Provence

We actually woke up before 9am yesterday and headed out to Aix-en-Provence for market day. I was more than a little excited since if there was any part of France I’ve been absolutely dying to see, it’s Provence. Aix was certainly much different than I expected, but was really truly enjoyable nonetheless. It’s not a tiny Provencal town by any means, but it quaint nonetheless. Sandra and I were shocked to find Hermes, Longchamp, and other upper crust designer stores lining the narrow and winding streets. It certainly provided a contrast to the village feel of the huge flea and produce market. The market went on for several blocks and was absolutely overflowing with sausages, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, honey, bread, flowers…it was spectacular to meander under the colorful umbrellas and sample all sorts of goodies. The flea market was unexpectedly impressive as well, I was anticipating junky random nick-nacks that no one needed and cheap clothes, instead I found racks stuffed with pretty summer dresses, leather shoes, an array of tunics and blouses, and fabulous hand crafted jewelry.

After the market, we caught the train to Arles, famous as one of Van Gogh’s main haunts. Apparently he painted more than 200 canvases of the city and I was itching to see the real thing. Quite honestly, we didn’t find much. Arles is about half the size of Aix and aside from a humongous Asian tour group, pretty much seem to be locally dominated, which was….refreshing. There is supposedly a “Van Gogh trail” but all we found were a few markers in the sidewalk pointing in vague directions with no definite destinations. We did spot where he painted “Starry night over the Rhone” which was pretty neat for an art nerd like myself.