Adventures in cooking

Happy New Year (almost)!

Yesterday I received cooking lessons from Vivi, who is aghast at my skills in the kitchen. We made a souffle, but I think the more accurate discription of the activity was that she told me what to do and I attempted to do it. Unfortunatley, I still managed to mess it up. Vivi had commenced stirring clockwise and I had continued stirring counter-clockwise. She was very stern when she said that I must stir in the same direction throughout the recipe because it's all the little things that count.

Ironically, while I was looking over the recipe (one of the few times Vivi has used one) it said noisette de beurre (peanut of butter). When I asked her what that meant, she said that it called for a peanut-sized pat of butter and that if it said noix de beurre, one would add a "walnut" of butter. More measurements that are a little sketchy are a soup spoon, coffee spoon, half a yogurt jar, a fist full, etc. For being so persnicketty about stirring direction, the French are a little lax on the quantity of ingredients. I'm catching on though.

Bisous a tous!

Skiing for Dummies

Hello,

Today was a momentous occasion because I went skiing for the first time in Grenoble. Whenever I get asked if I ski, I can now answer proudly that I am a veteran Alpine skier. We woke up at 7:30, ate, borrow ski boots from a cousin, and finally hit the slopes at 10. Gone are the days where you have five thousand ski tags hanging from your coat. Instead we had little disk thingies that you put in your coat pocket and then at the date to the lifts, you simply put your arm up to the scanner and you're good to go.

The day did not start off to well. First, Vivien forgot to bring ski googles for me so I did the first hill with tears running down my face. That was fixed when he borrowed some from his friend's apartment. On the second ski lift, I dropped one of my gloves while blowing my nose for the thousandth time. While Vivien and his friend were looking for it, another of his friends and I continued to ski. I'm pretty sure my right hand was bordering on frostbite by the time new gloves were found.

All in all, the hills weren't too difficult, but then again, we weren't doing black diamonds. The only trouble I faced was with one hill that was basically a wall of ice. I did the splits and then slid backwards down the hill for a good 10 feet. My legs were trembling after that one!

We finished at about 3:30 and then ate a picnic of pate and quiche in our cars before heading back. Because it snowed the entire time we were skiing, my hair is currently a matted mess and I was compared to a snowman several times because of the good inch of snow covering my jacket and ski pants, but I had a great time. Good thing we're going again Wednesday!

Ciao ciao

Updates

Hello all,

Since I've been absent for the whole month of December, I thought I would do a little backtracking. The second week of December was filled with exams. The first of which happened to be on a Saturday morning at 8 am. Despite having set my alarm for 6:30, I woke up at approximately 7:15. The bus that I HAD to take left at 7:25 and it takes 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. Needless to say, I sprinted my little heart out to get there at exactly 7:24. The next four exams were uneventful. I wrote an essay on Napoleon and spouted out useless numbers such as the percentage of French people who go to Church. Not many, let me tell you.

After exams were done, we had a little party at the house of the director of our program. Since she didn't have a Christmas tree, the three of us Albion girls said we would buy her one for her apartment. We were a sight to be seen; two of us carrying a 7 foot tree with the third carrying our purses through downtown Grenoble. There were many stares, but we kept trudging and finally got it up the stairs to the third floor.

My birthday was the 19th as many of you know, but I celebrated it on the 18th with my host family. The fam got me a ski jacket, which is great and Vivi made chicken especially for me because they don't eat it in France but they know that I like it. Vivien got my a gift too, but because I want to keep this blog G-rated, I will not show a picture. It was a pack of playing cards with nude men on them--very classy. We all had a laugh over that one, especially Viviane, who showed a deep interest in the pics. I also celebrated with my friend in the Christmas market. She made me a cake and we got some hot wine. We got some strange looks for that too, but it was memorable.

This week was also memorable. Christmas Eve we ate escargot, in the shell this time. The family was laughing at me because I didn't know how to work the pincers to hold the shells. It was very Pretty Womanesque. Christmas Day dinner started at 1:30 and we finished the five courses at about 5:30. I can't remember it all because I had a foodcoma but it included fois gras, smoked salmon, lobster, steak, lots of dessert, and, of course, champagne and wine.

I got a pretty good haul for Christmas, including jewery, lotion, a calendar, and last but not least a tree ornament of France made by Charlotte. Viviane's sister got the family a Wii and it was the best idea ever. We stayed up till 12:30 last night playing it. It is a sure-all way to get kids out of your hair, which I'm sure J-P and Vivi greatly enjoy.

