3 Best Sights in Provence, France

It's within these walls that Cézanne and his schoolmate Emile Zola discussed their ideas. Cézanne received his baccalauréat cum laude here in 1858 and went on to attend a year of law school to please his father.

In a striking modern edifice designed by architect Kengo Kuma in the Forum Culturel (which includes the Pavillon Noir dance center), the Darius Milhaud Music Conservatory celebrates the music of Marseille's native composer, who spent several years of his childhood in Aix and returned here to die. Milhaud (1892–1974), a member of the group of French composers known as Les Six, created fine-boned, transparent works influenced by jazz and Hebrew chant. Aix has yet to make a museum of his memorabilia, but you can visit during its eclectic series of student performances, jazz and classical concerts, and dance recitals.

This ornately decorated mansion houses the Institut d'Études Françaises (Institute of French Studies), where foreign students take French classes. During the Festival d'Aix in July, the hotel's courtyard is used for a series of classical concerts.