It is our third and last full day in Aix which means we have walked every street in the city at least three times and the Cours Mirabeau probably more than a dozen times. We probably can spout the names of every cafe along this street from The Irish Pub to the famous Duex Garcons, past the Monoprix and Bechards. So out of town we head bright an early to the Foundation Vasarely.
Sound familiar? No? How about ‘Op Art’, surely you remember that. Victor Vasarely invented this genre of art using math, shapes and color. The building itself is a pure representation of his theories and the curation of his eye popping massive works in seven hexagonal cells is remarkable. His works are in plastique, metal and even woven as Aubusson tapestries, all one dimensional surfaces with Escher-like moving three D shapes. Whether you like his art (I do) or not (Steve doesn’t), you must appreciate a man who created an entire new wave of art....
Next we headed to Chateau la Coste, a vineyard, winery, tasting room, four-star restaurant, hotel, and outdoor art installation. Though we didn’t check in for the night, we managed to partake in every other offering.
First stop, the tasting room where we tasted a rose, a white and a red and in order they were delicious, decent and feh. Lunch on the casual terrace was amazing. Though we could have chosen to reserve and dine at the Francis Mallman restaurant (a great chef whose restaurant we ate at in Argentina well before he was a known name in the States) I don’t think I could have enjoyed it as much as the incredible onion tarte I had, the specialty of the house. It was so delicious that I had to ask our server for the recipe.
All I was able to find out was that the pastry was blind baked, there were FIVE KILOS OF ONIONS in every tarte´ (that is over 12 pounds and it will take hours to caramelize that many onions) and it is topped with parmesan cheese before it is broiled. Clearly I will have to figure out the rest myself by trial and error but I doubt I can replicate this.
Steve’s cheese plate, as well as our bottle of rose, was lovely but no comparison.
We finished in plenty of time for our 2:30, two hour walking tour of the grounds and avant garde art installations. There was eveything from an linear Richard Serra to a moving bobbing silver bean shaped sculpture that reflected the landscape to a Frank Gehry ampitheatre and a meditation walk. It was all pretty esoteric but impressive that one man, who built the winery, has commissioned so many famous artists to come and create a piece of art on a site of their choice. It’s a little bit like Donald Judd’s concept in Marfa, Texas (google it).
After all this modern art, we headed back in time to our final stop, Camp des Milles. Originally a tile factory, it became an interment camp in 1939, mostly for artists and intellectuals living in France but originally from Germany, Austria and the like. Just like we rounded up the Japanese when WWII broke out and sent them to camps, the French did the same for these immigrant/citizens like Max Ernest. By 1941 the Camp had added many Jews and served as a way-station sending many men, women and children on to Auschwitz. It reminds us that though we may relate the French to the French Resistance, the Vichy ( who ran southern France during the war) were as complicit as the Nazis.
After a long day out, we did a quick change to head to dinner at Mitch. I had found it a couple of days ago searching the internet and we swung by hoping to snag a table. The food on line looked beautiful and the reviews were terrific. But on Monday they were full, so we reserved for Wednesday. We arrived and sat outside and looked at the menu. It seemed, well, pedestrian after what we had seen.
Steve went for the three course pre fixe and I selected the sea bream. Then the plates arrived and they were gorgeous. Steve’s app of three mackerels did indeed have three types of mackerel but, in addition, there must have been seven small accoutrements and five smalled balls of gels and sauces from cucumber jelly to basil creme fraiche. The main courses were no different and belied the simplicity of the menu.
So now tonight we pack up and leave Aix and head tomorrow to the Camargue, going from sophisticated city to rural preserve. We’ll make a couple of stops in between to round out the day and end up sleeping on bull farm!
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