Do I regret not coming home over Christmas break? No, not at all. I am so happy that I decided to stay here for Christmas break, despite the departure of all my friends to their respective homes over the holidays. First reason: I have gotten closer to all the kids in two weeks time then I have in all the three months combined. J-P's three oldest are gone during the school year, so this is the first time that I've had a long amount of time to bond and I've always been closer to Vivi's kids but it's been cemented during the past two weeks. It's hard to say with Charlotte because she's only 10, but the other day I taught her how to play BS and Spoons and that's all she wants to do now. After playig spoons for the ten thousandth time in a row, it gets a little old, but I do like spending time with her. Second reason: I am going to Morocco on Jan. 4 for ten days. Third reason: I am going to a New Year's Eve party with Vivien and Cyriel. The theme is cuir (leather) so as revenge for my birthday present I got Vivien a spiked leather collar to wear to the party as his Christmas present. That got a lot of laughs too. Reason four: Cyriel has lots of time on her hands so she has been doing my hair and makeup for fun everyday. I don't know what I'm going to do without my hair and make up artist!

Here's me modelling her work

Christmas market at night (i.e. 5:00 pm)

Above: Grenoble all lit up with Christmas market

Below: pile of bottles at our house after Christmas. I'm kidding... it was the pile of bottles outside of our favorite bar, O'Callaghan's (the best Irish pub in Grenoble!)

Since I have more time on my hands now, I will blog more often. Sorry for my abscence!

Chaio

P.S. some of you may be wondering if I did the traditional 21st birthday where you drink until you pass out, and the answer is no. This birthdy had to more significance than any other since I was "of age" the moment I got here.

Winter has arrived in full force

Hello again,



I hope everyone is enjoying their winter break. Grenoble is blanketed currently and I was taking my life in my hands going to the Christmas market yesterday. I did, however, get all of my Christmas presents taken care of. Try buying gifts for 4 young adult males that you've known for 3 months...not an easy task. Christmas is a huge holiday here. The house is completely covered in Christmas lights and Christmas music has been playing since October. I have been keeping warm thanks to the layers of hats and scarves and sweaters that I've been wearing-very reminiscent of A Christmas Story.

I am finally done with finals as of last Wednesday so my time has been consumed in cafes and Christmas markets. More to come later on my plans for the New Year.

Ciao

Corsica

Hello everyone,



This weekend was excellent because I escaped the frigid of Grenoble for the warmth of Corsica. My friend and I flew from Lyon, an hour bus ride from Grenoble, to Bastia, the northern-most city in Corsica. The flight was EasyJet, which I recommend to only the most adventurous of you. One, and only one bag is allowed per passenger, so I stuffed all the essentials (laptop, PJs, toothbrush, and that's about it) into my backpack, and off we went. There are no assigned seats -- it is first-come-first-serve. The benefit of the lack-luster service was that it cost us about $60 round-trip.



The plane landed at about 5:00 so we headed to the hotel to drop off our stuff. We went with the cheapest hotel, too, so we got one double bed complete with cigarette-burn holes in the comforter. The precursor to this was a very scary point when my friend realized that she left her purse on the bus from the airport to town. With the help of the tourism office we found the bus again, along with the purse and all its contents. The gods were with us because she had her passport, cell phone, and 400 euros in the purse and nothing was taken.



The first thing that we noticed about Corsica is that it is extremely windy. We walked out to a lighthouse on the pier and I almost got blown off. At night it calmed down quite a bit, but it was still brisk. The view was absolutely amazing with views of the Mediterannean and the mountains on the island. All in all, we didn't really do much in terms of activities, but we greatly enjoyed the people watching and the many cafes that we consumed. The one daytrip that we did to the south of Corsica, where we walked along the shore and saw the house where Napoleon was born.



The way back was a little more eventful, though. We arrived at the airport without incident, but while we were waiting for the flight, the airport staff announced a technical failure in the aircraft. We weren't too concerned because they said it would be an hour delay and then we would be on our merry way, but ten minutes later, they announced that they weren't sure that the flight would leave at all and that we could take the plane to Paris that was leaving in the adjacent gate. I asked the staff when the next flight to Lyon was and she said that it was on Friday (keep in mind that this was Monday!). Since we had to intention of staying another four days, we decided to take our chances and go to Paris. Once we told them our decision, we were told that that was all they could do for us; once we got to Paris we were on our own. We arrived on Paris and then went to the train station where we booked train tickets on the last train of the night to Grenoble. Seven hours later then expected, we finally got to Grenoble where Jean-Pierre and Viviane were waiting to take us back. I have never been so thankful to be back home!



