ON THE STEPS OF CEZANNE

AIX-EN-PROVENCE - MAY 2005

Aquae Sextiae was founded in 122 B.C. by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus. Named Ais de Provenco in Occitan Provencal, it arrived to our days as Aix-en-Provence.



"CEZANNE - Paul Cézanne was born on January 19, 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, and died on October 22, 1906 of pneumonia; he was buried at the old cemetery also in Aix-en-Provence!
Mount Sainte-Victoire is a symbol of Provence, like Mount Ventoux, the major landmark of the Aix area, and a favourite motif of Cézanne: I found twenty different paintings named Mont Sainte-Victoire. At the foot of the Sainte-Victoire we find the village of Vauvenargues. Its castle was bought in 1958 by Picasso, who was buried on its grounds"


"FOUR DOLPHINS FOUNTAIN - Aix is referred to as the city of a thousand fountains. Among the more notable are the Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins, created in 1667 in the heart of the pedestrian zone. Surrounding an obelisk with mysterious inscriptions, the dolphins point each one a cardinal direction..."


"THE CHURCH OF ST. JEAN DE MALTE was once property of the Order of Malta. Constructed in the early thirteenth century is the earliest Gothic building in Aix"


"ESCARGOTS AT LES DEUX GARÇONS (Guerini and Guidoni) - The building dates from 1660, so Les Deux G is on the way towards its fourth century. After Cezanne and Zola in the 19th century, Les 2 Garçons saw many celebrities arrive after 1950: Churchill, René Cassin, Picasso, Darius Milhaud, Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, James Brown, Marcel Pagnol, Blaise Cendrars, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus... and Guida!"


"MIRABEAU - Inside the Law Courts Building, the statue of Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Marquis & Count of Mirabeau. A writer, popular orator and statesman"


"OLD TOWN STREETS"


"ALBERTAS' FOUNTAIN - It was not until the 19th century that the square was used as a setting for a fountain"


"PLACE RICHELME (MARKET PLACE) - The oldest square in Aix-en-Provence"


"THE CLOCK TOWER - Former belfry of the town and symbol of local government power, the tower spans the street on Roman foundations. Erected in 1505, it houses an astronomic clock built in 1661"


"HOTEL DE VILLE - From 1655 to 1670 Pierre Pavillon and Jean-Claude Rambot, sculptors and architects, established this building"