.2nd Chapter – Aix en Provence
NOTE- This is Chapter two –
This journal begins here.- Chapter One
Aix en Provence
Some Observations on Aix en Provence.
It is a very pleasant city with friendly people. The location is convenient to Marseille and smaller nearby seaport villages. Aix is also well connected via air, train, and bus to major European cities.
Our Airbnb location here taught us that proximity to the city center is very important to us. We also miss being near water which we will correct in Nice.
Aix en Provence/Paris – Monday, November 1, 2021
We had a 5:00 AM wake-up to be ready for our 6:00 AM taxi pickup. All went smooth in light rain. Arrived at the TGV station with time to spare.
For the Paris Chapter of this go here – Chapter 3 Paris
Aix en Provence to Paris
Aix en Provence – Saturday, October 30, 2021
Today was a cool, drizzly Fall day in Aix, perfect for packing and a short stroll around town. Lunch was a few slices of pizza from our local Boulangerie – Hats.
Our friends Michelle and Andy have offered to store two of our suitcases while we are in Paris and deliver them to us in Nice. This was a godsend, as it drastically lightened our Paris travel load.
We will have a change of residence in Paris, First, two hotel nights in Montmarte, and then a month-long stay Airbnb in Place des Vosges.
The cell phone dilemma, yet again…
Late in the day, I noticed that I could not connect to the internet while walking around town. I hurried to the Free store (cellular provider), to address the problem before they closed for the day. I suspected that it must be that my monthly contract had not been renewed. It should have been on autopay.
It turns out that the problem was more basic than that. I had put my phone on Airplane mode while at the movie the previous night and forgot to change it back. My bad. It only took three agents and Google Translate to track down the problem. Oh, well, all part of the experience.
Aix en Provence – Friday, October 29, 2021
An easy day with dinner and a movie… but not in that order.
Today was a kicking-around day in Aix with no special events. It was a sunny but cooler Fall day.
Later that evening, our French friends joined us for a movie – The French Dispatch and then dinner at one of their favorite restaurants – drole d’ Endroit
Aix en Provence – Thursday, October 28, 2021
A day with the locals
Our French friends, Michelle and Andy invited us over to their house for the afternoon and evening. It was a very enjoyable day.
We took the #51 bus to their stop in Luynes and Michelle graciously picked us up there. After a tour of their nice house, we drove to the nearby forest for a walk and a view of Mt. Sainte-Victoire, a favorite subject of Czenne. Next was a short walk up the hill from their house to a local vineyard.
After Andy finished work we had a nice chat on a variety of subjects related to France.
Finally, Michelle made us a nice dinner with Andy whipping up his special dressing for the salad.
We felt like natives in France.
This weekend will begin preparing for our next stop in our tour, a month in Paris ( Place des Vosges ). We leave Monday morning for a 3-hour ride on the TGV to Paris. Monday, November 1st is a public holiday in France – All Saints Day.
Cassis Redux – Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Today it was a return trip to the postcard-perfect Cassis for a boat ride tour of the Calanques. To get there is a short 35-minute direct bus ride to Marseille 1.5 EU and then a 4 stop train ride to Cassis about 4 EU each. Finally, there is a 25-minute walk downhill by vineyards, all of which is part of the experience and enjoyable. It transports one to a different world.
Once in town, we had a mediocre overpriced tourist lunch on the waterfront. Rebecca’s white fish beat my Paella as the worst choice.
After that, we boarded the boat for a 1.5-hour tour of 8 of the 9 beautiful Calanques. 23 Eu for each of us and worth it.
The Calanques are a series of rocky cliffs and bays between the city of Marseille and the town of Cassis, in the south of France. They’re essentially inlets that have been formed in the limestone cliffs, leaving behind a series of beautiful little bays. The word Calanques, comes from calanche in Corsican and calancas in Occitan, which means “inlet”. The area has a very specific eco-system (with no soil – the plants live in the limestone) and has been a protected area since 2012, when the entire 20 mile stretch of Calanques was designated a national park.
