Jul 26, 2009 | Written by Patricia Murphy

Day 9 Cassis – Aix-En-Provence – La Barben

If yesterday was Trish’s bad today, today was Trish’s good day. We woke up without an alarm (thank heavens) and drove to Cassis, a town on the Mediterranean that looks a lot like La Jolla. When we first started driving we were both a little ruffled and nervous, but we parked in Cassis and all was fine. I even taught John a little trick for parallel parking on a hill with a stick shift—slowly releasing the emergency brake as you engage the reverse gear. Not sure if Dad taught me that, or if he would be horrified that I would do that to a vehicle. Anyhow, the technique served me well parking my Toyota on the hilly streets of Cincinnati, and it allowed John to take the last spot available in Cassis.

Cassis

So Cassis was delightful. We walked around enjoying the boats, the little restaurants, the beach, and the market. We bought some sausage and cheese from a Corsican merchant whose family lives in Phoenix and who has visited there several times. He was so nice. And his cheese was so good. We bought some tapenade, some bread, and some nectarines, and planned to have a lovely picnic in our next stop: Aix-en-Provence.

Trish and the Corsican Merchant

Soon we drove to Aix, parked, and started wandering around. I had always heard about how beautiful it was there but I never did make it there when I lived in France, so we were very happy to be there. We were hungry, so we had our picnic on a bench in front of the fountain. We were both on the bench when a woman came to ask if she could sit with us. So we scooted a bit to make room. At some point during the meal, she noticed that I did not have a napkin, so she gave me one. I thanked her and we started chatting. She was from Marrakesh, Morocco, so I told her we have a good friend who is from Morocco, Lachen—a very fast runner and a pediatric psych nurse. She told me she was a professor in Marrakesh and she was in town to teach a one month course in finance. We had such a lovely chat.

Making Friends

We talked about economics, and politics, (thanks for your patience John while I spoke French!) and she then took my hand. She gave me her ring! A beautiful silver ring with an orange stone. And we promised to write to each other. It was such a nice contrast to the events of the previous evening.

Then John and I made our way to the Musee Garnet, where there was an art exhibit highlighting the influences of Cezanne on Picasso. It was one of the most interesting exhibits we have seen. There were several Cezanne paintings, then Picasso paintings on the same theme. Cezanne’s father was a hat maker, so he had so many very literally portraits of a man in a hat with a pipe. Then you would see Picasso’s take on the theme—a man with a hat and a pipe but drawn with severe lines and angles. I loved seeing Picasso’s early studies in perspective—it was very clear how long it took for him to develop his angular style. I especially enjoyed Picasso’s paintings of his Dalmatian in front of the china cabinet in his chateau in Provence.

Le Musee

So we were on kind of a high note after seeing that exhibit. We wandered through the beautiful streets of Aix, then decided it was time to get to the hotel. We had chosen a tiny Inn on a quiet back road—a good contrast to Marseille. We needed to get as close to possible to the Tour, because tomorrow we would spend all day waiting to see the split-second passing of the cyclists.

We arrived in La Barben to a beautiful little Inn with a shaded patio. We checked into our room and took a nap. When we woke up we went down for dinner and had a lovely dinner of Red Mullet, Rabbit, Cheeses, and raspberry cake. A much better day by far.

I love red mullet.




2 Comments

  1. khadija BOUHRACHI

    bonjour

    I am khadija, the woman that you meet in aix en provence
    comment allez-vous ? j’espere bien. Venez nous rendre visite a marrakech, au maroc
    j’espere vous voir prochainement
    Mes amitiés.

    • Ma Chère Khadija,

      Je suis si heureux de vous entendre. Comment en temps opportun, parce que nous sommes à venir au Maroc en mai et je cherchais pour votre adresse e-mail.

      Je n’ai pas de dates exactes pour le moment. Nous allons passer un certain temps à Fès. Mais il serait agréable de venir à Marrakech pour quelques jours trop.

      Serez-vous là quelque temps, entre les 10 au 24 mai? Je vous remercie beaucoup d’être en contact. J’espère que tout va bien avec vous.

      With kindness,
      Trish

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