Ooh La La!: 9/15/17 AIX!

Back in Aix! The drive down from Montlucon was pretty long, but motorway all the way. We shared the driving, but John drove into town. It's very tense and the traffic is quite heavy at the best of times. Many one way streets, temporarily closed streets, blocked for various reasons streets, and NO parking! When we were close to the car rental office, I got out of the car and walked down the street to see if I could find a place to park in the vicinity. The traffic was backed up enough that I had plenty of time to look! Luckily, the rental garage right on the street was open with just enough room to pull the car in without blocking the entire sidewalk.

We had so much with us to unpack from the car. We brought food with us from Amboise as well as a printer and a scales and a few things we picked up at the markets up north. We were not able to check into our apartment until the following day due to my misreading of the European calendar - the week does not start with Sunday as ours does. It starts with Monday. If you fail to take note of the actual dates, you are a day off. Mea culpa!

The car rental agent called us a taxi and we managed to load everything and then - on to the hotel. Walking, the hotel could be reached in about 10 minutes. Driving, it took us about a half an hour due to the heavy traffic. We stayed at a hotel on the Cours Mirabeau called the "Bastide du Cours" that is located over the sidewalk restaurant of the same name. John went in to check-in and I waited on the curb with all our stuff. I looked like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies! Then it started to rain - so sad! Good news is the hotel was just beautiful and our room was fabulous! And we are in Aix - how tough is that?!?!?

The next day we had breakfast in bed and went off to meet our landlady, Corinne at the apartment (Aquae Sextii). We managed to get everything over there in two trips and started to enjoy! Great place. Same building we stayed in when B was with us two years ago, but a one-bedroom instead of two. We will be here until the first of October, then move to our two-bedroom apartment at the other end of the Cours until the end of November. Except for short trips, only one more time to unpack and re-pack everything. Yay!

Here are a couple of pictures of the area in which we are staying. There are also many stores - Sephora and the world's most beautiful Apple Store - within a block, not to mention a coffee shop downstairs, hundreds of cafes, bakeries, and boutiques, all within easy walking distance. I will take more pictures soon. It is hard to describe in words - seeing is better.

Saturday morning market: