Aix-en-Provence has to be earned a little. Not in the difficult sense, it is easy to approach, but in the sense that its best hours are not those of the crowds. Very early in the morning, when the fountains sing for no one, or in the late afternoon when the golden light stretches the shadows over the Cours Mirabeau. I often take visitors there for the day from Marseille, Aix or the airport, and I always give them the same first piece of advice: start with the market.
9am, the Place Richelme market
Under the plane trees of Place Richelme, the daily morning market is one of the most beautiful in Provence. Cheeses, olives, seasonal fruit, cut flowers, and sellers who remember their regulars. Take time for a coffee on a terrace before the crowd arrives.
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, the market spreads well beyond Richelme: Place des Prêcheurs, Place de la Madeleine and the Cours Mirabeau are covered with hundreds of stalls, cheeses, olive oil from Les Baux, lavender, crafts. Do not leave without tasting an Aix calisson at Roy René or Léonard Parli: this confection of candied melon and almonds, protected by a PGI, can be tasted on the spot and bought loose.
10am, the Cours Mirabeau and old Aix
The Cours Mirabeau is the backbone of Aix: its moss-capped fountains, its centuries-old plane trees, its 17th-century mansions on the even-numbered side. Dive into the lanes of old Aix behind it: the Mazarin quarter, laid out in straight lines in the 17th century, is home to art galleries and bookshops. The Granet museum, on the corner of Place Saint-Jean-de-Malte, is one of the best museums in the region, the Cézanne collections and the old masters alone justify the entrance fee.
Afternoon, the cathedral and Cézanne
The Saint-Sauveur cathedral brings together 14 centuries of architecture in a surprising space. Then head up to the Atelier Cézanne, preserved as it was when the painter died in 1906: his hat is still on the peg, his apples on the table. To finish in style, the terrace of the Café Deux Garçons on the Cours is an unchanging classic.
Getting there by taxi: from Marseille, Aix or the airport
A simple taxi ride from the centre of Marseille. MR Taxi Aix-en-Provence drops you in the morning and comes to pick you up when you are done, you do not have to watch the train timetable for the return.
