Road Trip – Week 4 in France & Then Home

Day 23 Cassis, France

Desole, it’s my last week of vacation in France. Now I wish I had another week to explore further from Aix. Thing like the museums and Vieux of Nice (Old Town Nice), the architecture of Montpelier, the Toulous-Latrec Museum in Albi, Menton the “Pearl of the Riveria” — I could go on and on.

In Aix there is opera, theatre, poetry readings, ballet, etc. But that’s when you realize without being fluent and understanding French, you miss so much.

Cassis is famous for its cliffs and inlets called “calanques.” Calanques are inlets with very steep limestone cliffs which run along the Mediterranean coast for about 13 miles between Marseille and Cassis in the Calanques National Park.

The present site of Cassis was first occupied between 600 and 500 BC.

Day 24 Marseille, France

The city of Marseille itself has a population of about 900,000; with the suburbs, it is close to 2,000,000. Marseille is the third-largest metropolitan area in France, after Paris and Lyon. 

It was founded in 600BC by the Greeks. Marseille is the oldest city in France, as well as one of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements.

There is a lot of beautiful architecture scattered around the city, including the château d’eau (“water tower”). It is part of the The Palais Longchamp. It was created to celebrate the construction of the Canal de Marseille, which was built to bring water to the city.

The city has gotten a lot of bad press in the past for its crime rate. I’m told that has improved dramatically in recent years.

Marsaille now has the most museums in France after Paris. It was also named European Capital of Culture in 2013 and European Capital of Sport in 2017. There was a Springsteen Concert happening while we were there. I need to go back!

The last photo is of a giant mirrored canopy called the Port Vieux Pavilion. It reminded me of standing under the Bean in Chicago.

Day 25 Hanging Out in Aix

Aix has 300 days of sunshine per year. This day started out cool and cloudy. People say a cloudy day is good for taking photos. Well I like drama with shadows but have to admit it’s often more of a challenge to take photos on a sunny day.

I got out early and watched the city wake up. I had Petit Dejonier watching the Marche getting set up. It was strange to take photos with so few people! I wandered around and realized I was no longer getting lost in the maze of the old city.

I made the mistake of returning to Book in Bar….. I love their curated selection of books. Then I went back to the apartment to write, read, and rest up for a wine gathering. I’m not much of a wine drinker but can appreciate the science of it and how the grape reflects the earth its grown on.

Since I’m not a foodie I go along with those that invite me. One night I went with them, a group of eight. We had reservations for 7 p.m. When we got there, the restaurant was not open. We called the number and the owner/chef/bartender said, “I’ll be right there!”

The first photo above is a rare glimpse into a courtyard that almost every house has. From the outside a lot of the houses look like nothing, but when you look at them with Google Earth you see each has its own oasis in its courtyard.

Day 26 St. Remy and Les Baux-de-Provence

What a great day! Two couples and I rented a car and set off for St. Remy. We parked by the tourist information office and followed the Van Gogh Trail to Monestary Saint-Paul de Mausole where he spent one year. As you walk from town you pass plaques with reproductions of his paintings.

The hospital is a former Roman Catholic 11th-Century monastery.  Franciscan monks established a psychiatric asylum there in 1605. The hospital remains a psychiatric institution today.

The tour of the parts open to the public include artwork made by patients, a room that tells the history of the hospital and a reproduction of Van Gogh’s room. There are period doctors’ offices, a kitchen, the room of Mother Superior, and a room that explains psychiatry in the 19th century. There are cloisters and a beautiful garden behind. It way out performed my expectations!

During the time Van Gogh was there, he painted approximately 140 oil paintings and more than 100 drawings in the space of 53 weeks. The paintings created there are some of his most famous. I thought the way he painted the mountain there was fanciful, but they actually look like they do in his paintings.

A side note: I was surprised to see one of the offices was for Dr. Albert Schweitzer. It was long after Van Gogh, but from 1914 to 1918 the hospital was partly transformed into a prisoner of war camp for internees of Alsatian origin. Schweitzer was a prisoner of war, but was able to practice medicine while interred there.

Glanum

The hospital is next to the archaeological site of Glanum. It was a Gallic city, which became Roman, built around a sacred spring. A triumphal arch signals the entrance to the city. Next to it is a mausoleum in memory of the Iulii, members of the local elite.

A Gallic tribe first created a settlement on the site in the 6th century BC, creating a fort around the spring. The tribe worshiped the God Glan, the God of the Deep, the guarantor of the purity of its water. Later the Greeks arrived, building more, and when the Romans arrived they constructed the monumental Roman center, a forum, basilica, thermal baths, and a triumphal fountain.

