Skip to main content

Aix: A Little Wine, a Little Cheese, a Little Stroll

We docked in Marseille and went to Aix en Provence for a walking tour and a wine and cheese tasting.

Port of Marseille
Marseille is the oldest town in France. It was discovered 2,600 years ago by the Greeks. I was disappointed to see so much graffiti on the highways as we drove around. It was just tags, no artwork, and made it seem very run down and dirty.
Some of the abundant graffiti on the roadways
French countryside
Aix (pronounced “X”) is a university town, and we found out there were protests planned for the next day, so the university closed early and the streets were not as crowded as usual. 
Tree-lined streets of Aix-en-Provence

Aix was once the medieval capital of Provence. There are wide boulevards for pedestrians lined with shops and markets to explore, cafes to sit in, and people-watch. The town itself is beautifully restored and maintained. Aix has more than 300 days of sun a year, and today was no exception.


We stopped at the Cathedrale Saint-Sauveur, walked through a farmer’s market, and saw the old Clock Tower and the different types of architecture in the town.





French cheese!

Paul Cezanne is now a notable resident, but he was not well-noted when he was alive. As our guide explained, being one of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, he was “weird” and people didn’t know how to take him. Now, almost every building he went into – even the streets where he walked – are marked with plaques.

Paul Cezanne walked here

After our walking tour, we went to La Cave du Cours for a wine and cheese tasting. Our host Leah provided us with a Rosé (which the region is known for) with some type of strong, firm cheese; a white wine blend with goat cheese on rustic bread; and a red wine blend with camembert. Leah took us through the steps of tasting wine (look, smell, taste) and explained the difference between the wines we sampled. She also explained how they combine each type of grape to make a distinctive flavor and the rules that must be followed to call a certain wine by a certain name. I enjoyed one of them so much I bought two bottles. 

Heading into La Cave
Leah, our sommelier 
A lovely rosé
A full-bodied red
Someone loves to play in the water
Walking through the historical district

Fun trivia fact: in the Iles de Frioul archipelago off Marseille, the smallest of the islands, If, is the home of the fortress-prison Château d’If, where the title character of The Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned.

Leaving Marseille, we ran into the mistral winds, a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows from Southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean, typically as the seasons transition from winter to spring. Winds can get quite strong; the captain said we could get gusts up to 45 mph, but that we would be out of it by morning in Barcelona. I love a good storm, so I moved between my balcony to watch the waves crashing and mist blowing all around, listening to the hangers in the closet clang together, and watching my "wave gauge" swing back and forth with the pitch of the ship.

My "wave gauge", aka Towel Monkey


Comments

  1. deniseApril 16, 2023 at 5:43 AM

    Kathleen, Aix is where we went last year for the wedding! I have some of the same pictures.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

About Me

My photo
MzKath
2023 is all about trying new things. I am sailing around the world on a trip I've been dreaming of, and I am dipping my toe into the Social Media world with this blog. I hope you enjoy following me on my travels!

Popular posts from this blog

Kusadasi and Ephesus

Welcome to Turkey! Oh, my goodness it was cold! Because we were late leaving Jerusalem, we had to make up time to Kusadasi, and we ran into some strong winds that slowed us down. It also brought a big change in the weather. My day in Ephesus did not get above 50 degrees with howling winds. I think I got frostbite. But it was worth every painful minute. Port city of Kusadasi For orientation, the port of Kusadasi is located on the west coast of Turkey on the Aegean Sea. My tour was Biblical Ephesus, Virgin Mary Shrine, and Private Mass. We started with the House of the Virgin Mary, which is considered a Holy Site by the Vatican. This site is believed to be the home of Mary, Mother of God, after Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. Mary's Home Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German Augustinian nun, had visions of Mary’s life. Her writings were taken to Ephesus and used to find Mary’s home. It is a simple brick house where she lived out her later years after Jesus’ assu...
3 comments
Read more

Anchors Aweigh!

January 6, 2023. Somewhere south of Cuba. My first day on board was not what I'd expected. I thought I would hide in my stateroom for most of the day, working up the courage to go out by myself and meet random people. But it was so easy! Somewhere along the way, I forgot that I am an interesting person, and can hold my own in a conversation, and people may enjoy spending time with me. How does that happen? I think as we get older, especially since Lockdown, we get used to our routines and don't realize our world is shrinking a bit each day. It was challenging for me to get back into society after they lifted restrictions. A smooth check-in with lots of smiling faces and I was in my stateroom within 20 minutes. The Head Porter said there were over 6,000 bags to get on board (I apologized for my part in the extra work), so my bags took a while to catch up with me. After I dropped my carry-on and inspected the room, I headed to the buffet for some lunch. Had a lovely salad and som...
3 comments
Read more

Aussie-Aussie-Aussie! Oye Oye Oye!!

This is going to be a long one, so grab a drink and settle in.  It's been an exciting few days! With our unplanned diversion to Melbourne, there were only a few excursions set up, and those sold out very quickly. I had resigned myself to aimless wandering when I saw that someone on the ship had set up a day tour with some open spots. I signed up without even asking where we were going, and as it turned out two of my friends joined the small group as well and it made for a fun day. Sailing into Melbourne sunrise We went to Moonlit Sanct uary, about an hour and a half outside of Melbourne, where we got to meet so many indigenous species. Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, dingoes, Tasmanian devils, birds, reptiles – they were everywhere. We were able to buy food which we used to feed the birds and the kangaroos and wallabies. They were free to roam all around the sanctuary, so they would come up to you if they were hungry. Some of the braver ones would eat out of your hand, even ...
1 comment
Read more