A Lazy Monday in Aix

We wandered around most of the morning. Stumbled onto a market that included a stall selling honey and with a glass-sided beehive on display (took one photo and then backed away fast.  Bees making a break for it not something I want to be there for).  

Found the only monument/memorial to the Armenian (there are also a number of Armenian restaurants in the newer bits of town) genocide we've seen I think.  It's location, right on Plaza de la Rotunde (the centre of the town) suggests that there's some conection.

Went by the tourist office for some info, then in search of the morning market. We found it, after making a wide circle, literally a stone's throw from our apartment. The narrow winding streets make it impossible to see any distance or hear anything unless it's happening right beneath your window.

Bunch of rather elderly moss and calcium-covered fountains about the old town which were clearly once intended to provide water. Definitely not decorative. Fed by warmish springs. Supposed to be especially pretty in winter.  Steamy and all that.

Anyway, we got to the market and immediately regretted having stocked-up at the supermarket yesterday even if by 'stocked-up' I mean two days' worth of food. Last time we go there save for milk and wine. I'm already playing, trying to find recipes to match the ingredients we can buy (the massive asparagus aside of course; Geri can do what she will with that, I'll slip off to Marseille for the day).

The market is open daily. Zowee.

We're a bit short on counter space (our only criticism of the apartment) but I think I could easily make some pasta. Just an excuse for the sundried tomatoes and provencal sausage I saw today.  And a chance to play with one or two of the literally hundreds of local olive oils for sale.

On the food and drink side of things we've each discovered some nice wines.  Though they still have sulphites I've now tried a couple of 'biologique' reds and been very happy.  One cheapie that was drinkable, if also forgettable.  Our landlord left us a white Cote du Rhone that Geri wasn't crazy about but that I liked.  And Geri scooped a bottle of a really quite fab white Burgundy that has had the effect of making it hard to convince her to try anything else.  :-)

And the goat cheese...my god the goat cheese... :-)

Cheeses generally. And the hams. Which I guess is to be expected as Provence and Catalunya were once one. Some of the traditions run in parallel. Interesting too the language. Our landlord is Parisien and moved here when he and his partner retired. His French typical of Paris and we can talk and joke casually.  To my ear at least his French is clear and precise and spoken slowly.

Restaurant/bar and tourist office staff have a blunter accent and a different cadence. Didn't think of it until just now but kinda like the difference between Catalan and Castilian. Harsher consonants and fewer vowel sounds???

Anyway, after the market we sat at a cafe overlooking it and worked at convincing ourselves that we didn't need to buy a year's worth of groceries this morning. A beer and some olives and goats cheese were a necessary assist. :-)

Rain threatened after a chapter or two of our shoulder bag books had gone the way of the beer, cheese and olives and we made it to the Monop for some wine and then home. The sun back out so perhaps after bread, cheese, olives, humous and a glass or two we'll head out.

Nap. Did I mention nap? A lot of services, shops etc are closed between 13:00 and 15:0 anyway, so what's a couple of tourists with a drink in them to do while digesting lunch?

There's are two bus routes through the old bit of the city. One runs past our door. Tiny electric buses. Fond memories of the similar electric buses in Florence and Rome, nice way to see the city and with transit tickets priced at E0.50 and each route taking about 40 minutes to do a circuit, a tempting way to find every North African restaurant in the old city. We can expand the search later.

Not just North African either.  I have my eye on a Senegalese place 5 minutes from us (2 if I don't stop to take repetitive photos of squares and street and statues and fountains and...).

Sadly, my Arabic lessons not getting a lot of attention. Another rainy day needed for that I suppose. All I can reliably do at this point is ask people if they speak English and where the train and bus stations are. Remarkably useless given the effort I have put in.  They have no reason to speak English (nor do I) and I don't need to go to a train station for another 3 weeks.  :-)

But you know, a nap might help, might sharpen the mind...  :-)

And it's raining again, so no guilt over lost time.  And after all, almost 3 weeks left, so really, what's a nap in the greater scheme of things vacationish?