The Magic Flute!

I guess I already gave away the highlight of our day. But I'll start from the beginning anyways.

We slept in very late this morning and enjoyed our lovely bed and breakfast. Our hostess, Cathy, made us a breakfast of crepes, 3 different kinds of jam, bread, homemade yogurt, and some kind of fruit pizza type thing. We walked out to what we thought was the bus station. There was a pole with a sign that said "Aix en bus" and the bus schedule. About 15 minutes after the scheduled time for the bus to come, we gave up and decided to walk down the street a bit to see what was nearby. As we walked, we saw a bunch of people gathered by a bench. Then the bus drove past us and pulled over right there. Apparently, the pole we were standing at was NOT the bus stop. It was just a posted sign with the bus schedule on it. So we hopped on. We had no clue where to get off or where we were going, so when we recognized the town we just got off. You can imagine how much I loved this go-with-the-flow strategy. Not very much. Then we looked at our map to get our bearings. We were remarkably close to the town center. Every time we figure something out in a new city, I breathe a sigh of a relief. It's kind of a high I guess.

Daniel wanted to go to the theatre and find out if they had any tickets left for "The Magic Flute." The whole reason we decided to go to Aix-en-Provence was because they have an opera festival every summer. Online, all their tickets were sold out except for the 210 euro seats. We definitely did not want to spend that much. When we got to the theatre, they told us to go to the Festival Opera's office downtown. We walked there and talked to them about tickets. They told us the same thing, that there were only 210 euros seats left. But they also told us that one hour before showtime, they start selling left over tickets for 40 euros a piece. If we get to the theatre at around 6pm (for the 8pm show) we may get two of the last tickets. She told us that there were 20-something tickets left at that point.

The rest of the day we spent walking through the alleyways. It seemed like every single street was a shopping street. They had tons of outdoor markets as well as high-end boutiques. It was so fun to wander the streets and look at all of the stuff for sale. We also had to stop and get a smoothie. There were little stands on the street that had tables full of fruit. You pick what fruit you want and they blend it all together for you.

My orange and mango smoothie- yummy!

It's been a bit difficult in Aix because very few people speak English here. There don't seem to be many tourists (at least American tourists). We must have said about 50 times today "Sorry, we don't speak French." The few times we did come across someone who spoke English, it was a huge relief. Everyone here is so friendly! Yesterday the tourist office called our B&B and our hostess came and picked us up. Today, the box office told us about the rush tickets available. The guy at the smoothie stand asked us about our whole trip while he made our smoothies. While we were sitting on a bench, two old men started talking to Daniel in French. They didn't seem to get that we didn't understand a word they were saying, but they were friendly anyways. He even offerred Daniel a cigarette.

So anyways, we wandered our way across town (a 10 minute walk at the most) to the Musee Granet. There were ads all over town for their "Cezanne and Picasso" exhibit. I guess both artists spent time in Aix and Picasso was very inspired by Cezanne. So the exhibit examined the relationship between the two painters and their art. We have had very little education about art, but we both found this exhibit interesting. Neither of us have spent any time looking at Cezanne or Picasso's paintings before, and we got to see many originals from both today.

After the exhibit, we spent more time wandering the streets. We had heard that Aix is famous for its candy. We saw so many candy shops and chocolate shops and patisseries. We stopped in at least 3 to look. And of course we had to buy something. In Aix they have this candy that is special to this town. It is called a Calisson. It's made by crushing up almonds and mixing it with melon fruit paste. Then they put that on top of a communion wafer (I know, strange) and then ice the top with frosting. We had to try some and they actually are pretty delicious. The first one, is kind of strange, but by the third they are very good :-) We also bought some chocolates to take on the train tomorrow.

Daniel enjoying a Calisson

We stopped to grab a snack at Europe's McDonald's. It's called "Quick." I found it amusing that they have so much English on their menu, but they spell it phonetically in French. I never ever eat McDonald's in the U.S., but this trip is all about new experiences. And the burger wasn't terrible. I even tried the french fries with mayonnaise. I wasn't crazy about that. And the coke was different too. Much sweeter.

Our Quick lunch

After wandering the streets a bit more, we came across a wonderful cafe/book shop. I couldn't believe it, but we found a huge bookstore with all English books! ALL English! And the girl at the cash register spoke perfect English. So much so, I had to ask where she was from and she said of course that she's American. Small world. After all these train rides, I thought it would be worth it to buy just one book to read on the train. I asked if she had any recommendations and she showed me a few. We also picked up a tiny guidebook for Rome. I love bookstores and libraries, I could spend hours there. So that took up a good chunk of time. By then, it was time to head to the theater.

We got there at 6pm. There was a man handing out paper with numbers on them. We were number 6. We thought that was pretty good since there were about 20 seats available earlier in the day. We waited around and talked to some of the other people there waiting to get rush tickets. By 7pm, there were probably 30 or 40 people in line hoping to get tickets. We lined up in numbered order and at about 7:30, they started to give out tickets. We got two right next to each other, right in the center of the orchestra level! We were thrilled. The tickets are normally 210 euros a piece, and we paid 40 a piece. It's unbelievable. After us, there were only 4 tickets left. We felt so bad, but that's the way it goes I guess. We bought a small sandwich inside the theater and took our seats. The theatre was beautiful. The best part of the whole show for me was the set. It's impossible to describe, but it was very cool. The backdrop looked almost like a pencil drawing. It was all gray and white. Then they projected moving images onto the backdrop and stage behind the performers. I can't describe it well enough, but it was awesome. The performers were great too of course. And this opera is famous for the scene with the Queen of the Night singing really high. I'm sure you'd know it if you heard it. Anyways, the whole show was awesome and we felt very privileged to be there at all. The opera was performed in the original German, with French subtitles displayed above the stage. Luckily for us, the program had an English synopsis. It was still difficult to follow, but we got the main plot which was the important part. Daniel also pointed out that the orchestra played with period instruments. The flutes were wooden, the clarinets were open holed with no metal keys, and the piano was actually a piano forte.

The view from our seats-amazing!

After the opera, I had a panicked moment or two. The show ended at about 11:30pm, and the bus stops running at 10:30. So we had to somehow find a taxi. We also needed to pay our hostess for our room tomorrow morning and she only takes cash. We have a $310 limit on our ATM withdrawals each day. After paying 80 euros for the opera, we didn't have enough left to pay for our room and the taxi home. We tried withdrawing money, but it wouldn't let us. So Daniel decided he would go out at 6am the next morning and take the bus to town to get cash. Then we had to find a taxi. We walked towards the center of town, and found a whole line of them. We got in and gave the driver the address to our B&B. As he started driving, we told him this didn't look right. We showed him where our hostess had marked on a map where the B&B was located outside the town. He said that the address didn't match that spot on the map. But he knew where it was so he turned around and got us there pretty quick. Unfortunately, that cost us about 10 euros. When we got back to our room, Daniel found a 50 euro bill he had left in his suitcase. So thank goodness he doesn't have to take the bus to town tomorrow. Overall, everything worked out. It always does. But I can't help worrying about it. Daniel knows exactly what to do to calm me down and figure things out though. He's wonderful.

So that was our adventurous day! I absolutely love Aix. It was a great way to see a small French town and experience another side of France. The people here are lovely and friendly, even though they don't speak much English. The countryside is beautiful and the wine is delicious! The opera was fabulous and the candy is delectable. Tomorrow: Switzerland! And more chocolate, cheese, and wine I'm sure!