CIRCUIT 13 – Around AIX-EN-PROVENCE

Aix-en-Provence (144000 inhabitants)

City of water, city of art, this is where the painter Paul Cézanne was born, to whom the Aix countryside inspired some of his greatest masterpieces, and where he died and was buried. Founded in 122 BC under the name “Aquae Sextiae”, Aix has been a spa town since antiquity. The beauty of the city can be discovered by strolling through its historic centre to discover its mansions, monuments,  the Cours Mirabeau, its many  squares decorated with fountains, its brasseries and restaurants with their shady terraces and its superb colourful and varied market on TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS mornings until 1pm. Below we offer you a short description of 3 cultural places to visit among many others… 

The Granet Museum has been open to the public since 1838, it has a permanent collection of 600 paintings and sculptures from antiquity to the 21st century and offers temporary exhibitions of renowned artists. In 2010 the museum receives the priceless collection (300 masterpieces) from the Jean and Suzanne Planque Foundation. A former 17th century chapel (Chapel of the White Penitents) has been renovated to house masterpieces by prestigious painters such as Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, Braque, Gauguin, Dubuffet, de Staël, Renoir and many others (admission charge). 

The Hôtel de Caumont is without context one of the most beautiful mansions in the city. It was built in the 18th century between 1715 and 1742. Purchased by the city in 1964, which transformed it into a music conservatory, the hotel was sold in 2010 to a private company which, at great expense and under the direction of the Centre of National Monuments, turned it into a sumptuous cultural site while restoring its former glory. The rooms, carefully furnished with exceptional taste, reveal the daily life of the former time. The garden, redesigned in the original spirit, is also magnificent. High-quality temporary exhibitions are on offer all year round (admission charge). 

A short break between two, at lunchtime, in the Aix countryside for a Provencal picnic. Then return to the centre of Aix-en-Provence to continue the visit.

The road of the painters

A few hundred metres from the workshop on a hill, a belvedere was built in 2004 with a superb view of St. Victoire, where 10 panels reproduce paintings by Cézanne from this site. It was between 1902 and 1906 that, from this location, he produced 11 oil paintings and 17 watercolours of the St-Victoire mountain, several of which are now exhibited in the world’s greatest museums. And it was on this very spot that on 15 October 1906, Cézanne, surprised by a storm, collapsed and lay in the rain for long hours before being taken home to the centre of Aix-en-Provence in a launderer’s cart. He no longer had the strength to go to his studio to paint, and died a week later of pneumonia. Many tributes and retrospective exhibitions throughout the world will be paid to him after his death.
Possibility to stop at the cemetery of Saint-Pierre d’Aix-en-Provence to visit the grave of Paul Cézanne.

Wine tasting

The Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire appellation area occupies the foothills of the Sainte-Victoire mountain on its southern flank. The vineyard has very specific geo-climatic characteristics. It is established on poor soils formed of limestones and clayey sandstones, well drained and therefore very suitable for the cultivation of the vine. This terroir benefits from exceptional sunshine and is protected from maritime influences by the surrounding relief. The action of the mistral, dry and regular wind, cleanses the vineyard. The grapes maturation there later than on the rest of the Côtes de Provence appellation, which gives the wines a characteristic freshness. This unique terroir, considered one of the most natural in France, where the vine has been cultivated since antiquity exerts a profound influence on the wines of Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire which were officially recognized by decree on February 10, 2005 for reds and rosés. Three grape varieties, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault represent at least 80% of the grape varieties. The wines are made using the traditional blending technique. Each grape variety is harvested and vinified separately, which allows each grape variety to be harvested at maximum maturity and a vinification specific to each grape variety. Then a few months later we proceed to the assembly. The wines of Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire, which have a very growing demand in France and abroad, are now of a quality specific to great French wines. 

Visit the Vinotheque of the Association of Winegrower of Sainte-Victoire which is the showcase of “Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire” wines with tasting and sale of local wines, in an exceptional setting at the foot of the Sainte-Victoire mountain in Saint-Antonin-sur-Bayon. Then visit wineries located in the surroundings, in the middle of exceptional Provencal landscapes.