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| Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence |
A little over a month ago, I had the chance to spend a weekend with a Seattle friend, Vicky Downs, in Aix-en-Provence, one of my favorite cities in France. Some of you may know the city through the wonderful mystery novels by M.L. Longworth. It is a golden city, with buildings in a beautiful stone that catches the sun.
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| Vicky in front of Les Deux Garçons |
The Cours Mirabeau is a lovely, civilized, pedestrianized 'main street' full of shops and cafes with large shade-giving trees and beautiful statues. M.F.K. Fisher, the Queen of food writers, lived in Aix for several years and describes in one of her essays having coffee every morning at Les Deux Garçons, one of the oldest cafés in France, where the waiters are reputed to be among the most indifferent. Don't believe a word of it!
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| Mont Saint Victoire |
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| Cézanne's Studio |
Vicky was in Aix on a six-week Road Scholars program to study French, but our weekend was devoted overwhelmingly to Cézanne, who spent almost all of his life in this, his native city. We hiked up the hill to the outskirts of the city, from which we had a glimpse through the haze of his beloved Mont St. Victoire. The studio is housed in a simple building the upper floor of which is one large room with a high ceiling and enormous windows to let in the light. An armoire, some chairs and a table that seem instantly recognizable from his paintings are there, along with an easel, some sketches and a certain amount of general clutter -- almost as if he were simply downstairs having lunch. One of the city's loveliest mansions has also recently been turned into a museum which has as a permanent exhibit a 45-minute film about Cezanne's life, which is simply terrific.
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| Saturday Market in Aix-en-Provence |
On our way back down through town, we got caught up in the Saturday market with its flowers and vegetable stalls, fish mongers and butchers and a terrific band wailing away in the square.
Walking along I discovered a wonderful plaque on a wall which said, in essence:
"Freed from a cruel bondage, I have no other master than myself,
But I wish to make no use of my liberty except to obey the law."
