Every design for Aix-En-Provence

Water still splashes from the Fontaine des Quatre-Dauphins, much as it did when Aix was a Roman spa town named Aquae Sextiae after the consul who founded it. The city went on to become the capital of Provence, an artistic centre and seat of learning under the houses of Barcelona and Anjou, and later home to the parliament of Provence until the Revolution.

What sets Aix apart is the Cours Mirabeau, a broad avenue planted with double rows of plane trees that follows the line of the old city wall and splits the town in two. On one side lies the old town of narrow, irregular streets and stately mansions; at its end stands La Rotonde. The Musée Granet and the Pavillon Vendôme keep centuries of art and architecture within a short walk, while the Montagne Sainte-Victoire watches from the east.

For anyone who has lived among the Aixois, this street plan needs no explaining: the way back to the plane trees, the fountains and home.