The repaving of the area outside the tourist office has been completed and I was really hoping for something a bit more attractive and tourist-friendly – some benches for instance wouldn’t go amiss. And why has Cezanne just been plonked down on the ground?
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- Here’s Shakespeare in Leicester Square
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- Danton in Paris
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- and Dali in Cadaques
and what do we have in Aix?……..
I do wish they would get a plinth for the town’s most famous son…perhaps with stepped seating around it, making it a natural meeting place, somewhere to sit on hot summer days and also giving the artist a view over to the Sainte-Victoire.
La Provence is reporting that the market stall holders who trade in the places Verdun and Precheurs held a noisy 200-strong demo at the Mairie yesterday in protest about their future. Both squares are being renovated over the next two- three years, and the food stalls are being deployed to cours Sextius and to ave Victor-Hugo. They aren’t happy. They claim that when the textile market was split off in 2010, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, their clientele was 30% down. They want the market back together. Maybe this big open space, together with les Allées Provencales, could welcome the food market in a much more central spot? And Cezanne could look down on the whole shebang from his plinth!
I think it would be tragic to see the market leave its original home in the place des Prêcheurs. The whole quarter would lose out as people would just stay on the cours Mirabeau and miss out on this delightful part of the town.
I agree plus I just wonder why it takes 2-3 years to repave the area. I know there are drains and pipes etc but it seems an awful long time to displace these poor traders…plus it affects all the small businesses who depend on the market being there!
I totally agree. How do I send this to the mayor? >
Since emailing them about my book and getting no interest or indeed response, I’ve given up with them….but you are more tenacious.
That is ridiculous. The Tourist Office is the most unhelpful and unwelcoming I have ever come across. They don’t even have public toilets for the coachloads of tourists who arrive after long journeys on a daily basis. Seriously, they do need benches!
And they send me nothing! You would think this blog would be a good, free channel to market for them…….’appen as they say in Yorkshire!
I miss the ‘spring-water’ fountain, bombing up and down and at night the colours changing all the time…far too bare there, so very disappointing! Surround Cezanne’s statue with benches, bushes, or big pots with plants and/or flowers would sooo look fantastic! The markets should stay where they have always been…why all the changes? The market stall holders are dependent on things remaining the same! Seriously, who decided all these changers? 😦
I believe it’s the town council and all part of the ongoing pedestrianisation and renovation of centre ville….the new area is so very disappointing. BTW I picked up your card in Mana Espresso yesterday!
I couldn’t agree more! I remember this Place in 2012, there was a cool fountain (I still have a photo of it on my blog), Cezanne was surrounded by beautiful greenery…Now, it’s so ugly, unfriendly, and rather un-practical. Cezanne just looks so sad. This Place no longer represents Aix (for one, there’s no fountain). I agree with you in that they should’ve – SHOULD – built it up better – added a lot of benches, a fountain, some plants. I wonder if they ran out of funds? The market, on the other hand, is moving temporarily. They’ll be back in both places eventually; however, moving the food one to the Cours Sextius is just not practical. Maybe for the business owners of Les Allées Provençales, it is because they’re thinking that the food portion of the market is dirty… Um…that’s why both Places get hosed down and cleaned afterwords, so, I don’t see how this changes anything. Sextius is just not very wide and it’s quite the upward climb. I’ve spoken with a few of my regular vendors and we’ve discussed this change – they are rather scared of being placed on the cours Sextius and I don’t blame them. I will continue frequenting them, but I wonder about their other clients. Great post, I will definitely try and find a way to get this to La Mairie as well! Perhaps the more people who speak up, the more likely they’ll do something…One can hope.
Thanks so much for all your interesting comments. I agree that Cours sextius isn’t a suitable place for the market…it’s a main bus route for one thing, plus it’s somewhat out of the way. If the Cezanne area is to remain plain paving, they might as well use it for something constructive, like rehousing the food market while the works are ongoing. I just feel sorry for the people whose livelihood is being affected.