Weekend in Aix en Provenance

Kari and I went to Aix en Provenance (AP) the first weekend in May. Thursday May 1st was a holiday, so we made a long weekend out of it and went from Thursday to Sunday. Unfortunately, our camera died (a known problem with that type of camera we later found out) and we did not notice until we got to the B&B. So, for the time being, NO PICTURES. My descriptive narrative will have to suffice.

It is a 2-hour train ride on the TGV from Antibes to AP. The AP train station (Gare TGV) is a 10-minute bus ride outside of the town. It is a nice set up. The train station is parallel to the highway. You go across an enclosed walkway and down a flight of stairs to the shuttle buses, which run every 15 minutes, from about 8am to 10pm. The bus just pulls off to the side of the highway, then gets right back on. It was planned rather well.

We stayed at a little B&B in the old town. AP is nice enough, a couple of small museums, lots of cafes and restaurants, and plenty of shopping opportunities. It is nice for a day or two.

The restaurants and cafes were very nice. The vast majority are around plazas with trees and set up for people watching. We had three excellent dinners of Italian, French Alps, and Lebanese/Turkish. The first two restaurants we found just while walking around the streets. The third, this one plaza has at least 10 with outdoor seating, all lined up next to each other, with the menus are posted. You just saunter past, take a look at the menu and decide. It was a nice system.

So we took the bus on Saturday to Arles, about 1.5 hours away near the Rhone River. It has been around for 2000 years. It was a Greek/Celtic settlement. When the Romans took Gaul, Julius Caesar gave it to his troops. There is an Roman amphitheater (still used for performances which they are restoring) and a coliseum (still used for bullfights). There were names and dates carved into the rock from the 1800's. We figured that they were real because today some dumbass would just use a Sharpie or spray paint. There is also an abandoned monastery, Roman baths, and a cathedral (or big church, don't remember exactly which, but we can't get enough of those).

That's it. It was nice to "get away" for a couple of days; not much to do, but it was relaxing. If you are in the area, check it out, but I wouldn't make a special trip from the States to go there.