Post boat cruise, we took another stroll around the beautiful Cassis.
We also took the tourist tram ride 7 EU around town. It was a good as our lunch driving us up and down walled streets with the tour director telling us what was visible on the other side of the walls but not to us. Oh well, at least we were able to sit for 45 minutes.
Other than the boat ride the highlight for Rebecca was Viennese expresso with miles and miles of Chantilly whipped cream. Yum for her.
Getting home we took the local bus 1 EU to the Train station and then repeated our travel in reverse arriving home around 8 PM, totally enjoying the day in Cassis in spite of lunch and the tram ride.
Marseille, Tuesday, October 26, 2021
I took the #50 bus to Marseille for the day, 1.5 EU each way. Rebecca stayed in Aix for a haircut and color job.
On the way to the station, I ran into our friend Michelle who was at the market.
When I arrive at the Marseille station (Gare St. Charles) it was locked down. Not sure why, so I walked around it to get to town.
There I just did a bit more exploring including a trip to the Cathédrale Sainte–Marie–Majeure. It is impossible to convey the scale of this building with photos.
The Cathedral of La Major is actually made up of two churches that have been somehow superimposed: the old and the new Major. It is built on an esplanade at the entrance to the port and close to the base of the original Marseille where religious buildings have been built since the 4th century.
The old Major is the oldest church in Marseille. It was built in the 4th century before being rebuilt in the 11th and 12th centuries after the Saracens’ attacks. It is a cathedral of Romanesque architecture built with pink stones from the quarries of La Couronne. It is composed of a choir, a vault with a dome and a half dome. The bell tower was later added in the 14th century.
The new Major is the only cathedral built in France in the 19th century. Its spectacular dimensions are similar to those of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which allows it to receive up to 3,000 people! This excessiveness was intended to show the power of the Phocaean city, visible from the sea.
Built in a Byzantine style, it is one of the largest churches in France. It was built over 40 years, between 1852 and 1893, when Marseille was the first port in France and was the stopover point for ships from all over the world.
Tomorrow we return to Cassis for a day trip.
We are also invited to visit Michelle and Andy on Thursday at their house in the afternoon.
Aix en Provence, Monday, October 25, 2021
Today was a take-it-easy day.
Wandered over to the train station and discussed the overcharge on Friday’s train ride. It turns out that they gouge passengers who buy tickets on the train. My Bad. Won’t happen again.
Later walked around downtown for a few shots.
Beard today, gone tomorrow…
Finally, I tried a beard for a few weeks … until tonight. Gone now.
Tomorrow Rebecca is doing a girl day (haircut etc) so I may hop on the bus to Marseille for the day.
Isle sur la Sorgue & Glanum (Double Day Trips) – Sunday, October 24, 2021
It was a perfect day in France with 2 new friends.
Our friends from last night, Andy & Michelle picked us up around 9 AM and drove us to Isle sur la Sorgue (1 hour NW of Aix) for the biggest Market Day in the Provence.
L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a Provençal town in the department of Vaucluse, southeast France. It’s known for its antiques stores and weekend markets, plus waterwheels on the Sorgue river.
We shared interesting conversations on the way there and explored the market with its many foods, clothing items, and antiques.
Afterward, we stopped for lunch at a nice little restaurant and grabbed the last available table.
More great conversations at lunch as we learned about their 3 daughters, all of whom are interesting including one who is a gifted singer and songwriter. Check her out on Spotify – Astrid James.
After lunch, we made a snap decision to visit another city to see some Greek/Roman ruins at Glanum, just outside of St Remy de Provence
Traces of the earliest inhabitants date back to 2500 BC but it was only around 600 BC that the first Gallic tribes settled at the bottom of this valley on the northern face of the Alpilles mountain range, near an important spring used since prehistoric times.
In the 2nd century BC, the Celto-Ligurian tribe of the Salyens built around the sacred and healing spring a prosperous city imbued with hellenistic influences brought by the Greeks (Phocaeans) who had advanced inland from Marseille.
