Hike up St.Victoire and other Aix-en-Provence, France Off The Beaten Path Tips

It's not really off the beaten path, in fact the path is so well beaten you could scramble an egg on it.
However, I know many people who have lived in Aix for years who have never done it. The mountain was the muse for Cezanne, as is well known - he painted it about fifty times.
It is surprisingly easy to hike up. It is very very high, and topped with a monk's retreat (you can spend the night here, if you so desire), and a huge cross (I would love to meet the man who lugged that thing up there). I climbed up in January, when it was surprisingly warm, and it ook me about two hours to reach the peak. At the top, you look down and it is WHOAAAH!!!! Bring a camera! It was as little hazy when i went, but i am assured that you can see the sea.
There are not many buses out there from Aix. There's one at 8.15 and one at midday, and coming back there's one at about 1 and one at about six - check the timetable, but you should have enough time to go there, go up, look about, come down, get the bus. Oh, get the bus to Vauvenargues.
alternatively, hire a bike from by the Tourist Office and cycle out there.

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Not even that many people who live in Aix know about this park, but the Parc Villers in the west of town, past the Fondation Vasarely, is a nice place for a stroll or a picnic. I first discovered it when my flatmate Ben took me up here on a cold snowy day, and I was surprised mostly by the huge open-air theatre just sitting in the middle of it. It's a theatre-in-the-round, and carved into the ground like a Greek or Roman amphitheatre. I never heard of any performances being there, but I would often go over there to do a bit of acting, or read a book. It's called the Theatre de Verdure.
Also in the park is a smallish duckpond, which is nice to sit beside when you are having a picnic on a Sunday, as long as you don't mind the large but beautiful dragonflies.

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