by Anne Woodyard | Jun 10, 2021 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence market, Croatia, Dalmatian Coast, France, markets, Split
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
Season after season, rain or shine, the open-air markets call our name….and they’ve continued strong even through the months of Covid. 
What’s different about the markets during these times? We’ve noticed a barrier here or there, less pinching and testing of the fruits and vegetables allowed, but the constant is masks.
Our journey took us first to Croatia last fall, where the market felt like a step back in time…
with vendors pricing our purchases with little weights in their scales,
masks firmly in place.
We added to our mask wardrobe as Covid progressed and they became an essential accessory, frequently washed and then dried on our balcony.
Creative types added masks to their inventory of crafts,
and we sourced Croatian flag masks for our grandchildren and their friends.
Thrilled to return to our Aix-en-Provence home earlier this year, we didn’t lose a minute before returning to our favorite markets, 
choosing a bouquet for the mantel, 
planning a menu from the seasons best. 
Even if I don’t need anything, I love walking through the clothes market on Cours Mirabeau. But from the beginning of April to mid May all clothing and other non-essential stores, including open air market stalls, were closed as stronger anti-Covid measure were put into place in France. The flower and food markets remained open. 
What a delight when the Cours was again lined with color – now spring clothes fluttering in the breeze!
Just today I blitzed through the stalls, finding a few necessary things to get me through the heatwave coming this weekend 
– spring has definitely transitioned into summer, masked marketing still required!
by Anne Woodyard | Dec 2, 2017 | Aigue Brun, Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence market, Aix en Provence restaurants, Ambiance d'Aix, Bonnieux, Cassis, Cours Mirabeau, fountains, France, France travel, French Word a Day, La Ciotat, Le Riad, Lourmarin, Luberon, Pavilion Vendome, Place de Trois Ormeaux, provence, Roussillon, Santons, south of France, truffles
Thanksgiving Week, 2017
Aix en Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to Spring – Aix en Provence for the Easter Festival.
What’s first on the Aix to-do list when we arrive? Flowers, of course! And what a glorious morning we have for our first market foray! 
The usual produce, flowers, clothes and textiles fill stalls, and the annual Santon Fair is set up beyond the grand Rotonde fountain at the end of Cours Mirabeau – every imaginable figure for your creche scene.
Most of the week we’re walking around familiar lanes, but for a couple of days we rent a car to see friends further afield. After a near-freezing morning, we’re off to La Ciotat, where we’re surprised to see hardy souls braving the water – from stand-up paddlers beyond the waves, to swimmers and sunbathers. 
Our friends Jean-Marc and Kristin (author of one of our favorite blogs, French Word a Day) have recently moved here from a few miles away, and after that chilly start to the day, it’s turned out to be perfect for a garden lunch. Kirk channels Van Gogh in one of Kristin’s hats, 
and we while away the hours together in the sunshine.
After stopping for some big box store supplies outside of Aix while we have the car, we take a side road home and pull off to take in a glorious sunset.
One more day with a car, and we’ve invited new friends Jim and Brenda to see more of the area – the lush and varied Luberon north of Aix calls us today, beginning with ochre-toned Roussillon, 
always a favorite.
Rewinding south towards Bonnieux, we pause at Pont Julien, 
a hearty Roman relic that survived when new bridges perished in floods over the centuries.
Just down the road is bonnie Bonnieux, where we pause for a look across the rooftops and the lower church – 
to the valley beyond. A few elegant doorways from centuries ago attest to the former wealth of the village,
popular again since Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence. Pulling away towards Lourmarin, we’re grabbed with the sight of the village tumbling down its hill, framed in glorious autumn colors – wow!
Between Bonnieux and Lourmarin we stop for a half kilometer hike down a path beside an old mill trace to a stone bridge built by the pre-Luther Protestants called Vaudois. They left Italy where they were known as Waldensians and where they developed considerable skill as stone masons. 
This low, short bridge over the insignificant Aigue Brun stream has as an anchor on the right, a stone concave fan. Those Vaudois cut and laid those stones with such skill that the bridge still stands after about 500 years.
Last stop, chic Lourmarin, with its eye-catching chateau. 
The guys pause for a coffee 
while Brenda and I peek in the shops.
Mt. St. Victoire greets us in the sunset as we approach Aix, 
where a surprise awaits us. Our friend Xavier told us to call him when we got back since he had something to bring us. He’s a collector of contemporary art, but has saved for us a piece from his parent’s estate that he gave to them years ago – of a place he knows we enjoy. Venice! 
We’ve been looking for something for this corner – how nice to have a piece with a personal connection!
Friends and family make life so delightful….the family arrives tomorrow!
by Anne Woodyard | Jul 28, 2017 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence market, Ambiance d'Aix, France
July 15, 2017
Aix en Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
How about celebrating Mozart in the matchless city of Bath, England in November?
Always au revoir (until we meet again), never goodbye…I walk through the market just one more time, 
taking in the sights 
and smells…a bittersweet stroll. 
Yes, I’ll be back, but I always hate to leave!
Jean-Marc and Kristin e-introduced us to new friends, and we invite them over for a late morning nibble – 
it’s truly a pleasure to meet Dorothy and Steve, and we hope we’ll get to see them again sometime when they’re back in Aix for a visit.
