It's Me, Sara Louise

This was me getting my tour guide on as we drove into Aix.

“A thousand fountains, really?“

This was The Husband doubting my superior tour guide knowledge. Now normally that would have bugged the bejeezus out of me, but due to The Husband’s accent, this is what he actually said;

“A thousand fountains, weally?”

Sometimes it’s weally hard not to laugh.

And for the record, Aix is indeed known as the City of Fountains. I’m not sure if there are actually a thousand fountains there, but there are loads and loads of them. Every time you turn around, there’s another fountain.

{it’s me – only younger and skinnier}

My favorite fountain is Fontaine de la Rotonde, it’s the biggest and it’s the closest to Zara. (That’s me standing in front of it the first time I saw it three years ago… please ignore my hair, Le Mistral was styling it.)  

We were on our way to Aix-en-Provence to check into our hotel before scooting down to Marseille for a quick tour of Notre Dame de la Garde.

The Basilica, Notre Dame de la Garde, was consecrated in 1864 and is topped by a 27 foot copper and gold leaf statue of Madonna and child. Perched on the highest spot in Marseille, both the Neo-Byzantine architecture and the views from it are absolutely breathtaking and a must see if you are in the Marseille area. 

Our Marseille mission accomplished, we drove back to Aix to spend Miss Vicki and JoDelle’s last twenty-four hours in Provence (they were headed up to Paris for a week, while my mother and Godmother would stay on for a bit in The LPV). And wanting to make it as memorable as possible, The Husband did everything he could to impress (personally I think he was angling to be adopted and shipped off to Texas along with all of that pottery they bought).

First he mastered the most difficult parking job of all time in the world’s tiniest underground parking lot. (Seriously, if I had known the hotel’s parking garage was that tiny, I wouldn’t have reserved a spot there.) I wish I had taken a photo, but you have to trust me on this one… it was so small, that at one point, there was only about four inches space on each side of the minivan as he drove through. The actual parking job took more reversing and pulling forward to count and a plethora of patience. It was most impressive. 

Conquering the world’s tiniest underground car park deserved a reward, and what better reward for The Husband than plate after plate of beef carpaccio at the French Olive Garden. Miss Vicki and JoDelle were certainly impressed by his eating skills. 

And finally, the pièce de résistance, the most impressive, the highlight of any stay in The LPV… The Husband reenacts The Ramone show. 

Well not entirely. He tells you he’s going to do it but then all he does is take off his shoe and wiggle his socked foot around while singing, Relax. But of course when The Husband sings it, he sings, ‘Welax’, which is much cuter anyway. 

bisou