Cezanne country

Aix-en-Provence is Cezanne country. Aix (pronounced 'ex') is 'water' in Latin, and on every roundabout there is a fountain. You might expect Cezanne to have painted the fountains, but he didn't; he found inspiration in the mountain behind his town: Sainte Victoire. We camped in the shade of the looming Sainte Victoire and breathed the air that Cezanne breathed.

We hunted down where he was born, grew up, went to school to study law, where he lived with his parents when, for a brief period, he became a bank clerk as his father was not inclined to think painting the ideal career choice for his son, and, finally, the house where he died, and even the church in which he was buried. We followed in his footsteps. 

As compulsive a painter as Van Gogh, Cezanne worked at his art like a man obsessed. So much so, that in his last days he spent too long out in the rain, caught a chill, and died a few short days later, from pleurisy. The town he loved, and could not leave for long, is one of the most beautiful in all of Provence. Its quarters remind me so much of Paris. If I had a month to spare I would happily spend it whiling away time in this delightful corner of the world.

oooOOOooo

Fountain in Aix-en-Provence, where Cezanne walked 

Saint Victoire by Cezanne 

Saint Victoire as it was today

Where Cezanne was married 

So much like Paris 

Delicious patisserie

Simple stylish restaurants everywhere

Poires

Des fraises

Quartiers de pasteque

Beautifully decorated shops

Street artist painting the Deux Garcons,
Cezanne's father's favourite hangout

We drove past wet rice fields in the Camargue marshlands

The Camargue was heavy with fat cattle and even fatter flamingoes 

Enroute lavender fields were in bloom