by Anne | May 6, 2015 | Aix en Provence Easter Festival, Aix en Provence restaurants, Bistro du Paradou, Carrieres de Lumieres, St. Paul de Mausole, Uncategorized, Van Gogh
Music & Markets April Easter Festival, 2015
Aix-en-Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – join us on the fabulous Amalfi Coast in July?
We’ll walk in the steps of another great artist who was inspired by the south of France, Van Gogh. Driving north through the Alpilles, we’re charmed by the yellow carpet of wildflowers under the olive trees. Van Gogh colors – yellow and blue!
The carpet continues beside St. Paul de Mausole outside of St. Remy de Provence, where Van Gogh checked himself in after the ear episode, and spent a prolific year of painting. 
Easter is early this year, so there are just a few pansies in the cloister – not warm enough for more blooms,and just a lone iris in the fields (last year we were here later and the garden was a purple haze!). 
Continuing in the steps of the masters, we’re enveloped in the Giants of the Renaissance, this year’s theme at the Carrieres des Lumieres in Les Baux. 
The cavernous rooms of a disused bauxite (yes, it’s named after Les Baux) quarry provide gigantic screens for richly hued photographs of locations or artworks, all accompanied by glorious surround-sound music.What a thrill to be immersed in the beauty of the Sistine Chapel, noting details impossible to take in in the actual room in Rome. 
Well this has been a full morning – now for some delights for the palate after all these other sensory pleasures! And where better than the wonderful Bistro du Paradou? Today’s Prix Fixe lunch begins with a Frisée Lardon Salad, and unlike previous meals it’s not plated, just brought in a big bowl for us to dish out ourselves – fun!
And then a favorite cool weather French specialty, cassoulet – we’ve never had this here before either, and it is one of the best we’ve tasted! 
And you know what’s next, right? That amazing cheese platter, in which we make a hefty dent 😉
After dessert and coffee on the terrace, 
we’re on our way back to Aix, passing a surprising addition to the Maussane des Alpilles town hall – knitted patchwork cozies on the huge tree and the balcony and lamposts!
I glance down a side street as we roll through the town – “Oh please stop!” This wisteria draped cottage just cries out for a photo!
An evening concert of clarinet, viola and piano in the elegant Jeu de Paume,
then it’s time for a bit more to eat before we turn in for the day….crepes at Crepe Sautiere, in an old olive oil mill in the center of town. This one has a bump in the middle – ice cream!
Bonne Nuit, Aix.
by Anne | May 5, 2015 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence Easter Festival, Aix en Provence restaurants, fountains, Pavilion Vendome, Saint Sauveur Cathedral, tagine, Uncategorized
Music & Markets April Easter Festival, 2015
Aix-en-Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – join us on the fabulous Amalfi Coast in July?
Another artful day in Aix, with visits to the Musée Granet, a peek at a few more fountains, such as this one on Cours Sextius, with a traditional Provençal drummer/piper like those we enjoyed at a Santons festival last year.
Then lunch in the prettiest garden 
beside the gorgeous Pavilion Vendome.
These Atlantes always seem rather worried to me – especially the one on the right. 
Can’t you just hear him saying “Oh no!” as he slaps his forehead?
Our evening concert is the Talens Lyriques, with a program of sacred baroque repertoire led by keyboard player Christophe Rousset, in the Cathedral.
Isn’t this an exquisite harpsichord?
We finish the day with a Moroccan feast at Le Riad – walking in the chilly evening made us eager for the hot mint tea, but I was too late to get a photo with our waiter holding the teapot skyhigh!
A warming and delicious tagine really hit the spot – 
Le Riad’s our favorite place in Aix for good Moroccan cuisine.
by Anne | May 4, 2015 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence Easter Festival, Aix en Provence restaurants, Ambiance d'Aix, Cezanne, Terrain des Peintres, Uncategorized
Music & Markets April Easter Festival, 2015
Aix-en-Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – join us on the fabulous Amalfi Coast in July?
Sometimes you’ve got to be creative and inventive on the spur of the moment, and this was one of those days. We walked to Avis to pick up our rental car, ready for a drive north to the Luberon, and what met us there? A big sign on the door with our name (along with a few others) saying that the office was closed today, giving us an option of picking up a car in another location. No phone call, no notice….don’t think we’ll use this company again! So since art is a major interest of Elaine’s we decided to walk (uphill ALL the way!)
to Cezanne’s atelier this morning. 
