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Another beautiful day in Provence! We left Avignon around 10 AM, and hopped on the TGV for the 15 minute ride to Aix-en-Provence. It’s really weird taking a high speed train for such a short distance (about 90 km), but it’s the cheapest (and fastest!) option.

Once in Aix we lunched at an outside table on the sidewalk; our lunch was warm and delicious. It was a nice sunny day, but a bit windy and cool.

I spent six months living in this great city in 1999, and a return visit has been long overdue. Plus, I want to show Erin around: the school where I took courses, cool shops, and my favorite hangouts. My host family, the Berthouds, live inside the old city of Aix, which is within walking distance of almost everything.

Lucky for us the Berthouds invited us to stay with them for 3 days in their house on Rue de la Mule Noire (Black Mule Road). After lunch we dropped our bags at their house, and chatted with Pierre and Danièle Berthoud as they showed us our cozy little room. They even gave us a set of house keys so we could come and go as we please for the next few days.

It is like déjà vu: my old room at the Berthouds, the sights, sounds, and smells of the city, and countless other small details that I had forgotten. Erin and I explored the city, starting on Cours Mirabeau, the main avenue in downtown. It’s changed a bit; now there are less car lanes and more pedestrian room, which is nice! The avenue is lined with fancy cafés and fashion shops on one side, banks and insurance offices on the other.

Next, we took cobble-stoned streets lined with restaurants and more shops. Here, as in Italy, the ground floor is usually businesses and then folks live in the 3 or 4 stories above. We followed Rue de Gaston Saporta to the “Institute for French Studies for Foreign Students”, the university where I studied. It seemed quiet as we walked inside and checked out the fountain in the courtyard, but I think it’s close to the end of the semester. So students are either studying for finals or out partying one last time with friends, I guess.

We entered Aix’s Cathédrale de Saint-Sauveur, a monumental church that towers over the town with it’s bell-tower. It houses a 12th-century monastic cloister and a 6th-century baptistery that can be traced back to Roman times. A nice treat: the pipe organ was playing; a student organist was practicing…The cathedral is unique in that it’s architecture spans many different periods from the paleo-Christian baptistry, a Gothic nave, Romanesque cloister, and the “modern” bell-tower from the 16th century.

After the cathedral, we circled aound to see the remnants of Aix’s fortified walls; only one piece remains (see our photo page for the pictures). Next to the wall are the thermal waters, or baths which are the reason Aix was originally settled. Now a posh resort, these waters gave Aix it’s name, from the Latin Aquae Sextiae. The thermes are used for health and pleasure today just like they were in Roman times.

A famous Mediterranean tradition that Erin wanted to watch is pétanque, known to Italians and Americans as bocce ball¹. The players throw large metal balls towards a smaller ball; whomever gets the closest wins the game. In Aix, there are several areas to watch pétanque, and we went to Parc Jourdan and watched old men, young men, and even some ladies play the game. It was fun! They get very serious, and even use small rulers if two balls are close. The players seemed to be very social as well, and were probably there every day practicing and playing. According to some chroniclers of life in Provence, pétanque players can be found in every village here, no matter what size.

After watching for a bit, we headed home for rest and a great dinner with the family. It’s wonderful to be back in Aix; I am glad we came!

[1] “Bocce-ball”, as we call it in the US, is explained in this article.