The early morning bus took our group away from the port and the city of Marseilles. We whisked along the highway through the countryside and soon arrived in Aix-en-Provence. Our group dropoff and meeting spot was Place de la Rotonde, a large traffic circle around a huge fountain. We walked down Cours Mirabeau, filled with merchandise shopping stands. The city, once the capital of Provence, had a mixture of large government buildings on large streets, and small shops and market areas along the winding streets in the older part of the town. The fruit market was full of fresh produce and people shopping for the day. The plant market had flowering plants, vegetable plants, and herbs. The guide led us through various sites. I liked the balcony metal work and you can see several examples in the photos. Some were decorative, and one in particular indicated the business at hand within the building.
