Bonjour from the south of France, art lovers! I’m here in Aix-en-Provence for another beautiful summer as artist-in-residence with the wonderful Leo Marchutz School. A big huge GRAZIE for the wonderful response to April in Venice earlier this month; New Yorkers braved a wild weather day to celebrate the collection (now available online here). So grateful to all who joined!!!
And now on to another European county!! As artist-in-residence, I stay in Aix-en-Provence and am heading around and about to paint at old favorites and new venues, too. I’m several days into the residency as I type this and will recap each week as I go. For now, because I’m often asked about my Provençal recommendations, I thought I’d put them together here in case you’re going to this fabulous city, too… or maybe this list will inspire you to add it to your list! This is most definitely not a comprehensive list; just my personal must-dos.
Aix-en-Provence (“ex-ahn-pro-vahns”) is an absolute favorite city of mine: gorgeous old streets, great shopping, delicious restaurants, lots of culture, close to many other charming towns AND the beach (!!!), feels like both a small village and a bigger town simultaneously. It is sprawling, but the town that one thinks of as quintessentially Aix is within the ancient ring road (“le périphérique”), which is a one-way, three-lane road going around the city; there are almost no cars within the ring road. The town is divided into le Mazarin and la Vieille Ville (“old town”), separated by the main drag, le Cours Mirabeau (“le Cours” for short). Le Mazarin is more residential while la Vieille Ville is more lively. If you find yourself going down an incline, you’re likely heading toward le Cours; helpful in the winding road of this old town!!
WHERE TO STAY
I always stay in an AirBnB while I’m in Aix: lower cost and I stay for a long time so like to have a kitchen etc. Anywhere within the ancient ring road is preferred. Le Mazarin is quieter; la Vieille Ville is more lively. I’ve stayed on la rue d’Italie and have liked that; I also stayed on la rue Pappasaudi one summer which was quiet even tho it’s in la Vieille Ville. If you’re wondering about a spot, send me the link and I can take a look at the location 😊
Two beautiful hotels are le Pigeonnier and Villa Saint-Ange, both a bit out of the ring road but still walking distance into the center. I’ve stayed for one night at Villa Saint-Ange and it was truly heavenly; a little oasis!! I’ve never stayed at le Pigeonnier but have heard great things and it looks lovely.
WHERE TO EAT
I love la Méduse for dinner. Delicious, chic, fun owners; a wine bar with a very good menu. If you’re traveling solo, it has a nice bar inside; they keep the windows open so it’s still breezy in the summer.
If for some reason you can’t go to la Méduse (or just need another restaurant), Moment is delicious, too, and nearby.
Les Vieilles Canailles is a great options if you’re looking for a more exploratory, shall we say, lunch (or dinner). This will be a bit heavier and parts of the menu is quite out there but truly delicious. The owner goes through each item on the menu with you; so fun.
For a very Aixois experience, after dinner go to la place Richêlme and sit for a drink at any of the outdoor tables under the platane trees. Nothing better. If you’re in a pinch, these places all have decent food and the atmosphere I think is really lovely. I particularly like the chèvre chaud (toasted goat cheese) salad at Charly’s and their burger, too.
Gallifet is a gorgeous restaurant in the garden of an art center. Heavenly.
For the best baguette in Aix, go to Jacob’s boulangerie on la Rue d’Italie.
Maison Weibel makes a mean almond croissant and has great takeaway salads if you’re in need of some greens.
For morning coffee, I like to sit in la place de l’Hôtel de Ville (like la place Richêlme, there are several restaurants and any of them will do for this purpose!) and have a leisurely cappuccino. Panaca is also good and on a sweet little side street.
The Musée Caumont has a precious garden café.
And if you’d like to cook at home, the fruits and vegetables market—which also has cheeses, honey, cured meats, olives, spreads, etc—happens every single morning in la place Richêlme, 8am to 1pm (ish). I get other groceries at Monoprix or the smaller version, Monop.
WHERE TO SHOP
Le marché! The market! The big market, with clothes (so many clothes) and colorful stripey towels and baskets and olive wood cutting boards and Provençal tablecloths (and and and)—and also even more fruits and veg than the regular daily market—is every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday on the main drag of Aix, le Cours Mirabeau, and the road leading from le Cours to la place des Prêcheurs (called la rue Thiers) and in the usual place Richêlme (for fruits and veg), too. A lot of booths!!
