Happy Aix Day!

Day Five: Aix Gon’ Give It To Ya

“How can a grocery store croissant be better than any I’ve ever had at home?,” Rebecca asked aloud as we started our journey to our next stop. The baked goods here are on a different level. Today we left Biot, the small town North West of Nice where our hotel was located, and headed toward wine country. Our next stop was four nights in Aix-en-Provence (Aix is pronounced “X”).

To get to Aix-en-Provence, we decided to take the toll highways, an experience we had struggled with on day 1. Our first attempt had me pull into a lane, avoiding the lanes clearly marked “no cash” and ended up pulling into a lane that was designated for transponders only (unbeknownst to us). As cars started lining up behind us, panic set in and I pushed the help button. Luckily, the lady who answered spoke English and had me shouting credit card numbers at her.

Today would be different. We studied up (google) on how to use the toll system and, while anxious, were ready to give it another shot. Why bother with this? Why not just use non-toll roads? Well, when mapping out our trip the difference was pretty obvious: 

Toll roads: one and a half hours, six roundabouts.

Non-toll roads: three and a half hours and sixty-two roundabouts.

We got to the first toll, anxiously waited our turn, and successfully got on our way. Now we just had an hour and half of highway driving through the beautiful French countryside.

Arriving in Aix, we went to our hotel where we had to buzz at the gate (think single bar across the front of your car kinda gate not giant, gothic, iron bars à la Dracula kinda gate) and were shortly after met by a member of the hotel staff. He allowed us entry and then took the keys to valet park our car. A very different vibe from the fun, cool hotel we had just left.

Add to this the crowd of people who were gathered on the outside of a temporary barrier that had been erected. I asked what was going on and was told that “the rugby team” was staying here. A few days earlier, when we arrived in France, I had found out that France was hosting the Rugby world cup this year and were just in time for the tournament to hit its stride. I asked which team was staying there and was told that the French national team was staying with us.

If you know anything about rugby, (I know a tiny, tiny bit), you know that France is a powerhouse and is very popular. Even if you don’t know sports: it stands to reason that, if you are a host nation of the biggest international tournament of your sport, your team is going to work hard to be competitive when the tournament rolls around, right? Well, the groupies would be outside our hotel through the first couple days here.

We got up to our room, which overlooks the square where the fans were gathered. About twenty minutes later, we heard cheering and looked out to see the players exiting a bus and entering the hotel. Over the next couple days we would see the team and hear the cheers as the team came and went, even getting stopped by the police as we tried to enter the hotel parking lot because the team was returning. At one point, several of the players got on our elevator and I’ve never felt so small in my life.

Back to our first day in Aix. We wandered over to the old part of town to walk and explore. We had a walking tour lined up for 4pm so we had time to eat and look around on our own for awhile.

Most things are closed here on Sundays (and many are closed Mondays as well) but we found a cafe and sat out in a public square munching on some delicious Mediterranean food. For us, it was something like you’d see in a movie. People walking and cycling past while folks enjoyed their food and drinks amongst the French architecture and alleyways, an ancient fountain quietly gurgling at one end of the square, being visited by birds and dogs that were passing by on walks.

After finishing our food and wandering for a while, we made our way to the meeting point to join our walking tour/group. We met Edouard, our guide, and he informed us that we were the only ones to sign up! He had decided not to cancel (he informed us that he was able to cancel groups smaller than five) and would be giving us a private tour!

Edouard was great. He took us through the city, starting at a statue of Cézanne, winding through until we ended up at a church that contained pillars from the fifth century.

Along the way we learned about the city, its history, and more about Cézanne, the city’s most famous son. The city has more than one hundred and thirty fountains (depending on who’s counting) and is known for having fresh water flowing through it as it is at the confluence of two rivers. We stopped at a few of the fountains including one that flowed from a thermal spring, causing the water to be warmer than the other fountains we visited.

A statue on the city’s old grain exchange building (turned post office) is an illustration of the character of Aix and the importance of the two rivers. On the left, Saturn, the god of agriculture, with oar in hand, represents the Rhône. The Durance river is represented by the goddess Sybille on the right, with her foot dangling to represent that the river floods/overflows in the spring.

On our wanderings through the city, we noticed a couple more of our digitally looking ceramic tile friends. Edouard explained that these were the work of a Paris based street artist named Invader who had placed more than four thousand of these characters around the world. It clicked in both our heads that we had heard of this artist (probably in a documentary, knowing us) and I found it thrilling to have this subtle scavenger hunt span now two cities.

While quiet, our first day in Aix was wonderful. We were excited to explore and watch as the city came to life over the coming days.