Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence is a charming Provençal town with lovely cafés and colorful marketplaces at its heart. However, tens of thousands of university students maintain this southern French metropolis as young, lively, and multicultural. Although there are 18th-century mansions along the streets, the French boulevards are teeming with fashionable Paris migrants. The still-popular Aquae Sextiae thermal baths were found in Roman times, but these medicinal waters are supplemented with the most exquisite treatments available at the on-site spa.

You come to Aix for all of these reasons, but also for the French-Mediterranean cuisine, fashionable shops, the artistic impact of Paul Cézanne, and the city's general easygoing and cheerful mood. Its closeness to the lavender fields, wineries, and mountains of Provence, as well as the Côte d'Azur, is an extra bonus.