Culture in the South of France
This Italianate mansion is an elegant base from which to explore the cultured town of Aix-en-Provence. It is close to the cathedral and a shortish walk from the Cours Mirabeau, the fountain-filled, plane-tree shaded, spiritual centre of town. Celebrated as the birthplace of Cézanne, whose atelier you can visit and whose paintings hang in the Mussée Granet, Aix is rich with historic buildings and museums, too. The Palais de l'Ancien Archevêché is home to an often-outstanding arts festival (www.festival-aix.com) which runs throughout July; the hot ticket will be Sir Simon Rattle's account of Wagner's Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods, part of the Ring Cycle), but there are also Mozart and Offenbach operas, and a starry concert programme. Part of the Italian Baglioni Hotels group, the Villa Gallici, which stands amid three hectares of parkland, nevertheless feels quintessentially Provençal, its 19 rooms and apartments, some of them with private gardens, decorated in a gorgeous confection of complimentary patterns, checks and pretty colours. There's an attractive, if rather formal restaurant. And if you've spent all day museum-bashing, there's a swimming pool to cool off in.
