Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence needs 2 days: strolling down Cours Mirabeau, the tree-lined boulevard with thermal-water fountains every few meters, on one, and following Paul Cézanne's footsteps through his studio and the paths he painted on the way to Mont Sainte-Victoire, on the other. April-June and September-October bring the mildest weather. It's expensive by French standards. Cézanne's hometown, it keeps nearly a hundred fountains scattered through its streets -hence its nickname, «city of a thousand fountains»-, fed by thermal springs already used by the Romans, who founded the city in 123 BC.