Aix-en-Provence versus Marseille. Photo / Linh Nguyen and Elisa Schmidt on Unsplash
Aix-en-Provence versus Marseille. Photo / Linh Nguyen and Elisa Schmidt on Unsplash
Southern France’s Marseille and Aix-en-Provence may be close neighbours, but it’s their striking differences and distinctive characters that make them such a complementary pair, writes Nikki Birrell
Aix-en-Provence is often referred to as the city of 1000 fountains – a moniker given to this southern French town for its proliferation of water features, once a show of a city’s wealth. I’m approaching the square where one of the most famous, the Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins, dating back to 1667, sits prettily in the centre.
On one side of it sits an elderly man, with an easel and a little white dog beside him that looks like it leapt straight out of the pages of Tintin. The fountain, and the nearly completed watercolour of it, are lovely. But I’m more taken by this timeless French vignette of an artist and his trusty four-legged pal. I go to snap a picture but the peace is disturbed by a large group of students on bikes. Le artiste huffs in protest and starts to pack up his paints and so the scene is relegated to memory only. No mind, Aix-en-Provence is full of these fairytale French sights - this is the town and region, after all, where Paul Cezanne was born, and lived and loved, all his life. And you can feel the artistic inspiration around every corner.
It’s therefore even more striking that just that morning, only half an hour away by bus, I was weaving my way through the chaotic magic of the Naoille neighbourhood’s daily market in Marseille, the smell of incense and spices in the air of this North African-dominated enclave of the city.
The Noaille neighbourhood offers many opportunities to exercise the wallet. Photo / Mel OTLCM
These two geographically close Provencal destinations could not be further away on nearly every other level. Where the old town of Aix, with its yellow buildings is all cobbled streets, aforementioned fountains and boutiques, Marseille is big and brash, with honking traffic, and plastered in graffiti no matter where you turn.
But Marseille also has its fair share of stirring sights – one of the most dramatic being the panorama seen from the heights of the Notre Dame de la Garde (including theisolatedChâteau d’If prison of Count of Monte Cristo fame). The cathedral, too, is a magnificent spectacle in itself. A journey up to this auspicious Marseille emblem, sitting atop a limestone peak, is the perfect initiation to a visit here, with 360 degree views helping to orient yourself in this, the second largest, city in France (after Paris). Sitting atop the basilica is a gold-plated Virgin Mary statue, 11.2 metres in height, holding a friendly, waving baby Jesus. From her far-reaching vantage point, La Bonne Mere (the good mother) is said to bless everyone who arrives in the city and the church itself has countless marble plaques lining its walls, with gratitude from people who believe Mary has touched their lives favourably.
The "good mother" and a waving baby Jesus keep watch over Marseille. Photo / Lamy
You can catch a tiny tourist train or local bus 60 to this beloved spectacle, but I decide to walk back down. Having arrived at the Metro stop of Vieux Port, I’ve already familiarised myself with the impressive harbourfront. A few seafood stalls had been set up along the water’s edge and, with a prawn still moving on its bed of ice, I was left in no doubt how fresh the catch was.
The nearby giant reflective canopy of the Port Vieux Pavilion is an amusing architectural treat, mirroring not only the people standing underneath but its surrounding marine environs - and is an example of one of the many projects that were completed for Marseille’s time in the spotlight as European Capital of Culture 2013.
The other most striking addition for this occasion, here in the “oldest city in France”, was the opening of the Mucem museum, sheathed rather dramatically in an enormous square concrete net. It houses rotating exhibitions along with a permanent one dedicated to Mediterranean civilisations and culture. It’s joined by a walkway to the ramparts of the 17th-century Fort Saint-Jean in a literal bridging of modernity and history.
The impressive concrete netting over the Mucem museum with a bridge leading to the old ramparts. Photo / Jo Yana
The year 2013 was the start of Marseille’s ascension from its prior reputation for poverty and associated crime, to what is now being hailed as the city’s “moment”. Its uber-edginess has been curtailed by super cool, artsy neighbourhoods and with the TGV train service making the trip from Paris in just three hours, and many Parisians making the move down during the Covid period, the city has seen something of a renaissance in recent times. Le Panier is one of the best examples. This old quarter - with its narrow laneways - has been rejuvenated with street art, bougie bars and restaurants, art galleries, trendy boutiques and vibrantly coloured homes littered with an abundance of plants. Noaille, though, is where you’ll get a taste of the city’s diversity – the streets of a shopper’s dream, with Tunisian pottery, textiles and spices all vying for space in your suitcase. Don’t miss a gander too at Maison Empereur, the most impressive department store you’re likely to ever clap eyes on – a fantastical general store with history dating back 200 years. Today it has a range of goods encompassing everything from hardware to homeware, vintage kids toys to jewellery and clothes.
I could stay much longer in this buzzy part of town but I have a bus to catch. Soon enough I’m sitting on the balcony of my new digs, Hôtel Des Augustins, a converted chapel with yet more rich history in its bones, watching and listening to a church bell toll against a deep blue skyline, right in the heart of Aix-en-Provence.
Take a step back in time by visiting the Caumont Art Centre, which used to be a private mansion in its previous life, now lovingly restored. Photo / Daniel Kapikian
Earlier I’d been given a tour of the city’s picturesque streets, culminating in a tranquil cup of tea sipped in the manicured garden of the Caumont Art Centre. This listed ‘hotel particulier’ - the French term for a grand urban mansion - gives you some idea of how the nobility of the 17th and 18th centuries once lived, exhibiting sections of the house and garden as they were at their peak. Now it also contains an art exhibition space and a small theatre, where I am treated to a 15-minute film depicting the life of Aix’s most famous resident, Cezanne.
The film gives me context for some of the sights I am to visit the next day, the most stirring being his favourite mountain, Saint Victoire, which fascinated him for its ever-changing light and angular majesty, spied easily from near his studio. This last working space of his was undergoing renovations while I was there, in readiness for its grand reopening, part of the celebrations Aix-en-Provence is undertaking in 2025 to pay tribute to the man, including the renovation and reopening of his family home.
For more artistic and cultural wonders, those with a car should make a beeline for Chateau La Coste, a magnificent 600-acre (242ha) sculpture park, art destination and organic winery that exemplifies the beauty of Provence. A gorgeous duck lunch at Le Bar de l’Auberge and a sample of some of the site’s vinous offerings cap a perfect day.
I only just have time to whizz around Aix-en-Provence’s Saturday markets on the day I leave and I’m left salivating at the produce on offer – rotisserie chickens, barrels of olives, a table piled high with an array of exotic mushrooms, charcuterie galore.
Food lovers will be in produce heaven at Aix-en-Provence's Saturday market. Photo / Daniel Kapikian
I have time enough only to grab some tasty Armenian snacks for the train journey back to London. Watching the Provencal countryside whizz by, I see now how Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, so different in pace and personality, balance each other so well – their contrasts revealing a fuller, richer picture of this celebrated region.
Fly from Auckland to Marseille Provence Airport with two stopovers with various airlines. Alternatively, fly from Auckland to Paris with one stopover with Qatar, Cathay Pacific and China Eastern; it is roughly 3 hours by train from Paris to both Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.
You can train between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence in under an hour, or drive within 30 minutes.
