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This 2016 newcomer to the centuries-old town of Aix-en-Provence lures passersby with samples. Inside, the shop stocks more than 15 varieties of nougat for your test-tasting pleasure, among them, nutella, rum raisin, and salted butter caramel. It’s all sweetened the traditional way, with honey, not sugar, and carved from giant cake-like mounds. Our scientific finding is that nougat works equally well as a sightseeing pick-me-up and a souvenir for folks back home.

Paul Cézanne, the beloved Post-Impressionist painter, spent his final years (1902-1906) living and working here in Aix-en-Provence. The hilltop studio space looks much as it did then, arrayed with easels and inspiration for his still-life works: a bowl of fruit with a rumpled napkin; a trio of skulls; assorted pottery. Sunlight spills in through a huge window, and a chest of drawers features handwritten notes between Cézanne and Monet.

Frolicking in a lavender field delivers that quintessential pinch-me-I’m-in-Provence sensation, and the next best thing may be browsing the area’s flower markets. Consider the stalls that pop up a few mornings a week in the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville in Aix-en-Provence, the town where Paul Cézanne painted and M.F.K. Fisher wrote. It’s a true pleasure—and reminder you’ve escaped your everyday routine—to slow down in admiration of the sunflowers, lilies, poppies, and other fresh flowers for sale.