Its importance attracted the attention of the Romans who took over Glanum, named after the Gallic god Glan, and promoted it to the status of Oppidum Latinum in the beginning of the Common Era. Under the Roman Empire, the city erected many of its monuments: the forum, the temples, the baths and the theatres but it still remained, above all, a religious sanctuary around the sacred spring.
Glanum succumbed to the barbarian invasions and was destroyed in 260 AD.
Glanum is located about one kilometre south of the town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence where VanGogh was institutionalized.
The ruins at Glanum were very impressive and we spent over an hour there.
After a brief stop for some retail therapy, we headed home.
The drive back was also beautiful.
It was an outstanding day with two very nice people with whom we hope to stay in touch and remain friends.
Aix en Provence, Saturday, October 23, 2021
A tale of two seatings …
Today we did some walking around and had lunch at an outdoor restaurant. There we met Diego and Sara and chatted for a while.
He is a student studying Poly Sci at the local university and she is his girlfriend visiting from Florida. They had a bunch of suggestions on places to visit. Also, it turned out he was in Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d’Aix-en-Provencel when we were there a few days back (Oct 12) and remembered seeing Rebecca talking to Annette a fellow student. Small world.
Later that evening we had dinner with Michelle (from Wednesday evening) and her husband Andy at a Thai restaurant. They shared their experience of living in France for 30 years. They invited us to join them for an excursion to Isle sur la Sorgue tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing them again.
Day Trip – Sanary-sur-Mer, Friday, October 22, 2021
We took a day trip to Sanary-sur-Mer, a quaint seaport village about 45 miles away. It is known at the birthplace of modern diving and is where Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World (1932)
To get there requires a bus to Marseille and then a train to Sanary. A total trip 1.5 hours. We purchased a 10:35 AM train ticket the day before and left our place with plenty of time to spare to make the connection. However, the #50 bus to Marseille was over a half-hour late in leaving so we just missed our 6 EU train. We discovered later that there was a bus strike so all buses were delayed and many canceled.
The good news was that our ticket was still good for the next train so we arrive about an hour later (about 12:30) than planned but no big deal as we were not on a schedule once we arrive in Sanary.
Hungry on arrival, we walked to the waterfront for lunch (Café de Lyon). We both had an amazing lunch, Rebecca had Cod and Risotto and I had scallops that were perfectly cooked.
This place was a dive…
Sanary is the birthplace of modern diving. So after a walk around the seaport area, we visited the petite Musee Frederic Dumas. Dumas partnered with Jean-Yves Cousteau. We noticed that much of the early diving equipment was rather crude.
Stopped into a church…
After that, I explored the local church Church Saint Nazaire (1892) which featured some interesting paintings.
It takes a (French) village
When it was time to leave I went to the visitor’s bureau for the bus timetable to get back to the SNCF train station. We just missed a bus so we waited for the next one for over a half-hour. No Bus. I finally asked a guy walking by for info on the buses. Fortunately, he spoke English.
He tried to help with the printed timetable and apologized that he didn’t have his glasses but they were across the street in his hotel room. He came back armed with his spectacles to discover that we had missed the last bus for the day. He spoke excellent English but he seemed to enjoy talking to Rebecca in French and helping her with some pronunciation.
He then offered to call us a taxi. It was getting a bit colder now so he hurried back to his hotel room to get a sweater and returned. He insisted on waiting with us for the taxi to make sure we had a ride.
We had an enjoyable time talking with him and appreciated his help and hospitality. He left us with his phone number should we need any further help with the taxi. He even called to follow up to be sure we made it to the train station.
This was another great example of how friendly we have found the French people to be.
People get ready there is a train ‘a coming…..
Having finally made it to the train station – Gare d’Ollioules, we had to purchase tickets and the station office was closed so we had to navigate the automatic ticket machine outside the station.
