Aix-En-Provence
Days 13 & 14
Aix-En-Provence was our last stop and it had all gone by so fast. We started with a walk through the city. Another beautiful place with great markets, buildings and food. And a bit of sunshine and warmth! We stayed at Hotel Aquabella. It was very nice, probably the nicest of the trip. Dinner at the hotel on our final night was bittersweet, as we knew the party was almost over. A good meal helped ease the pain. We had Avocado Tartar with Parmesan Crisps, 7h Shoulder of Lamb with Zaatar and Mashed Potatoes and Lettuce and for dessert, Chocolate Ice Cream Parfait with Hazelnut Crumble. I think the word I used to describe it was "divine"! After dinner, we had a nice champagne toast as we said our goodbyes. The tour was over, but our travels continued. We made our way to Nice, then Cinque Terre and a few more towns in Italy, then back to Nice for a few days. See our adventures in the Wandering section. And a few weeks after this trip ended, I took off on a new European adventure with my family. Sometimes you just can't get enough! My passport is ready for the next one, wherever it may be. Can't wait!
Our local guide, Corrine, pointed out a lot of historic sites and told us about the university, churches and artists the town is known for, painter Paul Cezanne being the most famous. You can visit his childhood home.
On our way out of town, we discovered a great breakfast place, Betty's Resto. The owner is a French woman who has been collecting American memorabilia since she was 13. She was very friendly and fixed us a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs on a biscuit, fruit salad, veggie salad, a great potato/cheese dish and coffee in Route 66 mugs. Oldies music played while we ate. The place mats were vinyl albums. So cute. Great last memory of Aix!
Market Day
Although the tour was over, Sara and I stayed a few extra days here and were able to experience market day. Another fantastic market with beautiful vegetables and fruits and flowers. And so much seafood....some types I had never seen before, including mesh bags of small live creatures, I think some type of crab, that looked like they were doing their best to escape and make their way back to the sea.
