Travel Review: Art in Aix en Provence

Aix-en-Provence is a little town located near the Southern coast of France. It may not look like much from afar, but this charming Provencal town will have you falling in love when you get there. I took a guided walking tour of the whole city and learned a great deal about the history of the town.

Wandering through the ochre streets with flowers sticking out of the windowsills you might start to feel like you're in Beauty and the Beast. The flower market attracts artists and tourists alike and the smell of lavender, the Provencal flower, wafts through the air. As you walk along the Promenade, where the people of the middle ages would parade along the street at night to meet and talk to one another, there is an inviting gelato shoppe to stop at and get a delicious scoop of refreshing cream. Then at the end of the street stop and look at the beautiful fountain ornately decorated with 18th century figurines - Number 22 of over 40 fountains throughout the city. Nicknamed the city of a thousand fountains Aix en Provence has fountains from the 18th and 19th centuries scattered throughout the town. My favorite was the dolphin fountain with beautiful dolphin sculptures spouting the water out their heads. The architecture on the promenade is interesting because it seems as though half of the giant mansion that faces the street was built in a different style and color then the other half. The guide explains that the house was in fact built in two different time periods started before the great plague and finished after in the 18th century style. Around the corner you come to the giant medieval church with its beautiful and intricate architecture in the Gothic style. The imposing black metal doors, the guide explained, saved the townspeople when  they locked themselves in the church during a siege on the village and not even the soldiers could break through. As you enter the imposing church the dark interior is lit by candles throughout he hallway. In the corner of the church there is a hole cut into the floor exposing an ancient roman road that ran through the Provence from Italy. The history in this town is several layers deep. As we exit the church we head over to a different part of town; here we learn about the famous post-impressionist painter, Cezanne, who grew up in Aix and had his studio here. He went to Paris to study art but was rejected from the Academie des Beaux Arts and he became a lawyer like his father wished. But he didn't give up painting. Cezanne's favorite spot to paint was a perch in some rocks looking over the Provence. He later gained fame for his works made while living and painting in Aix. The Provence had been inspiring artists for hundreds of years and you can feel the artsy vibes throughout the city.
After the tour ended I headed towards the city center where many traditional provencal French restaurants are located.  I walked along the tiny, narrow streets towards the sound of music and laughter. The town comes alive at night and everyone was out sitting in the little cafes crammed into the street. Even though I got a late start to dinner after driving around the giant fountain in the center of town several times, becasue many streets were closed off for the Tour de France, the restaurants were still packed. Traditional French dinner starts at 7 or 8 at night I actually ended up being right on time. I chose a cafe with a lovely outdoor patio and was seated underneath a canopy of lights.Everyone that we were dining with seemed to be settling in for quite awhile.  I enjoyed the fresh French bread and Orangina, however my dinner choice was not quite what I expected.  Scallop tartar is a very distinctly flavored minced scallop dish which was not something I will try again. I made up for it with my desserts however, and tasted many delicious chocolate flavored creations. The same people that were eating when I arrived were still there by the time I was finished and everyone was just sitting around laughing talking and smoking. As I soon found out dinner lasts for many hours in France and you have to ask for the check if you are ready to leave.
After dinner i headed back to my hotel. Which was actually a Castle converted into bungalows. It was a really neat place to stay called the hotel du Roi Rene. Or hotel of King Rene. It was filled with beautiful fountains and the rooms were nice and spacious with a loft and a little patio out front and a kitchenette.
I loved Aix en Provence and I would definitely go back again. To read more about my travels in Southern France to hilltop cities and the port city of Avignon click here.

Spotlight: CdM goes to Cordon Bleu

While on a trip to the city of lights and fashion I decided to be adventurous and try a cooking class at the famous Culinary school and Julia Child's alma mater Cordon Bleu Paris! Inspired by Julia and Julia the movie I signed up for a class called Desserts en verres or Deserts in a glass. On the website this class was labeled for amateurs. It looked fun and interesting especially because I have an insatiable sweet tooth when it comes to French desserts. Well I was in for a big surprise when I got to the famous French school. The class was taught by a French speaking chef who moved a mile a minute and was translated by a young British trainee chef. Needless to say the instructions that were being thrown out left and right at break neck speed were a little hard to understand and keep up with. None the less we were handed our signature Cordon Bleu aprons, which I still use today, and pens and notebooks like real culinary students and sent off to the kitchen. We all stood around along stainless steel table surrounded by state of the art kitchen utensils most of which I had never seen before. Let's just say I'm not fond of making home cooked meals at my house. Since we were not given a recipe we had to rely solely on the instructions from the chef and his translator. Luckily I also managed to take some notes and brought the recipe home with me so I can recreate it anytime I choose. Although I don't know when I'll be up to hand whipping homemade cream again but just in case! After a long day of crushing pistachios and making homemade Savoyard biscuits we finally finished with twelve glasses full of delicious pistachio and strawberry cream desserts and coconut and cookie treats. The rest of the class was mostly American as well and when we finished everyone passed around the leftover Malibu and let out a sigh of relief. Like a scene from Sabrina the chef went around inspecting our work and, I thought I would never make it through, but at least I know I earned that certificate of completion. It was a really fun and interesting experience that has really helped me understand french cooking and culture better. If you are looking for something to do on your vacation a great thing to try is learn something new!