I definitely recommend going to Corsica, but a car would have been really useful. If time allows, I will be going back, but it will be a while before I fly EasyJet again.



Vieux port of Bastia

Sunrise on the Mediterannean

Sunrise

The two of us on the beach. Just in case you don't recognize me, I'm on the left

Pretty flower on the beach

Yes, we were on the beach on November 30!

Old guy eating peaches out of a can

The port

The coast at night

The beach were we laid

Fishing nets

The citadel of Bastia

Pictures from Annecy:

Stringing up garlands

The canals

Mist on the lake

Statue at a casino

Have a good week!

Liz

Boite de nuit

Hello!

I'll start off with some background info from last week. Last Friday I went into a hair salon to get my split ends trimmed. I explained very clearly to the hairdresser that I wanted to keep the same style with just a little bit trimmed off (I even demonstrated with my fingers how much I wanted cut). She agreed and got me all set up, but the first piece of hair that fell on the apron thingy was about 4 inches longer than I was expecting. Of course, I turned around and the hairdresser shrugged and said that she thought I would look better with shorter hair. At this point, I had to struggle to maintain my composure and not choke her. It was too late to fix it, obviously, so I left looking like a Victoria Beckham wannabe. Needless to say, I went straight from there to another hair salon and decided to get hair extensions, which I was contemplating to begin with (I am NOT a short hair person). Now I have have down to mid-shoulder blade, and I love it! Just wanted to explain the sudden appearance change before you all notice in pictures.

Anyway, this weekend was yet another of very little sleep. Seven of us (Cyriel, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's best friend, Yann, Vivien, another Albion girl, and me) went to a boite de nuit (nightclub) on Saturday. A good time was had by all, except for Yann who drank so much that Vivien had to take him to the car to sleep it off. In order to enter, you have to stand outside while the bouncer looks through a little peephole to see if you are well-dressed enough to be let in. Luckily we were deemed suitable, but we still had to pay...big time. It was a 10 euro cover and for us to buy a bottle it was 60 euro more plus an additional 3 euro to check a coat and purse (rrr)! The actual inside was like any other club: cages, techno, DJ, glowsticks, etc. but it was the people who made it a good time. We left at 3:30 (the club doesn't close until 5:30 Sunday-Saturday) and finally collapsed in bed at 4 am.

I woke up at 7:15 the next morning to go to Annecy, aka the French Venice, with Vivianne's brother (Richard) and sister-in-law (Yveline), who happen to be hosting another Albion student. Despite the fact that it rained the entire day, we enjoyed seeing the canal, which flows throughout the city, and the old buildings. We ate lunch at the home of Yveline's parents and the bane of all food, sauerkraut, was part of the main dish. When you're the guest of someone in France, it's polite to eat a little of everything served, so I managed to choke some down and even to comment about how good it was. We got back home at about 7:30, and after dinner I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. This morning was not pleasant, but somehow I still managed to get up 10 minutes before the bus left.

Next weekend is Corsica-yay warm(er) weather!

Ciao,
Liz

P.S. I forgot to upload the pictures so I'll do it later this week.

Horsies, flamingoes, and bulls, oh my!

I know, I know, I've been a slacked on the blogging front. Lots to report so I'll start with my trip to the Carmargue. The three of us girls from Albion decided to go on a trip together to Provence. We took the train, as usual, but this one looked like it just arrived from a long sejour in inner-city Detroit. It was absolutely covered in graffiti and the inside was pretty torn up, but it was cheap so I can't complain. We were delayed for an hour, which was really annoying, but we ended up meeting a really nice guy who interpreted the garbbled PA announcements for us. He got off at Avignon though...dommage. In leaving he said "bye-bye" which is definitely an americanization of French--I hear it a lot, even between French people. When the train finally arrived in Arles, it was was about 8:30 so we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed out for dinner. It was absolutely dead. There was no one in the restaurants, and when I say no one, I mean no one. This was definitely a shocker because the Grenoblois don't start eating until 8, 8:30, or later, but here everyone was finished by 8. We ended up grabbing something to eat in a very famous cafe, which was painted by a very famous artist. Whoever guesses it gets a prize! We spent the next day in the Camargue which is swamp land inhabited by bulls, flamingoes, horses, and gypsies. The three of us went horseback riding for what was supposed to be a 2 hour ride, but about 5 minutes in, it started downpouring, so needless to say, the ride ended quite a bit early. Still fun, although I could literally ring the water out of my pants and shirt. Dried out in a cafe, of course, and went shopping for Christmas gifts. Sunday was spent in Arles, seeing ancient Roman amphitheaters and theaters...it's hard work, but someone's got to do it.
Arles

