John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 3 - TOUR OF AIX-EN-PROVENCE


Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence was originally a spa town founded by the Romans, and today still has a labyrinth of alleyways and squares known as the ‘City of a Thousand Fountains’. The artist Paul Cezanne is the city’s most famous son.

This morning we have a short walking tour of the city, after which you are free to explore as you wish.
At lunch-time we will head to a local winery to enjoy a delicious lunch followed by a tour and tasting of the typical wines of Provence.

This evening is free for you to enjoy as you wish.

I’d scribbled in my notebook yesterday, “Rendezvous walking [tour] tomorrow 09:00”. Janet had set the alarm clock for 6.45am, so: ¼-hour waking-up time; and a margin of two hours for ablutions, breakfast, preparations, etc. She wrote: “I had a good sleep but, really, not enough.” She vacated the bathroom at 7.20am, so I showered, etc. …


Wednesday 17 May 2023 08:11:16
View from the hotel room showing the Tourreluque medieval corner tower, Aix-en-Provence

For breakfast I had: cornflakes; orange juice (not from the machine today); bacon and sausages from one of the bains-maries on the counter, and baked beans from a dish next to them; bread, and what I took to be a slice of cheese, but which proved to be white meat; and “café long” from the machine.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 08:12:32
View from the hotel room northwards: bell tower of Aix Cathedral

Our party convened in the lobby at 9am. We proceeded down the stairs, out of the south door of the hotel, and along Rue Mérindol directly ahead of us. “It was a bit cool,” Janet wrote: “warmed up later — ‘the same’ as yesterday.” It suited me that it wasn’t too warm to wear my jacket, because that way I had more pockets! Chris told us that although Aix-en-Provence was called “the City of a Thousand Fountains” there were actually only about 103. Anyway, we saw a fair few of them as we went around.


Route of the walking tour of Aix-en-Provence
Click on image to enlarge.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:02:08
In Rue du Bon Pasteur, about to go along Rue Mérindol


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:02:46
Going along along Rue Mérindol


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:04:42
The first of many fountains: Fontaine des Fontêtes in Place Fontêtes at the north-west corner of Place des Cardeurs


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:08:46
In Place des Tanneurs


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:10:18
Fontaine Altius in Place des Tanneurs


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:13:42
Fontaine des Augustins in Place des Augustins at the end of Rue de la Couronne


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:15:16
Fontaine de la Rotonde (36 on the map), Place du Général de Gaulle


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:15:16 (detail)
Fontaine de la Rotonde (36 on the map), Place du Général de Gaulle

From Place du Général de Gaulle we turned left along Aix’s equivalent of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris — the Cours Mirabeau — with broad sidewalks, each with two rows of plane trees.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:19:26
Cours Mirabeau

An impression of the opulence of these 17th century former mansions of the rich was gained when we entered one of them (now a bank).


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:22:12
Entering LCL Bank and Insurance, 20 Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:22:46
Inside LCL Bank and Insurance, 20 Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence

We turned right, and went along Rue Joseph Cabassol into the “Mazarin Quarter”,—


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:24:36
Going along Rue Joseph Cabassol

—stopping part-way along to look to the left through an arched gateway.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:25:34
Outside Hôtel de Caumont art centre (15 on the map), 3 Rue Joseph Cabassol, Aix-en-Provence


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:26:16
A peek through the gate at Hôtel de Caumont art centre (15 on the map), 3 Rue Joseph Cabassol, Aix-en-Provence

At the end there faced us, across Rue Cardinale, the Collège Mignet with famous former students including Darius Milhaud, composer, Paul Cézanne, painter, and Emile Zola, writer. The latter two became friends when Zola, a skinny 13-year-old with a Parisian accent, was being bullied and Cézanne stepped in.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:28:00
At the end of Rue Joseph Cabassol: Collège Mignet, 41 Rue Cardinale, Aix-en-Provence


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:30:26
Place & Fontaine des Quatre-Dauphins (41 on the map)


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:31:56
Place & Fontaine des Quatre-Dauphins (41 on the map)

We returned to Cours Mirabeau along Rue du 4 Septembre.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:34:04
Looking through a gate on the north-east corner of Rue du 4 Septembre and Rue Mazarine


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:34:48
View through the gate on the north-east corner of Rue du 4 Septembre and Rue Mazarine

