Friday, October 4, 2013
I don’t know if you could tell from the photos yesterday,
but Fall had come to the French Alps.
And today it feels as though it is upon Aix-en-Provence. Gusty winds and showers are all around. We headed into Aix to explore. Cezanne was born here and Emile Zola lived
here from age 3. You can see their work
in the beautiful buildings. Or I guess I
should say you can see the beautiful buildings in their works. Again, the light is amazing here. First task was to find the Place des
Precheurs and the Church of Sainte Marie Madeleine. This former monastery originally lay outside
the city walls in 1274. It was totally
reconstructed between 1691 and 1703 and its façade features a monumental
retable by the sculptor Revoi depicting the Annunciation. It is said that it is a peaceful atmosphere
inside with hangins, stained glass windows and paintings, but alas, we weren’t
allowed in as a major restoration is being done, which I am glad for that they
are keeping up these beautiful buildings, but I do wish sometimes that they
were not doing it when I want to get in.
Oh well. This plaza (Place des
Precheurs) is supposedly where Mary Magdalene preached upon arriving here. This was kind of her assigned area, so to
speak. The church here was done in her
honor, but wasn’t here anywhere time around when she was, so I guess it’s okay
that I didn’t get to see it. Funny to
see all the businesses around here using the name “de Precheurs” maybe even
without even knowing why the plaza is so called.
Then we went in search of the Church of St. Saveur. The altar here is dedicated to Maximin and
Mary Magdalene as the first founders of Aix, but the modern gaudy ones rae
forefront which made it hard to see the older one. And sadly the front doors with their beautiful
carvings are now covered with planks.
This Holy Savior Cathedral was built in fits and starts from the 4th
to the 15th century. It is
known for its interesting architectural combinations and for its art
masterpiece by Nicolas Fromen, the Burning Bush Triptych—it wasn’t open today,
only on Tuesdays to avoid light damage.
It features King Rene and Queen Jeanne kneeling on either side of the
Virgin who is poised above a burning bush.
The site on which the Cathedral was built has been
considered sacred for thousands of years.
It first hosted a pre-Roman pagan temple, then a Roman temple, and
finally the Christian church that stands today.
Its construction was regularly interrupted by wars and plagues. So it encompasses Romanesque, gothic and
Baroque periods of architectural styles.
During the French Revolution, the decorative panel above the doors was
destroyed and remains a blank space.
The first of two most amazing parts of the cathedral is the
4th century Merovingian Baptistery.
In the first years of this century, an oratory venerated for
being the one where Mary Magdalene prayed with St. Maximin, the privileged
companion of her pilgrimage, could still be seen. It bore the name of Saint-Sauveur and rose
upon the lateral nave of the church even though it broke the lines of the
architecture. I don’t know where it has
gone now.
The second amazing part was the Cloister. We were taken on a special tour of the
cloister by Beatrice Maxwell who was a wealth of information on the pillars and
the stories they tell from the Old and New Testaments. Most of the talk was in French, but we still
understood about 60% of it and occasionally she translated into English. I learned a lot. Especially about Balaam and the Donkey—a story
from the Bible that I had never heard before.
I bought a bag of miniature navettes—yes, I’m going to give
them one more try—and we stopped for lunch at L’Amadeus where we sat in the back
room where I think there was some possible betting going on with these two old
guys and a middle-aged woman doing the handling of bets. It was very interesting. All that was on TV was horse-racing and
lotteries. I should’ve put in a few Euros,
now that I think about it. This is where
I was reminded of how French people really say “Oui” and “Merci.” “Oui” instead of being like you think “wee”
is more like a quickly pronounced first syllable and saying it like “ooh-way.” “merci” is more like “Mair-see” with almost a
roll of the r but not quite.
After leaving Aix, we had hopes of having a sunset dinner on
the beach at one of the cafes in Saites-Maries-de-la-Mer. So we headed that way. First business was to find the post office to
mail some postcards. I saw it on the way
in so that was easy. And I very easily
made the agent understand what I needed and got my stamps.
We revisited the church then were headed to walk on the
beach walkway—Les Quartres des Maries—when the gale like winds came up and threw
rain in our faces. We retreated to the
car and drove towards Montpelier just to travel through this most interesting countryside. We passed by Aigues-Mortes and La Grau de Roi
*** and drove through what felt like a wonderful pantry as we passed by fields
of olives, cerises (cherries), melons, and vineyards. We finished up at a mall in Montpelier where
we got croissants for tomorrow’s breakfast then drove back to Aix in the
rain.
Update: I tried the
navettes and they are delicious! Sort of
an almond flavor. So I don’t know WHAT
was in the ones we got in Marseilles.
Maybe those really WERE soap!
Beautiful Aix-en-Provence--just like walking through a painting:
Market Day:
Tiny saints to protect that streets residents on almost every corner:
Place des Precheurs:
Church of Sainte Marie Madeleine:
Cezanne marker in walkway:
Cathedrale de St. Saveur:
In the Sainte Marie Madeleine Chapel:
Altar that honors Mary Magdalene and Maximin:
Exterior of St. Saveur:
Colorful reflections on the wall:
photo of the Triptych:
Strange little creature--eating a man?
Doors that with planking that covers the intricate carvings:
and a strange relic:
Green & Gilt organ:
4th century Merovingian Baptistery:
14th century frieze:
6th century tiles:
Cloister:
Mary Magdalene holding the jar:
Beatrice said this was Jesus's wife--her words not mine--but she did go on to say that the statue represented His church:
Not DaVinci's version, but still very interesting:
Wish I knew what this symbolizes--found above a restaurant door :
Very pretty shop window with mini paper globes:
Where we had lunch:
Car with the Camargue symbol headed to Sts.-Maries-de-la-Mer:
Camargue horses:
On the Walkway:
At first glance, you might think they are warning of bulls running in the streets of St. Maries de la Mer:
Church of Sts. Maries de la Mer:
Marble pillow found with the Saintes remains:
Front of church where portico used to be:
I believe this may be where the ancient well is located:
Gypsy wagon near Sts. Maries de la Mer:
Mini Navettes:
