The Hôtel de Caumont is located in the Mazarin neighbourhood, the southern and aristocratic part of Aix-en-Provence. Demonstrating Parisian influences, the Hôtel de Caumont is a mansion built "between courtyard and garden"; an architectural design that appeared in Paris in the 16th century, a château and its park on an urban scale. Four elements characterise this kind of layout: the gate, the courtyard, the main building and the garden, moving hierarchically from public to private space.
The mansion was built on a square area of land, with the main building to the north-east, the cour d'honneur to the north-west, an enclosed garden to the south-east and the servants quarters with an outer courtyard to the south-west. The structure "between courtyard and garden" is adapted here to the square area and is presented staggered, and not in a row.
This type of construction "between courtyard and garden" disappeared in 1680 in Aix-en-Provence, which favoured building mansions on the street to distinguish itself from the Parisian style. The gates are more decorated, in the Baroque trend that was characteristic of southern taste.
The sheer extent of its design, unlike anything else in Aix-en-Provence, means it represents an excellent example of French 18th century architecture. The carriage gate, façade and the wrought iron bannister are of such quality that they were listed in a supplementary inventory for Monuments Historiques in 1925. The entire mansion was listed in 1987.
Currently there is an exhibition of paintings on loan from The Guggenheim museum which were donated to that museum from the collection of Justin K. Thannhauser.
The exhibition was of around 70 pieces by artists such as Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, Renoir, Gauguin and others and was well worth the visit. In addition there were a couple of rooms set out as they would have been when the property was occupied.
Having previously watched a very good documentary series on the life of Pablo Picasso the write up of his paintings in the display was not unfamiliar! The walk through the “souvenir shop” on the way out was almost as enjoyable as the exhibition as the layout and items on display were of a very high class.
On the way back to the apartment for lunch we stopped off at the Apple store and one of the assistants solved my mobile connection problem in a matter of 2 minutes so now we have mobile internet which is very helpful if you want to use Google maps when on the move, follow the NRL scores, research something when you are out or translate a phrase or menu item.
With the temperature hovering somewhere around the mid to late 30s the only sensible thing to do was take the stroll to the pool to try and cool off - the problem is that after the swim by the time we walk back to our accommodation one feels like turning around and walking back for another!
The main feature as you enter Aix is Fontaine de la Rotonde which sits at the foot of Cours Mirabeau
On the Cours tonight was the La Ronde d’Aix, a criterium that has been raced annually since 1946. In today’s race were at least two riders from the recently completed Tour de France, one being Julian Alaphilippe who finished fourth in the General Classification but held the yellow jersey for the most number of days - he got a rousing reception!
Because of the narrowness of the Cours there were various heats limited to 8 riders as per this video . Who won we will never know but certainly the crowds got right into it calling “Allez, allez” whenever the field went past.
On the way to a restaurant we saw some rather different shoes in the window of a shoe shop - the oddity is that you only seem to get one rather than the pair!
and at a cost of 275€ or approximately $400.
A meal in a Moroccan restaurant finished off the day.
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