AIX-EN-PROVENCE, LES PROVENÇAL

VILLAGES ET SAINT-RÉMY

Aix-En-Provence

AIX-IT!

For pronunciation, you pronounce the "x", so Aix sounds like ex, as in "X marks the spot". On road signs, the name is shortened into Aix-en-Pce.

The center of Aix is the old town (vieille ville), ringed by a circle of boulevards and squares. It's a small-enough area to explore by foot, but there's way too much to see in one or

two days. The medieval Aix was protected by a wall with 39 towers. Today only the 14th century "Tourreluquo" tower remains, at the northwest corner of the town.

Cours Mirabeau is the center of the center, and the heart of Aix. The Cours Mirabeau is a beautiful tree-lined avenue, with one side lined with wonderful terrace cafés and

bookshops. If you sit at only one French sidewalk café outside of Paris, it should be here, where the air is warm, the light sublime and the sidewalk alive. Large plane trees

overhang the length of the avenue, giving day-long shade on hot summer days. Some of the more famous cafés are: Le Grillon [this photo], Les Deux Garçons, La Belle Epoque

and Le Café du Cours.

For breakfast in Aix, we buy spinach quiches and mushroom quiches at a shop low on the Cours Mirabeau, across from the cafés, and have them with our "grandes crèmes" at

Les Deux Garcons.

What's happening in Aix this week? 

• The "Semaine des Spectacles" is a weekly guide available from newsstands. It comes out every Wednesday, and contains everything that's going on in the towns of Provence

and the Côte d'Azur (including Aix, Cannes, Nice). It lists restaurants, nightclubs, movies (many in "Version Originale"), museums, and other diversions. 

• "La Semaine" is a weekly guide for Aix, available free from the Office de Tourisme. In addition to the movies, theaters and concerts for Aix, it has a calendar of expositions for

most of the Beyondregion.

Vieille Ville

The old town of Aix is packed with shops, markets, museums, religious and architectural sites and historical sites. The terrace cafés on the Place des Précheurs (by the flower

market) attract many of the younger locals, with lower prices than those on the Cours Mirabeau.

Mazarin District

The Quartier Mazarin is the area south of the Cours Mirabeau. This area of 17th-century town houses ("hôtels particuliers") was built in 1646-51 by the Archbishop Mazarin. The

Granet Museum, Paul Arbaud Museum and the 13th-century Eglise St-Jean-de-Malte are in the Quartier Mazarin.

Sextius Baths

The "Thermes Sextius" in the northwest corner of the town, along the Bvd Jean Jaurès, are 18th-century hot-water baths set in a large tree-shaded park (closed for extensive

renovation, 1996-97). This is near the site of original Roman baths, which were large enough to attract visitors to Aquae Sextiae 2000 years ago.

AIX-IT AGAIN!

City of Fountains

Aix-en-Provence is full of fountains. Everywhere, throughout the town, fountains big and small bubble and spray and splash.

 The Cours Mirabeau has some of the finest: The great fountain (1860) at La Rotonde [top photo], in the Place Général de Gaulle at the bottom end of the "cours", spraying up

into the sunlight. The Fountain of 9 Cannons(1691), half way up, bubbles away in the shade [this photo]. Another block up the "cours" is the moss-covered hot-water

fountain dating back to 1734, although the 35°C (93°F) spring has been enjoyed for its healing properties for 2000 years [photo, 28 k]. King René's Fountain, at the top of the

"cours" was built in the 19th century; the statue is of Roi René holding a bunch of Muscat grapes, which the good king introduced into Provence.

 The lovely Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins (this photo) at the Place des Quatre Dauphins, in the Mazarin district, was built in 1667 by Jean-Claude Rambot.

Markets

Main Market - Mon, Tue, Thur, Sat. The main market by the Palais de Justice is a big affair of fresh produce and food, bric-à-brac and flea-market. The flower market is on the

Place de Verdun and Place des Prêcheurs, by the Ste-Madeleine church. The clothing market that used to be around the old prison is now along the "other side" of the Cours

Mirabeau. The old prison, smack in the center of town, was rebuilt as an administrative building [1996-97].

Food Market. A daily market with food and fresh produce is held in the Place Richelme, between the post office and the old grain market.

Flower Market. During the three market days, a colorful flower market is held at the Place de l'Hotel de Ville.

Gastronomy

Aix-en-Provence has every kind of restaurant imaginable, from fast-foods to the highest of haute-cuisine (two Michelin 3-stars).

Calissons d'Aix, in the shape of a small boat, have been made and sold in Aix-en-Provence since the 17th century.

Another little boat pastry made in honor of the Saints and their little boat is the navette.

Favorite Sons

Paul Cézanne

Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence. He was raised here, studied here, lived here (and other places), and eventually died here. He was one of the many famous clients of the

Deux Garcons café on the Cour Mirabeau. One of his favorite subjects was Mont Sainte Victoire, to the east of Aix. The Office de Tourisme has a multi-lingual guide, Dans les Pas

de Cézanne, with a walking itinerary through town to see some of the places he frequented.

