The journey from Reims to Aix-en-Provence involved four trains with changes at Champagne-Ardennes TGV (the out of town station for Reims on the eastern high speed line), Marne-La-Vallée (adjacent to Disneyland Paris) and Marseille St Charles. The journey was scheduled to take six hours, including comfortable connection times, with the vast majority of the trip on board TGV services. With the exception of being a few minutes late into Marseille, everything worked smoothly and we still arrived on time into Aix-en-Provence. Travelling from northern France to the south, whizzing along at 186 miles per hour, does allow you see the changing landscapes and appreciate just how large and sparsely populated the country is. From cattle farming, to sweetcorn, sunflowers and vineyards, distant views of castles, small hamlets and the occasional big city making the train a good way to trave. Even though flying can be conveniently quicker it is normally not as pleasant or relaxing as watching the ever changing landscape pass by. The Hotel du Globe was a fifteen minute walk from the station in Aix-en-Provence and what a super place it was too. Convenient for the old town but also just far enough away from the busy parts to make it quiet too. After the budget B&B Hotel in Reims there was much more space available and the extra thirty or so Euro a night was money well spent - there was also a convenient laundry close by for that all important mid-holiday clothes wash meaning that we only carried a minimum amount of clothing with us in our bags. Aix-en-Provence is a fabulous place to get lost in, lots of narrow winding streets, plenty of bars, restaurants and shops to keep you entertained for at least a day or so. We walked around fifteen miles, over a day and a half, exploring this fascinating and attractive university city. Compared to Reims it just seemed far more pleasant - difficult to put your finger on exactly why that was but maybe it is the more relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle or just the distance from Paris. Whatever it was, it certainly was a nice place to visit despite there being the odd pile of rubbish and grotty back street that you come to expect in this area. As we wandered the streets there was always time for a few stops, time to have a beer, or a crisp Provencale rosé wine or even an ice cream. There are more restaurants than you can imagine in Aix-en-Provence and you will struggle to go hungry when staying here. Our first night had us choosing a simple pizza/Italian joint called Chez Gillou, the bill came in at just over €40.00 for two main courses and a litre of wine and the chap running the place was really nice - we almost walked out to start with as it seemed way too warm in the restaurant, but pleased that we did not. The evening at the restaurant ended with a complimentary Limoncello. Our second day in Aix-en-Provence was again just one of wandering, not really with too much purpose, but really just to explore a little more. If you are into art then there are museums to visit containing works by Cezanne (he lived here), or you can visit the Pavilion Vendome with a collection of antique furniture. If honest those things are not really for us and we enjoy the architecture and cafe lifestyle more. Our evening was spent enjoying a simple 'pique-nique' on the hotel's roof terrace overlooking Aix-en-Provence. It was probably as good as a restaurant meal and only cost us €10.00 - sometimes the simple things in life are just as good. We also managed a small side trip to Cassis on the coast, about 25 minutes from Marseille by train, on the Sunday. A little bit of research would have been good before setting off as finding that the railway station was a four kilometres from the town centre was not expected. There was an irregular bus service that failed to connect with all trains but the good news was it was a downhill walk to the attractive town and there was a decent bus connection for our return trip! The town was very busy, very touristy but also very attractive. There was a sailing festival of some sort happening in the harbour which seemed to help swell the crowds too. I guess out of season the place is fairly quiet and in peak season pretty horrendous with swarms of tourists - it was certainly busy enough when we visited so am glad we avoided the August holiday period. There appeared to be a fair few American tourists too and it transpired, having overheard snippets of conversation, that some of these were on a Mediterranean cruise. As we enjoyed a rather leisurely three course lunch it was interesting to observe the eating habits of just some of our cousins from across the pond. Anything of colour (or should I use 'color'?) seemed to be left on the plate, or scraped off the burger and chips that were ordered, even the smallest piece of fresh tomato from a pizza sauce was removed - it is also a good job that for most of their food using fingers was passable as the correct use of cutlery is also difficult. Needless to say they were in, sat down and back out before we had even started on our main course. Our three course lunch for just €16.00 each, excluding drinks, was pretty good value and very satisfying. The French do their own food rather well and like to take their time. Back in Aix-en-Provence ahead of our last evening it was time for some mundane tasks including a visit to the launderette and of course re-packing for the next journey by rail across to the south west of France. This holidaying lark is not all glamour, but a cool beer sat in a street side cafe was possible as the clothes went through the washing cycle. You have to make the most of every available opportunity. Our final evening was had at La Fontaine restaurant and having looked at the menu previously if seemed to be a place that catered for all tastes from Moroccan, to Italian, to Provencale and normally these sorts of places fail to deliver. It was however an attractive spot to have dinner at sat around a fountain in a small square and the place seemed busy. The food was actually very good and the staff really personable but having checked on Trip Advisor afterwards we should have had bad service and poor food. You never can tell. Having walked back to the restaurant in the morning, when headed to the railway station, passing the same fountain where we had sat a few hours earlier it was hard to imagine that it was the same place. It is strange how things change depending on the time of day as the small square did look rather plain and down at heel. So that brings us to another journey by train as we leave Aix-en-Provence (and some new bits of south east France) and head to Arcachon, south of Bordeaux, on the Atlantic coast. The trip ahead of us will take around nine hours. Fortunately we noticed in advance that our planned train from Aix-en-Provence, at 0921, would not be running so we aimed for an earlier departure to make our connection at Marseille.