neither alarmingly pretty or striking, aix en provence was subtly charming in her undefined way. we took a stroll down cours mirabeau, a street once well-trodden by horse-drawn carriages, where there was a little artist marker fair going on. however, other than that, the town was quiet for the stores that lay on the branched out streets were closed on Sundays.
hotel ville, the town hall at aix en provence
cours mirabeau, where horse-drawn carriages once rode. 
along cours mirabeau 
after indulging in a too-hearty-for-my-heart breakfast buffet at brasserie leopold, mum and i paid homage to paul cezanne (aix's favourite son) by visiting his studio.
once his sanctuary, l' atelier cezanne is now a museum which displays the furniture and objects that cezanne sed for his paintings and apparently, it has been kept the way it was since his death a hundred years ago.
using aix en as our base, we made a day trip to le baux de provence, arles, carmague and saintes marie de la mer.
arles: yet another roman-tic conquest pushing south, the carmague- the national park to visit when you are in the south of france. More brockback than wild west, this reserve is home to black bulls, white horses and pink flamingoes. and as if it were not already difficult to imagine cowboys in france, the carmague houses europe’s largest salt pans.
pont du gard bird sanctuary where we saw pink flamingoes of the flamant rose breed. their pink is hidden under their wings and only noticeable when they flap. mum and i were even lucky enough to see a flock of them take flight.
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