Carol checking out the fabulous market in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).
(She bought the pitcher.)
Carol checking out the fabulous market in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).
(She bought the pitcher.)
Day 21: As we headed to the dock in Ajaccio to board the ship - on a flat street, at low speed, ANOTHER SPOKE BROKE!!!! Back wheel again. That's 7 for the trip - plus the 4 extra that the guy in Bastia had replaced. The 'Danielle Casanova' was a very new ship - shops, restaurants, even a swimming pool - all of which was helping my illusion that I was taking my wife on a Mediterranean cruise. (She didn't seem to be convinced.) The Mediterranean is truly blue. My very limited experience at sea had been in the north Atlantic which is gray, or at best greenish-gray. But this cruising was a bit too inactive for me. Sort of like beaches, but without the sand between your toes. However we did see several schools of dolphins leaping past the ship. We managed to wrestle our bikes to the head of the line and were the first to escape the ship upon docking at 5:30 PM. We raced uptown in Marseille, heading for the Gare St. Charles (the train station). We didn't know yet if the rail strike was still on but if it wasn't we needed to know when the first train would leave the next morning for Aix-en-Provence so that we wouldn't miss the Saturday market in Aix. (If you ever go to Aix, make sure you're there on Saturday morning.) As we neared the station, I saw a bus marked "Navette Marseille - Aix-en-Provence chaque 5 mn" (a shuttle bus from Marseille to Aix every 5 minutes. Aix, just 30 km away from Marseille by autoroute, is a 'bedroom community' for people who work in Marseille). I asked a guy where the bus depot was and he pointed to a lot about 50 metres away. We rushed over and there were 3 buses lined up ready to go to Aix. We shoved our bikes and panniers into the cargo bays, hopped on board and for 4.20 euros each, we were off down the autoroute toward Aix. So we made it to Aix on Friday night after all but we had cancelled our hotel reservation. The woman at the tourist office was not optimistic. "Everything is full. There may be rooms at the Novotel but it's expensive." We tried one hotel that we passed. Complet! We went to the hotel that we had reserved and then cancelled. Yes!! He had one room left. Done! From the dock in Marseille at 5:30 to the hotel in Aix at 7:30. What a mad scramble it had been!
Day
22: Not only did I need to replace an 11th spoke, but Carol's
front brake was damaged when we frantically loaded the bikes on to
the bus in Marseille. So we headed off first thing in the morning
(after booking our hotel for yet another
night) to a bike shop not far from the hotel. He looked at the
2 bikes and said "Je comprends. Quinze heures."
(I understand. They'll be ready at 3 PM) So we
headed into the town centre which had been completely taken over by
this fabulous market. In the context of French markets, this one is
near or at the top. The produce/cheese/charcuterie/bread
section is a cornucopia of regional products.
(Charcuterie is delicatessan stuff - hams,
salamis, etc.) There are stalls selling
the flavours of Provence - rosemary, lavender, basil, garlic, sage,
thyme, etc. Brightly coloured Provençal pottery and fabrics
abound as well as the usual stalls of CD's and videos, dreadful
clothing and footwear, jewelry and brocante. And it's jammed
with shoppers like my wife (purchases: a
ceramic jug for table wine; a ceramic plate on which, she's been told, she
can grate garlic like it's never been grated before; a necklace; a
'thongy' kind of underwear for my 36 year old daughter who should
know better) and browsers like
me (purchases:
nothing!!). (A little aside here: I'm writing
this in a little shaded square in Aix, having une pression
while waiting for Carol to decide which Cézanne print she
wants to bring home. Cézanne is to Aix as Van Gogh is to
Arles. The square is the Place des Martyrs de la Résistance
and there's a monument with the names of about 80 resistance
fighters from Aix either shot by or deported by the Germans in the
second world war. A few minutes ago, a group of Japanese tourists
stopped in front of me and their guide talked to them about the
square - at least I am assuming that's what he talked about, based on
what he was pointing at, etc., while he talked. My Japanese is a
little shaky. Now while their parents or grandparents weren't
directly involved with the resistance fighters of Aix, they were
definitely on the other side. I wonder if there was any confusion of
thought among the tourists.) We had picked up our bikes - all
repairs done. This was the sixth bike shop of the trip and these were
brand new bikes! The print Carol finally chose was not a
Cézanne. We walked up the street to the cathedral. I've seen
scores of churches in France over the last 20 years but this one
really was impressive. The immense baptismal dates from the 5th
century. There are a couple of tombs there of early 6th c Aix
citizens. Much of the church was built in the 11th and 12th c with
significant additions over the next 500 years. The
organ, an 18th c addition, sits high above one side of the church
and is the size of a movie screen. There was a young woman playing it
while I was there which added a lovely dimension. Surprisingly,
unlike many of the large churches I have seen, the statues and
tympanum outside the church have not been defaced.
