Aix-en-Provence Nightlife Tips by rickyvilla81 Top 5 Page for this destination

Sur la route de Samarkande: Sipping exotic tea, Middle-East style

Now I'm not into your fancy teas. I am a regular milk and sugar geezer, and the best teas is Barry's (an Irish brand). But I was well impressed with the exotic brews down at this place, which, based on a succesful cafe in Marseille, is becoming the popular cool spot for chilled out Aixois.

It's a 'Salon de the oriental', and does not look much from the outside. You have to really look for it too, going past the Place de l'Hotel de Ville to the hidden rue Campra. You must take off your shoes, as is courtesy, and go downstairs and find a nice spot, where you sit on the floor and peruse the large menu of teas. I chose a blue one, as blue is my favourite colour. And I must say it was really nice! I went there with my fiancee and a French friend of ours. We just sat and chatted for hours, and the atmosphere was friendly and ambient. You have to check this place out. But I hear that more will open in Marseille, so it is bound to become more popular.

Address: 10 rue Cambra, Aix-en-Provence

Directions: From the Hotel de Ville, take rue Paul Bertrand, turn left into rue du Griffon, and then it's in rue Cambra.

Phone: 06 82 90 00 46

Theme: Other

Take in a play - en anglais

There are opportunities to see plays in Aix, but I would like to recommend that if you wish to see one in English, go down to the Faculte des Lettres in May every year when students of english put on a play in the english language.

In 2002, I directed a cast of 17 in a production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis. It was great fun, and children loved it. Here is a picture of the Queen of Narnia, flanked by her minions the Wolves, and her Dwarf.

The play in 2003 was A Midsummer Night's Scream, based on Shakespeare (you don't say!) but actually based in Parc Jourdan, around the many fairies that really do hang out there...

Address: Fac des Lettres, 29 ave Schuman

Theme: Theater

O'Sullivans, Red Clover, Queens Head, Brigande: Bars and Pubs of Aix

So you want to go to the pub!<p>
Well, follow me. A lot of students go to the Red Clover, in rue Verrerie, an 'Irish' pub which can get a bit too crowded. It is not cheap for a beer in Aix, so stick to wine if you're on a budget - it's dirt cheap in France.<p>
A bit further down is the Manoir, which plays music and has lots of mediaeval armoury on the walls - but this place is full of sleazebags, so you might not want to go there.<p>
Nearby, just off Place Richelme, is the small Brigande. They sell a lot of Belgian beer here (which is good for me, a Belgophile!), and are friendly. Like the Red Clover, it has but one toilet for all, but isn't as busy as the Clover. By the way, if you are caught in that queue in the Clover for the loo, don't forget you can just leave the pub, pee against a wall nearby, then come back. This is France.<p>
Near Cours Mirabeau is the Queens Head, an 'English' pub which I like, but isn't loved by many. It gets popular, and crowded, and isn't cheap. I never went too often though. The photo shows me there on the night before my birthday. <p>
However, I did go to O'Sullivans a lot. It's near the Rotonde, up rue Espariat. They are very friendly in there, there is waiter or bar service and seats outside. <p>
Finally, in rue Bedarrides nearby, there is the small Loch Ness, not open every night however. They do some very nice Belgian beers in here, and I recommend the Kwak!Voilà!

Theme: Other

Renoir, Mazarin, Cezanne: Catching a film

If you want to catch a film, there are three cinemas here in Aix, two of which - the Renoir (in Cours Mirabeau) and the Mazarin (in the quartier Mazarin) - show films in VO (original language), sometimes big movies, though they pride themselves on arthouse films. You cannot tell; for example, they showed Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but not Star Wars or Spiderman. These were shown, in French only (dubbed), at the bigger, luxurious Cezanne. If you can stand the atrocity of dubbed films, then this place is actually a pretty good cinema.<p>
You can find out about listings on posters all over town, or pick up leaflets from the cinema.<p>
Check out Anakin!!!

Theme: Theater

Bistrot Aixois, Mistral, Sunset...: The Clubs...

<b>Bistrot Aixois</b>:Cours Sextius. I am not a fan of this place. It gets loud and rowdy, and the bouncers on the door have a very strange policy on who to let in - and they are racist. Once inside, you are surrounded by sweat and slimeballs, and the smoky atmosphere could replace the ozone layer. Posers aplenty, and terrible music from terrible DJs. 1/10.<p>
<b>The Sunset</b>: Just off Rue des Cordeliers. Smaller, downstairs, very smoky but in a way, kind of cool. Have indie nights, and terrible goth nights, and there is a cover charge, and you have to really keep hold of your cloakroom ticket, but there is a pool table upstairs. I am pictured here with my friend Michael at the Sunset. 6/10.<p>
<b>The Mistral</b>: Just off Cours Mirabeau. I came here twice (I never had to pay the second time), and don't get me wrong. It's one of them places which is kind of annoying in terms of the people that go there, the slimies - but they are everywhere in Aix. It's not actually too bad a place, there's room to dance and lots of comfy seating, but I don't know, I just don't like clubs much. So I'm giving it 5/10, which isn't bad.<p>
<b>Pago Pago</b>: A bar/club, this place is quite cool, if small. It's near the Red Clover, and I came in here to watch English football once. 6/10. <p>
<b>Bar Le Sextius</b>: Cours Sextius. Another bar more than a club, this place is good. They have live music here every now and then, and the drinks are not bad. It should be more popular. 7/10.<p>

Theme: Nightclub

Pasino: Viva Las Aix!

You will see the neon blue lights colouring the sky as you approach. I did, I lived around the corner. And then the fountains, which often provide a spectacular show of lights and music (invariably Live and Let Die by Wings), and the massive glass triangle that greets you at the entrance. It looks like a shopping mall, but this is Pasino, the casino of Aix. The old casino moved from it's old home at the Rotonde and down the Avenue de l'Europe, and if you fancy a flutter, here is your place. There are a couple of restaurants inside, but dress well.<p>
despite being a neighbour, I never visited the interior of Pasino. Maybe i was just worried, for there are more than a few Aix Mafia who come here, allegedly. But don't let it put you off - I love Vegas, after all!

Dress Code: Dress well, like you should anyway.

Address: Avenue de l'Europe, past Gare Routiere

Theme: Casino

Spotting John Malkovich

So, you want to know where John Malkovich drinks, eh? I never, ever saw him in Aix, but was seen walking past him once, so I'm told. He apparently likes to go out in the heart of town, at the Cafe de l'Horloge in Place Richelme. I've been here, it's nice to sit outside on a warm evening, beneath the trees. Next door is the Cafe l'Unic, which I'm told is nice. Opposite is Happy Days, and opposite again is the small Bar les PTT, outside of which hang Aix's legendary dog-people, local hobos whose dogs smell marginally better than them. <p>
More to come!!

Theme: Eating and Drinking