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In 124 BCE, Greek merchants from Massalia (now called Marseille) called for Roman help to defeat the Salian Franks, a rather nasty lot who were causing no end of trouble. The Roman general Sextius drove out the Franks and established a camp called Aquae Sextiae, “the waters of Sextius.” Puritans can be glad that generations of lazy tongues have eroded the good name of Sextius into “Aix” rather than “Sex.”
The waters in question are a thermal spring that still exists. But today it’s reserved for the patrons of a luxurious spa and hotel. There the well-heeled can get well-healed of various ailments by bathing in and drinking the water. Ordinary tourists can visit the lobby and see the glassed-in remnants of the spa’s Roman predecessor. The management also provides paper cups for sampling the water that flows from a spigot. It tastes so bad that it obviously must be good for you!
Given its watery origin, it shouldn’t be surprising that Aix is known as
“the city of a thousand fountains.” But the real count is more like 23.
The “four dolphin” fountain, dating from 1667, gives its name to the
Place des Quatre Dauphins. The Place d’Albertas has one of the most
modern fountains in Aix, built in 1912.
The other thing for which Aix is renowned is cours Mirabeau, a
tree-lined avenue full of shops, restaurants, and atmosphere.
Unfortunately, when I was there (in May 2000) the entire street was a
giant construction site. The shady plane trees were mercilessly pruned
to be out of the way, and the atmosphere mainly consisted of automobile
and pedestrian traffic snarled around scaffolding and steel plates. Oh
well. There’s always next time.
The construction fortunately didn’t affect what has to be the
strangest fountain in Aix, la Fontaine d’Eau Thermale. This “Hot Water
Fountain” in the middle of cours Mirabeau is completely covered with
moss! The water comes from a spring naturally heated to 35 degrees.
The construction also didn’t affect Viel Aix, the old,
picturesque section of town (the larger cities in Provence all seem to
have an “Old Town” quarter). Among the more illustrious buildings is the
17th century hôtel de ville (left), which isn’t a hotel at
all but the local branch of the Paris government bureaucracy.
Aix was the home of the Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne.
Numerous merchants now exploit his legacy. Cézanne made many
paintings of the Montagne Ste-Victoire, a rocky ridge near Aix. The
“holy victory” to which the mountain owes its name was in 107 BCE.
Barbarians again threatened Aquae Sextiae, and General Marius routed
the horde (reputedly over 200,000) by pinning them against the
mountain. The French take their history very seriously, and Marius is
still a common first name in Provence.
The Michelin “Green Guide” to Provence (one of an indispensable series
of guides to France) has a very nice day-long driving tour from Aix
that offers views of the mountain and surrounding countryside. One of
the first stops on the itinerary is Vauvenargues. Vauvenargues is one
of those innumerable pretty but nondescript little villages. But on a
beautiful spring morning, it offered a what is possibly my favorite
image of those I brought back from Provence. It overlooks the
Château de Vauvenargues, a 17th century red brick castle that
Pablo Picasso bought in 1958. He is buried on its grounds. With no
sign of the 20th century, this bucolic scene could plausibly have been
painted by an 18th or 19th century landscape artist.
While walking back to the car in Vauvenargues, I noticed a rose
bush growing next to one of the colorful window shutters that brighten
many houses in Provençal villages.
Near Aix is Salon de Provence. The 16th century astrologer Nostradamus
lived there. Some people insist (and with a straight face) that his
enigmatic oracular verses uncannily predicted everything from the
assassination of John F. Kennedy to the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake.
The Château de l’Empéri in Salon is now a military
museum.
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