AIX

It was a quick trip to AIX.  We had delayed going because of the weather and than decided weather should not be a factor and so we left on a Saturday that turned out to be the worse weather we had seen all week  Such is life.  It didn't start off badly.  We walked to the bus station and caught the bus.  As we were approaching the city the rain was coming-- slowly at first.

Waiting.  

Arriving.

We walked along the route to the town center and stopped at the Officee of tourism first. 

 I know.  Get to something interesting.  Remember the day was short and I have to have something to blog about.

The Christmas market was up and running and we walked along the street and did a little looking and then decided a coffee would really taste good and maybe warm us up.

We strolled along  Cours Mirabeau and enjoyed looking at the Christmas booths. 

Notice the map - making the most of every moment.  We stopped for coffee but took that time to study the map.  We thought we would head to the market and the cathedral first.  Aix-in-Provence is the city of art, and a city of light and activity.  It is also the home of art schools and several universities, including some American..  The center of Aix is the old town, ringed by a circle of bouleards and squares.  

Aix is full of fountains.  Unfortunately many are not running because of the winter.  

We made it to the flower market.  

Beautiful and interesting door knocker on the Hotel de Ville.

The outside of the Cathdral which we were hoping to go inside and take a look but a funeral was going on and so we unable to get inside.  Had the weather been better we might have returned later.  As it turned out we were getting wet, it was difficult to take pictures holding our umbrellas and we both looked at each other and said "let's go home on the early bus".  So we headed back to the bus depot.

Saw this fountain which is the "hot-water fountain"  This fountain dates back to 1734 although the 93 degree spring water has been enjoyed for its healing properties for 2000 years.  

This was one of the booths at the Christmas market which was also up and running but even some of the booths were closing up as we sloshed by.  

These were the neatest lights.

This is The Great Fountain on the Cours Mirabeau, the beautiful tree lined avenue which is full of wonderful cafes and bookshops.

Heading to the bus depot as quick as we could at this point.  

Hopefully we can get back there one day.  There's an awfully lot to see and we didn't get to half of it.  

Cezanne was born in Aix and studied and lived here ( and other places) and eventually died here.  The tourist office has a guide with a walking itinerary through town to see some of the places he frequented.  It would have been fun to that but ...

We had a greasy Croque monsieur at the bus depot and waited for our chariot to take us back to Avignon.