Away from the coast, the landscape softens into the seductive Provençal form. Cézanne and Van Gogh were among the artists who made Aix-en-Provence and the surrounding countryside their base, and I imagine they too relished the market days (which today are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays), when the stalls of vegetables, fruit, bright flowers, olives, fresh cheeses, lavender, and jars of honey look like art installations. The summer tour groups have all but disappeared: I wander in peace along the main boulevards and in the numerous tiny squares at the heart of the old city. At lunch at the cozy Le Zinc de Hugo, on a quiet side street, the other customers are all French, taking advantage of the restaurant's policy of offering every wine on the list by the glass, and discussing the merits of each with the owner. I tuck into a hearty homemade soup and a plate of regional cheeses. From Aix, the road leads to even quieter surroundings, and along the wine route of D17 I find villages like Rognes, an attractive and quiet town not in guidebooks, with a medieval ruin perched above. There, in the Abbaye de Silvacane, an austere but spectacular abbey from the twelfth century, the only sound is the braying of a donkey in the neighboring field.

In recent years, Marseille, France's second-largest city, has started to live down its reputation for street crime, racial tension, and intrigue. TGV service now links it to Paris, a $650 million influx of funding has succeeded in cleaning up its center, and a growing arts scene reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its residents. Despite a new wave of bars and gourmet restaurants, the city retains the flavor of its working-class port roots. Les Arcenaulx, a warehouse dating from the 1500s, has been reimagined as an art gallery, bookstore, tea salon, and restaurant, while the Centre de la Vielle Charité, a former poorhouse, is now a three-story gallery. But it is the food that stands out—and of course the bouillabaisse, invented here. Arguments rage over which fish should be included with the signature elements of saffron and garlic. For me, the best examples of bouillabaisse are slightly spicy but still allow you to taste all the marine life—which usually includes rascasse, or scorpion fish. After the tumult of Marseille, I head back to the quiet of the countryside outside Cassis and encounter one of those little felicities that make Europe so rewarding: Toward sunset, I stop at a farm stand for some fresh goat's cheese, the last figs of the season, and farm-baked bread before I realize—happily—that it's on the edge of the property of Domaines Ott, one of the area's best rosé producers. I pick up a bottle and head to the coast. Twenty minutes later, I'm in a field overlooking the sea, wine and baguette in hand.

VALENCIA

Cutting-edge architecture courtesy of Santiago Calatrava
A laid-back lifestyle at a fraction of the price of Barcelona and Madrid