Aix-en-Provence
So we missed the Solar Eclipse. Darn! Oh well, we’ll catch the next one. 2044? Maybe not.
On the positive side, we’re here in Aix en Provence. What a beautiful city! Kilometers of walking streets in the old town filled with shops all dealing in unnecessarys. There’s Cartier, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Cardin, Ralph Lauren, even Tommy Hilfiger, to name a few. Restaurants: gotta be one for every 100 citizens. Cafes and brasseries always seem full. The artist Cezanne is a local legend. Street musicians everywhere: very rarely are you without a background sound of music.Aix is also known as the” 20th arrondissement (ward) of Paris”, probably for its upscale mode.
Street markets occur three days a week. We’re on the main street, Cours Mirabeau. It’s a wide avenue. Banks and realtors on one side; cafes, restaurants, food and tobacco shops on the other. My favorite pastime is sitting in a café watching the passersby. On market days Mirabeau features dry goods – clothes, linens. You have to go further into the quarter to the Palais de Justice plaza to find the food market. The flower market isin front of the City Hall. It’s well worth the trip. The aromas are wonderful!
On Sundays our side of Mirabeau becomes a street market for vendors of antiques, oriental carpets, glass and silverware, books, old CD”s and LP’s.
The other day we stopped at a café for coffee. The couple sitting next to us were speaking American. Turns out they’re from Ipswich, almost in our backyard! He spends the winter teaching drama and acting at the local branch of the American University. We had a lot to talk about.
Our first week here was a Spring Music festival. We saw a wonderful Chamber Music Trio at the Jeu de Paume theater. It’s on this site where King Louis XVI – the last king of France (1774–92) – had a tennis court built. It was turned into a theater that opened 1787. We also visited a nightclub, Club 3 C’s (Café CulturelCitoyen). Anzie thinks they’re all old socialists! That night they featured Irish music. Must have been 12 musicians. Not an organized group; they just drop by. Even so, the music was pretty good. Also discovered that the Club features different events each night – from Jazz to poetry to DIY art to stand-up comedy to debate.We’ll be there for jazz two nites from now.And finally, we attended a circus in the big city park, Parc Jourdan. Although it was geared toward kids, it was still a treat. I was even hugged by a clown!
We found some interesting outdoor art, like these “caryatids”, sculptures of humans supporting a structure. Seen below, these two men are supporting the entablature over the entrance to the Chamber of Commerce, allegedly the oldest building on the Cours Mirabeau.The other is found outside a theater.
Wait a minute! That’s Alfred Hitchcock! Hold on, he never had abs like that. His belly always looked like it arrived someplace two seconds before he did!
So, moving on … Aix has a lot of history, as do many French towns. So as not to bore you I’d like to stick to the juicier parts – like the plague.
In 1720 Marseille was a booming port. The bubonic plague was spreading. MarseillePort Authority establisheda medical inspection facility on a small island near the port entrance. One day a ship containing silk and other precious cargo showed up. The customers expecting the cargo “greased palms”, and the ship was allowed in port without an inspection. Soon after the plague grew rampant.
Aix-en-Provence lies about 30 miles northeast of Marseille. The town fathers, aware of the oncoming tragedy, made it illegal for anyone to leave or enter the city.Aixois were prevented from leaving their homes, except at certain prescribed times. They were not allowed to attend church services. The city installed religious statues in building niches, usually on corners,throughout the town so that citizens could worship without leaving their homes.The tourist office said 940 still exist.
By the end of 1722, The town of Marseille lost over 100.000 people to the plague. Legend has it that the town of Aix lost 0.According to The Office of Tourism, the actual figure was over 4500.
Paul Cezanne, the famous post-impressionist artist, lived and died in Aix. The place of his death is just up the street from us. Just to freshen your memory, here are two examples of his work:
Cezanne probably painted the Mont 100 times. It lies just outside of town. The only difference between then and nowis the number of houses. Most of them are estates for the rich. There’s also a great restaurant.
A la prochaine,
Chuck& Anne
