{"id":1783,"date":"2013-05-05T16:50:18","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=1783"},"modified":"2026-05-25T06:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T05:58:39","slug":"delightful-aix-en-provence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2013\/05\/05\/delightful-aix-en-provence\/","title":{"rendered":"Delightful Aix-En-Provence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday turned in to a wonderful catch-up day and we both felt all the more relaxed for it.\u00a0 We spent most of the day sitting outside under the awning reading our books.\u00a0 Eileen received a good wash down and she now looks a lot smarter without all the mud and grime all over her.\u00a0 All the washing of sheets, towels and clothes was completed and then hung on lines around us to dry in the gorgeous sunshine.\u00a0 Then at 5:30pm we caught the bus in to the centre of Aix-en-Provence and strolled the streets \u2026\u2026. as we do.\u00a0 I\u2019m starting to think we are turning in to a couple of \u2018streetwalkers\u2019; we better find some countryside soon\u2026..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Place
Place D’Albertas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We watched some street artists in the Place Richelme.\u00a0 One involved two people walking along a piece of paper, very, very, extremely slowly; so slowly that it was actually quite hard to see them move.\u00a0 We managed to find a spare seat outside a bar in the square to drink an aperitif and I think the girl may have moved one metre in the time we were there\u2026…\u2026it\u2019s art.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Papier-mache
Papier-mache art at Estienne De Saint Jean Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We then spotted a Cambodian restaurant, ‘Des Temples d\u2019 Angkor’, in Place des Cardeurs; the thought of some Asian food, after so long, drew us in. The waiter informed us that he wasn\u2019t the chef, but that his wife was cooking and that “she is Cambodian origin\u201d.\u00a0 The starters were delicious and the main courses were brilliant and these were followed by some fresh fruit.\u00a0 It was flavoursome, beautifully, stylishly presented and we both reckon it is one of the best Asian meals we have had, it\u2019s certainly the best meal we have had in France this year, or last year.\u00a0 Before we left, I popped my head in to the kitchen to thank the chef and tell her that she cooked superb, exquisite meals and received a big smile in return.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Amado
Amado Fountain in Place des Cardeurs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Saturday, keen to get going promptly, I got up early, washed my hair and then while Rodney was out on a chocolate croissant and baguette hunt, I managed to blow a fuse using my hairdryer.\u00a0 I turned all the power off and back on again, but no luck.\u00a0 When Rodney got back he moved the power cable to a different post outside and voil\u00e0, we had power again. The palaver didn’t slow us up too much and the 9:30am bus whisked us to the city centre where five markets were in full swing. We strolled around taking up every offer of tasting the goods; nougat, cheeses, macaroons, salamis, calissons, tomato tapenade and sea salt, all in a very random order swinging from sweet to savoury and back again.\u00a0 We bought a lovely cheese board made from the wood of an olive tree, some soft leather slippers, some \u2018finishing\u2019 salt, a big punnet of strawberries so sweet that they taste like jam and a Provence style tablecloth and we breathed in the smells of the freesias, lily-of-the-valley and peonies in the flower market.\u00a0 The bundles of jasmine and branches of eucalyptus transported me back to Sydney on a warm September day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"If
If I just had a vase and a sideboard…..I would buy bundles of peonies….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aix-En-Provence is a wonderfully vibrant, stylish city full of ambience and life.\u00a0 It was so enjoyable after always feeling that France is closed, or about to shut.\u00a0 This place buzzed with attractive bars, which are all full of people and we really enjoyed being in amongst it all.\u00a0 There didn\u2019t seem to be any signs of recession here!\u00a0 We decided to hang around longer and have our main meal of the day at lunchtime, so we picked the Caf\u00e9 Leon Bistrot where I chose the tuna steak and Rodney indulged in a huge pot of moules marinierres with the statutory bowl of frites.\u00a0 Somehow, an hour later, we managed to also squeeze in a cr\u00e8me brulee ice cream, before we returned on the bus to the campsite and settled in to rest our sore feet and read our books outside, while the sun was still shining.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Typical
Typical street facade in Aix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday started very late with a darn good bacon and egg \u2026..brunch, cooked by chef Rodney.\u00a0 We then faffed about, before catching a lunch time bus to the city for the last time.\u00a0 We strode down the wide boulevard of the Cours Mirabeau to catch the 2:15pm petit train for a guided tour.\u00a0 On completion, one hour later, we confirmed that we really had already covered the place, but now knew a bit more about the buildings and their history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The ‘mossy’ fountain on Cours Mirabeau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

As the rain began falling again, we dashed to a caf\u00e9 in Place des Precheurs for a warming hot chocolate before catching the bus back \u2018home\u2019, with \u00a0sweet pastries in hand.\u00a0 For dinner tonight, we dined on fresh pasta purchased in the market the day before, and Rodney washed it down with a couple of glasses of C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne. Tr\u00e8s delicious.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A
A goat on a balcony ?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday turned in to a wonderful catch-up day and we both felt all the more relaxed for it.\u00a0 We spent most of the day sitting outside under the awning reading our books.\u00a0 Eileen received a good wash down and she now looks a lot smarter without all the mud and grime all over her.\u00a0 All […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8409,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783\/revisions\/8409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}