Aix-en-Provence

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Aix is an hour drive from Avignon. We visit the Musee Granet named after famous local painter Francois Marius Granet. The museum houses a collection of French painters from 16th century on. We get an audio guide and enjoy art by Picasso (of course his art is everywhere). They have a self portrait by Rembrandt (he is Dutch, how did he get in this museum)? They have more than ten Cezanne masterpieces and work by Renoir and Van Gogh.

After lunch we visit Fondation Vasarely. This is a modern art museum. I am not a modern art fan but I still joy visiting modern art museums. Modern art is often very colorful.

Aix is a old Roman city with narrow cobblestone streets. The old city has blockades to keep the cars out. The city is known as the birthplace of post-impressionist painter Paul Cezanne.

We visit the Cathedral St Sauveur. The church origin has been traced to the 12th centur. It’s construction and reconstruction spanned 7 centuries from the 12 through the 19th centuries. So it has Baroque side aisles added in the 17th century. Most of the church is Gothic added in the 16th century. Eight Roman columns and the baptistery were added in the 5 and 6th centuries.

Aix is a good place to spend the day.

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