Coming Home to Aix en Provence

Glenda and I had been here before on a voyage onboard the Ruby Princess. Then we fell in love with Aix-en-Provence (pronounced like “Ex on Provonce”). It’s amazing how sometimes it’s the little, out-of-the-way events that stick in one’s memory. For example when we were here before, the day was very cold and we had no plans for lunch, so we stopped in at little crêperie located in a dark underpass right by the Fountain of the Rotonde. I remember how the woman flipped that crêpe around with something resembling a yardstick. We went back today just to see if she was still there. She was not, but the crêperie was still there, staffed by two young women. We wandered for over an hour, retracing our steps back to the city market, and then to the church of Sainte Savieur. Earlier Dominique our guide delivered the clearest explanation of the connection between politics, art and architecture that I have ever heard. He pointed out how baroque art and architecture were a product of the Catholic counter-reformation. We stopped at a little coffee shop and enjoyed the warm espresso with a piece of lemon cake. These are simple memories, but they are the ones that stand out so vividly when the cruise is over. Many tourists come here to retrace the steps of artist Paul Cézanne, but we came here simply to enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of this strikingly beautiful French village. Of course, pilgrimages here to find Cézanne often end at his home on the north side of the town, which is preserved exactly as he left it the day he died. (See https://www.cezanne-en-provence.com/en/ ) Whenever we return to Aix en Provence, though, we come simply because it makes us feel as though we have come home again.Read more