After several unsuccessful attempts on my part I enlisted a group of teenage boys at the station, none of whom spoke English. They seemed to be unfamiliar with the machine but made it a group project to figure it out. Together we were finally able to convince the machine that I wished to purchase two one-way tickets at our reduced senior fare. The only barrier in our way now was my debit card which failed miserably. Sorry, no ticket for you today.
The alternative was to buy the tickets on the train. We showed the conductor our senior discount passes and he rang up the sale – 35 EU. WTF???? Remember it was a 6 EU fare each getting there. Too tired to negotiate the price we were happy to have a seat and train to Marseille.
I’ll head to the local ticket office tomorrow to appeal our case.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable day in Sanary.
I’ll close with a nice picture of Rebecca at the coast.
Aix en Provence, Thursday, October 21, 2021
Thursday is Market day with the vendors and booths filling the streets. Rebecca took the time to do a bit of shopping. She scored a new 3 EU scarf and met a new friend, a french lady who wanted to practice her English. They exchanged numbers.
I purchased a Poulet rôti -a rotisserie chicken which we split for lunch. They taste much better than the American ones as they don’t use hormones to fatten them up.
I went to the train station and bought tickets for our day trip tomorrow to Sanary sur Mer. We connect through Marseille.
Afterward, we reconvened for a screening of Dune at the local theatre.
Aix en Provence, Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Today I visited Paul Cezanne at the Saint-Pierre Cemetery. He didn’t have much to say having died on October 23, 1906. Here are a few photos of his neighbors.
In the evening we joined a Facebook group for English speakers in Aix and had several enjoyable conversations. Joining us included two young ladies who wanted to practice their English and Michelle, a very nice lady who has lived in France for 30 years and was originally from England. She offered us a wealth of advice on various cities on France’s Côte d’Azur an area we are seriously considering. We hope to see her again and meet her husband Andy.
Day Trip – Marseille, Tuesday, October 19, 2021
The Prime Directive – Ensure that Rebecca has an adequate supply of quality coffee to consume. Absent that all conversation is futile.
To that end, we scheduled a day trip back to Marseille to stock up on Starbucks coffee, due to a barbaric lack of Starbucks in Aix en Provence.
We arrived at the Aix bus station a little after 11 AM and were at the Starbucks just after noon. The score – 3 bags of Expresso.
After fulfilling our mission we caught a quick Thai lunch and proceeded to explore a famous hilly neighborhood- Le Panier, known for its street art and graffiti. It was an interesting walk.
Colorful murals adorn the narrow, hilly streets of historic Le Panier. It’s home to the huge Cathédrale La Major with its marble interior, murals, and neo-Byzantine facade. Restaurants around Place des Pistoles provide alfresco meals in front of La Vieille Charité, a 1600s almshouse that today has museums and a poetry center.
Here are some shots.
After our tour of the area, we hurried back to the seafront to catch the tourist train to see the city. We had taken one on our last visit and hoped to catch the other one for a different route. We arrived, out of breath, just as the train was leaving satisfied that we had just made it in time.
Just one problem, we were on the same train as last time taking us to the top of the hill and Notre-Dame de la Garde again! Well, it is a beautiful view of the city so we just enjoyed it a second time.
We headed back to the main train station around 6 PM for the #50 bus home, a short 25-minute ride back to Aix for 1.5 Eu each. It was a full day in Marseille.
I’ll close with an obligatory cat picture from today.
Aix en Provence, Monday, October 18, 2021
It was a beautiful Fall day. The temperature now tends to be a bit cool in the morning (mid ’50s) but warms up (high 60’s) by mid-day. It calls for layering.
I took a short walk to the train office to book our TGV train in December from Paris to Nice. On the way back I discovered another big church – Eglise Saint-Jean-de-Malte (constructed 1270’s) and spent some time exploring it.
Aix en Provence, Sunday, October 17, 2021
When we returned to Aix mid-afternoon, walking back from the bus station, we noticed that there was an event downtown featuring a swing dance band. It was a great ending to an enjoyable weekend.
