Jean Cocteau | schwingeninswitzerland

We visited Aix-en-Provence and saw a knife fight. That wasn’t the only thing we saw.

After leaving the restaurant at dusk, we strolled the streets. Some towns roll up the sidewalks after dark; Aix does not. It is practically mandatory to walk the streets in the evening and have a drink on cafe terraces. Yep. Streetwalking is mandatory. It’s especially nice because the old town (vielle ville) is car free, easy to navigate and a manageable size.

Boulevard Mirabeau (Cours Mirabeau), is a grand avenue built on the site of the former ramparts in the 17^th century. Our favorite trees in Geneva, the plane tree, line and shade the stately boulevard. The overhanging trees provide much-needed shade on hot summer days. Moss covered fountains are in the center of the avenue with stately old town houses behind the wide sidewalks.

We strolled it that evening, but went back the next morning to have coffee (and a croissant) in the legendary café, Les Deux Garcons. Dating from 1792, many famous people have dined here including: Picasso, Churchill, Edith Piaf, André Malraux, Jean-Paul Sartre, Raimu, Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Cocteau, Sophie Marceau, Jean Reno, Hugh Grant and George Clooney. It was a regular haunt of Paul Cezanne and Emile Zola. I can see why. The cappuccino was tasty and the croissant was wonderfully light. It was a treat to sit and watch the world pass.

Being American, we like a fast pace and giant to do lists. It is impossible to live like that in Aix. It is a place to stop, enjoy the view and make the mundane wonderful.

Aix is known for its many and varied markets. They have normal markets, local producers markets, flower markets, antiques markets and old book markets. We visited the morning market at Place Richelme (there are also markets at Place de Verdun, Place de l’Hôtel de Ville and Place des Prêcheurs). We picked up some fresh fruit and perused the many artisanal varieties of cheese, meats and breads.

Aix-en-Provence is a university town (University of Provence Aix-Marseille) and filled with academics and students. It also gets its fair share of aristocrats, people who are wealthy enough not to have to work and professionals. It has a reputation for being a bit elitist. If you are interested in Aix, it was immortalized by Peter Maille’s book “One Year in Provence.”

Like many other towns in the south of France (Arles, Orange, Vence), Aix was inhabited by the Romans. They built thermal baths at Aix, Aquae Sextiae, around 2000 years ago. Today you can visit the newer (18th-century hot-water baths) and modern spa built atop the old baths (you can see them from the lobby).

A Knife Fight In Aix (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

Villefranche-sur-Mer is carved into a hillside on a bay between Nice and Monaco. We chose to stay in Villefranche because it is smaller and more residential than many of the towns on the water. That’s not to say that they don’t have the tourism thing down pat. Cruise ships regularly put down anchor in the harbor and we paid more to park our car overnight here than we did in New York City! As cheap as I am, I didn’t care. The views were worth it.

I loved the pastel colored houses and church. On the left is the Baroque Eglise St-Michel church. While it seems as though every town here has impressive, serene churches, this one had interesting objects that appeared magical with the light streaming in on them. The statue of Christ below was carved out of olive wood by a convict.

We fed our coffee addiction and had breakfast at a café on the docks. People were readying their boats for a sailing competition that weekend and seeing fisherman returning with their catch provided great entertainment. After gorging on fish the night before, we learned that the Mediterranean is almost fished out and most of the fish served in restaurants is imported from the Atlantic. Many of the towns on the Côte d’Azur started as fishing villages. Today, tourism is the number one industry, but Villefranche is still has a few people who still earn a living fishing.

Villefranche has been a port since Roman times and is strategically important because it could be used as a base from which to attack the port of Nice. After the fall of the Roman empire, residents fled and built the hill towns that dot the mountains behind the water. In the 13th century, the Duke of Provence wanted to defend the port from Saracen Turks and strengthen their hold on the coastline. To get them to move, he made living there tax-free. Gotta love tax-free. The Duke of Savoy constructed the fort to defend the port and bay in the 16th century.

The vaulted Rue Obscure (dark street) provided shelter from bombardment. Rue Obscure is a passage way under the harbor front houses dating from 1260.

Narrow, steep lanes climb up from the harbor. They were blissfully quiet and relatively deserted until the cruise ship started ferrying passengers ashore.

We decided to pull the plug and head out to the Grand Cornishe. Before we left, we stopped to check out this church. Villefranche is known for the Chapelle St.-Pierre in which Jean Cocteau (a famous French artist, poet and filmmaker) painted lavish frescos with heavy black lines and pastel colors.