AIX-EN-PROVENCE would
be the dominant city of
central Provence were it not
for the great metropolis of
Marseille, just 25km away.
Historically, culturally and
socially, the two cities are
moons apart and the tendency
is to love one and hate the
other. Aix is complacently
conservative and a
stunningly beautiful place,
its riches based on
landowning and the liberal
professions. The youth of
Aix are immaculately
dressed; hundreds of foreign
students, particularly
Americans, come to study
here; and there's a certain
snobbishness, almost of
Parisian proportions.
From the twelfth century
until the Revolution, Aix
was the capital of Provence.
In its days as an
independent county, its most
mythically beloved ruler,
"Good" King René
of Anjou (1409-80), held a
brilliant court renowned for
its popular festivities and
patronage of the arts. René
was an archetypal
Renaissance man, a speaker
of many languages (including
Greek and Hebrew), a
scientist, poet and
economist; he also
introduced the muscat grape
to the region - today he
stands in stone in
picture-book medieval
fashion, a bunch of grapes
in his left hand, looking
down the majestic
seventeenth-century cours
Mirabeau.
The City
of Aix-en-Provence
The whole of the old city of
Aix , clearly defined by its
ring of boulevards and the
majestic cours Mirabeau, is
the great monument here, far
more compelling than any one
single building or museum
within it. With so many
streets alive with...
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