Other

ST REMY YO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMI0Adwmd40

St remy link

TEMP YO (FOR ALL OF PROVENCE)

Most of Provence has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by

hot, dry summers, mild winters, little snow, and abundant sunshine.

Within Provence there are micro-climates and local variations,

ranging from the Alpine climate inland from Nice to the continental

climate in the northern Vaucluse. The winds of Provence are an

important feature of the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry

wind which, especially in the winter, blows down the Rhone Valley to

the Bouches-du-Rhône and the VarDepartments, and often reaches

over one hundred kilometres an hour.

CUISINE YO

The cuisine of Provence is the result of the warm, dry Mediterranean climate; the rugged landscape, good for grazing sheep and goats but, outside of the Rhone Valley, with poor soil for large-scale agriculture; and the abundant seafood on the coast.

The basic ingredients are olives and olive oil; garlic; sardines, rockfish, sea urchins and octopus; lamb and goat; chickpeas; local fruits, such as grapes, peaches, apricots, strawberries, cherries, and the famous melons of Cavaillon.

The fish frequently found on menus in Provence are the rouget, a small red fish usually eaten grilled, and the loup, (known elsewhere in France as the bar), often grilled with fennel over the wood of grapevines.

An Aïoli made of garlic, salt, egg yolk andolive oil

Pissaladière

A bowl of ratatouille with bread

Socca of Nice also known as La Cade inToulon

The Calissons from Aix

Aïoli is a thick emulsion sauce made from olive oil flavored with crushed garlic. It often accompanies a bourride, a fish soup, or is served with potatoes and cod (fr. Morue). There are as many recipes as there are families in Provence.

Bouillabaisse is the classic seafood dish of Marseille. The traditional version is made with three fish: scorpionfish, sea robin, and European conger, plus an assortment of other fish and shellfish, such as John Dory, monkfish, sea urchins, crabs and 

sea spiders included for flavor. The seasoning is as important as the fish, including salt, pepper, onion, tomato, safron, fennel, sage, thyme, bay laurel, sometimes orange peel, and a cup of white wine or cognac. In Marseille the fish and the broth are

served separately – the broth is served over thick slices of bread with rouille (see below.)[35]

Brandade de Morue is a thick cream made of cod crushed and mixed with olive oil, milk, garlic and sometimes truffles.

Daube provençale is a stew made with cubed beef braised in wine, vegetables, garlic, and herbes de provence. Variations also call for olives, prunes, and flavoring with duck fat, vinegar, brandy, lavender, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, juniper berries, or 

orangepeel. For best flavor, it is cooked in several stages, and cooled for a day between each stage to allow the flavors to meld together. In the Camargue area of France, bulls killed in the bullfighting festivals are sometimes used for daube.

Escabeche is another popular seafood dish; the fish (usually sardines) are either poached or fried after being marinated overnight in vinegar or citrus juice.

Fougasse is the traditional bread of Provence, round and flat with holes cut out by the baker. Modern versions are baked with olives or nuts inside.

Oursinade is the name of a sauce based on the coral of the sea urchin, and usually is used with fish, and also refers to a tasting of sea urchins.

La pissaladière is another speciality of Nice. Though it resembles a pizza, it is made with bread dough and the traditional variety never has a tomato topping. It is usually sold in bakeries, and is topped with a bed of onions, lightly browned, and a kind

of paste, called pissalat, made from sardines and anchovies, and the small black olives of Nice, called caillettes. [36]

Ratatouille is a traditional dish of stewed vegetables, which originated in Nice.[37]

Rouille is a mayonnaise with red pimentos, often spread onto bread and added to fish soups.

Socca is a speciality of Nice – it is a round flat cake made of chickpea flour and olive oil, like the Italian farinata. It is baked in the oven in a large pan more than a meter in diameter, then seasoned with pepper and eaten with the fingers while hot. In 

Toulonsocca is known as La Cade.[38]

Soupe au pistou, either cold or hot, usually made with fresh basil ground and mixed with olive oil, along with summer vegetables, such as white beans, green beans, tomatoes, summer squash, and potatoes. [39]

Tapenade is a relish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers, and olive oil, usually spread onto bread and served as an hors d'œuvre.

The calisson is the traditional cookie of Aix-en-Provence, made from a base of almond paste flavored with confit of melon and orange. They have been made in Aix-en-Provence since the 17th century.

The gâteau des Rois is a type of epiphany cake found all over France; the Provençal version is different because it is made of brioche in a ring, flavored with the essence of orange flowers and covered with sugar and fruit confit.

The tarte Tropézienne is a tart of pastry cream (crème pâtissière) invented by a St. Tropez pastry chef named Alexandre Micka in the 1950s, based on a recipe he brought from his native Poland. In 1955, he was chef on the set of the film 

And God Created Woman when actress Brigitte Bardot suggested he name the cake La Tropézienne. It is now found in bakeries throughout the Var. [40]

The Thirteen desserts is a Christmas tradition in Provence, when thirteen different dishes, representing Jesus and the twelve apostles, and each with a different significance, are served after the large Christmas meal.

Herbes de Provence (or Provençal herbs) are a mixture of dried herbs from Provence which are commonly used in Provençal cooking.