Aix-en-Provence - How to end the day with sore feet but happy, 3rd August 2015

The tourist office gave me a map of the Cézanne trail which is a walking tour of all of the places relevant to the artist, from his school, the bar he liked to frequent and the cemetery where he is buried. The route starts right outside the tourist office with a statue of Cézanne, unfortunately with a building-site backdrop at the moment.

The trail is then marked with bronze plaques with a letter C embedded in the pavement. 

Cezanne's grave.

Handily, the route meanders around the area where I am staying, which also happens to be the shopping district. I was able to nip home for a quick glass of chilled water and a pee, as well as into any shops that caught my eye. Just to cool down you understand, it is very hot today.

At lunchtime, I planned to go to Cafe des Deux Garçons, a brasserie that Cézanne and other famous artists and writers liked to frequent, however on arrival, I realised the price of lunch would have taken my entire daily budget, so I opted for the cheaper place next door figuring the view of Cours Mirebeau is pretty much the same. Without realising, I found myself in an Irish bar but as far as I could tell, I was the most Irish thing about the place. Here, the Frenchmen were not drinking rosé but very frivolous cocktails with pom-poms on the straws!

Cours Mirebeau

After lunch, mellowed by my glass of rosé, I ambled slowly in the direction of Atelier Cézanne. The streets were very hot by this time, even in the shade, but there was a warm breeze for which I was very grateful. 

En route, I bought a few local products - soap, lavender and sampled the famous calissons, made from candied melon and marzipan, they were good!

Atelier Cézanne is my kind of museum, just one room, left, if not exactly as it was when Cézanne died, but with all the of the objects that were present in the studio at the time. The skulls were there, some fruit (some of it was wizened but definitely not the originals!), the green jug. Cézanne changed the studio to his specification, adding an enormous window for light and a special opening in one wall so that he could get his huge canvasses in and out. 

Atelier Cezanne

I always thought that the shadows in his still-life paintings were rather heavy, but having been in the very room where they were painted, in the same Provençal light, you can see that they are really very accurate. I was really quite moved by the atmosphere of the place.

Afterwards, I was able to wander around the garden and rest a little before walking, on weary feet, further up the sun baked hill to Terrain des Peintres.

It was totally and utterly worth it. Getting to the top of the steps at the top of the hill and then turning around and seeing the mountain, La Sainte-Victoire, which I'd previously only seen in paintings, was draw-dropping.

Sainte-Victoire

It was very peaceful up there. When I arrived there were some Chinese tourists sitting under an olive tree, but they soon left, leaving me, the cicadas, the breeze and the view. Just stunning. I can completely understand why Cézanne was so captivated up there.

By the time I got back to town, my back and feet were aching so there was only one thing to do - sit in a square, order another rosé and watch the world go by. 

I've decided that tomorrow I will go to the Gorge du Verdon. There are no organised tours available so I've hired a car and bought picnic ingredients - cheese, tomatoes, apricots and bananas and I'll pick up some fresh bread in the morning.