Day 5, May 29 (Aix en Provence and Avignon)

Today we experienced two beautiful French cities. We began at 9 am with a walking tour of the city center of Aix en Provence, an ancient city in southern France. We began with a stroll down the Champs-Elysee of Aix, Cours Mirabeau. We learned about the last king of Provence, the good king Rene, who sent his betrothed sugary "hugs and kisses" called Calissons (see the picture of the candy store). We saw some wonderful architecture, including a building now used as a music conservatory named in honor of the composer Darius Milhaud. We saw several sites associated with two cultural figures in Aix, artist Paul Cezanne and writer Emile Zola. The city has many beautiful fountains, and we stopped to take a group picture in front of one of the more picturesque. We ended our tour at the cathedral of Saint Sauveur, which is also the venue for our evening concert. This church is remarkable for its beautiful architecture and decoration, which contains examples from nearly 2000 years of history (dating back to Roman times). There is also a beautiful French organ, dating (mostly) from the 1850s.

After a break for lunch and some free time, we reconvened to travel to Avignon, the seat of the French papacy, which lasted from 1305-1376. During this time, the French pope Clement V established Avignon as the holy city of the Catholic church, displacing the Vatican for 70 years. After viewing the famous bridge, we toured the Palace of the Popes, a grand structure that has seen multiple uses over the years, including army barracks for most of the 19th century. Most stunning is the fully restored papal bedroom, complete with beautiful murals and even some original furniture dating from the 14th century. One of the large rooms in the palace is the private chapel, used primarily by the pope and his visitors. This particular room had such wonderful acoustics and sense of space that an impromptu concert was offered. Here is a brief video of that moment (sorry for the poor quality!):

Video of singing at Avignon

After some more free time, in which several students snagged pairs of fancy Italian shoes, we headed back to Aix to prepare for the evening concert. We arrived at the cathedral in time for a quick sound check and devotions led by Mandy Inhofer. A large, appreciative crowd enjoyed a one hour concert by the Nordic Choir. It was particularly wonderful to hear two French works, by Vierne and Poulenc, in this wonderful cathedral. Here is a sound clip of the Vierne, in which you'll hear Zach Busch play the magnificent organ in Saint Sauveur:

Louis Vierne, "Kyrie"

Although many of us remarked yesterday at the beauty of Monaco, Aix en Provence is becoming a new favorite spot.