Saturday, as you may imagine, is the busy tourist day for this reason; if you go on Saturday, go early!! I recommend going Tuesday or Thursday because it really does get so super busy on Saturdays.
At the market, go to Abdel and Abdel for baskets in la place des Prêcheurs. My favorite. Can’t miss them! (There’s another basket booth in front of the restaurant d’Amour on le Cours Mirabeau; this is not Abdel and Abdel! Go up rue Thiers and into la place des Prêcheurs and you’ll see them on the left.)
A tip if you think you might want to shop for clothes at the market: I prefer to wear a tank top and a flowy skirt when shopping at the market. This way, I can slip tops on over the tank and bottoms on under the skirt, even if the vendor doesn’t have a dressing room (called une cabine, “oon kah-bean”), effectively making my own little cabine right there!
Worth noting: on market days there’s also an antique market toward the end of le Cours, close to la Rotonde, the big fountain with lions all around it. Not a huge number of antiques but fun to poke through. You can also check the website of the Office de Tourisme to see what other days that antique market (“brocante”) is happening; sometimes they have special days with more antique vendors.
For that matter, you can see all of the different markets that come up in Aix at the schedule on the Office de Tourisme site here.
Outside of the market shopping, may I recommend a few favorite shops and boutiques:
Monoprix: like Target’s chic French cousin. The big one is on le Cours and they have cute clothes and home accessories and adorable children’s things. Also good if you need goggles or a backpack for hiking or extra socks, and they have a full grocery in the basement.
Stella Forest (2 rue Aude): chic women’s clothes, beachy and pretty dresses too
Souleiado (5 rue Marius Reynaud): chic Provençal-inspired women’s clothing
Fragonard (13 rue Maréchal Foch, on la place Richêlme): technically a parfumerie but has cute cute home goods—and some clothing, usually via collaborations as far as I can tell—in the back.
Ysé (12 rue Nazareth): my favorite spot for swimwear
Sézane (5 rue Papassaudi): yes, we have Sézane in the USA… but it’s better in Aix! Don’t know why exactly but I just love shopping at this location.
Aventurine (32 rue Espariat): fun little store for inexpensive-and-chic costume jewelry
Le Chant du Monde (6 rue Matheron): a darling bookstore and coffee shop
Book in Bar (4 rue Joseph Cabassol): a beloved English bookstore and café in le Mazarin
There are many little gems in the streets of the old town. I suggest taking some time to wander and pop in wherever strikes your fancy!
WHAT TO DO
Cathédrale Saint Sauveur has parts from almost 1000 years ago. Worth a visit inside.
On the same street as the cathédrale is a famous madeleines place, Madeleines de Christophe; you’ll see it, on the right as you’re walking to the cathédrale from town center. Purple facade. Just a window and they’re so good and warm out of the oven.
Le Musée Granet has a lovely collection and a second location too, called Granet XXe in a converted old chapel (heavy on Picassos in there).
L’Hôtel de Caumont (mentioned earlier for its café) is in an old mansion and has a beautiful collection and great special expositions too.
Cézanne’s studio (Atelier des Lauves): worth a visit! His still life accoutrements are still set up and I find it really lovely to see where he painted.
Château La Coste is about 20 minutes outside of Aix center and has a huge, world-class sculpture garden and several great restaurants serving their own wine (and lodging, too). The sculpture garden takes several hours to walk through. Beautiful!
Open studios with the Leo Marchutz School (2 rue Aude): check their website for the schedule to paint in the school’s gorgeous space right in the middle of town. All materials provided!! This in-town studio is set in the former bedchambers of the Duchess of Albertas from the 1700s and is absolutely gorgeous. And this is the school where I learned to paint and with whom I’m an artist-in-residence!
Of course, the beach is nearby (I usually go to Cassis), and so is the bustling city of Marseille, and so many other little towns (Bonnieux is a favorite). More to come about day trips from Aix…
As the French say, profitez bien (literally, profit from your experience): enjoy yourself!
xo Clare
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