Arles, Sunday, October 17, 2021
We took a leisurely walk around town before our 11 AM check-out. On our walk, we came across the Cafe Van Gogh, the subject of one of his paintings – Café Terrace at Night. It was quite interesting to be at the exact location
.
Café Terrace at Night is an 1888 oil painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It is also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, and, when first exhibited in 1891, was entitled Coffeehouse, in the evening. Van Gogh painted Café Terrace at Night in Arles, France, in mid-September 1888
Here are a few random shots taken in Arles.
Arles, Saturday, October 16, 2021
Saturday morning is the massive public market. It is one of the largest in the region. Vendors sell everything from baked goods, clothing, household goods, and even live animals (including chickens and bunnies).
After a bit more wandering around, we found the Cryptoportiques du Forum, formerly an underground marketplace under which was once the Roman Forum in the city. It was a bit dark and dank but still provided an interesting look into ancient Roman life.
Later in the day, we visited the Van Gogh Foundation to see the current exhibition. It was a bit unusual featuring several Van Gogh paintings displayed on custom wallpaper designed to complement the art. As a bonus, the roof terrace provided a nice vista of Arles.
Dinner that night was back at our friend Cafe Factory Republique. I had the salmon baguette.
After dinner, we took another walk and somehow ended up at a chocolate store. I can’t imagine how that happened, right Rebecca?
Arles, Friday, October 15, 2021
We packed a bag the night before and were able to catch the 9:30 AM bus (#50) from Aix to Salon de Provence. We transferred to the #1018 to Arles, about an hour and a half total travel time arriving about 11 AM. Dropped the bag at our hotel – Brit Hotel les Acacias a decent tourist hotel just inside the city wall and very convenient to the city center.
Why Arles– it has several interesting Roman ruins, was home to Van Gogh for a while, and has a fantastic Saturday market.
Arles is a city on the Rhône River in the Provence region of southern France. It’s famed for inspiring the paintings of Van Gogh, which influenced the contemporary art displayed at the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh. Once a provincial capital of ancient Rome, Arles is also known for many remains from that era, including Arles Amphitheatre (les Arènes d’Arles), now hosting plays, concerts and bullfights
Our first stop was the Arles Amphitheatre built in 90 AD, by the orders of Tiberius Caesar Augustus. There we purchased a city pass for several sites. The amphitheater is still regularly used for events.
The next stop was the nearby Roman Theatre, built 12 AD.
In the town square is located Cathédrale Saint-Trophime d’Arles As one enters the front door, its massive internal scale is revealed including many altars, and tapestries all of which are very impressive.
For dinner, we discovered a nice little outdoor restaurant Cafe Factory Republique where the owner was a very friendly fellow. Down the street, a block was a musician who provided background music for our dinner. It was an enchanting evening in a quaint town.
After dinner, we wandered around the city a bit.
Weekend trip -Arles
Cassis (Day Trip) – Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Today we took a day trip to a beautiful seaport town – Cassis. a picture-perfect seaport town.
Cassis is a Mediterranean fishing port in southern France. Overlooked by a centuries-old château, it’s known for pebbly beaches and its calanques, narrow inlets framed by steep, limestone cliffs. The harbor features pastel-colored buildings, sidewalk cafes and restaurants. Local vineyards are known for producing Cassis white wine. Trails run along the huge, rocky Cap Canaille headland for panoramic sea views.
We walked to the bus station in Aix and took the #50 bus to the main Marseille station about a 20-minute ride. At the station, we grabbed a train to Cassis, a short ride about 3 stops.
After we departed the train we lingered at a street map to plan our walk into the town and met an interesting French lady -Marie Laure. Together we talked and walked to town – about 20 minutes downhill.
The highlight of our day was spending it with Marie Laure who shared her life stories, expert insight on french geography, customs, and language including her successful efforts in teaching an American Airlines flight attendant the language to prepare for a Paris route assignment.
She also offered us a lot of common sense regarding life itself – focus on today and tomorrow.
Our new friend was in Cassis accompanying her husband a world-renowned epidemiologist who was leading a seminar there.
