Three days in Aix-en-Provence with Inès

There are cities you visit and others you experience. Aix-en-Provence belongs to the latter category: you walk slowly, you stop often, and you eventually sync your pace to that of the fountains. Inès went there for three days, with only a travel bag as luggage.

Day 1 — First steps on the Cours Mirabeau

Arriving in the late morning, just enough time to drop off her things and head to the Cours Mirabeau. At this hour, the light filters through the plane trees, casting bright spots on the 17th-century facades. Inès settles onto a terrace, takes out her notebook, and lets the city drift by. "On the first day, I never plan anything. I walk, and I see."

Day 2 — Morning markets and artisan workshops

On Place Richelme, as early as seven o'clock, the stalls are set up. Fruit, olives, soaps, printed fabrics: it’s the moment when the city is at its most authentic. Inès fills her pouch with treasures, then heads back up toward the narrow streets of the Mazarin quarter, where a few leather and bookbinding workshops remain. Slow, precise, familiar movements—the same as those in our own workshops.

Day 3 — Cézanne’s studio and the road home

A final morning on the heights, at the Lauves studio, where Cézanne painted Sainte-Victoire. The mountain is in the background, exactly as it is on the canvases. Then the journey back, bag over her shoulder, with that particular feeling of short trips: nothing was done in a rush, yet everything was seen.

What was in her bag

Three days fit into very little: two outfits, a change of shoes, a toiletry bag, and a notebook. The rest—the space left for market finds—is what matters most upon returning.