Au Marché et ailleurs

Today was two faceted. The morning was close and familiar, in Aix. The afternoon was in a different world, the city of Marseille.

Aix is one of my favorite shopping spots. I have spent many happy moments buying local fabric and photographing the vivid colors of beautiful flowers and vegetables. Today the sky was clear blue, and the colors were especially bright.  Pierre dropped us off near the cathedral, and we wound our way through the streets in the direction of Le Cours Mirabeau.

Aix is a city of fountains. Everywhere the water splashes and cools the surrounding space. The fountains are totally different:  the grand Rotunde, the warm, mossy fountain and the graceful Dolphins. Around the fountains the cars circulate, the flower market spreads, and the shoppers stroll. 

We were the shoppers today. We found elegant tablecloths, graceful children's dresses, natural Provençal soaps, silky scarves and dried lavender.  The shopping was a great success. We were done by 12:30 and took he bus back for lunch. 

Lunch was light and lovely:  salad, cheese, bread, ham, finished once again with succulent berries and strong coffee.

After lunch we headed for Marseille.  Our goal was the new museum on the coast named MuCEM.  Driving through the city was fascinating. The  variety of architecture was matched by the variety of pedestrians streaming along the sidewalks. The museum is a stunning building. Our visit was just getting interesting with an exposition on the city of Jerusalem when a kitchen fire in the café forced an evacuation which left us strolling along the esplanade in the bright afternoon sunshine.

Our next stop was a restaurant where we planned to eat before an evening concert of Bach and Vivaldi. The destination was on the other side of the city. We passed the Vieux Port and looked back over th Chateau d'If. 

After squeezing into a narrow parking spot we found the restaurants:15. The ambiance was warm and welcoming. The food was delicious and the waitress was attentive and friendly. 

We finished quickly because we wanted to get to the concert.  Our friendly waitress assured us that the church was only five minutes from the restaurant. Unfortunately she confused the close church with the correct address which was in the other direction. After we discovered our error we were a half hour late, so we decided it was time to head for home and bed.