As we entered the town we were greeted by Market day which is always festive.
After navigating the various goods and vendor stalls we wandered into the seaport area.
WOW. See for yourself.
As we planned our trip to return home we had budgeted our time to take a taxi back uphill to the train station, keeping a close watch on the only taxi we saw in town. When we walked over to his car for a ride we noticed that the driver wasn’t in the car. We inquired at the nearby restaurant, to discover that he wasn’t working today and he just parked his car in the town center.
Plan B was the bus.
We caught the bus but missed the earlier train. Not really a big deal and we met a nice German girl who had spent the day in Cassis hiking the Calanques trails. She helped up with the tickets at the station.
It was a very memorable day in our French journey.
We will be returning to visit Cassis again while we are based in Aix to revisit the town and take a boat ride to see the famous Calanques.
The Massif des Calanques is a wild and rugged terrain stretching from the ninth arrondissement of Marseille to the east towards Cassis, spanning 20 km in length and 4 km in width along the coast. Its highest peak is Mont Puget at 565m.
Tomorrow we will prepare for our weekend trip to Arles.
Aix en Provence – Tuesday, October 12, 2021
“Stopped into a church, we passed along the way…”
Today Rebecca wandered by a large church and called me to come by. It turns out it was Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d’Aix-en-Provence, The cathedral is built on the site of the 1st-century Roman forum of Aix. There she met Annette a student attending college in Aix and had a nice chat.
Check out the descriptive link above to learn the deep history of this church.
According to the Christian tradition, the first church on the site was founded by Saint Maximinus of Aix, who arrived in Provence from Bethany, a village near Jerusalem, with Mary Magdalene on a boat belonging to Lazarus. Maximin built a modest chapel on the site of the present cathedral and dedicated it to the Holy Saviour (le Saint Sauveur).
Here is a look inside.
Update on We Fee and Lost in Train-slation –
WiFi problem solve. It turns out that when logging in, the letter cap I looks the same as a lower cap L and the number 1. Finally found the correct letter. Upload speeds improved 40 fold.
Ticket on TGV purchased at the station. 158 EU for both Aix to Paris…first class. Trains are filling up fast as November 1st is a holiday – All Saints Day. I’m glad I finally was able to grab the tickets.
Aix en Provence – Monday, October 11, 2021
We Fee and Lost in Train-slation
Our WiFi service here is very slow (especially uploads) and our Airbnb host has been working with us very hard to find a solution. She even went to the cable company and replaced the service box. Working together we agreed to get a WiFi hotspot device to repace the wired box.
Tomorrow I will Google Translate the instruction and hopefully get it up and running.
BTW: Many of the locals refer to WiFi as We Fee. It always makes me smile when I hear it.
On another front, I have been trying to book tickets on the high-speed train (TGV) from Aix to Paris for the next leg of our journey. I tried booking it several times online via the app but it never executes.
So today I walked to the bus station to try and buy a ticket. From there I was directed to the local SNCF station. Arriving at 4:30 I noticed that the door was locked. The posted hours were until 5:30 so I asked a nearby employee what the issue was. Her English was as good as my French so we turned to Google Translate for help.
I typed in my question, she read it, and then typed in her response. She shared the following message with me- “There are too many people”.
While I agree with her in general, I’ll return tomorrow morning to try again. It will be a good contribution to my 10,000 steps a day goal.
Day Trip Marseille – Sunday, October 10, 2021
Today we reaffirmed why we choose to live in and explore France.
Left our Air BnB at noon and walked to the bus station (20 minutes). Boarded a bus to Marseille (they leave every 20 minutes). Cost 1.5 Eu each way.
Arrived at Marseille train station and walked down the hill to the port.
Beautiful, vibrant area. Explored the area on foot for an hour.
Took a tourist train to Notre‑Dame de la Garde’ basilica at the top of the hill with a panromantic view of the city. Stunning. Spent a few hours there.
Walked back to the train station and returned to Aix en Provence (30-minute ride).
Back in Aix for dinner at our favorite burger place- Big Bro in the center of town.
