Martin Travels: Provence Day 3

This day was intended for leisurely local travel. Should we go north to the French Grand Canyon? South to Marseilles?, East? - no that's Tuesday, or West where we had already been? After discussing options with our B&B host Ron, we decided that Aix en Provence was not to be missed - his favourite city in the region. He pointed out a few villages that we should see on the way there and back. We put our laundry in Ron's 2 washing machines and set out.
We drove through farmland with crops of corn, sunflowers, and what appeared to be melons and pumpkins. The wheat had been harvested already. The soil of the area is reddish, like PEI, hence the earthenware (faience) products industry at Varages.
The village of St. Martin was nearly deserted today (Monday), except for 2 Canadians in a rental car. Typical steep narrow streets with buildings on top of each other, and a chateau and church on top. Great views of the area and mountains in the distance.
Next stop was Esparron, even more deserted. We encountered a beagle who gave us a guided tour and nearly hopped in the car before we drove away.
After that, we veered a bit north to Jouques (GPS is wonderful thing) and walked about a bit. Very quiet there too, but picturesque.
Aix en Provence has been desribed as the most beautiful city in southern France. We would have to agree that the Centre Ville lives up to that reputation, with more modern buildings than most cities we have seen in Provence. Although Aix was important in Roman times, there are few monuments or ruins and the city centre is well planned, constructed and preserved for tourism and commerce. It was very busy, in spite of many shops closed for Monday as Ron told us would be the case. We did find one of the few restaurants serving after 2:00 PM, and had an introductory Italian meal (we're leaving for Italy tomorrow).
We toured a bit on foot through the narrow side streets of the shopping district and then took a different route back to our B&B at Varages through the village of Varvenargues . Ron had told us that Picasso's remains are located there in the chateau on the hill. Onward to Varages, through winding roads, over a semi mountin range where we caught glimpses of The Alpes in the distance. In Varages, we hung the laundry to dry and went for a walk around the neighbourhood.
We called Aryn and learned that Ryan had been involved in a Canadian National news story - the finding of a lost toddler and dog in the Yukon. We also spoke with Ryan, and learned the real account, which also appears on the blog of one of Ryan's friends and fellow search team member.:
www.michaelsmeanderings.com
In a nutshell, the toddler got away from his parents at a campsite apparently following a dog belonging to other campers. The two were missing for 25 hours. Ryan was returning from a work site in the area and joined the search team, overseen by the mounties. As it happened, Ryan was the first to encounter boy and dog after their approximate location had been determined using heat tracing by the mounties and the ground search team were deployed.
A light meal, reading, blog and bed ensued. Tomorrow to the Riviera!