A Taste Of Parisian Life: Aix-en-Provence

This weekend was quite possibly one of the best ever. I will be dreaming about Provence for the rest of my life. So, we didn't have class on Friday so I took the opportunity to spend my three day weekend in Aix-en-Provence. It's where Cezanne was born, lived, and died. So that justified a trip down there. So the only thing I knew about Aix was that Cezanne was from there, and that it was the town in the beginning of "Horseman on the Roof" (highly recommended movie). But Aix shattered all of my expectations and made me fall in love over and over, in just one weekend.

Friday morning I got up early to catch my train out of Paris. I got to the train station outside of Aix around noon. But you have to take a shuttle from there into town. Had a great conversation with the guy sitting next to me on the navette. Got to Aix and checked into my hotel. After settling in, I set out to explore Aix and see all of the Cezanne sites. Provence is defiantly very touristy but I'm used to the tourists in Paris. The Aix tourism office was exceptional. They were so helpful and set me up with the whole shebang to see everything Cezanne. For lunch, they recommended a spot, where I had an absolutely delicious duck salad. That evening I went to his studio at Les Lauves, where he worked till his death. He designed the studio to be the ideal for his particular style of painting. There is a slot in the wall to bring large canvases outside, a huge north-facing window, and very high ceilings. There aren't any paintings at the studio, because it had been abandoned for years. What is there is all of the objects he used repeatedly in his works. There was also his paintbrushes, paint tubes, and all of his other art supplies. It was unbelievable. Afterwards, I had roasted lamb with Provencal herbs, which was to die for.

Saturday, I woke up early to go see the Bibemus Quarry. This quarry has been worked from Roman times up to the 70s. Cezanne, as a boy would wander around there. Later in his life, he rented a stone hut there and began to formulate his ideas that would, after his death, lead to Cubism. There was just me and a elderly couple from Scotland on the tour so we got to have the whole place to ourselves. There simply aren't words to describe the quarry. Surreal, magical, other-worldly...these are all empty terms. Seeing them in person made me feel like I could understand his work so much better. And it was also fantastic to be out in nature and go for a hike in and around the quarry. Afterwards, I headed back into town and went to visit his family home, Jas de Bouffan. It was the home of the Governor of Provence before Cezanne's father bought it. It is a beautiful old estate, but now it is in utter disrepair. The city is beginning the long, expensive process of restoring it, so there was scaffolding all around the exterior. But it was still a wonderful visit. The house was beautiful, but the grounds were spectacular. Fountains and pools hidden by the forest and overgrown with time. It was amazing, and I stayed after the tour to wander for over an hour.

This morning I made my pilgrimage to his grave. It was a little hard to find but a beautiful location. It was on the hill of the cemetery, surrounded by lavender and bees and birds. I left an apple as homage to the first modern painter. Then, because the local museum was closed, I explored Aix. There was hardly anyone out on the streets, because they were all in church. But as I wandered I stumbled upon the huge market. It was everything a market should be. There was beautiful produce, lots of olive oil and honey and lavender products, delicious melons, strawberries that ruined me for any other strawberry, roasting meat, laughing farmers, all in a huge square accompanied by the sound of church bells. I also had the famous local calissons, ground almonds mixed with melon and orange peel, covered in icing. Oh, I could live in Provence happily for the rest of my life... but I got on the train back to Paris. It was ultra dramatic on the train, leaving sun-drenched Provence, with rocky outcroppings overlooking fields of lavender and vineyards, slowly turning into gray skies and the industrial wasteland surrounding the train station of Paris. This weekend already feels like a dream. I love Paris, but Aix stole my heart.