looking out of amphitheater

Amphitheater

Amphitheater (they still have bull fighting here!)

Amphitheater

Cafe-whoever names the painting and artist first wins something!

Cool sign

Pretty vines

Ancient theater ruins

Roman colony=lots of carvings of Caesar

Look at all the garlic!!!! It makes my breath smell just looking at it

Fountain

Costumes for festivals. Lots of Spanish influence here

The next Tuesday was a jour ferier (national holiday-yay end of WWI!) Jean-Pierre and Viviane turn 50 this year, so they decided to have a huge party to celebrate with 50 of their closest friends. It was memorable to say the least. Jean-Pierre's brother owns a restaurant that is very famous and hosts Arab emirs, Russian oil barons, and US! We arrived at Notre Dame de Bellcomb, where Jean-Pierre's family lives, at 9:30 when we started with champagne and appitizers. We sat down at 10 and had the best meal I have eaten in a long time. I can't remember all the specifics (read: champagne) but it invovled wild boar, cheese, a icecream cake doused in Chartreuse and then lit on fire, and lots of wine. So good, but we didn't finish until 2 in the morning! When the party was winding down, James (J-P's brother) gave me a glass of something and insisted that I taste it. I looked at the bottle and it had a snake in it. The others had pine needles, flowers, and various other objects intended to flavor it. I'm usually picky about animals in my drinks, but this tasted pretty darn good.

All nine of the kids slept in an apartment in the village. Woke up at 11 and headed back to the restaurant for lunch. By this point my stomach was at the bursting point, but when you are at a first-class restaurant, eating for free, you can't turn down more meat, cheese, bread, and wine. All of the kids headed back to G-town at 4 or so when we finished lunch. Mathias was driving and he was going about 50 on hair-pin turns and swerving around cars who were going to slowly. I had fun, but Sabrina looked like she was going to puke.

Friday was salsa night with Vivien. Yes, French people dance the salsa..who knew?! The first guy that I danced with was about 6 inches shorter than me and around 40-45. I wish I had a photo, but next time I guess. After that, there were some more normal partners. All in all, it was definitely a fun night.

Cannes

Hello again! Sorry for lack of blogging but I was busy basking in the sun in Cannes. Vivien and I left Friday afternoon, and because we failed to take into account the sun setting at 6:30, it took about 6 hours to get there from Grenoble. It is a very rare occasion when I get car sick, but by the time we arrived I felt really badly. The road consisted almost entirely of hairpin turns and it was worse in the dark, so all in all I was relieved to finally get out of the car.

We stayed with Viviane's parents in their very small apartment. There was a living room, bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, which was the size of a closet. Vivien and I slept in the two beds and Mami and Papi slept on a pull-out couch in the living room. Their apartment was right across from a major highway so I slept very little thanks to the numerous sports cars that went past late at night.

That night, we were so stuffed after eating all the food that Mami forced down our throats that we decided to take a walk along the waterfront. I have never seen so many steamliner-sized boats in my life. The entier pier was filled with enormous yachts, some of which were decked out with helipads and underwater lighting.

The next day we walked around town and gawked at the prices in the windows of Chanel, Rolex, Versace, and many others. Just a few of the cars that we saw included Porsche, Ferari, Bentley, and Rolls Royce. We didn't see anyone famous, but it was the off-season and not very many tourists were there; however we walked past the place where the film festival takes place, and it looked very ordinary without the red carpet that it usually there. The market in Cannes was also really exotic; there was a bunch of seafood I hadn't heard of before and a type of salad called musclin that we ate a lot while we were there.

