AIX EN PROVENCE - AX LES THERMES
Back in June we visited Aix and a couple of weekends ago we were off to Ax. Before departing for Aix I investigated how it was pronounced (according to the wise folks in internet land) and it was said it was a soft x, therefore more like Ais en Provence. Well that appeared to be rubbish, anyone (French) I asked very definitely pronounced the whole word as just X. When we went to Ax I didn't bother looking/asking/or listening so as far as I'm concerned it's just X too. You can see I have totally given up on trying to learn correct French pronunciation.
So - Aix was bigger than I had imagined and Ax was smaller.
Both were destinations for urban sketching get togethers.
Aix was very, very busy and a bit overwhelming to begin with. Ax was a very pleasant little spot.
Aix had an unbelievable number of tourists - from all around the world - in it. Now there are nice buildings, it has a lot of history, a lot of shopping and a connection with Cezanne, but even so the proportion of tourists seemed excessive. The concept of pedestrian areas seemed a bit alien in Aix, my first sketch in the Place in front of the Mairie was very fraught, I even considered giving up as traffic came around the corner inches from my toes from a pedestrian street into a pedestrian square. No wonder the other sketchers were pinned firmly backs to the wall of the building I was a foot (if even) from. The 2 reasons for this mayhem were a market coming to an end and packing up, and the Mairie being a wedding venue. I was told on the following day (Saturday) there was a wedding every 45 minutes in Aix, I think I can endorse that, I saw quite a few; some breath takingly beautiful, some very tacky - but everyone happy as the sun shone on the Brides.
Ax as well as being a thermal cure resort is the gateway to a ski area, here is the ski lift which immediately caught my eye with it's colour, so that was the first thing to sketch. And from the bottom it takes you to the ski station, as usual not the most scenic of places out of season, but surrounded by naturally stunning scenery. Will we go back to ski? will we? wont we? don't know.
The point of the trip was to sketch of course, my results weren't spectacular, the standard was very good but nothing exciting, I'm beginning to think such a thing as excitingly expressive does not exist in the world of French sketchers, very, very competent, but not interested in pushing any boundaries. At the end we each donated a piece to be used (possibly) in a brochure for the tourist office.
Buildings sketched by the Ariege river, by me, I blobbed on the roofs and windows in watercolour and then tried to join up the dots with pen, so some houses ended up with somebody elses windows and some houses had disappeared all together - well it was haphazard fun.
So - Aix was bigger than I had imagined and Ax was smaller.
Both were destinations for urban sketching get togethers.
Aix was very, very busy and a bit overwhelming to begin with. Ax was a very pleasant little spot.
Aix had an unbelievable number of tourists - from all around the world - in it. Now there are nice buildings, it has a lot of history, a lot of shopping and a connection with Cezanne, but even so the proportion of tourists seemed excessive. The concept of pedestrian areas seemed a bit alien in Aix, my first sketch in the Place in front of the Mairie was very fraught, I even considered giving up as traffic came around the corner inches from my toes from a pedestrian street into a pedestrian square. No wonder the other sketchers were pinned firmly backs to the wall of the building I was a foot (if even) from. The 2 reasons for this mayhem were a market coming to an end and packing up, and the Mairie being a wedding venue. I was told on the following day (Saturday) there was a wedding every 45 minutes in Aix, I think I can endorse that, I saw quite a few; some breath takingly beautiful, some very tacky - but everyone happy as the sun shone on the Brides.
Bride arrives elegantly passing the art market!
She was heading to the cathedral I'd been sketching. Having come from the official state ceremony in the Mairie were I risked limbs sketching the previous day -
I especially liked the modern pieces of architecture in the town, here we have the Pavilion Noir and the library.
I really enjoyed sketching on the Sunday morning, I don't know if it was the change of Quarter or the day of the week but it didn't seem so hectic and the locals were being very social; attending church and then buying special treats for lunch. Aix's claim for culinary fame is the sweet confection that is the calisson, which I'm ashamed to say I photographed, perused, drew, but never tasted or bought. I think I was initially deterred as I thought they were aniseed flavoured, but they come in various parfums, and like all French hand made sweeties are rather expensive and beautifully packaged.
Fancy calisson shop front and boulangerie nearby.
Another photo of sketch and subject (all sketches can be found on my Facebook page 'Artistic Ramblings'
The Forum
Aix's USP is it's plethora of fountains, it's tag line is Ville d'eaux or Ville des fontaines, there were quite a few on the suggested list of painting subjects and other sketchers amassed around them (I counted 56 sketching at the 'dolphin fountain'). They don't interest me as a subject at all and I passed them all by, large and small.
This one was in a fabulously shabby chic place.
On Sunday afternoon the heavens opened and sketchers bolted for cover in churches and cafes as it rained torrentially, when it had calmed down a bit I decided on a treat at the swankiest looking café on the main boulevard and got most of this sketch done at the time, the chandeliers were wonderful.
So that was the annual get together for Urban Sketchers France and it gave me a taste of what was to come at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Porto, although there were about 200 at one and 800 at the other! A nd I thought Aix was busy! Wonder where the French meet up will be next year?
The USk event in Ax les Thermes was diminutive in comparison, around 35 sketchers, small and perfectly formed, the hosts could not have been more hospitable. But I see a reoccurring theme, again we had a downpour this time with a thunder crack like an explosion - in the mountains and it's hot, c'est normal.
Ax as well as being a thermal cure resort is the gateway to a ski area, here is the ski lift which immediately caught my eye with it's colour, so that was the first thing to sketch. And from the bottom it takes you to the ski station, as usual not the most scenic of places out of season, but surrounded by naturally stunning scenery. Will we go back to ski? will we? wont we? don't know.
Not a bad view to wake up to.
Ax by spa town standards is not overly ornate, not so many of the turn of the century with lots of twidelly bits grand houses as you usually find in this type of place. The Grand Café in the centre of town was disappointingly un-grand. And the front of this thermal spa/pool was a bit lack lusture, but I loved this detail around the side at the modern pool extension.
I'd had a sneaky peek at google images of the town before we arrived to see what there would be to sketch and said to myself the open air bains (baths) won't interest me, they're just boring square pools of water. Well how wrong can you be? a wonderfully social environment, where people chat, read their paper, kids play and you can sit and soak your feet and sketch at the same time - heaven! I could have stayed at this one all day, there is also a new modern one which didn't have such a laid back comfortable vibe but was still very welcome later in the day when my shoes started to rub. And yes, the healing waters cured them.
The point of the trip was to sketch of course, my results weren't spectacular, the standard was very good but nothing exciting, I'm beginning to think such a thing as excitingly expressive does not exist in the world of French sketchers, very, very competent, but not interested in pushing any boundaries. At the end we each donated a piece to be used (possibly) in a brochure for the tourist office.
Buildings sketched by the Ariege river, by me, I blobbed on the roofs and windows in watercolour and then tried to join up the dots with pen, so some houses ended up with somebody elses windows and some houses had disappeared all together - well it was haphazard fun.
A last note, on the first night we stayed in a charming, little archaic hotel, one of a dying bred, you see so many old family hotels closed down. The bedroom had been updated a bit, but the bathroom was pure vintage. I wonder will it survive and still be there in years to come? We had a marvellous balcony (edged with decaying concrete) and it was quite popular (because it was cheap, 50euro), just a pity it was out of town with no restaurant/bar close by (another reason for being cheap?) Hey ho, you can't have everything. But on the whole Ax les Thermes gets a thumbs up.
Tiles! thinking of Porto
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