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Out-of-the-Ordinary Aix-en-Provence with Jean-Pierre Cassely

Culture and Fashion

Take an original walk in the City of King René. Every Monday morning Jean-Pierre Cassely leads a tour of Aix-en-Provence designed for fans of historical asides and amusing anecdotes.

 

By Jean-Dominique Dalloz - September 13, 2011

“Everyone’s here? OK, off we go.” A dozen or so tourists follow Jean-Pierre Cassely for a two-hour walk through Aix. Leaving from the Tourist Office, they walk up the Cours Mirabeau, go past the courthouse, then take the Passage Agard, and continue on to other essential landmarks. The circuit is polished, but Jean-Pierre adapts according to the day’s surprises: monuments closed

for renovations, ceremonies in progress at the cathedral… The circuit is punctuated by frequent breaks, during which the guide tells a thousand and one anecdotes, as funny as they are true, about the history of the city; jokes come easy to Jean-Pierre and laughs break out after each of his witticisms. Crazy about technology, he takes out his touchpad on many occasions, and holds it out for everyone to see. It’s a useful tool for studying an unusual detail in the painting

of the Annunciation in the Saint-Sauveur cathedral, or an 18th-century engraving of the Cours Mirabeau. Willingly showing off, Jean-Pierre Cassely admits that he plays with his audience, “it’s the best way to get then keep their attention for two hours.” However this bantering tone and uninhibited humor hides serious research and preparation. A sometimes journalist and writer, Cassely has already composed a number of guides on the theme “unusual and secret,” published by Editions Jonglez. Here we are already, back where we started. Everyone’s smiling. Perhaps we don’t remember all the dates or the names of the characters mentioned by our guide, but we leave

with a multitude of images in our head. A meeting is organized for Friday, for another guided tour by Jean-Pierre. The theme? Aix en Provence’s libertines and courtesans… That'll take some doing!

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Tickets and departure point: Tourist Office d’Aix-en-Provence 2 place du Général de Gaulle
Tel. : 04.52.16.11.61
www.aixprovence
tourism.com

Jean-Pierre Cassely
Tel. : 06.07.32.10.31
www.provence-insolite.com