Saturday was Halloween, obviously, which I was excited to see French style. In short, it's not very widespread. I saw of couple of kids dressed up, quite a few broken eggs, and a lot of drunk 20 somethings at the bar we were at.

Sunday was the 23rd birthday of a family member, the primary reason we were there, and it was great to the sister of Viviane and her children. The birthday girl celebrated with lots of food and drink. The apero at the house was champagne, followed by some wine. We proceded to eat at a chic restaurant where I had tons of seafood and an ile flotante (I think it was egg whites on vanilla sauce but whatever it was, it was delicious). Of course the meal was accompanied by several bottles of red and white wine. When we finally rolled ourselves out at 3:00 in the afternoon (we started at 12), we had glasses of cidre and then three hours later, we had dinner with more wine.

I need to add that there was about four hours between lunch and dinner, some of which was spent at a casino. We each bet 10 euros which was gone in approximately five minutes. Definitely not my cup of tea; I don't feel like handing over my hard-earned money, and on top of that, the casino was full of senior citizens who looked like they hadn't left the slot machines in 20 years.

Side note: this day was really difficult for me because, although I enjoyed the company of all the family, it's obviously not the same as my own family back home. Everyone has included me into their family, but there are certain things that it's impossible to be included in.

Bref, the next day we slept in really late and then headed out to the beach because it was the first nice day. I decided that I had to see how cold the Mediterranean was, and if you could see my expression in the pic, it was fairly brisk. When we left two hours later, my shoes were full of sand and my pants were soaking, but it was so worth it.

The next day we headed out at 11 and got back to the house at 5:30 or so which isn't bad considering we stopped for a long lunch and a cafe along the route. On the way back, it was very lightly snowing in Grenoble. Beach and blizzard in the same day...only in France.

Package! and Lyon

Let me just start off by saying that today was not the best. I woke up an hour and half later than I should of and had two excruciating hours of translation and then I got back to my room and saw a package. Inside I had letters from 60 of the best girls at Albion--it made my day! Thanks so much!
As I explained earlier, my parents were here last week. It went really well; they enjoyed it here and the family and I enjoyed having them here too. Wednesday they visited the cavern where Chartreuse is made and they bought some bottles to take home and Thursday we visited some markets and had lunch at my favorite cafe. Friday morning we took off for Lyon which was about an hour away by train. I really liked Lyon, not as much as Marseille, but not bad at all. The hotel that we stayed at was in the shopping mecca of the city. I think the store right next door was Gucci or something like that, and we walked by the windows with our mouths open at the prices.

Just across the river was the Old Town of Lyon which was my favorite part of the city. It was all old alleyways and buildings-so cool. We wandered around town and went up to the cathedral that sits above the city and then headed back to the hotel early because we were so tired. Saturday we took a tour of the passageways of Lyon, which was not worth it because there were at least 50 people on it and you could barely hear the guide. We spotted a creperie while we were still on the tour and afterward I insisted that we go there for dinner. I had a spinach crepe and it was the best I have had in France! At night we walked along the river where the all the buildings and bridges were lit up.

The next day my parents took off and I checked out the Museum of Lyon, which was pretty good (and free), and some different parts of town. As I was waiting at the train station, I saw something very interesting. I have seen a great number of men of all ages pee on the streets so it doesn't shock me anymore, but for the first time I saw a female do it. There was a mom and her 7 year-old daughter walking along and then all of the sudden the mom stopped and pulled down the daughter's pants. The daughter held on to her arms and the mom grabbed the back of her legs so that she was suspended while she peed in the middle of street. I was thinking of taking a picture because it's hard to discribe, but I thought better of it.

When I got back from class today I was reading my letters and I heard something. I looked over at the wall ad there was the body of a mouse sticking out of a hole. It's head was stuck so it was squirming around and squeaking. I was contemplating smashing it with a shoe, but I'm a little squeamish about blood, so I went up stairs to get a bag or something to put it in. When I came back, it had just gotten it's head out and it was running around my room. By this point I was yelling and jumping around so Vivi and Cyriel came running down to see what was the matter. We managed to trap it in my cupboard, where it still is as I write this, while they are looking for the cats. I think I'm going to leave for that part.

Oh, I also had another adventure in food: yesterday we had eggs filled with chocolate. They were real eggs that had the yolk removed and then they put in milk chocolate. No one really liked it and it took way to much effort to get the shell off. Antonin tried smashing his but then all the chocolate had eggshell in it, so the rest off us had to pick it off little by little. The French are so inventive with chocolate-it's amazing.

