Sunday in Aix

After a big breakfast, we went to mass at St.-Jean-de-Malte, a big church near our apartment. Ally used to go to mass at this church when she lived here in summer 2006. I love going to mass in France. The mean quality of liturgy is higher than in the States, certainly much higher than in southern dioceses. Singing in French is fun, because for once you get to pronounce all the syllables. So that final "e" you've been leaving out since you started studying French finally gets a voice. Eli probably wasn't impressed by any of that, but he did seem to like walking around in the church.



We then went to the Sunday produce market at the Place de la Hôtel de Ville. We got some cheese, some cured ham, and a lot of vegetables for dinner--on which more later. We also picked up some fougasse (sort of like Provençal calzone) for lunch. Plus fruit: strawberries and excellent melon. The melon you get in France is so good that I just don't eat cantaloupe or honeydew in the States except to be polite. (I guess that's over now.) Ally was very happy to be getting cheese. Last time she was here she was pregnant and sticking to pasteurized dairy products. Unfortunately, very little of the good cheese in France is made with pasteurized milk. For that matter, a lot of not-so-special French cheese is unpasteurized. As I type this, Ally, Mary, and Christopher are snacking on tomme de brebis (a sheep's milk cheese) from the market and watching The Hills on mtv.com.

In the late afternoon, we took Eli on a strolling tour of Aix, including the tourist market on Cours Mirabeau, a bunch of places we'd already been, and the cathedral, St.-Sauveur. Eli had a great time playing at the boar fountain in the Place de la Hôtel de Ville, the market by now having disappeared as markets do.



For dinner, Ally made ratatouille with fresh vegetables from the market. It was excellent.

Mary and Christopher want to take Eli somewhere tomorrow, so he's going to have a big adventure!