John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 6 - FREE DAY


Aix-en-Provence

Today will be free for you to explore Aix-en-Provence. Perhaps wander along Cours Mirabeau, Aix's elegant main street, and peel off into the maze of lanes to discover tiny squares and myriad fountains or visit the superb Musée Granet and its collection of works by Cézanne, Degas, Picasso, Matisse and Monet.

We will have dinner in a local restaurant this evening.

“At last, a good sleep!” Janet reported. “I needed that. [I was] up [at] 7am.” I read more of The Jewel in the Skull. Janet vacated the bathroom at 7.17am, so I got up and occupied it for my morning ablutions. A few minutes before 8am, we went downstairs for breakfast (literally “downstairs”: we eschewed the use of the lift for just about everything, apart from carrying suitcases initially up and finally down). After returning to the room to get ourselves ready, we left the hotel by the south exit, going down the steps and then turning left along Rue du Bon Pasteur, a little before 9.30am. “It was a day of sunshine and showers,” Janet recalled: “mostly showers! However, it didn’t stop us doing anything we wanted.”


Part of the street plan of Aix-en-Provence, showing in red places visited, etc.

We had a longer and more thorough visit to the Cathedral than we’d had on Wednesday.


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:36:10
Aix Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d’Aix-en-Provence)


Floor Map of Aix Cathedral (with north to the left)


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:37:18
Aix Cathedral: western façade


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:37:26
Aix Cathedral: western façade and bell tower


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:38:00
Aix Cathedral: entrance


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:40:40
Aix Cathedral: Romanesque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:41:24
Aix Cathedral: baptistery


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:42:04
Aix Cathedral: baptistery


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:42:24
Aix Cathedral: baptistery


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:44:36
Aix Cathedral: Sacred Heart Chapel


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:45:36
Aix Cathedral: Sacred Heart Chapel


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:46:44
Aix Cathedral: east end of the Romanesque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:48:30
Aix Cathedral: east end of the Romanesque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:49:16
Aix Cathedral: high altar at the east end of the Gothic nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:50:14
Aix Cathedral: north-east corner


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:51:56
Aix Cathedral: choir


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:52:26
Aix Cathedral: Gothic nave, looking west through the choir


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:52:50
Aix Cathedral: west window of the Gothic nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:53:40
Aix Cathedral: choir


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:53:54
Aix Cathedral: south-east corner


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:54:42
Aix Cathedral: high altar at the east end of the Gothic nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:55:18
Aix Cathedral: east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:55:30
Aix Cathedral: east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:56:10
Aix Cathedral: chapel near the east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:56:22
Aix Cathedral: window above the chapel near the east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:57:52
Aix Cathedral: high altar at the east end of the Gothic nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:58:06
Aix Cathedral: east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:58:22
Aix Cathedral: east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 09:58:52
Aix Cathedral: chapel near the east end of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:00:10
Aix Cathedral: chapel near the east end of the Baroque nave: Madonna Lactans sculpture


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:01:52
Aix Cathedral: chapel near the east end of the Baroque nave: the Last Supper


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:02:56
Aix Cathedral: Baroque nave, looking west


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:03:42
Aix Cathedral: one of the side chapels on the north side of the Baroque nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:04:24
Aix Cathedral: pulpit and choir


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:06:22
Aix Cathedral: the “Aygosis altar”


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:07:48
Aix Cathedral: the “Aygosis altar”


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:09:28
Aix Cathedral: another of the side chapels on the north side of the Baroque nave; John 20:27–29:

  [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Saturday 20 May 2023 10:11:34
Aix Cathedral: west end of the Gothic nave


Saturday 20 May 2023 10:12:30
Aix Cathedral: Gothic nave, choir, and high altar, looking east

Immediately to the north of the Cathedral there was a “tabac”. This concept of an establishment with a monopoly on selling tobacco products (and also selling postage stamps, lottery tickets, etc.) was familiar to us from the “tabacchi” in Italy.[i] This one, though, was also a bar, so we had refreshments there.

[i] 13 June 2013, 14 June 2013, 24 September 2016, 26 September 2016.

