Sunday 5 April 2009

Sunny-side-Aix: St. Victoire Encore

IMG_8879Wow! This weekend, I experienced the best weather since I've been here; it was so hot, and beautiful out, that we just had to do something. So Sunday morning, My GF and I decided to visit Mount St. Victoire.
Firstly, however we had the pleasure of:
  • having a Pizza Capri pizza [one of the best pizza's in Aix] – me: a "royale" [ham, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese], and her: a "trois fromages" [three cheeses]. [location]
  • visiting the Sunday Food Market in Aix at Place Richelme [near Hotel de Ville] and having fresh strawberries.
  • having a Turkish tea in a traditional small tulip-shaped Turkish tea glass, and a Kebab at one of the better Turkish diners in Aix.
  • viewing part of the Carnival in Aix: it was much bigger than the Carnival in Vitrolles. What we saw was a huge parade of street dancers performing quite a dynamic and choreographed dance sequences to music that was a mix of Spanish, and some other things. The dancers were of varying ages, and it was quite different to see the streets of Aix so lively and vibrant.
IMG_8920We didn't have time to see the entire Carnival however, since we had to proceed to the highlight of the day – a trek up the gradual [and sometimes steep] slopes of the symbolic Montagne Sainte-Victoire of Aix-en-Provence. It was funny that every person we passed by on the way said "bonjour" to us, even though we never knew them before, it's just the polite nature of the French!
IMG_8891I've been here before, on this mountain, with Slavica, Blijana, Kris, Dawit; but this time it was with my GF, and certainly more romantic. With magnificent panoramic views, peaceful atmosphere, fresh provencial countryside air, warm sun comforted with cool winds – it was simply amazing. Ok, Ok, I know you people really don't care about my love life, so I'll try to refrain from posting these "lovey-dovey" posts again in the future.
Here's what they say about this peak on the tourism website of Aix:
Oriented east to west, this limestone range has a sheer drop down to the Arc basin on its south side, while the north side IMG_8929 slopes gently in a series of limestone plateaux towards Durance Plain. There is a striking contrast between the bright red clay at the foot of the mountain and the white limestone of the high ridge, particularly between Le Tholonet and Puyloubier.
For more pictures, see:

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