This morning – another large tree being felled
Yes, more trees are coming down. Three have disappeared from outside Monoprix, not the very large plane trees, nor the very new ones, but those that have been planted for a few years. But further up the road, I witnessed the demise of one of the beautiful plane trees, this time outside the bookshop Goulard.
Apparently it’s this wretched ‘chancre coloré’ again – already 50,000 platanes in France have been felled over the last 50 years, and it has certainly taken its toll in Aix. Another twelve trees are in the process of being destroyed: their replacements are maples and micocouliers, both resistant to the local meteo conditions, pollution too.
So what’s the story behind this scourge?
A fascinating history in fact which starts with American soldiers who bravely liberated Provence but unhappily and unwittingly carried the infection on their wooden ammunition boxes.
The first outbreak was in Marseille’s Parc Borély, exactly where the military materials had been stocked. From there it spread widely through the south of France and has now reached Nantes and Strasburg. Last September, it was found in the Ile-de-France, causing alarm in Paris where 38% of trees are platanes.
There is lots of detail plus an interview with the Aix tree specialist in the municipal magazine: http://www.aixenprovence.fr/Magazine-Aix-le-Mag-11782
This magazine also has some background on the Deux Garcons café which was burned to a cinder at the end of last year. It was awful to see centuries of history going up in flames: there had been a café here since 1650. I suspect it will be a long time before it is back in business. In the meantime, a decorative screen hides the blackened remains – it shows what it used to look like and has some detail of the personalities who dined there.
And finally, a quick call-out for Maison Nosh opposite.
It’s a tiny place, wrong side of the road, but has lovely Guatamalan coffee. pancakes, salad bowls, avocado-toasts, carrot cake and fresh fruits. Good for children. Big loo on ground floor with baby-changing table. V popular with students so can be hard to get a table at lunchtime. But their backroom is a peaceful place for a morning coffee and some minutes with La Provence: http://www.maison-nosh.com/
aixcentric 
Oh, it’s so sad about the trees! Interesting background on where the fungus came from.
Yes, what a fascinating story!
Mes sincères condoléances! Here in Jerusalem, most of our palm tree died in the past few years due to a horrible bug imported from the Far East, and now the huge old pine tree at the top of my garden has gone down in a storm, leaving only one of the original four that stood here a decade ago. Terribly sad for me, even worse for the hundreds of birds and uncountable insects that made their home in them. And the demise of trees means hotter, more polluted urban streets. Alas, we’re all in this together in our climate-challenged global village.
Yes the palm trees in Cannes are affected by a weevil. So sad as they are on all our postcard-images of the Croisette. Sorry to hear about your old pine. Are you replanting?