What to do and see in

What to do and see in Aix You’d be forgiven for thinking that in Aix all roads lead to the Cours Mirabeau and that life revolves around the hustle and bustle of this wide boulevard – it does. Once a toll road and a place for aristocrats and the rich to see and be seen, it now splits the inner city in two. The old town is on one side and the ‘newer’ 17th century Mazarin district on the other. There are restaurants, bars, galleries and shops galore. And on summer nights and Saturday mornings, market stalls are set up and the Cours teems with shoppers. It’s also home to a mossy fountain named unsurprisingly, Fontaine Mossue. Fed by thermal springs (the Romans built baths in Aix) on cold days steam swirls above its stone bowl. Sitting at a café with a glass of local rosé, enjoying a three hour dinner and watching the world go by on the Cours is one of life’s great pleasures. Paul Cezanne, Edith Piaf, Pablo Picasso, Jean Paul Sartre and many more have done just this. But don’t sit there for too long, there’s a lot to see in Aix. Aix-en-Provence Is it the gorgeous and colourful historic buildings? Or the many museums and galleries, the fabulous markets, the Cours Mirabeau with its fountains, the pretty squares and plane tree-lined avenues? Or the 300 days of sunshine and 700 restaurants in an always bustling but not busy city surrounded by glorious countryside and vineyards? Aix (pronounced ‘X’) is a bit like a mini-Paris where the sun always shines says Janine Marsh… The old district 8 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 9