Aix-en-Provence: Fountains, Food, and Fun

Fountains, food, and fun...those are the 3 Fs that characterize Aix-en-Provence.  We spotted a sweets shop across the street from Hotel Cezanne and were lured in by the window displays.

Leonard Parli specialises in calissons (little footballs made from candied fruit and ground almonds).

In addition, they sold a variety of chocolates and candied fruits.

Continuing on into town, we stopped in to a lovely patisserie to sample their cookies before sitting down to a sensible breakfast of buttered toast, juice, and coffee.

We also shared a lovely croissant.  When in France...

We let ourselves get lost on the narrow cobbled streets of Aix enjoying the small fountains that we saw at almost every turn.

Most of the facades were quite pale so I enjoyed seeing this pop of colored flowerpots in a tall residential window.

We passed this fountain and marveled as staff from some of the nearby cafes came by and filled up their wash buckets.

More opportunities for treats presented themselves at Comtesse du Barry and Goût de Pain.

Long lines extended from the boucherie (butcher) as people looked to buy their holiday roast.

Winding our way up Rue Espariat, we passed lovely fountain squares.

We emerged onto Place Richelme and explored the bustling market featuring ripe fruit...

...sachets of lavender...

...herbes de provence...

...and pungent fish...

We ducked into Le Brûlerie which emitted seductive scents from the coffee roaster.

A variety of different beans from all over the world were on offer.

We left Place Richelme and passed two stone busts eyeing each other.

Place de l'Hôtel de ville featured a colorful flower market surrounding the central fountain.

Intricately carved knockers graced the entrance to l'Hôtel de ville.

We stopped into a sweet shop along the square featuring pate de fruit and navettes.

A large clock tower graced one corner of the square.

Continuing on past yet more fountains, we approached the Place des Martyrs de la Resistance.

We tuckered in for a bit of lunch at Cafe l'Archevêché.

Their mushroom and ham pizza was delicious and filling.

We popped into the Aix Cathedral, an imposing structure just up the street.

The interior was rather sparse and pale, quite unlike the gothic churches we'd seen recently in Germany and Poland.

A light filled dome illuminated the interior.

We spotted little cherubs adorning a nearby apartment building.

As we walked further away from the Cathedral, the gargoyles on the tower came into focus.

We reached a busy street which we treated as a northern boundary to the old town of Aix.

We stopped at a square nearby to soak up the sun and try one of our calissons.

We turned around and headed back toward Cours Mirabeau.  I liked these Xs adorning this wall in Aix.

We concluded our ramble with a tour of several more of Aix' signature fountains.

The most surprising sight of the day was this kid trying to control a dog larger than he was outside a local confiserie.  Aix has great people watching!