We are just back from a six week trip - three weeks in Valencia Spain and two plus weeks in Aix en Provence France. This was our fourth time to Valencia and our first to Aix. We loved both places. The perennial question for me is whether to return to places we loved or to explore new places. This was a combo of both, which was perfect.

In Valencia we stayed at the same house as last year, in the El Cabanyl neighborhood. We were there for the entire Las Fallas, which was quite the experience. Our weather was mixed - more rainy days than we would have liked, but enough sunshine to have a good number of days to go to the nearby wonderful beach and walk on the wonderful promenade.


The wonderful promenade at El Cabanyl beach. People of all shapes, size, abilities are there every day

Returning to places allows you to re-visit your favorites but we also discovered new places. One of our first stops was the Mercado Municipal; de Cabanyl, the neighborhood enclosed food market. It's not as big as Mercado Central, but it has everything you could need and is definitely a neighborhood institution. There is a great market bar there that has a wide variety of croquettes.

We love the tapas and small plates of Spain. And the seafood! We returned to the iconic, almost 200 year old El Cabanyl restaurant, Casa Montana. There is a reason it is so popular. The small plates are wonderful and their jambon. But equally important, are the service and the ambiance. We had a very leisurely meal of smoked eel, cod croquettes, chorizo, Padron peppers, grilled squid, and flan for dessert.

New-to-us restaurants in El Cabanyl this time were Fets, where we had grilled octopus with roasted sweet potatoes (a surprisingly good combo), and a roasted artichoke with cheese and interesting spices. Right next to Fets is a lovely natural wine bar, Mevino. Another great new find: L'Otra Parte, the Other Side. We were there for flamenco night. On a small stage right next to the diners there was a guitarist, a drummer (who used the amps as his drum) and the dancer They were fantastic and the crowd was totally engaged - clapping and dancing. The food was also great. We shared grilled sardines, Padron peppers, pigs cheeks on mashed potatoes, and cheesecake for dessert. It was a very local, warm, fun environment.



Flamenco et L'Otre Parte

One more El Cabanyl restaurant recommendation: Bar Cabanyl. It is across the street from the Mercado. It's a lovely small restaurant with great food and service. The highlight for us was tuna tartare with ice cream with wasabi. So creative, so good. We also shared grilled octopus, shrimp, and patatas bravas.


Tuna tartare with wasabi ice cream

Being in Valencia during Las Fallas is a mixed blessing. It is such an interesting and unique event. But it definitely impedes regular activities. Many streets are closed and there are big crowds. After braving the crowds downtown one time, we stuck to our local neighborhood where there was certainly a lot going on. Every couple of blocks there is a Falla creation on the street or in a square. Some are very large and complex, others smaller and aimed at kids. Some are very political, others funny. Every Falla is sponsored by a local Fallas club and those clubs are constantly celebrating and partying - parades, lots of firecrackers, dinner and dancing in tents in the middle of closed off streets.


Falla in a square in the historic district


Falla in El Cabanyl with a political message



Large and elaborate Falla in El Cabanyl


Falla Parade in El Cabanyl

The final night the Fallas are burned. They begin with the smaller, juvenile ones. (The larger Fallas are not burned until the fire department shows up. Since they begin downtown, they don't get to the neighborhoods until the middle of the night). It is quite the scene - there are fireworks, people are crying, opera music is playing. The whole neighborhood is filled with smoke and loud opera music is blaring from speakers. Las Fallas is very much a community and family event - people of all ages are involved.

We were very glad to have experienced this amazing event, but once was probably enough!

Outside of the El Cabanyl neighborhood, we returned to some of our favorite places. It takes about 20-30 minutes on the bus to downtown Valencia and the historic district. We love Ostras Pedros, the wonderful oyster bar close to the elegant Plaza del Colegio del Patriarca.


Ostras Pedron

And we also went back to another "old favorite," the hole-in-the-wall Tasca Angel, where you stand at the bar and eat great tapas. We had sardines, anchovies, Padron peppers.


Tasca Angel

And of course we had a paella meal. Thanks to the recommendation of ekscrunchy, we took at taxi about 15 minutes outside of Valencia to Ca Pepico. The ride was interesting - we passed a surprising amount of farm land, many artichoke fields. We had ordered our paella ahead of time - duck and trumpet mushrooms. For starters we had croquettes and artichoke with bacon (delicious). It is a small intimate restaurant with wonderful service. We were the only English speaking people there.

Another fun thing we did in Valencia was attend a soccer (futbal) game in their huge stadium. It was fun to be among the exuberant Valencia fans, especially since Valencia won 1 to 0.

