Friday 24 March – An A+ for Aix

 No blog yesterday – we had a day of rest.  Our delightful Marseille host Michel gave us a lift to Marseille Railway Station at 9am, only to be told that the first train to nearby Aix en Provence that we could get a seat on didn’t depart until about 12.30pm.  Fortunately the obliging attendant in the ticket office, Antoine, directed us to the nearby bus station where we immediately boarded a bus and were in Aix shortly after 10am.  And it got better; when we arrived at our accommodation a short time later – an upmarket apartment hotel – we were told that our room was ready.  So we were able to drop everything off and relax for a little while before hitting the streets.

We had a quick lunch at a nearby café (run by Francesca Albanese – now there’s a good sign!) then set out to explore Aix (that’s what it seems to be called by everybody, both officially and unofficially).  The first thing we noticed, to our great delight, is that Aix is built on relatively even ground, in contrast to Marseille where everything seems to be uphill, and steep uphill at that.

We joined the hordes of people strolling down the Cours Mirabeau, a long, wide pedestrian plaza with restaurants and specialty shops either side, passing many fountains until we reached the Fontaine de Rotunde, which dominates a huge roundabout intersection.  After calling into the nearby Tourist Information Centre and getting our city map, then catching a snap of a statue of Paul Cezanne, Aix’ favourite son, we set off for the Cathedrale Saint Sauveur.  Dating from the 12^th century, it is built on the site of the ancient forum (with the baptistery dating from as far back as the 5^th century) and legend has it that it is built on the foundations of an ancient temple to the god Apollo.  It has some interesting side chapels and a lovely nave, but its interior is quite sparse and shows none of the embellishments that we have come to expect from such cathedrals.  But it undoubtedly has some history (including being the location of Cezanne’s funeral).

We wandered through the Old Town, past the historic clock tower, several churches and the Palace of Justice.  A very lively, busy place with beautiful old architecture, sculptures and the like.  And one thing we noticed: even though this is a weekday (Friday), many people were just strolling around, in contrast to Marseille, where everybody seemed to be on a mission to get somewhere.