Aix-en-Provence France

Rebecca Franks breathes in the spring air in the popular southern city, where the music making sparkles and the sun always shines

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We might all love Paris in the springtime, but it's not the only French city worthy of your affections in April. Down in the sunny south is beautiful Aix-en-Provence, where golden light bathes the streets and squares, which are lined with elegant buildings, shaded by plane trees and freshened by fountains. When I arrive just before Easter, the sun is already deliciously warm, a welcome change from the cooler UK.

The city is only a half-hour drive from Marseilles airport, but as I saunter, happily half-lost, following my nose, around the cobbled streets of the old medieval heart of Aix, it feels like I've stepped into a different world. It's busy with tourists, and the many shops selling fragrant local lavender are doing a roaring trade, but it's easy enough to slip down a side street and find a quiet café for a coffee.

Even just a few days in Aix-en-Provence is a tonic. The sunshine warms body and soul. It's one of the reasons that violinist Renaud Capuçon loves the place, so much so that he co-founded a music festival here.

He's now its artistic director.