one of the largest medieval castles in France.
The name “baux” means “escarpment” and is derived from the Provençal word. “bauc”, meaning a rocky spur. At Les Baux, an abandoned quarry that once provided stone for building of the chateau, now features spectacular sound-and-light shows, with the works of artists such as Chagall projected on it walls. From the village name the word “bauxite” was coined, for the aluminum ore that was first discovered nearby.
Riviera
It is a short drive from Aix to the Riviera cities of Nice, Marseilles, Cassis, and Cannes.
The canal that used to run through the heart of Nice was re-purposed as right-of-way for a subway, and covered over to form a park with gardens, ponds, playgrounds, and fountains, dominated by this prominent Apollo. This giant statue once offended some, was once covered with a fig leaf, chiseled down in size, dethroned and exiled to a football field, before being finally returned to its rightful place in Place Massena in Nice.
In a suburb of Nice, we saw the stately hotel where Queen Vicroria and other members of the royal family used to spend their winters un sunshine, far from the dreary winters if London. In nearby Cimiez, are the former studios of Chagall and Matisse. In the Cimetiere du Monastere de Cimiez, we placed a pebble on the tombstone of Chagall, a traditional tribute to his memory. Here in his studio in Cimiez, Matisse employed the local schoolgirls to cut shapes from colored paper, which he would then arrange to create his abstract compositions. Typical of his compositions is the commisioned Matisse triptych, “The Dance”, which now graces an archway in the Barnes Foundation Museum in Philadelphia.
The Port of Marseilles is dominated by the cathedral Notre-Dame de la Garde. One of the chapels in the cathedral is dedicated to the mariners of Marseilles, and is decorated by models of ships, hung from the ceiling. It is curious to see that among the ship models is a model of the Douglas airliner, the DC-3.
Marseilles was a Greek colony, years before the establishment of Aix by the Romans. The city of Marseilles still looks down on the junior upstart, and is the source of fierce rivalry between their football teams.
We enjoyed a boating excursion to the rocky cliffs and beaches near the seaside resort of Cassis, on the Riviera. It was the good people of Cassis who asked Brigit Bardot to move her act to St. Tropez because they did not want their quiet reputation to be spoiled.
At the seaside city of Antibe, Picasso was given the Chateau Grimaldi by one of his patrons to use as a studio for a brief time. It is now the Picasso Museum.
Ending
There is so much more that I could write about Aix and Provence, that I hardly know where to stop. I have omitted many fascinating details of our visit to this region. I’m certain that once you have made a visit to this “off the beaten track” destination, you will enjoy the experiences of the Real France for yourself.
