La Ciotat

Stu came to visit this weekend!!!! All da way from Prague!! So I had some fun showing her all around Aix and stuff.

Friday, we got our bearings as I showed Stu the typical stomping grounds of us IAU kids: Paul bakery, Brasserie de la Mairie café, Café de l’Archévêché, the courtyard across from La Cathédrale Sainte-Sauvère, the actual IAU building, Lavarene bakery, la rotunde, Cours Mirabeau, Parc Rambot, and where my homestay is.

Events of the day: get sandwiches from Lavarene and eat them at Brasserie de la Mairie café; walk around; have a bus adventure to Stu’s hostel (fail); meet up with K-Bird in Parc Rambot; return to BDLM café where we sit inside (something I sense will occur more frequently as the days get cooler); I go to un vernissage (art opening) at Musée Granet for class; get dinner with Stu; go out with friends!

So not only did we do a walk around all the sights, we also had a typical Aix day!

On Saturday, we woke up early and took a trip to La Ciotat. Just 1 ½ hours away by bus, the town of La Ciotat is similar to Cassis in being a small port town with calanques and small, beautiful beaches. But its port is more industrial and it’s a much bigger town. La Ciotat is home to the Lumiere Brothers, who basically birthed cinema as we know it; in fact, “Arrival of a train in a station” was filmed at the train station in La Ciotat.

Also, in 1720, the town apparently was the only one in the region to not be completely wiped out by the Plague, thus becoming the breadbasket of Provence and basically sole reason why civilization continued here. This is a fact that La Ciotat citizens are very proud of – as evidenced by their pirate/medieval festival on Saturday. It was called “La Ciotat: Il était une fois 1720” or “Once upon a time in La Ciotat: 1720” and featured people dressed up in costumes, showcasing traditional art, having gun duels around the port, playing music on boats, or simply styling their restaurant as an old fashioned taverne for the day.

washing clothes the old school way

modern street signs covered up for the day

practice tying knots! props to some old sailing skills i still possess :)

[note: i didn't tie these ones]

but this one i did!

also lots of local art on sale

the dueling pistol-weilders 

marina of la ciotat

musicians playing

We meandered the streets and checked out everything there was to see. Except we suddenly had to use the bathroom – with none in sight! Being the super sneaky college students that we are, I noticed a woman coming out of a hotel sidedoor nearby and quickly ran inside with a casual merci as I passed. And we were in. Thinking we were going to get caught any second, the hustled up the stairs all the way to the top – where we were let out onto the roof deck! We used the restroom, but also got to check out the sweet views from there. Then, just as smoothly as we got in, we left, and the hotel was none the wiser ;)

 view from the hotel roof deck

up for some hotel pool-crashing

Back in the midst of the festival, we got some sandwiches because they were grilling up a storm and it smelled amazingggg. 

Then we took our lunch on a walk to the beach. Like in Cassis, you have to walk along some random streets to get to the picturesque vistas, but it’s worth it.

little bro!

"armaments by hand, of art, that's all men want"

picturesque house

There are calanques or pretty little fjords nearby, like in Cassis, but they are difficult to get to... unless you hike for about two hours or take a boat. So instead, we hung out by the beach. The water was cold, so we weren't swimming, but it felt so good to relax and warm up under the sun.

 such clear, blue water!

delta zeta, throw what you know!

After chilling on the beach for a while, we strolled through the park, which overlooked the beach we had just been on. It’s apparently nationally recognized for its beauty and design. I felt like I was in Hawai’i or some other tropical place. Amazing either way.

palm trees + dark mounatin = hawai'i?

not hawai'i with cyprus trees!

 random tiki hut, anyone?

Having walked in the sun for the past few hours, we got some cool drinks at a stand near the port, watched some boats and people for a while, and meandered some more before getting on the bus back to Aix at 4pm (16h).

 best slurpee ever! in géant (giant) size :)

fishing boats

 look! 8-bit cthulu!

For dinner, we had Pizza Capri (two slices each. We meant business.) and then got dessert at a restaurant near my homestay. Stu ordered mousse au chocolat and I got crème brulée, both of which were so yummy. I keep forgetting about French desserts since I mostly have dinner at my homestay. But I’ve gotta get more!!! I’m in France after all! It wasn’t (that) weird to order only dessert, so maybe I’ll do that on the weekends sometimes – cheap Pizza Capri and rich dessert (but also inexpensive – haha).

Finally, after a very long day of French adventures, I went to bed. And the next day was Sunday, so I slept in – for the first time in a week!

xxo, S