Aix en Provence

Translates to “Water in Provence”. 45 min bus ride to this medieval city. Lots of artists lived in southern France but Paul Cezanne seems to be the star here. He often painted scenes of Mt. Victoria that looks over the region. There are a few markers in the area that designate “Cezanne stepped here”.

Northern France was settled by those from Germany and England. Southern France is more Latin. 80% are Catholic, 10% Muslim along with Jewish and Greek Orthodox. St. John’s church was built in the 13th Century. It’s important because it was built as a stop for travelers on their way to Jerusalem. 

It was easy to tell the status of those by the houses in this era. There was no air conditioning and no elevators so the owners or landlords lived on the first floor; the servants in the higher quarters with the smaller windows.

The streets are carved with a trough in the middle because of course there wasn’t plumbing in medieval times. People would just throw their wash or toilet water out the window to the street below, which would collect in the trough and down thru the drain. (Hope no one was walking by at the time!)

This is a traditional candy of Aix en Provence:

Then this happened:

Bouillabaisse is the traditional dish of Provence. They say it can only be paired with white or rose’ wine, never red! Deb had it for dinner…with red wine! Rule breaker!