Then We Went to Aix-en-Provence

Last Thursday after breakfast we drove from Cassis to Aix-en-Provence where we had booked into La Manoir Hotel for an overnight. Their Website included a diagram/map showing how to get to the hotel parking lot. [http://www.hotelmanoir.com/lieux.html] It looked easy but wasn't. To start with, one of the main roads leading to the hotel was partially closed because of construction, which forced us onto the narrow rues of the old city. In fact, we would eventually have to drive up and down these rues anyway because the hotel was in the old city, but we certainly didn't have to drive on as many of them as we did, getting more and more lost in the narrowest of labyrinths with metal bollards on either side of us. We stopped twice for directions and finally managed to find our way into the hotel carpark. I have awarded Donald the "Best Driver in Old Town Aix" prize. If it were a big, golden, ornately engraved cup, it would be just right for all the effort, patience, and skill he had to employ--but almost too big to fit between the two sides of one of these "streets."

We checked into our hotel but couldn't get into our room for about an hour, so we left the car in the safe courtyard carpark and went off to explore. We strolled through old Aix until we came to a sidewalk cafe where we stopped for a coffee. Then we pursued a quest to find 66 Place Richelme for our Bethesda friend Pat Kay. She had lived there for a while in the 60s as a student and wondered if we'd take a photo of the place for her. With the small map the hotel desk clerk gave us, we managed to find the square where Pat said weekly markets were held. In fact, a market was going on when we arrived. We found number 66 which is now a pizzeria so we decided to have lunch there and take lots of photos for Pat. We had one of the best pizzas we've ever had along with a huge green salad.

We continued to wander the old city all afternoon, going in and out of shops, following our noses up first one rue and then another. At one point, we lost track completely of where we were in relation to the hotel but we knew if we kept wandering and consulted the map, we'd eventually find our way back and we did. Before going back to the hotel, we stopped to have crepes at yet another outdoor cafe, this one under big old trees in a large square where a cool breeze was most welcome. In the late afternoon we went back to the hotel for a lie-down before going back out for dinner. All of that pavement-pounding on a hot afternoon was extremely tiring. Now that we were away from the sea and wandering through narrow cobbled streets, there was seldom a fresh breeze to cool us until we got came upon a square.

After a nice long rest and some freshening up, we found a lovely place for dinner and had a most sumptuous meal. It was getting dark as we found the restaurant and so we decided to eat inside. When we left, extremely well-fed and happy, we wandered once more through the streets of old Aix. It is an utterly charming and comfortable city to wander about in. Looking back, it is hard to believe we spent less than one full day there (we didn't arrive at our hotel until about noon), but that day was an extremely full and enjoyable one. Now we know why everyone who has been goes "Ahhhh," when we mentioned we were going there. We will definitely go back.

The next morning, we had to arise very early so that we could drive from Aix to Marseille to turn in the hired car and then get to the check-in desk by 8:30. Getting out of the old town was ever so much easier than getting in. Alas, we didn't have a proper road map and got hopelessly lost in the more modern parts of town with wider streets (thank God!) trying to find the highway back to Marseille. We had to stop twice to ask directions but eventually managed, with the help of two strangers who spoke enough English, to get onto the proper road and from there, onto the highway.

The flight back was uneventful and only slightly delayed. By the time we got to the off-airport carpark to retrieve our car, stopped for lunch, and then stopped off in Dunblane to pick up a few groceries, it was late afternoon when we pulled into our drive. We had to have a fairly easy and fast meal as we were being picked up at 7 that evening (Friday) to go to Crieff for an orientation meeting of the Friends of Cognac about our upcoming trip back to France on 4 October! We made it and I can tell you that we slept like babies that night.

Now we are more or less back in the swing of things. It stopped raining and in facct, got quite sunny this afternoon. Don went out this afternoon to play golf with Gordon Rae while I hosted the So and Sews for our second weekly meeting of the new year. Tonight I am off to chorus rehearsal in Crieff. We're preparing a concert for November to be called "A Night in Old Vienna." Tonight we're rehearsing choruses from Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow. Should be a lot of fun. After each rehearsal I come back humming the music for days thereafter because it's all so tuneful and familiar.