It always seems a little sad to take the tree down and see the Christmas activities in town coming to an end, but here are some dates.
2-25th January Collection of used Christmas trees – ‘Collecte des sapins 2014”; details here: http://www.aixenprovence.fr/Collecte-des-sapins
5th January: The closing date of the Camus Centenary exhibition has now been moved to 11th January. A very interesting show if you haven’t been but it’s all in fairly intense French.
5th January: Last date for the children’s roundabouts at the Rotonde. They seem to have been a great success this year. (Christmas market already closed)
But not everything is ending!
8th January: The Sales begin. If you are new to Aix the regimented start and finish to the sales period can come as a surprise, especially if you come from a country like UK where sales pop up all the time. That having been said, shops are increasingly having ‘promotions’ to side-step the regulations. Until 11th Feb.
12th January: Marche des Rois – the Epiphany parade of the Three Kings. Not to be missed! The kings process with their camels and a retinue of Provencal characters complete with sheep and goats. A couple of years ago something spooked the goats half way down the cours Mirabeau and they ran off into the antiques market, pursued by a sheep dog and a couple of shepherds….families were hopping up on to benches out of the way as the animals ran amok! Great fun. They set off from cours Saint Louis at 13:50 and arrive at the Cathedral for the 200-year old ceremony at 16:00hrs. In the cours Mirabeau and at the Rotonde, there is traditional music and dancing.
Incidentally, the tourist office is running a promotion ‘Aix en Soldes’ to encourage visitors to stay in town and sample some of the local attractions. It comprises 25% off the lowest current price at a lot of the hotels in town with free breakfast and a free bottle of local rosé. It also offers discounts at the Grand Theatre de Provence and treatments at the Thermes Sextius, a free tour of Cézanne’s studio and a discounted guided tour of the town. Seems like a good deal. Details on www.aixenprovencetourism.com.
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