Aix on market day

Some more photos from our day in Aix at the beginning of the week, as we whiled the time it took for the motorcycle to be repaired.

the nougat seller is new to the market this year, at least I think so, it's the first time I notice his table

Vintage records and vintage record seller

 

 

Café life is for everyone in France

so are baguettes

 

First things first

The garage for a new battery for the motorcycle

then to buy some bread from our favorite Aix boulangerie, Farinoman Fou (run by a Quebec native)

then the fabulous Aix market

and the Cours Mirabeau

Forcalquier

Over the weekend I was talking with a friend who will be visiting us this summer and whose daughter may be settling in Forcalquier, so I promised I would get some of my photos up.
Forcalquier is in the Haute Provence (once its capital, in fact, during the middle ages), a thriving town popular with publishers, booksellers, graphic designers, typographers, bookbinders, illuminators, calligraphers, etchers, papermakers.
We were there on a Monday when Forcalquier's enormous market is spread out through the town's streets.

On market days this melodramatic sculpture ends up plunked in the middle of everyday commerce

Elaborate wrought iron balconies are characteristic and lovely

The town is built on a steep slope, climbing to what was once the fortified site of a citadel, destroyed in the 16th century, and now occupied by a small, octagonal chapel crowned with stone angel musicians. There are also the carillon bells, played in concert every Sunday during the summer months.

360 panoramic view on top

In Forcalquier, also, the Couvent des Cordeliers which was built in the 13th century by the Franciscans (named cordeliers because of their rope belts). We could wander around the outside grounds but because of renovations (conceiveable ongoing since 1963...this is France after all) could not visit the interior.

very old, very pollarded trees

My Provence hat is ready

The volcanic ash gave us a scare for a couple of days there, but by this morning it had dispersed (from European airspace and the news headlines), so once more we look forward to our departure on Friday. Over morning coffee I meandered over to the Avignon in Photos blog, to see how the weather is looking in Provence, and found this irresistible photo of the market in Isle sur la Sorgue. My provence hat is already sitting atop my suitcase!

Here and there, around Rians

Always a surprise to see the miraculously blue sky when we wake up in the morning and throw open the shutters.

The market at Lourmarin.

Var landscape