The Bruner Family Journey: Glamor and Grit: Aix, Nice & Marseilles

Talia plays before dinner in Aix-en-Provence

As we packed up the car and left the rental house in Saint Rémy-de-Provence, we broke out our map of Italy and starting thinking of the next leg of our European adventure. But we still had some ground to cover in France.

Our first stop was Aix-en-Provence, which the New York Times travel section has described as "the sun-drenched and easygoing hometown of Paul Cézanne and Émile Zola. Like a portrait of laid-back leisure, museumgoers and market shoppers amble through lanes where venerable fountains cast their lazy spray." Yeah, it's pretty nice here! Eden and I had toured the city in previous visits to France, so this time we didn't have any specific sightseeing agenda. Instead, to use the words of the New York Times, we just "ambled" from one "venerable," "sun-drenched" square to the next before sitting down for a "laid-back," "easygoing" three-hour dinner. It was so "laid-back," however, that we got a bit "lazy" and failed to fulfill our parental responsibility of finding shelter for our two young children for the night at a reasonable hour. Fortunately, not much before midnight, we found a Novotel just outside of town with a few rooms left, even though it exceeded our budget. The kids were forever hooked and from that point on, whenever we had a bit of trouble finding accommodation, they would ask whether there was a Novotel in town. Perhaps it was the large flat screen TV or the super-fluffy comforters. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the limitless free video games in the lobby. You'll have to ask the kids what they think.

Kids playing after dinner in Aix

One of the city's many "venerable" fountains

View from our hotel in Marseilles

Our next stop was Marseilles, France's second largest city, where we quickly found an affordable room at the Hotel Hermes right in the center of the action. Maybe the room wasn't as plush as at the Novotel in Aix, but it had a terrace and an expansive roof-top deck on the floor above - both offering incredible views of the old port and the enormous 19th century neo-Byzantine Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde on the top of a hill overlooking the city. In contrast to Aix-en-Provence, which has long been an affluent and elegant town, Marseilles certainly has its scruffy parts. But in a way, Marseilles feels more genuine than Aix, which at times seems like an outdoor museum of graceful old mansions and fountains, instead of a real place where ordinary people toil with everyday life. And Marseilles' historically gritty port is certainly looking up these days, due to extensive waterfront renovations and a growing municipal effort to turn shabby into bohemian chic. Marseilles is an exciting destination, an ethnic melting pot that offers a vibrant mix of old world charm and youthful modernity.

There's plenty of graffiti in Marseilles

Enjoying the old town in Nice

Our final stop in France was Nice, which reportedly is France's second most popular city for tourists after Paris. The city's nickname is "Nice la Belle" (Nice the Beautiful) and it's not hard to see why. The area around Nice is believed to be among the oldest human settlements in Europe and the archeological evidence shows that hominids used fire in the area more than 200,000 years ago. In the 4th century BCE, the Greeks founded a permanent settlement and called it "Nikaia," after Nike, the goddess of victory and expensive sneakers. The city became a busy trading port and a maritime power. It ultimately fell under Italian control (specifically, the Counts of Savoy) before becoming part of France in 1860. The city has long been a popular tourist destination, and the city’s main seaside promenade, the Promenade des Anglais (Walkway of the English), owes its name to the growing numbers of British aristocrats who started spending their winters here in the 18th century. Matisse and Chagall worked here, and - walking in their footsteps - Talia did some drawing at lunch while Jeremy devoured a huge plate of mussels.

As Nice grew smaller in our rear-view mirror, we were a bit sad to be leaving France, but also very excited to be entering Italy. And we even visited one country in between - Monaco - although I don't know if that really counts since we didn't get out of, or even stop, the car.