We were sad to leave lovely Valencia after three weeks. We took the train to Barcelona and then a second train to Aix en Provence. We treated ourselves to comfort class, which was lovely. Almost all of the trip was along the Mediterranean, passing many places we have been - Girona, Sete, Montpellier, Nimes, Avignon. Great views and memories.

Next up: Aix en Provence

In Aix, it was all about the location. Our apartment was right on Cours Maribeau, the beautiful and iconic street, lined with plane trees and cafes.


Cours Maribeau at dusk

Aix en Provence is a beautiful city. There are squares, fountains, monuments everywhere. The buildings are basically monochromatic - all beige, with some light yellow thrown in, built with sandstone. There are no bright colors. The architectural palette is very calming.

Right outside our door were many boulangeries, cafes, restaurants, and markets. Aix is known for its open air markets. There is a market every day, including a daily food market in Place Richelme, a larger thrice weekly food market in Place Verdun, and a thrice weekly clothing market along the 440 meters of Cours Maribeau. The food markets have a great variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, cheeses, prepared foods from diverse cuisines, and more. It is hard to resist all the beautiful food. And of course I found things to buy at the clothing market!



Daily food market Place Richelme


Place Verdun market

One of our favorite things about Aix was the mini bus system. There are three bus routes - A, B, C. Each bus seats six people. You can get on and off anywhere along the route! You hail the bus as you would a taxi. We could get on the bus right outside our apartment. And the cost is just 1 Euro 40. We took the entirety of each bus route to get a sense of the city and then we would use them to go uphill to the historic district, and walk back downhill. It is the ultimate accessible transportation.


Le Bus

Aix is very much a city of cafes. Sitting in a cafe and people watching is a wonderful pastime. And of course this is France, and every restaurant meal we had was wonderful. A stand out was Le Petit Verdot. The food, the presentation, the ambiance, and the service were all amazing. There are eight tables, some seating large parties, and one man who managed to give special attention to each guest. He recites the daily menu in French and English, serves, gives wine recommendations, and more.

For starters, I had an artichoke in some great sauce and my husband had bone marrow. I had the sea bass, he had lamb stew, both with a variety of interesting veggies. We shared creme brulee for dessert. I'd love to come back here.

Another memorable meal was at a Rick Steves' recommended restaurant, Drole D'Endroit (funny place). For starters we shared creme brulee with chorizo - a surprisingly good combo. He had cod, I had pork meatballs, both with rice and interesting veggies.

Another recommended restaurant - La Brocherie, which was right behind our building. It has a very French, local feeling. I had shrimp scampi - pasta with scampi and prawns. He had duck breast with frites and veggies. For dessert, we shared chocolate mousse.

But most of our meals were at home, both because of the wonderful food markets and also our apartment had good supplies.

Musee Granet is Aix's art museum. We were not expecting much, because all of the Cezanne paintings (and his atelier) are closed to the public as they are getting ready for a major exhibition this summer. But the museum was impressive nonetheless. The standouts were a room full of sculptures and a large exhibit of interesting landscapes. Luckily, we asked where the Picasso was and discovered there was a whole other building a few blocks away.

This building is on the site of a former chapel and has a trove of Picassos, thanks to a collector who was friends with Picasso and had Aix ties. The building was beautifully restored and the displays were well done.


Musee Granet, former chapel with Picassos

There is a great English language bookstore in Aix, Book in Bar. They have a good selection and even special ordered a book for us. Their window display was very interesting.


Window display at Book in Bar

In conclusion, I loved Aix - the beauty of the city, the markets, how easy it is to get around, the chic people. It is now on my list of places I hope to return to.

Great trip reports, thanks for sharing!

joduhl, you should contact the moderators and ask them to flag this as a trip report. Then there will be that little airplane symbol at the beginning signifying this is a trip report. I know you use "trip report" in your title, but the airplane symbol really makes it obvious this is a TR.

I love, love your report and photos. I haven't been to Valencia yet but I've heard of Fallas. Wow! Your photos are amazing. I especially love the Fallas parade and the women in their costumes.

Your photos and report of Aix en Provence make me so homesick for Aix. Our oldest daughter lived in Aix for a couple years when she first moved to France over 10 years ago. We visited her in Aix quite often and we, too, fell in love with Aix. After she moved to another town, we still visited Aix on a regular basis. I really like the Musee Granet, too. I miss Aix!

I like the Book in Bar window display, too! And the Falla with the political message is very interesting.

Thanks you for sharing your trip. I was in beautiful Valencia a year ago and it brought back nice memories. Now Aix is on my list!

Thanks. Here are some other pictures of the Fallas participants. Note the hair!


Falla girls parading

And this is a "juvenile Falla"