Aix-en-Provence, from market to fountain

Getting there

From Beaurecueil you enter Aix by the Route Cézanne. The old town is mostly pedestrian: park in one of the underground car parks around it and finish on foot. Before ten in the morning, everything is easier.

Mornings at the market

Place Richelme hosts a producers’ market every morning under the plane trees: fruit, vegetables, goat’s cheese, olives. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the big market also fills the Place des Prêcheurs and Place de Verdun, while fabric and household stalls line the cours Mirabeau. The flower market is held every day on the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, except the first Sunday of the month.

Saturday is the busiest day. Come early, have a coffee on a terrace above the stalls, and head home with lunch for the poolside.

The cours Mirabeau and the Mazarin quarter

The cours Mirabeau runs from the Rotonde to the Mazarin quarter between two rows of plane trees, mossy fountains and grand mansions. To the south, the Mazarin quarter, laid out in the seventeenth century, lines up its straight streets and noble façades. This is where you find Caumont centre d’art, an eighteenth-century mansion with major exhibitions, a garden and a café.

North of the cours, the old town climbs towards Saint-Sauveur cathedral, whose Romanesque cloister dates from the twelfth century, and the Pavillon de Vendôme, a seventeenth-century pavilion set in a formal French garden.

In Cézanne’s footsteps

Three places tell the painter’s story. The Jas de Bouffan, the family house where he lived and painted for forty years, from 1859 to 1899, has reopened after restoration. The Lauves studio, built to his design in 1901, is the last place he worked every day: his easels, his objects and his clothes are still there. Both open from July to the end of October, with booking; they close in winter.

The Bibémus quarries, where he painted the mountain many times, can be visited all year, by guided tour only, booked through the tourist office. Our Cézanne guide covers the whole route.

At the Musée Granet, on Place Saint-Jean-de-Malte, one room is now devoted to Cézanne, with more than ten of his paintings. Its annexe, Granet XXe, in the Chapelle des Pénitents blancs, shows exhibitions of modern art.

A day in Aix

1. 8.30 amCoffee on Place Richelme as the growers set up their stalls.
2. 10 amThe Musée Granet and its Cézanne room, before the heat.
3. 12.30 pmLunch in the Mazarin quarter, then a detour to Caumont.
4. 3 pmThe Lauves studio in season, or the Saint-Sauveur cloister.
5. 6 pmCalissons to take away and an aperitif on the cours Mirabeau.
6. 7.30 pmHome by the Route Cézanne as the mountain turns pink.

The taste of Aix

The calisson is the town’s sweet: a diamond of almond paste and candied melon under a layer of royal icing. The old confectioners still make it in the centre. Chocolates from Puyricard, a village north of Aix, are the other gift to bring home. And at the table, rosé from the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence or the Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire.

Where to dine

For a serious dinner in town, Étude, on rue Aumône-Vieille, serves a chef’s cooking selected by the Michelin Guide. North of Aix, the Château de la Gaude estate is home to Le Art, which holds a Michelin star, set among vines and gardens. And on the way home, Le Saint-Estève at Le Tholonet, also starred. All our addresses are gathered in Dining.

The festivals

Founded in 1948, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence is one of Europe’s great opera events: it takes place every July in the courtyard of the Archevêché, at the Grand Théâtre de Provence and at the Jeu de Paume. In spring, the Easter Festival brings major classical musicians to the Grand Théâtre de Provence. Tickets go quickly: book as soon as sales open.