We left Strasbourg for Aix-en-Provence on Saturday morning. The weather turned rainy, so it was an excellent day for travel. Our driver was quite helpful. He parked in the garage and took our bags, which had grown heavier due to several bottles of wine, up the escalator to the Grand Hall. The TGV to Aix had several stops but was still quicker than driving. The 500 mile trip took about 6 hours.
The weather in Aix-en-Provence was hot, humid and periodically, quite windy, very typical of the Mediterranean. The architecture is reminiscent of Spain, Portugal and Italy. Aix, especially on Saturday night has a young and energetic feel.
The center of the old town in Aix is an impressive fountain in the middle of a traffic circle. The day we arrived, the area was teeming with tourist. However at 6:30 AM on Sunday, it was quite easy to get an unobstructed view of the fountain. There were few people out with the exception of some all night revelers. Two scantily dressed young women in stilettos, holding each other upright, stumbled by me toward a local café.
Small towns and Lavender
In the morning we headed to the Sainte-Victoire mountains. The mountains, with a high point of 3300’, experience so much wind that several ridges have limited to no vegetation. Despite the mild climate, there are ski areas! The villages are perched on steep slopes with stone cottages. One of the larger villages, Gordes, has the Le Plus Beaux Villages designation. All homes must have facades and walls of dry fit stone. The town is lovely.
Due to the dry weather, the lavender harvest was nearly finished. We drove outside of Sault to catch a glimpse and explore one of the remaining fields. The distillery was open so we learned
about lavender and lavindine. Lavender being the preferred variety for homeopathic purposes and lavindine, being the preferred source for cleaning products.
A Day of Art
Aix-en-Provence was home to Cézanne for several years. Van Gough painted in the Provence in hopes that the sunny weather would cure his depression. The sunlight in the area is brilliant, nearly piercing the landscape, similar to a bright day along the front range. Cézanne’s last atelier was located just outside of Aix, only one mile from our hotel. The atelier is open to the public and the visit was delightful. Cézanne continually experimented and evolved his style. By the time he moved to the atelier, at age 62, he preferred to paint still life’s. He said flowers were unkind to an old painter, as the petals dropped too soon. Fruit was much kinder. There were several objects on the shelf along the back wall that were seen in his Still Life’s,, an olive jug, a glass, baskets, a cherub statue and three human skulls. The skulls were a gift from a boyhood friend, they’re featured in both early and late pieces of his work.
From the atelier, I headed to the Hotel Caumont, a beautiful mansion from the 1700’s. The house sponsors various exhibitions with works on loan from museums throughout Europe. Raoul Duffy was the featured artist in July. He had a long and successful career spanning the first half of the 20th century. His commercial success came from fabric and ceramic design as well as decorative
temporary sets for public buildings. One of his most iconic works is a giant fresco for the 1937 Pavillon of Light and Electricity. The last room of the retrospective featured a projected image of this work, orchestrated and continually evolving, similar in style to the recent Immersive Van
Gough exhibit in Denver. The pictures below show the entry to Hotel Chaumont and works by Raoul Duffy.
Hidden Jewels
Crossing items off of my Must/Should See list is always nice, but discovering a church, museum or monument that wasn’t even on my list is even better. A guide had recommended stopping by the Aix Cathedral. The morning I stopped by for a visit, the organist was practicing some baroque hymns, the apse was softly illuminated and white lilies and roses perfumed the air.
The cathedral has three distinctive architectural styles. The baptistery, constructed in the early 6th century, is built on the site of a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo. Stones of the temple are still visible. The soaring ceiling has a cupola. The morning light diffused by the dust in the air, gave the
font an ethereal air. In the 12th century, several of the early buildings were replaced with a Romanesque style church. As Aix grew in importance, the church became a cathedral with the addition of two new gothic styled wings.
Full disclosure, as the cathedral was on one of my walking routes, I was able to stop by four other times. None of the subsequent visits came close to my initial visit.
Marseille
With only 1.5 days left before heading home, it was necessary to up the tempo. Ezequiel, an Argentinian who’s been in Marseille for ten years, walked us through the Old Port area. Fun facts, Marseille is the oldest city in France, established by Greek settlers in 600 BC. Significant changes to the city were the result of the Black Death, Napoleon III and WWII.
Marseille had a very high death rate from the plague. The wealthy residents of the city move to the outskirts of the Port, in the area of Notre Dame de la Garde. The bourgeoisie never returned, so unlike most grand, old cities, the city center has always been inhabited by the poor.
Napoleon III needed a larger port to handle all of the traffic from Frances African colonies. A grand Parisian style street, about .75 miles along, connects the old and new ports. He also constructed an imposing Italian style cathedral at the entrance to the new port. Thus, the two iconic churches of Marseille are both situated away from the city center.
The Nazi occupation of Marseille was brutal. The city had a very effective resistance movement responsible for both espionage and sabotage. The destruction of the 1st arrondissement of the Old Port was meant to identify, Jews, Resistance members and weapons caches. Over a 36 hour period, 30,000 people were displaced, and all but 7 building were razed.
Ezequiel pointed out many must see places and I dutifully visited most of the sites the following day.
Monuments and Churches
Notre Dame de la Garde is perched on a hilltop, built on top of a fort. This basilica has made it into my Top Five Churches list. I walked up to the church before breakfast and arrived during morning mass. The congregation was very ethnically diverse, with a large proportion of younger adults. The chapel is beautiful and inspires a feeling of joy and calm.
After breakfast, even though the weather was glorious, I visited the Museum of History. The museum encapsulates 2600 years of Marseille history in a series of exhibits. The displays were very tasteful and perfect for someone who wanted an overview without being overwhelmed.
Next, I took off for the Abbey of Saint Victor. The abbey has catacombs from the 5th century. The catacombs were very interesting as there was thorough documentation for several of the sarcophagi. The arched ceilings were quite high. Modern art adorned some of the walls and was a good contract to the gray stone walls.
I wandered through the side streets before meeting up with Andrea for a Pastis at the Intercontinental Hotel. The hotel is located in one of the first hospital of Marseille, constructed in 1188. Napoleon III expanded the hospital in 1866. The last patients left the hospital in 1993. The building fell into disrepair with squatters taking advantage of the space.
Fortunately, in 2007, the city gave the Intercontinental group a 99 year lease. 6 years and 20 million Euros later, the Old Port sports a beautiful 5 star hotel. Hence, the drinks are a bit pricey but the view is unsurpassed. The picture below shows the entrance to the Intercontinental. Andrea had to walk up a lot of stairs to sip an overpriced whisky with ice. The whisky was nominally priced, it’s the ice that drives up the cost.
Home Again
It was a great month in France. I could have continued exploring for another month. The food was wonderful and the mix of tours and down time was nearly perfect.
Each region of France had its own cuisine, dialect and unique history. The diversity made the trip very engaging. Usually, after a few weeks, I’m ready to come home. Not this time. A 4 star European hotel vagabond existence would suit me.
It is nice to arrive back to a home where there’s a washer/dryer and unlimited ice. I immediately knew how to operate my shower, which was a puzzle at a couple of the French hotels, but missed the higher water pressure in France.
It’s also convenient to speak English. Even though I’m frequently misunderstood in my native language at least I know I’m communicating in grammatically correct sentences. Speaking French is a struggle and I was impressed at the willingness of the locals who worked to understand the gist of my grammatically mangled and mispronounced sentences.
Before my legs give out, or flying becomes utterly too annoying, I’ll return to Europe and visit a few more regions in France.
Till then, happy and safe travels!