Aix is an elegant city with extremely well-dressed people, cobblestone streets, book stores, parks, gardens, and it has the beautiful Fountain la Rotunde at the end of the Cours Mirabeau, often compared to the Champs-Elysees street in Paris. There is a cultural air in Aix, and a hint of snobbishness.
So we sat at a restaurant at the Fountain la Rotunde, sipped cool drinks, and people-watched. Here’s what we saw: 
I love the way French women dress. It is always a casual yet polished look. The most obvious difference was that they often wore long scarves wrapped loosely around the neck several times, but it wasn’t just any scarf – it was always an exquisite scarf. Less obvious but still clear was that the clothes fit each person impeccably… not too loose, not too tight, well-fitted to the body.
Finally, I realized that there was a strong trend towards sand colours: cream, light sand, dark sand, sandy browns, and all variations in between, not only on women but men too, and not only on the streets, but in the clothing stores as well. Sandy browns with white or black or blue. Lots of sand tone flat shoes and ankle boots, very few 3-4 inch heels. Hair often tied neatly back. Smoking everywhere.
Older men and women dress smartly too. It was nice to see people taking pride in their appearance, without being over-the-top in runway trends…
And on the street….
Apparently the best market in Provence is in Aix as well, in old town (Vieux Aix) on Thursdays, with booth after booth of fruits, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, cheese, olive oil, baking, household goods, clothing and flowers. Every town in France has a market day, and we recommend you seek them out as they offer the lowest prices on all kinds of interesting goods…
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Pretty cool…..lots of boots and as you say, not many high heels. So how many scarves have you bought? Smiles.
I was going to say just 3 scarves, but now I’ve lost track of how many – ROFL….
But I bought a great little purse in sand and white… best purse ever, has a dozen outside pockets…
Yes, ankle boots and sandy colours with white and black. Classic. The clothes I bought in Bejiing didn’t get to Canada until 5 years later!
Looks like ankle boots will be the big thing in Canada in 2016, then… that’s the way the styles trickled down to us after I was in London!
Yes, ankle boots and clothing in sand tones with black and white. Classic.