We’ve often stopped at this beautiful spot, appreciating the spacious grounds with many inviting sitting areas (where we’ve seen poets and artists at work)
but have never gone inside. What a pleasure it was to see his high-ceilinged and well-lit workroom, with many of the props he used for still lifes right there, just as they were during his day (no photos allowed of the interior).
I’m sure this rear window was not covered with branches in his day. 
You can barely see, from the outside, the top of the 6 foot tall narrow iron “door” on the left through which he slid his landscapes when he wanted to be outside to work on them. After wandering the grounds,
we walked still higher up the hill to the Terrain des Peintres, a favored perch from where Cezanne painted many of his views of Mt. Saint Victoire.
With views like this no wonder he chose this spot!An easy downhill walk all the way to Cours Mirabeau, and we’re seated in the sun for a delicious lunch at L’Estello,
so bright that a “hat” is required!
Welcome to our place for an evening aperitif! 
And then a robust Mahler symphony, the stage packed with an orchestra 200 strong, PLUS a chorus of hundreds! Quite a contrast to last night’s two-person concert, and that’s how we like it – we include a variety of venues as well as ensembles, from full orchestras in a symphony hall to a duo in an historic intimate theater on a Music and Markets Tour – we love it all! 
Mahler’s Second Symphony is known as the “Resurrection” and as the choir quietly joins the orchestra in the final movement, we’re waiting for what must be coming…the powerful full-voice jubilation of “Rise again, yes, you shall rise again, my dust”. I get goose-bumps just remembering it!
by Anne | Apr 30, 2015 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence Easter Festival, Aix en Provence market, Aix en Provence restaurants, Le Formal, Music and Markets, Music and Markets Aix Easter Festival, Saint Sauveur Cathedral
Easter Weekend, April 4-5 , 2015
Aix-en-Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – join us on the fabulous Amalfi Coast in July?
We’re eager to meet our Music and Markets guest, Elaine, and walk through market squares over flowing with jazz and early spring produce on the way to her hotel.
What a joy it is to share favorite sights and places once again – all the way from the thermal waters that brought the Romans here centuries ago
to Saint Saveur Cathedral, begun not long after the Romans were here.
We fill our afternoon with one beautiful square after another, checking out fountains and vistas, take a break, then meet again for a special first-night dinner at Aix’s favorite celebration restaurant, Le Formal.
From the foie gras, 
through the lamb medley, 
to ” Chocolate Tempation” we’re delighted, 
as always, with chef Jean-Luc’s creations.
Easter Sunday rings in with a rousing organ trumpet voluntary at the cathedral.
Elaine’s been studying French and the three of us can follow the Easter sermon pretty well, and then ” share the light” with the candles handed out as we entered. 
There’s a lot more going on in Aix today – it’s the first Sunday of the month, so the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville is filled with vintage books rather than flowers.
Although it’s cool, the beaming sun encourages an al fresco lunch on Place des Tanneurs…completed with my all-time favorite dessert, Café Gourmand!
Another first Sunday event, the monthly antique and vintage fair, fills the Cours Mirabeau.
Later, our neighbor, Jean Claude, welcomes the three of us with an aperitif and a tour of his marvelous ceramic collection 
before we enjoy the first of our scheduled concerts, an evening of breathtaking violin and piano in the Grand Theatre. We had not heard Maxim Vengerov before, and although we’ve enjoyed other world-renowned violinists through the years, his tender rich sound just enthralls – a new favorite violinist!
From Prokofiev to Dvorak, Kreisler to Paganini (whose Caprice # 24 in F minor had the audience break out in applause after one fabulous pizzicato variation!) we were on the edge of our seats. A couple of French encores, Faure’s Apres Une Reve (which I love playing with my cellist friend Sarah) and Massenet’s delightful Meditation had us humming in memory as we walked past the Rotonde in the moonlight. 
This first concert of the week will be hard to beat!
by Anne | Apr 28, 2015 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence restaurants, Ambiance d'Aix, France travel, Uncategorized
Thursday-Friday, April 2-3 , 2015
Aix-en-Provence, France
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – join us on the fabulous Amalfi Coast in July?
We say goodbye to a gray drizzly Paris, (and after an hour and a half whizzing south, finally see the sun somewhere over Burgundy)
then hello Aix, where the sun almost always shines!
Settling in, we take it easy since we’re still struggling from the colds we got from standing out in the rain before going to Paris, stroll around at sunset, and by Friday we’re ready to go.
We walked through the flower market on our way home yesterday just a little too late – the vendors were loading blooms into their trucks. But friendly Martine is on Place des Precheurs today, 
and I walk home past a favorite square with an armful of spring pastels for our mantel.
