à pied > ah pee eh <

“Aix Old Town” vieille Ville > vee-ehi veel < includes the city within the belt road / boulevards extérieurs > booluhvar extehrheeuhrh < extending from the Rotonde fountain anti-clockwise via the avenue Victor Hugo and boulevards Roi René, Carnot, the Cours Saint Louis, boulevards Notre Dame, Aristide Briand, Jean Jaurès, the Cours Sextius, and the avenue Napoléon Bonaparte. The Quartier Mazarin, though a XVII-XVIIIth century upstart, is included for its elegance, straight streets, and noble mansions. With brief excursions to the neighbouring Monument Sec, l’Hôpital , Villa Grassi and the Pavillon Vendôme, Aix is best explored on foot. No great physical effort or stamina is required so long as you do not get lost, and take judicious advantage of the cafés and bars that strew your path. This is a town for strolling and gaping. “Purpose-built” guided tours can do only scant justice to the rythm of a promeneur solitaire for whom the pageant is both the street itself, and of it. Savor the fragrances of ground coffee, bread, flowers, fruits and vegetables all fresh, and vying for your attention among herbs and spices, honey and lavender.
Include:

The above list is far from exhaustive. Private guided tours are sometimes preferable to mass movements amidst milling traffic and the bustle of purposeful pedestrians “doing Aix” on their way to other targets for the day. We suggest you buy the English language version of the Michelin green guide / guide vert > gheed vehr < for company if you decide to do it yourself. If your French is good, you cannot do better than buy the classic Aix-en-Provence et le Pays d’Aix, by Jean-Paul Coste. Thirty years after publication it still stands as the most complete and authoritative guide.

* ask the sexton sacristain >sakreestahn < to be so kind as to open the door(s).. yea, fling them wide, S’il vous plaît, nous aimerions visiter les portes. > seel voo pleh, noozehmuhreeohn veezeeteh leh porht <, the cloister, le cloître > luh clwatruh < the tryptich of the burning bush, > luh tryptoque du byeessohn arhdaan < fifteenth century. These are among the cathedral’s many “treasures,” rendered all the more exciting for being kept under lock and key !

Parks : Aix has three agreeable parks, an ideal place for picnics.

- Parc Jourdan
just south of the boulevard du Roi René

- Parc Rambot
on the cours des Arts et Métiers

- Parc de la Torse
on the route du Tholonet