Saturday 20 May 2023 10:56:44
Le Gaulois, 34 Rue Jacques de la Roque, Aix-en-Provence, just to the north of Aix Cathedral

Then we headed southwards, along Rue Gaston de Saporta, through the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, continuing along Rue du Maréchal Foch and bearing left at its end into Rue Bédarrides.


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:05:10
Going southwards along Rue Gaston de Saporta, Aix-en-Provence; (ahead:) clock tower of the Hôtel de Ville


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:07:32
Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, Aix-en-Provence, looking north


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:24:54
Going southwards along Rue Bédarrides, Aix-en-Provence

At the end of Rue Bédarrides was a shop with a stall opening onto the street, the vitam^♥in “Juice Bar”. “We… found a place selling all fruit drinks — just like the scrummy ones we had in Crete,” Janet wrote. “We both had banana, raspberry and strawberry. Yum!”


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:30:34
vitam^♥in, 2 Rue Bédarrides, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:31:58
Consuming our purchases in Rue Bédarrides, Aix-en-Provence

We turned right into Rue Espariat; and not far along there, was what looked like a church, with a (typical of the region) bell in a wrought iron cage. (It used to be an Augustinian convent, indeed, but was seized and sold during the Revolution and turned into apartment buildings.)


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:39:12
Going westwards along Rue Espariat, Aix-en-Provence; (ahead:) former Augustinian convent

On the opposite side of Rue Espariat was an actual, working church, which we visited. It was badly in need of repair and maintenance, for there was much evidence of damp on the ceilings.


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:41:40
Opposite l’Hôtel des Augustins: l’Église du Saint-Esprit, 40 Rue Espariat, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:43:34
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:44:12
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:44:38
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:48:50
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:50:04
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:53:58
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence: Saint Joan of Arc


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:54:36
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence: Saint Bernadette


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:54:58
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence: Saint Bernadette, expressions of gratitude


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:57:14
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence: one of the Stations of the Cross plaques


Saturday 20 May 2023 11:59:46
Église du Saint-Esprit, Aix-en-Provence: Pope Saint John Paul II

“Afterwards,” Janet recalled, “we bought some fruit pastilles for me (the glacé fruits were too expensive! However, I’ll enjoy these), and a postcard and stamp for Chris. We wandered around again, then returned to the hotel to deposit our purchases, and get some more money [out of the safe]. Then we went to find some lunch. Everywhere was ‘heaving’ and cafés, bars and restaurants were filling up. However, I found us a table for two at Chez Jo. Very speedy service. I had an Orangina and [John] had a half-bottle of Côtes du Rhône. [John] had a ham [jambon] pizza and I had an Italian salad — cold penne with cherry tomatoes, burratas, black olives, Parma ham and shavings of Parmesan, in balsamic vinegar dressing, which I hoped did not contain garlic. It was all right but, as usual, I left a fair bit of the pasta. Then I had crème brûlée. Rather large. Rather scrummy, though! Spot on! We paid up and left.”


Saturday 20 May 2023 13:01:18
Chez Jo, 59 Rue Espariat, Aix­en­Provence


Bill, printed “13:56” (evidently not quite correct; cf. “13:53:14”, below)

“Not long after, I felt like I’d [been] pumped up,” Janet’s journal entry continued: “So much gas. Must have had garlic. Bugger!… So uncomfortable.”


Saturday 20 May 2023 13:53:14
Fontaine de la Rotonde, Place du Général de Gaulle, Aix-en-Provence, prepared for the IronMan race tomorrow

Chez Jo was on Rue Espariat, not far from l’Église du Saint-Esprit that we’d visited earlier. At the end of Rue Espariat was Place du Général de Gaulle with its large Fontaine de la Rotonde. From there we could, if the impulse had taken us, have taken the next turn off to the left and found ourselves in “Aix’s answer to Paris’s Avenue des Champs Élysées”, the Cours Mirabeau. But, as Janet wrote, “We arrived at Rotonde Mirabeau and I saw a small bus, ‘LES DIABLINES: LE BUS CŒUR DE VILLE’. There were three separate routes, and I suggested ‘A’. It was only €1.30 per person! Astonishing.”


“LES DIABLINES
LE BUS CŒUR DE VILLE”
Explanatory leaflet


Routes of “Les Diablines”
Click on image to enlarge.