This weekend I was planning on going to a rugby game, but a couple days ago Vivien asked if I wanted to go to Cannes with him to celebrate his cousin's birthday. Of course I said yes, so I will be doing that Friday til Monday. I am very much looking forward to warm weather (there's snow on the mountains here) and maybe some celebrity sightseeing!

I think that's about all the news.
A plus

Countdown to parents

Tomorrow my parents are arriving in Grenoble to visit me for a couple days before they set off for Paris and the Loire Valley. I am looking forward to seeing them but also a little apprehensive because Vivi and Jean-Pierre don't speak English and my parents are rusty on their French; therefore, I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of translating. They're staying at the house so when they're alone together during the day I'm hoping that sign language will suffice to get their point across. Vivi was telling me what we're going to have as their welcome dinner and she's planning to make a gratin with blood sausage. I'm not going to tell them until after they try it!

Just a random thing that happened today: I have hives all over my hands, feet and back and they itch like crazy. I have absolutely no idea what they're from, because, as far as I know, I'm only allergic to dust and cochroaches (it's a long story). I better not have developped an allergy to dairy products, because I wouldn't be able to eat anything that Vivi makes.

A plus

Mountains again

Yesterday I went on a hike in the Vercors Mountains with a group from school. We drove partially up in a bus and then we started walking. At lunch time we stopped at a little shelter that is available for hikers to stay in over night; however, there was a couple who had moved in permanent-like. They had 3 huskies chained up outside the shack and the dogs started to howl we all got shivers because it really sounded like a wolf pack. Inside the squatters had 2 more dogs, one of which was in the process of having puppies exactly while we were inside eating. It was quite an interesting lunch to say the least. Afterward we took off again to the top of the mountain and it was the hardest cardio workout I have had in a while. It was really difficult to breathe and the climbing was intense toward the top of the mountain, but the view was so worth it. You could see on both sides of the mountain which I would have had pictures of if my camera was working. The way back was more dangerous than the way up-which is saying something. It started to snow ten minutes in and the trees and ground were covered. Snow+rock=very slippery path. I almost fell several times and there were lots of people who actually did (no serious injuries). All in all it was about seven hours of walking and we figured about 6-7 miles. Let's just say my calves were a little tight last night.

When I finally got back to the house, I walked in the kitchen and all the girls were wearing dresses. Vivi said, "You've got a couple of minutes to change before they come." That was the last thing I wanted to hear at that moment becasue a bath and bed were sounding mighty good, but I ran downstairs, put on a dress, tried to make my hair look presentable, and doused myself with perfume. I ran back upstairs just as the guests were arriving and had time to ask who was coming to dinner before they (friends of Vivi) walked into the kitchen. By this time it was already 9:30, then we had an aperatif for a half hour before we even sat down at the table. All in all it was a fun night because Jean-Pierre went all out with champagne and fois gras, but I didn't leave the table until 12:15 and I heard today that the guests were here til 2 am. Needless to say, I slept into the afternoon today.

I forgot to mention earlier that I'm pretty sure there were bedbugs in my bed in Marseille. Luckily there were three beds in the room so I just switched to the other one, but it was an interesting sight. P.S. I'm fairly certain bedbugs are a common inhabitant of rooms throughout Europe so bring your anti-itch cream!
bed bugs

A Plus

Marseille

Sorry for my long absence, but the past week has been crazy. On Saturday at 6:30 am I left for Marseille for what was supposed to be a day trip with 7 other people. I was nervous to see what the city was like because it seems like everyone thinks there are sleazy people waiting to grope and rob you in the streets. This was definitely not the case; in fact, I liked it so much that my friend and I decided to stay another day.

So...what did we do? The first thing we did when we got off the train was to go to the old port, which is probably the most famous part of the city. The daily fish market was going on and the port was bustling with tourists and natives. I have to say, the seafood was as fresh as you could possibly get; there were some fish that were still alive in the crates so the fishmongers whacked their heads agianst the side of the table a couple of times and they were good to go. Also featured were starfish, mussels, rays, eels, and squid (I can't figure out how one would cook a starfish or a ray). We tried to get tickets to visit Chateau D'If (the setting for The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask)at the port but the jail was closed, sadly.