Our favorite waiter was very busy covering the entire restaurant by himself but he made sure we received our food quickly.
We offered him a nice tip but he refused because he felt he didn’t do a good enough job for us.
Home before 9:00 PM after a day of exploring Marseille.
One downside is slow internet speed which we are working on.
Aix en Provence – Saturday, October 9, 2021
Market day and a tale of two desserts
There were many things to see at Market day today- food, people, products, and the usual anti-vax protesters. Here are a few shots.
Dueling Desserts
Saturday was also a great day for desserts. After lunch, we went to a patisserie at the behest of our sweet tooth. We enjoyed a raspberry tart that was amazing. The raspberries on top were out of this world with flavor.
For dinner that evening, I took Rebecca out for an encore birthday dinner at La Bouchee. We both enjoyed the leg of lamb, but the star of dinner was the tiramisu with outstanding fruit. Unfortunately, the tiramisu disappeared before the camera shutter could click and it lingers only in our memories. The last photo is from the restaurant’s website.
Aix en Provence – Friday, October 8, 2021
It was a beautiful Fall day.
I walked to the visitors center and train station for some travel info. Did a few night shots with the new camera phone.
Also, a trip to the local fromagerie never disappoints.
Aix en Provence – Thursday, October 7, 2021
Decided to take the bus to Arles next weekend It is about an hour and a half bus ride.
Arles is famed for inspiring the paintings of Van Gogh, which influenced the contemporary art displayed at the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh. Once a provincial capital of ancient Rome, Arles is also known for many remains from that era, including Arles Amphitheatre (les Arènes d’Arles), now hosting plays, concerts and bullfights
In our search, we ended up at the bus station and discovered that they have a great senior citizen discount card.
Rides are 1.5 Eu each way. We signed up.
Aix en Provence – Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Drizzly day. Walked around the town and discovered that the local theatres were having a free movie day.
Stopped in and saw the new Bond movie – Mourir Peut Attendre, in English with French subtitles. Good flick.
Aix en Provence – Tuesday, October 5, 2021
I’ve been wanting to upgrade my WWI version iPhone (6 Plus) for a long time and waited for the new iPhone 13 to come out. New processor and a great camera.
Today I snagged an iPhone 13 Pro Max at the Apple store. A bit pricy but a good long-term investment.
Signed up at the Apple store for a class on architectural photography. Went outside and did some shots on the new iPhone. Very pleased with the camera’s ability.
Aix en Provence – Monday, October 4, 2021
Waling home I stopped into one of the many local Boulangerie for a baguette and a sandwich. I was told I had to wait a few minutes for the baguette because they had just come out of the oven.
It was an amazing baguette, warm and crusty on the outside and soft and delicious inside.
Aix en Provence – Sunday, October 3, 2021
Today is Rebecca’s Birthday – Happy Birthday, My French Queen
Last night we took a stroll around the city in the evening. Here are a few pix.
Aix en Provence – Saturday, October 2, 2021
Saturday is market day with many vendors in outdoor displays.
Aix en Provence Friday, October 1, 2021
Returned the rental car in the morning. I failed to buy gas and the agent asked if I would like to keep the car and get some gas to avoid extra charges. She looked it up and quoted an 80 EU fee if not filled. She then pointed out the nearest gas station and gave me directions. Took her advice and filled it with 25 EU of gas.
She also spoke English. I offered to buy her a coffee but she gracefully declined. Now that is customer-based service.
Friday evening we had dinner in the town center next to a fountain. Wonderful evening and great food.
Montpellier / Aix en Provence Thursday, September 30, 2021
I picked up the rental car at the train station, loaded up our stuff, and drove to Aix about a 2-hour drive east.
After getting the car into the light I noticed some damage on the driver’s side rear quarter panel which was not noted on the contract. Called it in but will see what the result will be. Chase Sapphire card should cover it if I am charged.
Checked into our Air BnB. Close to downtown but nice and quiet. Wandered around town in the evening and caught dinner.