“We boarded the next ‘Diabline A’ along (they run every 10 minutes), along with an elderly couple, a young woman, and an old woman (they hold six, maximum).”






Tickets for “La Diabline”

The man from the “elderly couple”, the “young woman” and the “old woman” are in this photo (left to right).


Saturday 20 May 2023 14:03:52
Aboard “La Diabline” on route “A”

The woman from the “elderly couple” is in this one (left).


Saturday 20 May 2023 14:04:00
Aboard “La Diabline” on route “A”

The man from the “elderly couple” spoke in French; however, when he realised that we were English, he switched to English; but he and his wife were, in fact, Dutch. When he suggested that everyone ought to speak Esperanto, I exclaimed, “Ah, la internacia lingvo!” And so a bit of an exchange occurred in that language. I was surprised how fluently words came out of me, given that I’d not practised it for decades, and even then had found opportunities to be limited in meetings. When they got off I called “Tot ziens!” and “Ĝis revido!” after them.
 Janet wrote: “…we chatted. The old woman and young woman were locals, but the elderly couple were Dutch. The lady spoke a fair bit of English but the man, who, it turned out, had lived in Paris for a while so spoke French, also spoke — Esperanto! What are the chances?! [John] was delighted as he’d never spoken that language to anyone outside of the UK. It was rather surreal, actually. So they chatted, and the Dutch lady and I also did — in English! Although these routes ( ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’) were circular, the buses frequently stopped as they were intended for locals to shop, as well as for tourists. It was fun. It was quite a distance, down narrow cobbled streets, before returning to Rotonde Mirabeau. The young woman got off en route, and the Dutch couple [also did,] to visit the Paul Cézanne Museum ([for he was a] local ‘hero’), and then the old woman. The Dutch couple ([John] said ‘Goodbye!’ in Dutch) and the elderly lady all got off the bus into the road instead of onto the pavement, and the lady driver went crackers. ([That’s] the sort of thing I would do to get shouted at!)[ii] We then went to O’Sullivan’s, where [John] had 1½[iii] Grimbergen (6.7% a.b.v.) and I had an Orangina, then a coffee. We were seated near the toilet, and every time the door opened it stank. It honked! Weirdly, though, it didn’t smell inside! It was not clean, though. At one point a young man left the door open, so I shouted, ‘Fermé la porte!’ He didn’t hear me so I shouted louder, and he told me he was getting toilet paper. (I guessed that, even though he replied in French.) I felt bad so, when he came out, I apologised. Said I was sorry and held my nose to indicate it stank! He understood, so all was OK. We left not long after that and were back in the hotel just after 4pm.”
  There was a TV at the end of the pub in the direction in which I was facing, showing a programme featuring excerpts from English Premier League football matches. I couldn’t believe the name of the programme that came up on the screen from time to time: “Match of ze Day”! Who was taking the piss out of whom?!

[ii] i.e. “and as a result get shouted at”, not “in order to get shouted at”.
[iii] I had a “grande” (500ml) and a “petite” (250ml).

Saturday 20 May 2023 14:49:56
At Pub O’Sullivan’s, 61 Place des Augustins, Aix-en-Provence


Receipt for the second round, “15:20:57”


Saturday 20 May 2023 15:32:30
At Pub O’Sullivan’s, 61 Place des Augustins, Aix-en-Provence

We got back to the hotel room at 4.10pm. Janet wrote: “I washed my hair instead of doing it tomorrow, as I had plenty of time before leaving at 7.20pm for our dinner out with the group. We wrote the postcard to Chris and I made us a coffee.[iv] [John] continued to read The Jewel in the Skull (he’d brought this because of all the references [in it] to the Camargue. I sorted my bag for tomorrow and tonight, etc., then updated this [journal]. Did a bit of packing.”

[iv] There were tea- and coffee-making facilities in the room, a frequently found feature of hotels in the UK, but a lot less so abroad.

…This afternoon, our trip on “La Diabline”, route “A”, had included going along Rue des Étuves and passing our hotel. Now that I knew about it I saw it happening twice; I hadn’t noticed it before.


