Why travel all the way to Paris if you can find the same bustling atmosphere in Aix en Provence? In Aix you have all the charm, a fraction of the travel time and none of the grief that comes with the big city.

Aix en Provence is less than a two-hour drive from the Cannes area. You can park easily because there are many car parks. If you aim for Parking Rotonde you'll find yourself right in the town centre.

There is a lively market on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings from 10.00 to 13.00 hours. It starts on Place Le Verdun (right in the old town) with local stands displaying jewellery, scarves and bags. Look for Guillaume Leonhardt who is usually there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He has some unique pieces of hippy tribal -silver and delightful azure blue and coral rings, bracelets and necklaces which he buys from the Indians of Arizona. Further on you'll find the market with clothes, shoes etc. Look out for the GAP store (an American chain with basic clothes for men, women and children). You can't find this shop in Nice or Cannes.

What I enjoy doing most in Aix en Provence is strolling around and getting lost in the small streets with all their boutiques and ‘petite' shops. But don't miss Rue Fabrot as there you'll find many shops which are found nowhere else in France other than Paris. My favourite is a shoe shop called Becks & Vic, owned by the famous football player Maoulida who played with David Beckham. It's hard to resist trying on the shoes there which are displayed like bonbons, nestled in small, spot-lit alcoves! Brands include Givenchy, Celine, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney (above), John Richmand, Sergio Rossi and more.

Next door is a boutique called ‘Un jour Un sac' which offers a selection of special bags combining colours and materials in a new and exciting way (see bottom of this page.) It is a concept created by Francois Renier that allows interchangeable handles to be swapped around different designs of paper, leather or fabric bags.

Opposite is the shop ‘L'Atelier' with prêt à porter for men and women and brands such as Paul & Joe, Vivienne Westwood and Givenchy.

Another shoe shop in the same street is ‘Boutique First' which has shoes and bags by Prada, Tods, D&G and Chloe. On the first floor they have a prêt à porter collection.

A little further on you can visit another boutique called ‘Gago' which has brands such as Balmain and Dries van Noten. It has a shop next to it with a large bag collection by Balenciagia and other items you could only dream of owning.

Of course you'll need a break for a strong cup of coffee and lunch after all this shopping. There are some good places for coffee on the Cours Mirabeau such as ‘Le Grillon' and 'Les Deux Garcons'. Next to the market you'll find ‘Cafe Le Verdun' (just by Hermes) on Place Le Verdun. For lunch, the restaurant ‘La Rotonde' (above) is a good, trendy place to visit. It's purple and red inside and the food is good. There are special lunch menus. The restaurant has a large terrace outside which overlooks the big fountain at Cours Mirabeau.

These are the contact details of my personal favourites

Market: Walk from Cours Mirabeau to CIC bank and find Passage Agard. At the end are Place Le Verdun and the market.

Market Jewellery Stand: Bijoux Navajos, Guillaume Leonhardt mobile: 06 25 12 55 72

GAP : 15 rue des Chapeliers, tel: 04 42 93 57 27.

Becks & Vic: 10 Rue Fabrot, tel: 04 42 26 98 81.

First : 7 rue Fabrot, tel: 04 42 38 51 05

Un jour Un sac : 10 rue Fabrot, tel: 04 42 91 36 86

Gago: 20 rue Fabrot, tel: 04 42 26 08 52

Restaurant La Rotonde,  tel: 04 42 916 170.

Have fun !

You can GOOGLE on down from here