An Afternoon in Aix

A quick train ride away, Aix is entirely different from its port city neighbor. While Marseille is urban, gritty, and for the most part working class, Aix is genteel, gorgeous, and incredibly clean. Even though, as Martine pointed out to me, it's also incredibly expensive and bourgeois, after three hot days as a visitor in Marseille it was honestly a relief.

I decided to visit Aix's Caumont Centre d’Art, to see the current Bonnard au Japon exhibit and take advantage of their air conditioning. The center itself is a gorgeous 18th c “Hotel Particulier” that belonged to a string of wealthy families and was later used as a haven for the French Resistance during WWII.

When I came out, the main Street had been transformed into an enormous market, full of beautiful things. I bought myself a red straw hat (made not in Provence, but in Madagascar).

I ended my afternoon with dinner at an outdoor cafe, where I added another street scene to my “carnet de voyage”.

Then back on the train to Marseille!