Aix-en-Provence (Sept 7, 2025)

Knew that I would want to chill after hiking in the Alps, so came to Provence for some chill French country living. Best of all, I could indulge in my favorite travel activity - strolling through local markets!

We started off the morning with a trip to the daily morning market in Place Richelme. Originally, I had planned to buy ingredients to cook in our “aparthotel” and even bought some fancy salt from the supermarket. But I saw that stalls were selling homemade food and figured I couldn’t top local cooking. Here’s what we brought back for lunch:

1. brick de epinard - spinach wrap thing. The dough was chewy almost like scallion pancake. The olive oil and light garlic flavor on the spinach was so good!!
2. poulet roti - roasted chicken from the roasted meat vendor. Perfectly seasoned with herbs de Provence. Even the bones were flavorful (my guess was they used a brine)
3. lapin roti - rabbit leg! My mom got excited so we ordered two, fresh never frozen unlike the stuff in the US, herbs de Provence again. It was pretty lean so less flavorful than the chicken…a rare treat nevertheless
4. ratatouille - 2 types since everyone makes it differently, one from the poulet roti guy and one from the brick lady. The poulet roti one was lightly seasoned with herbs, while the brick one had lots of olive oil and the addition of cinnamon and other warm spices! Latter had more flavor but I got my veggie fill nonetheless

We also wandered around various streets including the famous Cours Mirabeau. I did a little souvenir haul, including olive oil soap from Marseille (good for my eczema / sensitive skin), food grade lavender, and the eponymous Calissons de Aix! 

Souvenir haul

Of course, I couldn’t wait to sample some of the goodies.

From la biscuiterie de rogne:

Croissant aux pignon

Navette and croquant

1. croissant aux pignon - basically like Italian pignoli cookies with chewy almond dough and lots of pine nuts
2. navette flour d’orange - quite strong orange blossom flavor, though I liked the complexity of the citrus once the floral aroma passed
3. croquant aux amande et lavendre - my favorite!! Toasty caramelized sugar + lavender works really well :)

From Roy Rene

1. calisson - nice little chew, original had good almond flavor, lavender one was too overpowering
2. pate de fruit (framboise) - this fruit jelly is so flavorful!! They really concentrate all the flavor into one bite and the flavor is complex too (think: the best raspberries you’ve ever had)

As we walked around, I noticed that this part of France is a bit more rugged. For instance, when we left the hotel, we watched as two cars got into an argument. Three women proceeded to get out of one car and gang up on the man in the other car…tough women haha. The city also has a bit of Italian flair. Not only do they eat more pizza, but the clothes are also more colorful with both florals and geometric patterns. There’s also more ethnic diversity here - for instance, there are more proportionally more Asians than either Paris or Lyon. Perhaps because it’s a college town?? The college town vibe was only apparent in the cyclists and runners crossing the square on this lovely Sunday morning. There were also many elderly folk in the markets and here to visit the Cezanne exposition at Musee Granet.

Here, they are all about Cezanne - the streets, the restaurants, the hotels. Cezanne had studied and lived in Aix for a significant portion of his life. It’s a big deal for Aix to be the home of the “Father of Modern Art.” I managed to land some free student tickets to the Cezanne expo. While he is known for his still life paintings, he actually has a diverse output. He has a “ballsy” period we had created dark portraits, an impressionistic period when he painted Provençal landscapes, and an obsession with bathers under a tree (dozens of such works).

Portrait from ballsy period - purposely upside down

Provencal countryside

Bathers in the countryside

Work that spoke to me the most, painting of gardener close to the end of Cezanne's life

Still life paintings of course. Cool to see how he painted the same objects in so many different styles

It was also cool to see his process in some of the sketches. After he outlines the shapes in pencil, he adds strokes of paint - not in one particular place, but rather a few strokes all over. I expected him to go object by object and was intrigued by how he could keep track so many different parts of the scene. Why I’m not a painter.

The museum also highlighted other artists from the region.

While the sculptures follow the Greek / Roman tradition in their subjects, they have a definitive French (Romantic) flair to them.

After the museum, I did some more wandering while my mom rested in the hotel. 

There was some folk dancing at the Cours Mirabeau. I was joined by French speaking visitors who seemed to be taking a day trip to Aix - a real tourist destination I guess…

Although the dancers jumped and stomped and had bells on their ankles, the footwork interesting reminded me of ballet motions.

While I was there, I snuck a free sample of pain de especies - spiced cake that reminds me of Chinese steamed black sugar cake, maybe because of the molasses? (Also doesn’t seem taboo here to sample and not buy)

Wandered some more to the Cathedral Saint Saveur…

Green organ?!

All that wandering plus the Southern France sun made me sweat. Which meant ice cream to cool off at Loucau Aix:

1. Cezanne (olive oil and salt) - what it sounds like, pretty savory
2. Rose with raspberry jam - rose was pretty strong, they really like their florals here
3. Yogurt - I just wanted something I could enjoy multiple bites of and felt bad sampling more. Like vanilla but lower fat content. Slight tang but mostly sweet.
4. Wanted to try the pistachio and orange blossom but they were out…

We had dinner in a cute square (Place de Ramus). At Le Ramus, we enjoyed some Provençal dishes:

1. To start, we were served some toast with black olive tapenade. Normally I don’t like olives because they’re too salty, but these weren’t salty at all! With just some garlic, the flavor of the olive / olive oil could shine through

2. Calamari Provençale - warm calamari dressed in olive oil, lemon, parsley, and garlic. Love the mellow garlic flavor - you get the aroma but it’s not too sharp or pungent!

3. Asperge et oeuf mimosa - oeuf mimosa is their name for deviled eggs. Along with mustard there was an aromatic sweetness, perhaps some wine vinegar in the mayo. Accompanying leeks weren’t also brushed with a sweetness glaze

The cute and relaxing vibe of Aix makes it the place for tourists - domestic and international alike. Normally, I gravitate away from “touristy” places (read: Times Square) but not if it means a chill French countryside vibe.