Aix-En-Provence (3)

Pavillon Vendôme

Pavillon Vendôme was a lucky find.  I was wandering across Aix wondering if there was time to walk down to the river - I hadn't realised how far it was - and I saw what in the UK I'd call a Brown Sign, the kind of thing you find pointing to National Trust properties.  So I followed it and there was Pavillon Vendôme.  It's a 18th century grand house, very nice, but I loved the garden.

Rose Garden

As you enter the grounds the rose garden is the first thing you see.  It was, frankly, past its best.  But still a great place to sit in the sun and relax. Sitting there with a book for an hour after breakfast on my final day was ideal.  I had the place to myself too.  This seems to me to be typical of Aix-En-Provence: it is full of treasures which you can either spend a lot of time reading up about and looking for or otherwise just wander about and let yourself be surprised by.  There were museums I did not visit, tours I did not take, but still I was enchanted by the place.

One thing I did do was take a road train round the town.  The commentary pointed out some interesting things I'd missed when walking about, and the very fact that the driver got this thing round some of the very narrow streets was a treat in itself.  One of the treats I learned about concerned a fountain in Cours Mirabeau.

As I mentioned, the part of the avenue in which traffic is allowed is not wide, and there are two fountains right in the middle, with the carriageway parting like a roundabout to accomodate them.  Getting a delivery lorry round these must be a nightmare.  I found one of those vans that deliver cash to banks stopped on one, making a drop or collection.  By the time it was ready to move quite a lot of traffic had built up.  The driver needed to reverse in order to manoevre round the fountain.  But no-one behind him had made any allowance for that!  Chaos ensued while, as far as I could tell, everyone in the street had to back up in order to create room.

Warm fountain

But this kind of thing is common.  Walking down a typically narrow street you see a van stopped.  The doors are open, and the driver is nowhere to be seen.  He's making a delivery to one of the tiny shops.  There is hardly room for a pedestrian to get round, so traffic has to wait.  You pass drivers reading newspapers, generally letting time pass.  There is nothing else to do.

Anyway, the point about the fountain: the water is naturally warm, and steams in the cold weather.

Thinking again about what I said about Aix not being as interesting as Avignon, I think that was a bit harsh.  I loved Aix.  It gave me everything I needed, namely refreshment both metaphorical and actual, in abundance.  There are lots of museums, there is a theatre, and there are walking tours around the town and the surrounding countryside.  You can visit places where Cézanne set up his easel.  I felt I had exhausted Avignon, but Aix I know a barely scratched because that was what I wanted.

I left Aix-En-Provence knowing that there are 3 major towns in Provence, and that having seen two I must go to the third.  Marseilles beckons.  But I would happily return to Aix just to be charmed by the narrow streets and old buildings that have been soaking up sunlight for centuries.  And then, if I was in the mood, there would be plenty to do, and enough restaurants to satisfy my every culinary need.  And there is the public humour - I noticed it on the road train and could not get my camera out in time - it was a dry cleaners and pressers.  And the name of the establishment: Aix-Presse.  Don't you just love it!