The best cycling routes around Peynier

Built in the 19th century in the neoclassical style. The colonnade in front of the entrance, in particular, is an eye-catcher. A look inside is worthwhile - the building is almost square and encloses an atrium covered by a glass dome.

Pretty mill on the outskirts of Le Tholonet with a view of the eastern flank of Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Often painted by Paul Cézanne, who also had a studio here for a time.

Very beautiful property, seat of the local water supplier.

Magnificent fountain with the Cours Mirabeau. Resting point and starting point for very diverse circuits and nearby countryside. The only downside: Aix en Provence is absolutely not equipped for cyclists, but fortunately you can get out of it quite quickly (Gametta and its roundabout below deserve to be very careful)

From the east, the Col des Portes is very gentle, with the gradient barely noticeable. This makes the quiet, narrow road all the more enjoyable. From the west, the gradient is significantly steeper, especially in the final climb.

The former windmill in Le Tholonet was once rented by the painter Cézanne as a studio and storage space. The building is located directly on the "Route Cézanne," making it a perfect place to combine culture with road cycling.

In the 15th century, the architect Jean de Paris, Controller of Royal Buildings, designed the Villeneuve district, to the east of the city, with a concern for regular perspectives and layouts. The "rue du boulevard" (Emeric David street) is the strong alignment of the new district. Ledoux centered the facade of his new Palace on it. Built on the site of the former Comtal Palace, the Palais de Justice was commissioned in 1787 from Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, who had simultaneously imagined the restructuring of the district. More than 200 houses were destroyed to create this new building. The Revolution broke out and the work was suspended, only to resume in 1822, slightly modified by Michel Penchaud, the prison architect. Completed in 1831, the Court moved in on November 13, 1832. In front of the Palace, monuments in honor of Siméon and Portalis* were erected in 1842, works by Ramus from Aix, inaugurated on November 8, 1847. The neoclassical pediment, planned like that of the Palais de Justice in Marseille, was never realized. Jean-Etienne-Marie Portalis (1778-1807) was a brilliant Provençal jurist, a long-time lawyer in Aix, and a member of the city council in 1789. Napoleon entrusted him, along with others, with the drafting of the Civil Code. Having become Minister, he marked his time by drafting the Concordat with the churches of France.

Originally, the church was in the shape of a Latin cross and consisted only of the nave, transept, bell tower, and watchtowers to the north and south of the choir, as well as the Hélion de Villeneuve chapel (14th century) with its beautiful ribbed vault featuring liernes and tiercerons. Outside, the twenty or so stepped buttresses topped with pinnacles are hidden on Rue Cardinale by the unimpressive buildings attached to the monument in the 17th century. The 67-meter-high bell tower was completed in 1376. The priory, now the Granet Museum, served both as the residence of the knights and as a hospice where pilgrims were welcomed and the sick cared for. The church and the priory were built in the fields, outside the city walls. They were set into the central vista of the Mazarin Quarter in the 17th century, built by Michel de Mazarin, brother of Louis XIV's minister. The building was remodeled during the 17th century by Prior Jean-Claude Viany, who had six chapels built within the buttresses and, for symmetry, added the south turret similar to the one on the north side that provides access to the bell tower. In 2018, after 225 years, the church received three new bells for its carillon, out of the four that comprise it. The three previous bells had been cast in 1793 during Napoleon's Italian campaign.