X is for Aix-en-Provence

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

My theme – “26 Things I’d Like To See During Our Trip To France”

 

 X is for “Aix-en-Provence” 

What is this? Qu’est-ce que c’est ?

Avant que je commence, (first of all)  I have to apologize just a little bit for kind of “cheating” again with the “X”…you see, “x” most commonly occurs at the end of French words, and not at the beginning. And it’s often silent. But the “Aix” in “Aix-en-Provence” sounds pretty much like the letter “X” as it’s pronounced in English, so I’m going with that.  Plus, I would like to go there 🙂

Aix-en-Provence is a fairly large city in the South of France (about 143,000 people). Full of history dating back to the Romans in 123 BC, this city is just begging me to put it on the itinerary. I hope we will actually have time for all these A-to-Z things! France is simply too big, and too rich in history to be limited to only one trip there. I haven’t really even been there once yet, and I already have so many other trips there planned in the back of my brain.

Where is it? Où est-ce?

Aix-en-Provence is in the South of France, about 19 miles North of Marseilles.

Why do I want to go there? Pourquoi est-ce que je veux y aller ?

Well, it’s quite famous, a very old city full of amazing architecture and placed beautifully in the paysage of Provence. It is known for being the hometown of Paul Cézanne, who has been called by some “The father of modern painting.”  There is even a map available showing the key places of Cézanne’s life in Aix-en-Provence. Très intéressant… I actually saw one of his paintings at the Denver Art Museum not too long ago, but wouldn’t it be lovely to see the land that inspired him? I have also read that this city is full of fountains, which I suppose is appropriate since it takes part of its name from the Latin word for water…in any case, this website tells me how to “Discover Aix-en-Provence through 10 Fountains.”  And if that isn’t enough, there is another website which tells me “10 Reasons to come to Aix-en-Provence.”  So really, with all this information available, the real question should be “pourquoi pas?” (Why not?) In any case, I will definitely try to work this in to our séjour en France (holiday in France) if possible. I truly don’t want to “overplan” this trip, but it’s hard not to want to see everything!

“Paul Cézanne 109” by Paul Cézanne – The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.. Licensed under Public domain via null.

 

And you, dear A to Z-ers?  Et vous ?

How do you plan your vacations? Do you plan every second, or try to leave a lot to chance? If you’ve done both, which do you treasure the most later?

Dites-moi !