Instead, someone suggested that we visit the cathedral just outside the city. In the attempt to save money, we decided to walk there...bad, bad decision. Walking at a brisk pace it took over an hour and a half to get there. I estimated it was about 3 and a half miles uphill, not including the never-ending staircase of hell one had to climb to get to the top of the mount. The cathedral wasn't really worth three hours of our precious time, but it was pretty (see pics below).

After all that physical exersion, we decided to head to the beach. Best decision of the day! The weather was probably 80-85 degrees without a cloud in sight. It would have been perfect if it had not been for the wind. Ten minutes in I already had a thick layer of sand all over my clothes, body and hair and I'm still getting sand out of my ears today.

By this point the others had to head back to G-Town so my friend and I set out in search of a room. I was in favor of a hostel, but she thought that it was too dangerous so we settled on a reasonably priced hotel near the old port. It was on the fifth floor, which was great because we could see all the way to the Mediteranean. After checking out the room, we looked for some authentic Southern French cookin', but it was more difficult then we expected because we'd find a building and it would be a bar, walk another 50 feet-bar, another 50 feet-bar...you get the picture. This went on for about half an hour before we finally found someplace serving something other than beer that was not over 50 dollars a meal. I had salmon (see pic below) which was excellent and my friend had a seafood pasta which she liked as well; however, the seafood did not like her because she threw it all up that night.

We headed back to the hotel at 10:00 because we were so exausted from the walking. I had literally nothing with me for staying overnight: no makeup, no pajamas, no toothbrush. My friend, however, brought stuff with her because she had anticipated staying an extra day; she very sweetly offered her toothbrush, but I draw the line in terms of sharing.

The next day we woke up at 9 or so and headed out to find the bus for Cassis, a village near Marseille. We asked for directions at the concierge desk and were told that the bus stop was on a certain street by the newspaper booth, flower shop, and telephone booth. When we got to that street there were no less than five of each of those, so we asked five passerbyers for directions and got five different answers. We looked for 45 minutes before I walked up to a woman selling flowers, and without me saying anything she said, "You're looking for the bus to Cassis, aren't you?" I said that I was and she pointed across the street and explained that it was between the garbage can and the phone booth. There was no sign saying that that was the bus stop and no time table, so if you didn't know specifically were the bus stopped, you would've never found it. After an hour and a half wait, we finally got on the bus. The view on the way was gorgeous and the town itself was spectacular. The big draw to Cassis, besides the beaches, are the calanques. I'm not exactly sure what that translates to, but they were huge cliffs that dropped straight into the sea. We hiked out to them, but it was best to have hiking boots (I was wearing Converse and my friend was wearing flipflops) and our tummies were grumbling, so we headed back into town. We ate at a cute little cafe right alongside the harbor (see salad pic) and then happened across a pottery show where I bought four handmade coasters. There was also a store which sold 100% concentrate perfumes from Provence. I got lavander as a gift and, wow, it is strong; you only need a squirt to smell like an entire field of flowers.

Th next activity of the day was to go on a boat tour of the calanques. It was amazing to see them from the water because you can see things that you can't from land, like the naked sunbathers which we wouldn't have had the opportunity to see otherwise. Anyway, I went a little crazy with the pictures because it was so picturesque.

We took the bus back to Marseille and then walked to the train station. I ended up at the house at 11:30 pm on Sunday. Total miles walked=at least 15. Yeah, my feet are not happy with me, but it was worth it. How many places have 85 degree days in mid-October? I would so go back again, but for a longer period because there is so much to see.

Cathedral at sunset

Sunset in Marseille-the photo doesn't do it justice

the Calanques

The flag kept getting in my way, but I thought this was a cool picture

lighthouse at Cassis

We stumbled across a random game of Petanque. The old guys kept arguing about whose balls were closest-so adorable.

Cool old building in Cassis

Salad in Cassis=delicious

Calanques

The water was an awesome color of aqua.

A harbor in one of the calanques.

Beach in Cassis.

The Mediteranean!

Beach in Marseille

View of the Mediteranean in Cassis.

Cathedral in Marseille.

Same.

Chateau d'If! Doesn't look as scary as in the movies.

Marseille

Harbor in Marseille

Fish market. I have no idea what kind of fish that was but there were lots of them.

Salmon dinner-such presentation

Again I apologize for this obnoxiously long post.

Bon mardi!