Tag Archives: aix en provence @fr

Onwards to Aix en Provence

Waiting for the bus to Aix en Provence on a gloomy platform. In the middle of the day, it is a vast dark space like a set in search of a horror movie. The waiting room looks slummy, is graffitied and smells like a pissoir. Spooky.

Waiting for a bus

 

First stop in Aix is for a refreshing drink at a sidewalk bar. Among the thronging crowds in the Cours Mirabeau, we sip a milky, pungent pastis.

Cocktails with Cézanne

That evening, as we take a stroll past the Musee Granet, a departing guest hands us his invitation to cocktails for the opening of the Cézanne exhibition two days later (Collection Planque).

As if we own the place, we walk in among the dignitaries and culturati, me in my cocktail outfit of Dunlop Volleys and frayed Nepalese cut off shorts. Luckily, we have missed the speeches and immediately join the guests tucking in to huge plates of food and generous glasses of red.

Lucy asks what we should say if one of the many security people ask who we are. “I’ll tell them, ‘I’m the cultural attaché from the Orstrylian Ministry of the Yartz!’” I reply. Continue reading

La Villa Madie, Cassis

Persistant dans ma quête de bonnes adresses sur ce littoral provençal si beau, mais sinistré du point de vue gastronomique, j’ai suivi le conseil de mon ami Jean Pierre Giannoli, et pour un déjeuner d’anniversaires j’ai réservé dimanche 14 septembre 2008 à La Madie. Avec un macaron du guide rouge, il s’agit du deuxième restaurant de Jean-Marc Banzo (chef du Clos de la Violette d’Aix-en Provence), situé dans un cadre spectaculaire entre les Crêtes et Cassis. Le temps permettait de manger sur la terrasse, avec sa vue paradisiaque de la mer et ses fjords qui la dominent vers l’est.
La Madie

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