River Cruise Diary – Aix-en-Provence, France

Back on the bus with one more stop before we arrive in the town of Arles and board our river boat. Aix-en-Provence is a city of over 140,000. The one-time capital of Provence was founded by the Romans in 123 BC.

Plane and Simple, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

We were dropped off here for a brief walking tour and some free time to find a snack. Less than a third of a mile long, the Cours Mirabeau is the lively ‘Main Street’ in town. There are fountains, restaurants and government buildings that all date back centuries. The French love to line their streets with grand trees, all the same size and all well-manicured. The plane trees (we call them sycamores here in the States) were radically-trimmed at this time and looked a bit scary with no leaves. The links to Aix and Cours Mirabeau both have photos of the trees in full leaf…pretty spectacular.

Fontaine de la Rotonde, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

At one end of the Cours Mirabeau is the Fontaine de la Rotonde. Built in 1860, the fountain decorates the terminus of the street. With bronze lions, swans and mythical creatures surrounding the base, the top has three figures representing art, justice and agriculture.

City Hall, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

We first-time visitors to France soon learned the common names for buildings present in most towns. The town hall is the ‘hotel de ville’ and hospitals are ‘hotel dieu’ (literally ‘house of God’). The Hotel de Ville in Aix dates to the middle of the 17th century.

Classical Government Building, Aix-en-Provence (21 April 2006)

Provence Outside the Bus Window (21 April 2006)

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) was a noted Impressionist painter who led the transition to more abstract artistic expressions in the early 20th century. He lived in Aix and his work included landscapes of the area.

Toward the end of his life, he was one of the first artists to display a cubist style. As with many pioneering artists, the radical move away from impressionism was not well-received. Later, many modern masters acknowledged Cezanne’s contributions to art.

Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne (1902-04)

Using oil and watercolor and three different vantage points, Cezanne made thirty different paintings of this scene. This one demonstrates his later, cubist style.

The Chardonnay on the Rhone in Arles (21 April 2006)

Late that afternoon, our bus deposited us at the landing where we saw our home for the next week. The crew delivered our luggage to the assigned cabins, we received the welcome orientation talks and had the first in a long series of fine meals. We will set sail the next day but not before seeing more of the town of Arles.