The door of the Tribunal de Commerce was framed by two Atlantean figures supporting the balcony above. Chris pointed out their hairy armpits.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:36:40
Tribunal de Commerce (commercial court), 38 Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:37:12
Tribunal de Commerce (commercial court), 38 Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence

A café on the other side of Cours Mirabeau, famous for having been frequented by French cultural figures such as Paul Cézanne, Émile Zola and Albert Camus, as well as others such as Churchill and even George Clooney, called Les Deux Garçons, couldn’t be seen because it was covered with scaffolding and plastic sheeting, having been burnt down in suspicious circumstances in December 2019.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:38:42
Les Deux Garçons, 53 Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence

Nearby, at the east end of Cours Mirabeau, was a fountain in honour of “Good King René”, with a sculpture of him holding muscat grapes, which he brought to Provence. René of Anjou (1409–1480) was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1434 to 1480. He reigned as King of Naples from 1435 to 1442, but was deposed and spent his last years in Aix-en-Provence.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:39:58
Fontaine du Roi René on Cours Mirabeau (43 on the map)

On the north side of Cours Mirabeau, across a side-street from Les Deux Garçons, was the entrance to the narrow shopping street Passage Agard, along which we went—


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:42:36
55 Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence: Cezanne’s father’s millinery shop


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:43:00
Entering Passage Agard (2 on the map)


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:43:30
Passage Agard


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:44:04
Passage Agard

—and emerged into Places Comtales. Just there, under glass panels, the remains of buildings of the palace of the counts of Provence, revealed in a recent archaeological dig, could be seen. Probably built in the 12th century, the palace was home to “Good King René”; then it became the seat of the Parlement from 1501, when Provence became part of France.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:45:50
Palais de Justice d’Aix-en-Provence (5 on the map), Place de Verdun (now part of Places Comtales)


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:50:12
Fontaine des Prêcheurs & Église de la Madeleine (46 and 12 on the map)


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:52:48
Église de la Madeleine (12 on the map), Place des Prêcheurs (now part of Places Comtales)


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:53:30
Église de la Madeleine & Fontaine des Prêcheurs (12 and 46 on the map)


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:53:38
North end of Place des Prêcheurs/Places Comtales: note the jacquemart on the third floor


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:53:54
Clock and jacquemart


Wednesday 17 May 2023 09:56:10
Back at the exit of the Passage Agard at the south end of Place de Verdun/Places Comtales

From there we turned right at the south end of Place de Verdun, going along Rue Marius Reynaud and continuing along Rue Espariat.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:01:42
Hôtel Boyer d’Éguilles (20 on the map), Rue Espariat


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:02:34
Hôtel Boyer d’Éguilles (20 on the map), Rue Espariat

Thence, to the right along Rue Aude,—


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:03:16
Going along Rue Aude

—through Place Richelme—


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:07:30
Place Richelme: ahead, Halle aux Grains (7 on the map); background, belfry of the Hôtel de Ville

—and on to Place de l’Hôtel de Ville.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:15:44
Place de l’Hôtel de Ville: Halle aux Grains (7 on the map)

The bell of the clock tower of the Hôtel de Ville is in a wrought iron cage on its roof: a feature which seems typical of the region. There’s both a twelve-hour clock and an astronomical clock on its south side (with just a twelve-hour clock on its north side).


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:16:14
Hôtel de Ville & Fontaine de l’eau bénite (6 and 39 on the map), Place de l’Hôtel de Ville


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:16:48
Fontaine de l’eau bénite (39 on the map), Place de l’Hôtel de Ville


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:17:02
Hôtel de Ville (6 on the map)

From there, we continued northwards, passing under the archway at the base of the Hôtel de Ville bell-tower, as far as the Cathedral. That’s where the tour ended.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:18:50
On Rue Gaston de Saporta, looking back at the clock tower of the Hôtel de Ville


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:19:10
Going along Rue Gaston de Saporta


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:23:30
Aix Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence) (10 on the map)

Janet and I had a look inside the Cathedral,—


Floor Map of Aix Cathedral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:25:16
Aix Cathedral: Romanesque Nave


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:26:06
Aix Cathedral: Gothic Nave


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:26:40
Aix Cathedral: Baroque Nave

—then went for a drink to the establishment adjoining the Cathedral to its south, with its entrance in the next square. Janet had Coke Zero and I asked for “café long”. This was itemised on the bill as “ALLONGE” (actually, with diacritics, that would be “allongé”).


