On A Final Day Trip

Everything here is yellow instead of alabaster white like Avignon.

Last weekend was our last week of freedom (to an extent) before lockdown number 3 began. The government announced confinement on Wednesday, but it wasn’t set to begin until Saturday at midnight. With this knowledge in hand, a few of us piled into a car and drove to Aix-en-Provence for the day on Saturday.

Gorgeous flower market in front of city hall.

Non-existent March showers bring April flowers in Provence I guess.

Despite starting the day with a few hiccups, the drive got off to a lovely start. The weather was approaching the 70s and it was sunny.

Once we got to Aix, we realized pretty much everyone else had the same idea as us. The city was flooded with people, and there was also a market going on along the main drag. With a group of six of us, it was kind of hard to stick together. We spent the morning splitting up and finding each other again at various points.

This was my second time in Aix, but the first time was in October on a Sunday for about two hours. That time it was empty and dead, and this time it was the exact opposite. So I feel like I can’t really form an opinion about a city I’ve only seen two extremes of.

Seeing Jack in France, here, with me, is kind of wild. Even though he's been here for 12 days, I still have to pinch myself sometimes.

Regardless, I like its colorful palette, the winding largely, pedestrian-only streets in the centre ville, and good mix of boutiques and chains. We split up for lunch but then met again to eat at a fountain.

Enjoying a meal sitting by a fountain. Natassja, Margaret, Briar, Rama, from left to right.

After some poké, we broke off to continue exploring. Jack and I mainly walked around and didn’t head into any stores. The city felt just enormously crowded and it was kind of overwhelming.

You cannot tell at all but we are smiling under here.

This does not even do the crowds justice.

We did stop into a wine store that was located in a basement off of the Cours Mirabeau, where the vendor was kind enough to let us sample some gin. I’ve never sampled gin straight before. Do not recommend.

Aforementioned wine shop where we got some Coteaux-d'Aix Rosé.

After Aix-en-Provence, we decided to take a scenic route and stop in Lourmarin on our way back to Avignon. The drive was stunning - I chose a toll-free route on Google Maps not knowing it would be as stunning as it was. We drove out of Aix through these winding roads in the northern area and it was gorgeous.

Cicadas are considered good luck charms in Provence.

Lourmarin is one of the famous Luberon villages, but unlike Gordes it is not on a hillside. However, it does have a gorgeous castle next to the downtown area and a field that had some donkeys.

We couldn't go inside the castle, but the views were gorgeous.

We explored the quaint village, stopped into some boutiques, and sat by the castle. It was really peaceful and a nice way to end the day.

It seems like due to COVID, I have so many more solo shots than I ever did abroad.

A man and his bench. That is probably incredibly old.

Sadly, our day trip had to come to an end on the earlier side so we could return the car in time for curfew. But it was a nice way to spend the last bits of freedom and we really enjoyed exploring some new areas.

Gotta love seeing random donkeys in the south of France.

There was a wine store under the castle, which was filled with cool local finds.

Hopefully, this four week confinement works and we can explore a little bit more on the other side. If not, at least France isn’t going anywhere.

A classic Luberon village view never gets old.