Long-stemmed tulips in a pale apricot – delicious!
Music and Markets Aix Easter Festival Tour starts tomorrow, and today we’re running errands: picking up concert tickets, finishing up bathroom painting, and trying out new-to-us restaurants. Aix’s one historic center Michelin-starred restaurant, Pierre Reboul, has a playful, less expensive, sidekick next-door, Petite Pierre. Is this the coolest take on caesar salad?! 
After an interesting and delicious main – a Pastilla of lamb, shredded and wrapped in phyllo, chocolate, always a good choice, is the finale.
More errands,always a pleasure when there are so many interesting things to notice as I walk – such as this Spanish-themed Repetto window. 
We take the “long” route to dinner, just to enjoy a few more views on the way to try out another new to us restaurant. 
Hidden in plain sight, right on a main shopping drag, is a creperie in an old olive oil mill. We’ve passed it for years, never noticing, until Lynne wrote about it on her Aixcentric blog. Well obviously everyone else knows about it – as we sit and enjoy our dinner every table is eventually filled – good thing we called to reserve!
And the crepes are delicious, along with some unusual pear cider. Yes, we’ll be bringing our Music and Markets guests here, and telling our Ambiance d’Aix renters about it too! 
Good night, Aix – it’s wonderful to be back!
by Anne | Dec 2, 2014 | Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence restaurants, Ambiance d'Aix
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 a gorgeous day we had yesterday – almost springlike in Paris! This Monday morning it’s back to “gray Paree” as we say goodbye from Gare de Lyon, returning to renovations in Aix.
As always, there’s a huddle around the track display, and when the quai (track) flashes up on the board for our train, we join the gang heading south, and this time our car’s close – the second one in line. Sometimes we have to walk what feels like a mile, beyond the shelter of the roof soaring high above to a far-away car.
Just as a reminder, this is what the kitchen looked like before we started the renovation.
Today it doesn’t look too much different from when I left on Thursday, but it’s the first time Kirk has seen the work in person (we’ve been Skyping so he can watch the progress virtually).
After sitting so long on the train, we’re eager to get out and about. Dusk falls early now, around 5, and the Christmas lights glitter on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville (town hall) as we walk by, greeting the mayor on her way home with a Bon Soir.
There’s not much business at the Christmas chalets on Cours Mirabeau on this weeknight, we pretty much have the boulevard to ourselves!
We pick up Vietnamese take-out on our way home and enjoy it by the fireplace.
Sylvie, our contractor, comes by Tuesday morning and we talk about what’s next, measuring the space required for the ladder to the mezzanine.
“Please have the electrician move the fuse box to a less obtrusive place,” we request. It shall be done!Then we’re off to pick up a car and shop the big box stores outside of town for ideas for the much-needed bathroom renovation. The shower/ bath is rather cramped now, and we’re going to change it to just a big walk-in shower, called a Douche Italienne in France. We’re also getting paint for the kitchen and looking for a ladder for the mezzanine, which proves harder to find than we thought. We’ve seen, in person and in photos and TV shows, ladders up to sleeping mezzanines, rather like a library ladder. But it seems they have to be ordered online. We find the best option, and will return to get it on Friday before we turn in the car.
It’s time for a more substantial meal, after our sandwiches on the train, take out Asian, and yet more food-on-the-run while shopping today. And every little errand or outing right in the historic center continues to be a delight, as we walk by the holiday twinkles of the Hôtel de Ville again.
Bistro Latin is our choice for dinner tonight. As we enjoy a delicious three-course meal (bon prix-qualité, just 15 euros for the Menu Bistro, with a choice of 4 excellent items for each course) we remember our first meal here, in 1998, for a New Year’s eve feast of 10 courses or so…the Feast of Saint Sylvestre. The decor has changed, but the food’s still very good, and tonight, rather than revelers upstairs and down, there are just a few tables filled. We finish with one of the best Moelleux au Chocolate (molten chocolate) that we’ve had anywhere,
and walk home through the discreetly decorated Place de l’Archeveché –
Bonne Nuit, Aix!
Easter is early this year, so there are just a few pansies in the cloister – not warm enough for more blooms,
Continuing in the steps of the masters, we’re enveloped in the Giants of the Renaissance, this year’s theme at the Carrieres des Lumieres in Les Baux. 
And then a favorite cool weather French specialty, cassoulet – we’ve never had this here before either, and it is one of the best we’ve tasted! 
And you know what’s next, right? That amazing cheese platter, in which we make a hefty dent 😉
Bonne Nuit, Aix.
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.