Bill from Brasserie de l’Archevêché


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:52:38
Refreshments at Brasserie de l’Archevêché, Place de l’Archevêché (45 on the map)

At this point Janet realised that she had an urgent necessity to be back at the hotel…


Wednesday 17 May 2023 10:55:38
Returning to the hotel along Rue du Bon Pasteur

“Unfortunately,” she wrote, “our room was being cleaned so we decided to use the toilets in the lobby. And so began a catalogue of disaster! I could not open the lock. By the time I was ‘released’ from ‘the box’ I was in tears: in a right state. However, as usual I soon bounced back so we had a walk around the grounds…” I used the men’s toilet, and then was aware of Janet calling for help from the women’s. So I entered the women’s, found out what was the matter, then told the reception staff. It was some minutes after someone was summoned before he turned up and gained access to the toilet cubicle. Janet and I then had a wander around the hotel grounds.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 11:23:28
Looking west from the north-east corner of the grounds of Hôtel Aquabella: Tourreluque and medieval wall (right)

We wanted to visit the ancient corner-tower, but it was situated at the corner of the swimming pool, and the only access to that would be through a disinfectant foot-bath. So we went to the poolside bar — well, almost-poolside bar, because it was fenced off from the actual poolside. I had a freshly squeezed orange juice and Janet a Perrier mineral water.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 11:37:34
Refreshments at the Hôtel Aquabella poolside bar


Bill, issued at “11:47”

We went to Boulevard Jean Jaurès at 12 o’clock to board the coach to be taken to the winery of Domaine Terre de Mistral.


Google Maps “Terrain” view, showing the locations of the hotel and our lunch-time destination
Click on image to enlarge.

After we arrived, we first went into the restaurant for lunch.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 12:30:22
Domaine Terre de Mistral, Chemin du Pavillon, Route de Peynier, Rousset: entering the restaurant

Here is the sheet that Chris had issued on the first day, on which we’d indicated our menu choices. Janet had selected only a main course for today. As far as I’m aware, Chris had informed Terre de Mistral about Janet’s inability to eat garlic.



I shall continue what Janet earlier termed a “catalogue of disaster” in her words: “Unfortunately, we ended up being sandwiched in ‘the middle’ of the long table [that had been set up] for our group. We both felt very uncomfortable. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic and [John] was beginning to panic about being thrust amongst people he didn’t know. Again I had a bit of a ‘to do’ about my meal. [John] had his starter… then said he was feeling unwell and left. I sat for a bit until the mains were being delivered and I had the chicken dish handed to me [i.e. the same as everyone else’s, indicating that no ‘no garlic’ provision had been made]. I thought, ‘For f—’s sake, not this bloody fiasco again!’ So I also left: I’d had nothing to eat this time.”
 Actually, the problem for me was that I’d come with no appetite. Admittedly, I felt uncomfortable about being seated with strangers, but my leaving just then was not owing to panic. Yesterday, I’d had a fair bit to eat for breakfast, yet did not baulk at all when faced with a large pizza; I scoffed the lot. And I found room later for three courses at Lôtraix. Today, I did the same at breakfast time, but the outcome was different. I tolerated the starter well enough; but, as soon as the mains started to be brought out and I caught sight of them, I thought aloud, “I can’t do this!”, and decided to leave. I felt that as soon as a plate full of food would be put in front of me, I’d be ill. I had a wander along the lane by the vineyards, and in the area at the back of the buildings. Then I caught sight of Janet approaching.
 “Chris came to find us,” Janet’s account continued, “and I explained the problem (although I didn’t mention my food: [it was] not his mess-up). We sat inside away from the food area and had some water. I needed a pee so went to the loo and, idiot, I automatically locked the door — the same bloody type of lock as the ones at the hotel. No surprise then that I couldn’t open it! I ‘threw a wobbly’ and banged on the door of ‘the box’ shouting for help. It was not long before I was released, but I was in a bigger state than earlier. After a short while I assured Chris that I was OK then returned to [John] to await the tour of the winery.”
 I heard the banging on the door, but when Chris and someone else went to investigate, I remained seated. I was almost certain that it was Janet who was in trouble, but I felt that if I joined those investigating and I was proved wrong I’d feel like an inquisitive fool!
 On the tour we saw first the vines. The first thing I noticed was that each row had a pipe along it for drip irrigation. Domaine Terre de Mistral had more than fifty hectares of vineyards, including here (obviously) and the foothills of the Sainte Victoire Mountain (the ridge ahead of us to the south). I can’t remember the intricacies of cultivation that were described. There was mention of growing other plants, e.g. wheat, between the rows of vines, to provide nutrients for the vine roots, and of growing roses at the ends of rows (though I didn’t see any), to provide among other things a sort of “early warning system” (“canary in the coalmine”-style) for infections.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:01:06
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:02:00
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral: Montagne Sainte-Victoire