Around 270 CE, the city was destroyed and gradually abandoned. Its inhabitants left the city and moved further north, beginning to build the present-day town of Saint Rémy. They used stones from Glanum, destroying many of the monuments and buildings.

Little by little the city fell into oblivion… it was completely buried under a thick layer of silt and clay nearly 25 feet high. Only the arch and the mausoleum remained visible.

At the time of its “rediscovery” in 1921, the site was covered by a field of olive trees. A farmhouse stood above the site of the Forum! When Van Gogh painted there, he had no idea what he was standing over.

The face fountain reminds me of the Mouth of Truth I saw in Rome last year.

Des Baux-de-Provence

Our last stop of the day was at Des Baux-de-Provence. The first documents talking about a fort at Des Baux was in 960 AD. A castle was built and to 3,000 people lived on the castle site in the 12th century. The castle was demolished in 1632 and a new “Lower Town” was built, which now houses restaurants, shops, and homes.

You can roam the ruins of the castle and see caves where the troglodytiques lived up until the 19th century.

The lavender was just beginning to bloom. The best time to see it is at the end of June they say.

Day 27 Aix 

My last day in this beautiful city! The name of the Smithsonian part of my trip is “Living Like a Local.” After three weeks, I kind of did feel that way. I wasn’t getting lost in the winding streets of Le Vieil anymore.

I had my favorite patisserie, my favorite art supply store, Épicerie, market, and so on. I like this mode of travel more than the way I’ve traveled with some tours, constantly moving from one hotel to the other. The good part of taking those tours is now I know where I might want to spend three weeks or a month. I’d hate to go somewhere for that long and end up not liking it.

I revisited the Cathédrale Saint Sauveur to see the cloisters. The Cathedral evolved in intervals. Around the year 500 a group of episcopal buildings were constructed on top of the old Roman forum. Then at the beginning of the 12th century, a new church was begun on the same site. It took until the 19th century to complete due to wars, the plague, and lack of funds.

The cloister was built next to the cathedral in the late 12th century. I got an in-depth tour that was conducted in French. A Parisian currently living in NYC translated the highlights for me!

A lot of the cloisters was constructed with pieces from other ruins. The capitols were carved specifically for this site. The capitols on the west and north are decorated with scenes from the New Testament and Old Testament. A statue of St. Peter sits at the northwest corner. The east side capitols depict the growth of the Catholic church AD. And the south side capitols are decorated with flowers and leaves.

The detail of the capitols was amazing for the age. The ones that showed the most wear were those on the north side that didn’t have as much protection. The arches on each side were different from one another and almost every column was unique. The guide said the monks were well off, they were not cloistered, and had slaves.

More about Aix in general

One of the really special things about the architecture in Aix are all the oratoire, the small niche on the corners of buildings. Aix is one of the cities in France that has the most. There are more than 90 visible around town.

And then there are all the mascaron, they are an ornament in the form of a face used in architecture. They were originally intended to frighten evil spirits from entering a building. Later they became purely decorative and are usually human in appearance. Aix is loaded with them

And there are quite a few “atlas” in the city. An atlas is a male figure used as a column to support an entablature or other projection from a building. And if you don’t have the real thing, you paint one on.

The Cours Mirabeau is the most famous street of Aix. It divides the old town into two sections. The ancient part with narrow winding streets, Le Vieil, and the Mazarin Quarter which was built in the second half of the 17th century.

It is a pedestrian street 1443 feet long and 138 feet wide. It was famous for the huge plane trees (sycamore) that lined it. Due to a disease most were cut down and replaced, so it’s not as shady as it once was.

On one side it is lined with cafes and shops and the other, mansions, banks, and a few shops.

The city is very clean, there is always someone out cleaning up. They hose down streets after the markets close. In fact, I did not see any trash anywhere along the roads I traveled on in the country.

I didn’t see much homelessness either, but some. While I was at a cafe this man and young woman came up and took things out of their roller bag to give to this man. A cup of coffee and some food.

Our last meal together. Dessert first! Pineapple and mango gaspacho with fresh fruit, mint, and passion sorbet. Slow-cooked lamb with spring vegetables. Pea soup. I don’t normally like peas. I grew up with canned ones! But this cold soup was delicious

Day 28 Home

I left at 6:45 for the Marsaille airport. It is pretty new and easy to navigate. Changing terminals at CDG was easier than anticipated. My route was very well marked, but if there had been a lot of people, I can see how it could cause you to miss your flight. There were only two people at passport control, and along the way you had to show your passport and ticket several times.

No, I did not eat all of this at one meal! In the dessert was fresh fruit, a strawberry glaze, meringue, and vanilla ice cream. The middle was lettuce, tomato, and buffalo mozzarella. The third, was thin strips of melon and watermelon scoops, I don’t remember what the base was, but it was delicious!