Saturday: St. Maximin and Return to Nice

22 years ago - #Provence

We had a few outstanding items left in Aix. We had some museums to see still, and I wanted to get my hair cut in France. Since I had asked someone at work to write out directions to a hair stylist in French, I knew they would be disappointed if I didn't come back with a kooky French hairdo. We first went to Atelier Cezanne, which was the artist's painting studio. We visited the Museum Tapisserrie (Tapestry Museum). And then I went to get my hair cut. I was very nervous, but it ended up being no big deal. They gave me some magazines and I pointed to a haircut and said, "Like this." It ended up being a very good haircut. I told the stylist (we communicated in broken English) that I would have to return to Aix in six weeks for my next haircut. I don't think he got it.

The altar of St. Maximin la Ste Baume
The altar of St. Maximin la Ste Baume

The organ that Napolean's younger brother saved
The organ that Napolean's younger brother saved

So then we hit side roads to go back to Nice. We had most of the day ahead of us, so we were still in tour mode. We stopped at a village that was on the way that ended up being a highlight of the trip. The Basilica of St. Maximin turns out to be the traditional burial place of Mary Magdalene. The chapel alone was magnificent - it was very well preserved during the French Revolution because Napoleon's younger brother used it as a storage depot and had the Marseillaise continuously played on the organ. However, the macabre highlight was the crypt where St. Maximin, St. Innocent, and Mary Magdalene were all buried. Mary Magdalene's crypt had a gold bust reliquary with the facemask gone, showing the skull of her remains. I really wanted to take a picture, but it seemed disrespectful.

The view from our hotel room on the last night - Promenade des Anglais
The view from our hotel room on the last night - Promenade des Anglais

Eventually, we ran out of quaint villages and hit the main highway back to Nice. We stayed at a different hotel room that was a little nicer. Our last meal in France was very good, but nothing too different than what we had been having.

This post is part of a series called...
Travel to the South of France
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Today, there was more touring of Provence. We started off going to Cavaillon to see a cathedral and a synagogue. The cathedral and cloister were beautiful and the synagogue was a highlight.
I can't say that we had the best flight to Nice. We couldn't get seats together on the flight out, but a woman was kind enough to switch with us. We didn't sleep much at all on the flight over, so by the time we got to Heathrow, we were pretty tired. And then our flight kept getting delayed, we got stuck on the runway, and we sat next to this crazy woman that kept shifting every five seconds and was crying (literally) about not being able to sit at the window.
I barely remember waking up enough to join David for breakfast. I went back to the hotel room, took a little post-breakfast nap, a long bath, and then decided to greet the day. I took a walk through Old Nice again, going a little closer to the coast. I ended up at Promenade des Anglais and walked through the open market.