I could also call this one American Aix-en-Provence or Lazy Aix-en-Provence.

We had a lot of fun last night. Too much fun. And it’s going to hurt today. But kids don’t let up because you’re hungover. They still get up when the sun shines in their room, begging to be fed and dressed. Lillian yells for someone to come wipe her bottom. Oly asks for me to find his sticker book. Ouch.

It’s softly raining outside, and I love it. This place is peaceful and lovely. After a lazy morning at the house, with a calm breakfast together downstairs, we take off for the nearest city, Aix-en-Provence. It’s only 15 minutes away. On our way to the car, we stop at the church (basically next door). It’s open, so we get to peek. It’s build in the 17th century and very simple, but impressive paintings cover the walls.

Now for the brutal honesty. We stop at McDonald’s for lunch. Not some adorable brasserie or even a boulangerie for baguette sandwiches. McDonald’s. It’s the first time we’ve done something like this on the trip. And we aren’t regulars of the place. But today it just hits the spot. The kids are ecstatic as this is a very special treat. They are so happy with their Happy Meals. Lillian brushes her MyLittlePony’s tail while Oly shoots a rod out of his Pokemon’s mouth. It’s actually one of the most peaceful meals we’ve had in awhile. I am also very impressed with this McDonald’s. I don’t know if it’s like this throughout France or if we lucked out and found the only one, but this place is nice. It’s extremely clean, their automated order screens remove the long lines and the clientele is very mixed. I feel comfortable seeing a lot of people like us, whatever that means. So all in all, I’m happy with our choice. Feel free to judge.

We park at the edge of the old town in Aix-en-Provence and walk down sandy-colored lanes lined with shops. A surprising number of them are closed. It’s 1:30, so it may be afternoon closures, but I think a lot of people are taking their vacation now.

We turn a corner to see a Gap. I haven’t been in a Gap in a very long time, so I’m kind of excited to go in. Stefan is supportive and willing to hold Oliver (our dog) outside the store. I actually find a few cute things, all at deep discounts. Woohoo!  Oly needs some new t-shirts, so I direct him to a table with some his size. He gets super excited when he finds super heroes! How do kids know to be excited about super heroes?! He’s never seen a superhero movie, but he picks out 3 different Avengers t-shirts. When I ask him to pick his favorite, he clutches them all and says they are all his favorite.

With our Gap bag full, we continue our walk. So far all we have done are American things! We have to counter it with a Provincial experience. A small group of musicians play outside a beautiful old church. Lillian and Stefan go into the church, but Oly wants to listen more. He loves when people play music, whether it’s instruments or singing! I do too, so it’s perfect. We sit and listen to three musicians and an opera singer. It’s warm, but there’s a cool breeze. It’s a beautiful moment.

We walk throughout the church when the musicians take a break. There are regular tours of the cloisters, but we just missed it. Oh well. It’s beautiful to see this huge old church; Oly is always impressed. 

I read that Aix-en-Provence claims to have 1,000 fountains. Lilian and Oly love counting things, so we count all the fountains we see. I don’t know what number we ended up at, but it was under 20. We probably weren’t the most diligent counters. There are a lot of fountains in this city. And they are all very different. Some have moss growing on stone as water trickles down over it. So ugly it’s beautiful.

After Oly falls asleep, we stop for ice cream for Lillian and Stefan. I prefer hot drinks on hot days and ice cream on cold ones. Yep, I’m weird. So I enjoy a hot chocolate with scrumptious whipped cream. We sit on the main square, La Rotonde, where there’s a huge fountain. And it’s not nearly as quiet over here as I think this is the hub for tourists.

We walk down the main street that I’ve read is the thing to do. It’s okay. It feels a little like the Champs Elysees in Paris to me. Eh. So a nice long walk all around town. It’s 5pm now, and we want to have dinner at home. We stop at a boulangerie on our way to the car to pick up croissants for the morning, but when we see the enticing quiches, we decide to buy 4 and make dinner super easy.

On the way home, we finally capture some pictures of the aqueduct we pass every day by the house. So cool.

I make a tomato avocado salad (the power of olive oil and chunky fleur de sel!) to go with it, and we enjoy a quaint dinner in our hobbit dining room downstairs. It’s awesome.

Obviously we are super lazy today, so we keep it up by letting the kids watch a movie while we work. I’m not going to claim to be the best parent today. But we survived, and sometimes surviving is all you can ask yourself to do.