J'arrive en Aix!

AIX EN PROVENCE - Pulled into town just as a brilliant sun was setting as a bright orange fire ball in the western sky on a crisp spring evening. Very proud of myself for navigating La Navette (bus from TGV station to town - 3.5 euros beats whatever the taxi fare for the 10 minute drive would have been), which then left a short walk to the town center.

Turning the corner and seeing the start of Cours Mirabeau, which is the main street in town that begins with the fountain pictured above at Place de La Rotonde, was pretty exciting. This town has a very cool vibe, as I recalled form our first visit here years ago. Part chic euro, part frenetic college town, and completely dripping with French history, culture and cool architecture, it's not a bad place to consider hanging one's hat for a while. We had talked about Austin, Texas, Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, SC as possible next stops on our life journey, each for different reasons: Aix is kinda a combination of all three of those cities - with maybe a little San Francisco thrown in - and, bien sur, with a total French spin.

The Cours Mirabeau is buzzing with activity on Saturday evening and my hotel (Grand Hotel Negre Coste) is right in the middle of the action. The cafes are filled with all sorts of characters so and I expect it to be a superb people watching town.

WiFi in the room works so we are good to go. Already Vonage'd T and now to track down Mike G who is still in Reims, probably on his 3rd or 4th bottle of local grape juice