(During the French revolution the 'citizens' defaced,
i.e., literally chopped the faces off, the statues and tympana of
many of France's churches during their
rampage.) There was a 70
piece orchestra from a music academy that was rehearsing outside
the cathedral for a performance that evening. It was a part of a week
long series of musical presentations in Aix: 'Musique dans la
rue' (music in the street). We came back
to hear an hour long concert culminating in a rousing performance of
Ravel's 'Bolero'. We walked around to find a place to eat - lots of
choices. Aix is a university town, plus there is a renowned language
school there. As a result, there are many young people there and Aix
rocks on a Saturday night. In one square there were 4 bands set up.
We didn't choose one of those restaurants but I wonder how they
worked it out. We were entertained at dinner by a pretty good rock
band. Mostly oldies, all in English - Beatles, Stones, etc., stuff I
could sing along to, although they were delivered with a definite
French accent. Aix is a place to visit and to spend some time. It is
so reminiscent of Paris - wide tree-lined boulevards, lots to see
contained within a central core - although Paris doesn't have the
spectacular blue skies and 34°C/93°F temperature.
Day 23: The rock band at the bistrot near our hotel was definitely into heavy metal and played on into the night and the throngs of fun-seekers took a long time to dissipate but we slept through it in snatches and awakened quite refreshed despite it. We wandered through the quiet Sunday morning streets in search of a boulangerie (bakery) and a café for breakfast. The only signs of the previous night's revelry were occasional splatters of broken glass. I know I'm dwelling on it but Aix really is a beautiful city. We walked into the church of Ste. Marie Madeleine. First built in the 13th c but destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt in parts from the 14th to the 18th c. When it comes to church parts I don't know my apse from nave 4 so it's hard to know what got built when. There's a large baptismal with a cupola supported by thick stone pillars above the font. The main altar and the statuary above it are exceptional. It's a very impressive church. Carol kept saying "I love this city." It's a good thing we got stuck here for 3 days instead of Marseille. We got our (unloaded) bikes and headed out to Vauvenargues, about 15 km away. We climbed steadily for the first 8 km and then had a series of descents and climbs to the village. The stark impressive massif of Mont St. Victoire looms over the village. It's a favorite test for climbers and hikers but there are stern warnings about the dangers during wind or bad weather. It's an ominous presence. Vauvenargues is also noteworthy as the place where Picasso spent his last years. The chateau where he lived is there and he is apparently buried on the grounds. The sign on the gates reads: "Propriété privée. Accès interdit. Le château n'est pas à visiter. N'insistez pas, merci. Le musée est à Paris." ("Private property. Access forbidden. The chateau is not for visiting. Don't insist, thank you. The museum is in Paris.") The ride back to Aix was easy and fast. We laundered/showered/changed and set out to find a breeze. The beautiful tree-lined Cours Mirabeau was the best bet but no luck. We went into a Quick (a French McDonald's clone) and bought a framboise (raspberry) milkshake. Refreshing! We wandered about, sizing up restaurants and settled on Prima Pasta in the Place des Cordeurs. Great choice! Everything was excellent and beautifully presented. We walked for a while after dinner and then sat on a cool bench in front of the huge fountain in La Rotonde, the traffic circle at the end of the Cours Mirabeau where I wrote these sentences. It's a lovely life we lead! (today's cycling distance: 35 km; today's maximum temperature: 34°C/93°F)
Day
24: We took our time getting breakfast and buying our lunch stuff
because our last night in France would be spent at a hotel at
Marseille-Provence airport so we were in no hurry to get there. We
checked out of the hotel and loaded the bikes (now
carrying 4 bottles of crème de cassis, a liqueur made
from black currants. 'Kir', made with one part crème
de cassis and four parts white wine, is our favorite
apéritif and the liqueur is half the price in France
that it is in Canada.) We went back to our bench in front of
La Rotonde to kill some more time and to eat our carrots and tomato
and melon. Then, reluctantly, we left Aix on a busy road for 4 km
then on to a quiet 2 lane blacktop which descended gently for about 8
km to the Arc river. We followed the river downstream
(my favorite cycling), passing under the
impressive Aqueduc de Roquefavour. The road
along the river was shaded and alive with cicadas - a very pleasant
ride - except that ANOTHER SPOKE BROKE!!! We stopped in Rognac
at a café for a cold drink and a water refill, whiling away
another hour in the shade of the awning. It was 36°C/97°F
so we weren't in a rush to get back out into the sun. We finally
arrived at the hotel at 4 PM. We had to do some rearranging of stuff,
deciding what would be baggage and what would be carry-on for the
aircraft. Last day is always so sad. (34 km;
36°C/97°F)
Day 25: The flight home was uneventful (except that one of the in-flight movies was 'Chicago'. That opening number (All That Jazz) with Catherine Zeta-Jones is worth the ticket price). We were disappointed when we got home to hear on a phone message that our 6 year old grandson had just left with his mom for a cottage and we wouldn't see him for a week. However, the bike shop guy was very apologetic here and rebuilt my rear wheel with new strong spokes. A great trip! On a scale of 1 to 15 (1 being our most favorite trip to France, 15 being our least favorite) this one is number 1!! AND, despite all that Pietra beer, despite splitting those four-cheese pizzas, despite eating whatever I wanted, I LOST 17 POUNDS!!