By Sophie Bellard: 7 am. Merchants set up their stalls in a beautiful square, surrounded by old high trees and sparkling fountains. Locals are sitting at the nearby café sipping an espresso and enjoying the cool morning breeze. It is not long before the square is filled with a crowd …

Virtual Escapes Not far from Marseille’s Vieux Port is your chance to escape reality at ExitGame. The company opened its doors and “play” rooms in 2015. The concept originated in Asia, but these virtual escapes are now available in many cities around the world. The ExitGame escapes are suitable for …

By Aixcentric: So here it is, the new Aixpress bus. The manufacturers call it an ‘ie-tram’, whereas the Aix mairie refers to it as an ‘autobus’, and this does reflect the dual use of the vehicle in that it will run along inside its own designated lane for most of its journey (like …

By Aixcentric: Long before the A8 autoroute came along with its thundering heavy traffic, it was easy for Paul Cezanne to wander across to the plateau at La Constance from the family bastide at Jas de Buffan, to paint the Mont Sainte-Victoire, the Pilon du Roi and the new viaduct …

This article “Twenty Years Living in Aix-en-Provence”  was originally published on author M. L. Longworth’s website. The post is her reflective view of how the city of Aix-en-Provence has changed in the last two decades, and of those staples that make the city unique. Our decision to move to France …

If you are one of the many many locals who enjoy eating at Mana Espresso and admire the enterprising young Brits who started it, then this new restaurant is for you! Their second restaurant opened recently, giving them much needed space for their clientele. Mana a la Maison du Collectionneur …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: There seems to have been a deluge of work by Picasso recently, in Marseille, in Aix, in Les Baux, in Cannes, but the small exhibition at Aix’s Pavillon Vendome, ‘Villers Picasso – Coup de Soleil’ really is worth investigating. André Villers was just 22 and …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Here is some information from two French teachers who have moved from the classroom approach in favour of walking around Aix, visiting the markets, having lunch together, all the time having French a conversation – with notes of new vocabulary being emailed to you later.   …Continue …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Adding to my previous post, which concentrated on the opening weekend for the Picasso-Picabia exhibition at the Musée Granet. There will be a weekly guided tour of the exhibition in English on Fridays at 15:00hrs (entry fee + 4 euros). French tours will take place Tues-Sun at …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: The town is at a perfect storm of roadworks right now, according to La Provence, (le chantier est a pleine puisssance) but they say that things should start to improve from here on. Work on the 7.2km Aixpress bus-route is taking place along its full length, …