Caveat emptor ! :

Aix “commerçants” > kommehrhssaahn < tend either towards charm, or suspicion, in the presence of “l’estranger,” (a term that does not exclude Parisians). If, before you speak, they contort their lips and roll their eyes, this generally means that they are making a noble, often superhuman but prematurely doomed effort to understand what you may be about to say.
Then again, to be a tourists can be painful. When at market, don’t haggle; let the merchant do the talking that if he/she feels so inclined! One can always try: Dommage, que ce soit si cher > dommaszch kuh suh swa see shehrh < = “Too bad! It’s so expensive.” You may get a break for using the subjunctive. Toward the end of the morning merchants are often delighted to have your custom, and generous with perishable produce !

Over the past twenty years Aix-en-Provence has undergone mutations, both intra and extra muros. The small, singly owned and operated stores : l’épicerie > leh-peessuh-ree < , la fromagerie > fromahszch-uh-ree < cheese shop, la charcuterie > sharhkytuhree <, pork butcher, are still to be found, particularly in the old town together with the still thriving, though not always independent butcher, boucheries > booshuhree < and baker’s shop, boulangeries > boolahnszchuhree <. More expensive than the small supermarkets dotted throughout town, and Monoprix (Cours Mirabeau), they serve their quartier (neighborhood). Large supermarkets outside town, Intermarché, Carrefour, and Géant are less expensive and generally less fresh in their fruits and vegetables. Super-Casino, self proclaimed “champion de la fraîcheur”, presents an interesting compromise, near enough to town (at the intersection of the route d’Avignon and the rue Célony) to be both “almost convenient” and “relatively expensive”. “Boutiques” and restaurants have invaded much of the inner town. The grands couturiers rub elbows with the grande distribution in quest of a prosperity which has, despite appearances, so often eluded Aix-en-Provence.

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