After that, we went indoors to see the processes of wine-making themselves.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:15:38
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:19:22
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral

“I was there until it was time to go in the cellar,” Janet wrote. “I decided that would really be the cherry on the cake of my day if I went in and had a claustrophobic ‘do’! I sat outside until [John] returned.”


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:21:46
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:21:46 (detail)
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral: Riviera tour manager Chris Brown with Janet


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:23:28
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:27:12
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:29:40
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral

Some of the wine would be bottled young, some aged in oak barrels.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:31:44
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:33:42
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:34:52
Tour of Domaine Terre de Mistral

“Then there was a wine-tasting,” Janet continued. “We’d talked to a couple who were real wine snobs: [they] made me think of Frasier. [John] enjoyed them, except for the last one, a very rough red.” Most of the production of Domaine Terre de Mistral was rosé, and each wine had someone’s name (mostly a girl’s name): e.g. “Anna”, “Pauline”, “Sergio Blanc”, “Malou”, “Nadia Blanc”, “Nadia Rosé”, “Simone”, “Zaello”, “Rosalie”, “Antoine”, “Sergio Rouge”, “Nadia Rouge”, and “Mireille”. We perhaps offered half a dozen of them to sample. The “wine snobs” opined that this was the most amateurish wine-tasting they’d ever attended.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 14:49:08
Domaine Terre de Mistral: wine tasting

“We headed back to Aix by ‘the scenic route’,” Janet wrote: “and very scenic it was! We went into a field of poppies (there have been poppies everywhere) for photos.” Our outward journey had been along a direct route, but the way back was less direct. I didn’t make a note of it, but as I look at the map now it seems likely that it was along the “D56C” and the “D17”. I’ve been unable to discover the precise locations of the day’s remaining photos, however. When we first passed, perhaps yesterday, what we took to be poppies, we were in some doubt because we later passed an area of bare, very reddish soil which looked similar.


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:06:40
Field of poppies, with the Montagne Sainte-Victoire in the background


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:08:58
Field of poppies


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:09:42
Poppies and other wild flowers


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:10:54
Field of poppies, with the Montagne Sainte-Victoire in the background


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:10:54 (detail)
The Cross of Provence near the western end of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:18:18
Seen on the way back


Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:20:12
Seen on the way back

“We were back in the hotel just before 5pm,” Janet wrote. “I washed my hair (figured it out! [i.e. how to do it, given how the shower unit was configured]), then, finally, was able to update this [journal] for the first time since we arrived.”
 Meanwhile, I transferred 75 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (16:58–17:00), then copied the files to “Pictures” on the computer (17:04). As regards Wi-Fi, the computer detected four signals, including “wifiaquabella”; but after I selected that, it reported “Unable to connect to this network” (to 17:10).… I read a chapter of The Jewel in the Skull, then shaved in the bathroom that Janet had now vacated, then read another chapter of The Jewel in the Skull.
 “At 7.30pm we went for dinner,” Janet wrote.




Menu for Riviera Travel guests, kept as a souvenir on the first evening

“[John] again had the veal tartare, lamb and strawberry tart. I had the duck breast served my way (medium), a mixed salad and I had a couple of pieces of the lovely crusty bread. Then fresh fruit (requested no sorbet but got it anyway! Didn’t eat it of course!). It was a good meal. The duck was good.”


Bill, issued at “21:02”. We paid as we went along; we didn’t run up a bill to be paid at the end.

“We were back in our room at around 9pm (so late again. I don’t care for eating so late),” Janet’s journal for today concluded. “I had a shower and we were both in bed at ca.10pm.”

[Thursday 18 May 2023]