Saturday 20 May 2023 17:33:24
Seen from the hotel window: one of the Route A “Diablines” on Rue des Étuves


Saturday 20 May 2023 17:57:44
Seen from the hotel window: another of the Route A “Diablines” on Rue des Étuves

Regarding the arrangement for dinner this evening, I’d jotted in my notebook yesterday: “Tomorrow 7.30pm”. Janet wrote: “At 7.20pm we left the hotel for our meeting-up place [on the other side of Boulevard Jean Jaurès]. It was still raining!” It wasn’t our usual coach driven by “Michaël” (or whatever his name was) this evening; and Janet and I didn’t head for the rear seats: we were the first on, and sat at the front.


Hôtel Aquabella to Le Mas d’Entrmont


Saturday 20 May 2023 19:31:20
On the coach going to Le Mas d’Entrmont

“It didn’t take long to reach the restaurant,” Janet’s account continued: “a beautiful old building with flagstones (suitably worn with age), brick walls and big beams. As we have experienced so far, all the French staff were friendly and polite. (When we get home, I will not hear a bad word about the French!) Fortunately, there were two large round tables for 10 [for our group] so I had no problem about space. Comfy padded chairs, and it was lovely and warm in there. There was plenty of wine sloshing about ([John] also had two Kirs royals!).[v] I had a grapefruit juice as I wanted to avoid anything fizzy: I was still suffering from the garlic earlier. Very bloated. The meal was very ‘nouvelle cuisine’ ([but] as [John] remarked, the French invented it). There were ‘petits fours’,[vi] then tuna tataki[vii] with sesame, crispy veg. and salad, then veal entrecôte, polenta[viii] with Taggiasche olives,[ix] sauce with herbs pesto. Bread buns. Finally peanut biscuit with mascarpone[x] and season[al] fruits. It was, actually, delicious food, but a good example of arty-farty, pretentious, style over substance — or, all fur coat and no knickers! It was, however, an enjoyable experience; and we all had a good chat and a laugh. When I needed the loo, I went by Chris, and Lorna from the other Riviera group, and chatted. Just before I reached the ‘ladies’, Chris came up and told me not to lock the door. He would wait outside for me. Bless! When I came out, I embraced him and told him I was touched by his gesture. ‘Bless you!’ I said. Top man.”

[v] i.e. Janet’s and mine.
[vi] i.e. small bite-sized confectionery or savoury appetisers: I can’t remember whether they were sweet or savoury.
[vii] Tataki (Japanese “pounded” or “hit into pieces”): one of two methods of preparing fish in Japanese cuisine.
[viii] Polenta: boiled corn-meal.
[ix] More usually, Taggiasca, a cultivar of olives grown in the Alpes-Maritimes region near Nice.
[x] Mascarpone: soft Italian acid-set cream cheese.

A menu from the table


The “eating out choices” sheet that we’d been asked to complete at the start of the holiday


Saturday 20 May 2023 21:24:04
Le Mas d’Entrmont, 315 Route d’Avignon, Aix-en-Provence


Saturday 20 May 2023 21:24:14
Le Mas d’Entrmont, 315 Route d’Avignon, Aix-en-Provence

“It was after 10pm when we arrived back at the hotel, after a mix-up with our buses. Most of our group got on the wrong one!”
 Perhaps on the way back to the hotel, or maybe it had been on the way out from there, I made notes as Chris Brown informed us of tomorrow’s arrangements. Tomorrow, we’d assemble to board the coach at— I wrote, “8.50am/8.55am” but crossed out “8.55am”. Then I wrote:

Cap Canaille
Noddy train Cassis
boat 45 min.
lunch
Noddy [train]
Route jeunesse

Chris took advantage of the absence of our regular driver to suggest, as a gratuity for him:

€2–€3/person/day

He also mentioned the arrangements for going to the airport for the flight home: on Monday, he told us, we’d be leaving the hotel for Nice airport at ca.11.45am.
 Janet showered. I transferred 68 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (22:18–22:19), then copied the files to “Pictures” on the computer (22:21). Solitaire (to 22:29): lost 1; won 1 (increasing the “win” rate to 16%); lost 1. … … More Solitaire (to 23:04): lost 3 without a win (with the “win” rate back down to 15%). Shut down the computer. Janet was in bed before I was; I got to bed, ca.11.20pm. “A good and fun day,” Janet concluded. “I was still very bloated, though.”

[Sunday 21 May 2023]