Our weekend started much too early on Saturday morning, and most unfortunately involved the two mile walk to school with our rolly suitcases. Those poor wheels. Why Christophe can’t pick a more central location, I do not know. Anyhow, around 11h00, we arrived in Cassis, this little town on the Mediterranean Sea. We left some of the group behind who didn’t want to go hiking, and the rest of us took off with our backpacks and water into some of the most beautiful hiking trails that I have ever seen.
We hiked in the Calanques, the mountain range near Marseille. It was a beautiful day. The temperature was in the low 80s, and thank goodness, there was a light breeze. We climbed up to the top of a high ridge, where we had the most incredible view of the Mediterranean, of the ridges, of the little harbors below. I cannot describe to you the way it looked. I attempted time and time again to take pictures that could even remotely begin to display the landscape. But I guess there are just some things that I’m going to have to resign myself to not being able to describe. For example, the water in certain sections was literally blueberry flavoring colored. How is that possible? How is that imaginable? Well, it’s not, exactly. But trust me - it was blueberry flavoring colored. I can’t describe it any other way. And how am I supposed to describe the way the cold wind felt when traversing the barren path at the very tippy top of the ridge, and the way the dust felt on my face, and the way the sun played in the backs of my legs? *sigh* In these last few weeks in Avignon, and in France, I’ve discovered so strongly that words simply do not suffice some times... And that’s hard for an English major to say!
(See look, blueberry flavored water!)
(From the top of the ridge, looking down on the Mediterranean.)
Anyhow, after our actually somewhat strenuous hike in the Calanques, the Mediterranean Sea was welcome. We dove into the high waves in the crystal clear water, and we spent quite some time floating around, letting ourselves be lifted by the current and waves. My family knows that when I’m given the chance, I’m quite the fish... Imagine how stoked I was to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!
(The beach, clearly.)
Our hike and swim were tiring, so we spent the next couple hours laying on the beach, avoiding wrinkled topless women, gazing at non-wrinkled topless men, and chatting between naps. Yeah, I burned the back of my legs a bit, but I can deal with that. Burns go away, memories don’t! Ha, cheesy.
Anyhow, we drove next to the heart of Marseille, to our hotel. We showered and got ready, and before dinner, Jenny, Catherine, and I wandered around a bit. When we met outside the hotel, we discovered most ironically that we had unintentionally all dressed in color groups...purple, blue, yellow, black stripes...it was kind of humorous. Anyhow, dinner. SO YUMMY. I mean, I love Isabelle’s cooking and peanut butter and jelly. But it was nice to have a change for once. For an entrée, I chose Salade Niçoise, the traditional dish from Nice. Nice is right on the Mediterranean Sea, and tuna is apparently one of their specialties. So anyhow, Salade Niçoise has fresh greens, tuna, eggs, peppers, beans, and various other vegetable yummies. My main dish was, for the first time in like three months, chicken! I don’t particularly mind the quasi-vegetarian cooking of Isabelle, but sometimes, you’ve just gotta have some chicken! It was so tender, so juicy, so delicious. And accompanied by green beans and peas! Yay for vegetables! Dessert was, of course, equally if not more delicious. To explain, I need to give you a brief French lesson. “Fondre” is the infinitive form of the verb “to melt.” “Fondu”, as in chocolate fondu, is the past participle of the verb, and thus means “melted.” We did not have chocolate fondu...we had chocolate fondant. “Fondant” is the present participle (adjective form) of fondre...and means “melting.” Our chocolate fondant had a soft brownie texture on the outside, but the inside was still kind of gooey. The plate was rimmed with rich caramel, and accompanied with whipped cream for dipping. Loved it. With wine for our table, good food, and some of my favorite friends on this trip, it was SUCH a nice “last hurrah.”
After dinner, we participated in, uh...cultural activities! Saturday night was the French soccer championships, and Marseille was in the running. As the Marseillais are quite proud of their city and of their soccer, the game was a big deal. There were huge crowds in the streets, all crowed around giant screen TVs facing out of the bars. We joined a crowd, and we had so much fun. Each time Marseille scored, it was slightly scary, I must admit. But the atmosphere was so much more agreeable than the football scene in the US. And, to make the night even better, Marseille won!
(Take that, Palmer fest.)
As soon as the game was over we went back to the hotel and crashed - we had an early morning on Sunday! Sunday morning around, we came down to the lobby of the hotel for a breakfast of croissants, pain au chocolat, and café au lait, and then we headed out to Vieux Port to catch a boat to Ile d’If. On Ile d’If, one finds the Château d’If, where the Count of Monte Cristo was fictionally imprisoned in Alexandre Dumas’ famous novel. As I am a literary nerd and in the process of reading said novel, it was such a treat to see the place. Dumas essentially created the genre of historical fiction, and in writing the Count of Monte Cristo, he visited Château d’If and did extensive research to get the details accurate. Thanks to this, the actual cell where the Count was held was actually able to be identified. Of course, I stepped in.
(Château d'If.)
The very top of the Château offered a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea, the harbor of Marseille, Marseille itself, and the surrounding islands. We (Catherine, Jenny, John, and I) caught the next boat to visit one of these islands. It was bigger than Ile d’If. Most of the landscape was occupied by tall, barren cliffs, on top of which a quarantine for victims of the Pest can be found. We walked around the cliffs to finally find a little beach facing calm water on the Mediterranean. John went swimming, but we girls were content to enjoy the nice day and the sunshine. We didn’t stay terribly long, and we then walked back to the dock to take the next boat back to Marseille.
(Waiting for the boat.)
(Ya know, just walking along.)
In Marseille, we walked around in a deliriously hungry state for a time until we found a relatively cheap Snack Kebab. I ordered falafel. Yummy, but filling. John had to finish it for me. With little energy and not enough time to hike up to the Bonne Mère (the cathedral that overlooks Marseille), we wandered around Vieux Port for a time. We found a few other people, and Jenny and I took the famous Ferry-Boat of Marcel Pagnol’s trilogy: Fanny, Marius, and César, all three of which we have read in grammar class. It was silly, but kind of fun. On the other side of the harbor, we tourist shopped for a while (I bought opium flavored soap that actually smells really delicious), searched La Canebière for some cheap post cards, and then collapsed back at the hotel.
Sitting down on the bus felt good, and it was nice to nap a little before we had to hike with our suitcases back to our houses again. What a nice weekend...but a tiring one! Needless to say, I got very little done last night homework wise. Oh well. Today is a day off, so I can *hopefully* catch up today!
I hope everyone’s weekend was equally enjoyable. =]
Much love, and of course, many pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010684&id=1417500098&l=7454f8f9f6
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