Then it’s time to pack up and clean the apartment for the next lucky renters, walk to a nearby courtyard for a late string quartet (the gorgeous Fauré #2 in g minor for piano and strings – listen to it if you can!)
and bid farewell to lovely Aix – 
we’ll be back as soon as we can!
by Anne Woodyard | Jul 19, 2017 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence market, France, La Ciotat, Pavilion Vendome, Saint Sauveur Cathedral
July 2017
Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
Why not join us on our newest tour in September – Bordeaux and Dordogne
What’s new in Aix? The bell tower of the cathedral is now out of its scaffolding, pristine and gleaming in the summer sun. 
Under the dust of years, it was never apparent that the crown on top is a paler stone – now it’s clearly obvious!
The market is calling…and the most-photographed stall of all is as eye-poppingly gorgeous as always!
We’re here long enough this time that we can create a window box or two, and what fun it is to choose just the right blooms for the bedroom and study windows.
A bit of blue, white and red for France’s national day hits the spot!
This is the first time we’ve been in town for the Festival d’Aix, and in addition to the operas taking place in several venues (sometimes we can hear the music from the adjacent Archbishop’s Palace Garden) there are musicians involved in the operas and award- winning string quartets playing in the courtyard of a nearby historic building – one evening was filled with Turkish influenced Greek music – unique!
Every Sunday night open-air movies are projected in one park or another, and we stroll through the rose garden of Pavilion Vendome,
spread out our blanket, and take in a show as night falls.
How about a lunch date in seaside La Ciotat? 
Kristin, of French Word a Day, discovered a great little place in the center and has reserved a table for us in a pretty square.
Corey and Yann, who we’ve visited in Cassis a few times, and Jean-Marc and Kristin meet us there, 
and we savor one delicious course after another, lots of laughter and fun interspersing each bite. 
Back in Aix, it’s Open Gallery night, and we walk from one to the other, sipping the wines, sampling the snacks, and appreciating the art – the swaths of aqua ink in this gallery were among my favorites. 
One morning we bump into a neighbor on the edge of town, and happily accept his invitation for lunch in the seaside town where they’re housesitting. From their hillside abode in Carry-le-Rouet, the views across the water to Marseilles are superb – I can’t take my eyes away!
Change into your suits, we’re instructed….no need to ask us twice! 
Apero by the pool, 
lunch on the patio of the lovely home, 
then hours relaxing in the sun…
oh this must be vacation!
by Anne Woodyard | Jun 6, 2017 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence market, Ambiance d'Aix, Brahms, classical music, Festival de Pâques, France, Pavilion Vendome, provence, St. Jean de Malte
Easter Week 2017
Aix-en-Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – why not join us on the fabulous Amalfi Coast , in Provence, or Amsterdam?
Yesterday we came back from L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in time for an evening of organ and string quartet in the peaceful elegance of St. Jean de Malte, in the Mazarine District. On the way back to our apartment we detoured, drawn to Place Richelme by the strains of Mozart….and found a “You’re the Maestro” event – as the Knights, a talented group from New York City, played the overture of The Marriage of Figaro. As we watched, a gentleman of a certain age masterfully took charge,
then a lady waved her dog’s paw to conduct, a lively young man jumped around on the podium as he took his turn, and from a window high above a mademoiselle aerobatically conducted 
as the orchestra turned to face her. What fun – you never can tell what will happen on the streets and squares of Aix!
Today we’re shopping for a picnic in the garden…some hearty prosciutto here, 
fruit there, 
popped into our market basket to enjoy by the blooms in Pavilion de Vendome. 
More music awaits us tonight – but first, an Aperitif Dinatoire (that means enough finger food to make a dinner!) at our home.
We’re delighted with this evening’s performance – entitled Brothers and Sisters. Four groups of siblings, in a variety of combinations, entertain us with Schumann, Brahms, Franck, and a world premier of Thierry Escaich’s String Sextet – 
the composer taking a bow after the musicians at the end. And the finale to this evening? A streetside crepe filled with nutella – yum!
by Anne Woodyard | Feb 4, 2017 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence market, Eiffel Tower, France, France travel, Paris, Pompidou, provence, Seine
Weekend of January 22, 2017
Aix en Provence & Paris, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to Spring – Aix en Provence for the Easter Festival.
We’ll hop on a train for Paris later today, but just have to take a market stroll one more time! It’s warmed up a bit, and the market’s back to life, with flower-sellers filling the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville as they usually do. 
Even though it doesn’t last very long, I bought some of that fragrant mimosa earlier this week – it’s such a winter-brightener!
In Place Richelme the daily market is packed – a few winter tourists join the local hordes, enjoying the life and color. 
All that you need for a warming pot of soup is right here! 
The thrice-weekly larger produce market has moved from Place des Precheurs to Cours Sextius, and I notice a few newbies, such as this Corsican vendor. 
On a corner or two are individuals selling mimosa and violets – 
perhaps they’ve driven in from east of here, where mimosa grows in such abundance that there are festivals at this time of year!
Good bye to Aix, as we hop on the train to Paris. As we walk to our friend’s home for dinner, the sun sets over the Seine – remember, Paris is always a good idea!
A rosy sky greets us the next morning from our hotel balcony, 
and we quickly pack up and get ready to fly, leaving ourselves time for one last stroll around the City of Lights. Just around the corner is the Pompidou Center, 
and we wave goodbye to Dali – 
we’ll be back soon!
The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we're interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We've visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe. Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and in the the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with you.