The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Aix-en-Provence
There's not much to say about the trip thus far except that we made it safely. Our good neighbor and frequent traveling companion Rick had an lunch appointment at the airport on Thursday so we caught a ride with him. Door to door transportation was a nice way to get things started. Thanks, Rick ... we will see you in two weeks -- in France!
Then it was a direct flight to Amsterdam, a connection to Marseille and around noon ... voila! Provence. Sunny, warm Provence. Make that sunny and really HOT Provence! Apparently France is in the middle of a heat wave. Add to that more humidity than we are used to and ... well ... let's just say it isn't very comfortable.
Like most rentals in Europe, the house changes over on Saturdays so we are on our own until then. Our first task after flying all night is to find the Hotel des Quatre Dauphins, the spot we have reserved for our night in Aix-en-Provence. Aix (pronounced like the letter "X") is an old city, actually the first outpost of the Romans back in the day. This means a free-form street plan, narrow lanes in the old town that reflect its age ... and traffic.
I had directions and a basic map from Google which made the search a bit easier, but hardly easy.
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The Hotel des Quatre Dauphins is in the Mazarin District of Aix. The streets are in a grid, but with one-way restrictions and the like, you can't get here from there. We figured it out, though!
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© 2009 Restaurant Doctor
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