Aix Marks the Spot

Aix Marks The Spot by Robert Feeney The waiter in the cafe just off the Cours Mirabeau, the stately, plane tree enveloped boulevard where tourists and locals promene regularly in Aix en Provence, seems bemused when asked for an ashtray. He looks down,... More

Aix Marks The Spot by Robert Feeney The waiter in the cafe just off the Cours Mirabeau, the stately, plane tree enveloped boulevard where tourists and locals promene regularly in Aix en Provence, seems bemused when asked for an ashtray. He looks down, directing my attention to the huge ashtray, the floor. An unsavoury idea for North Americans and Brits to imagine, here it seems so harmless. The tiles are swept regularly, almost on the hour and there is always a Mistral breeze blowing through these outdoor-indoor cerebral bastions like Les Deux Garcons, the imperial brasserie where Paul Cezanne and Emile Zola used to chat each other up, so it s never a bother. Most French take to cigarettes as second nature, as nature itself, the ashes falling to the floor like old skin every so often. New laws recently invoked throughout France banning smoking in offices, schools and shops, places where lighting up would be considered not only unlawful but in poor taste in North American society, Less