Cezanne, French Fashions and Reprise

Thursday, August 27, 2015
Aix-en-Provence - Update #6, Provence, France
Up at 8:30, out of the room by 9:30 for a 10:00 am tour "In the Footsteps of Cezanne." It was a two-hour walking tour of Aix-in-Provence where Cezanne lived and worked. And better yet, it was in English. The lady giving the tour was excellent. You could tell she loved art, her city and Cezanne. She told us the Aix in Aix-in-Provence was Latin for water...meaning Aix-in-Provence had water which many cities or towns did not have. We learned a lot about Cezanne and saw 10 of his paintings in the museum (entrance was free with the tour). I tipped the lady well.  

During the tour, we talked to some folks from California who were "house-swapping" for a month here in France. They have done it several times and always worked out well. Basically you take their house for a month and they take yours. Great concept. Sandy and I thought about the concept further and wondered who from France might want to see the sights of beautiful Bloomington/Normal? Not sure....

We were hungry after the tour and decided to make it a Cezanne day. We ate at the Cafe Cezanne. While the food (Croque Monsieur) was good, we encountered our second rude waiter. Hadn't the word circulated around AIX by now that Dave Colee is a good tipper? His loss. He got nothing! As I sat there, Sandy went shopping at the market (tents selling all sorts of goods).
The nice thing is, I could stay here all day and just people watch. I thought I might too just to hack off the waiter. Wait till I snap my fingers and say loudly, "Garcon!" I hear they hate that!

As I sit here, a note on women's fashions. Sandy actually pointed out to me (boy, am I getting old!) the short shorts being worn by many women. I truly hadn't noticed them. However, I had noticed the extremely short skirts worn by many women...the ones that were free flowing and I might say somewhat provocative. I was suddenly reminded of my Mother. When she saw a woman with a particularly short skirt, she would sometimes say, "If that skirt were any shorter, she'd have two more cheeks to powder." Yea, I miss Mom!

Sandy returned with a new dress and an extremely stylish sun hat. Looks great on her!

I finally paid the waiter...not saying a word, just giving him my charge card and signing the bill. Were you waiting for a tip? I don't think so! 

We headed back to the hotel briefly and then returned to "the scene of the crime." Salon-de-Provence. Remember our parking garage debacle? Well, we hadn't seen Nostradamus' grave because the church was closed. Just a 20 minute ride and we'd be there. We parked in the same parking garage. We made our way the 3-4 blocks to the St. Laurent Church which holds his grave. A nice lady giving a tour inside the church showed us his grave, even shining her flashlight onto the crypt. I tipped her. (Told you I was a good tipper!)  

Back to the parking garage and put in my ticket to the machine and wouldn't you know, it gave my ticket back saying on the machine, your parking is FREE. Now I'd like to believe it was because they know me and I get free parking there all the time, but in reality, it was probably that parking less than 30 minutes or an hour was free. Either way we put our ticket in the slot and the gate opened without having to explain anything to the people "inside" the machine!  

We then headed back to our favorite site so far, The Abbey at Sanaque. It was again beautiful but the last time being there at sunset all alone was better. We had been spoiled. But as I say, it was beautiful. I see why so many photographers take photos there and sell them at art shows. 

Then it was on to the city of St. Remy. Beautiful drive just getting there. Office of Tourism was still open . Nice young man told us what to see. Outside folks were playing boules. Once again there were paintings by VanGogh in the place he painted them. This was not quite as good as Arles, as the town had grown up and where there were once fields, there are now buildings. But the ones near of the end of the walk, near the asylum where he lived (which is still an asylum today) were excellent. I'll post the pictures when I get home. He actually painted his most famous painting there, Starry Night. You may know the song, "Starry, Starry Night," by Don MacLean. Great song. It was about the life and death of Vincent VanGogh.  

That was a two mile walk with some Roman ruins at he end. Sandy said my doctor would be happy...I'm beginning to hate him! (smile) Some great photos. We walked back to the center of town and decided where to have dinner. Great semi-fancy restaurant with a nice young man as our waiter. I had the complimentary tapinade...couldn't talk Sandy into any. Steak, french fries and salad.  

Our drive home was a breeze. Then blog and bed!

Take care my friends and family!

Dave & Sandy             

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