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

Coast trip to Nice and Monaco

We woke up early on Saturday get to the bus at 8:15am and began the drive to Nice. Stopped at a gas station along the way. If all gas stations were like that in the US, I wouldn't be as scared to pee during long car trips! Touch screen machines to get coffee from; fruit bread and veggies in the convenience store; clean bathrooms and showers available.

When we arrived in Nice we soon realized how crazy it must be to organize and orient over 100 excited American college students. Our generous chaperones were shouting directions to no one in particular, announcing times and meeting places as we scattered in all directions, and suggesting places to go after we had our minds made up. In short: there was a lot of commotion and confusion. BUT we still had a great time.

streets of Nice with the waterfall visible above

flower market

A bunch of us went straight to the beach after a casual and delicious lunch outside at a cafe in the farmers market. Unreal how cool it is to eat right next to the market. 

At the beach there was no sand; instead just many, many flat stones and pebbles. A bit tricky to walk on but unexpectedly comfortable. The water wasn't as cold as everyone said it would be. So salty though! We swam around for a while enjoying the feel of the water. I hadn't been to the beach all summer long! Had to go all the way to the south of France. Totally worth it.

la plage in Nice

After chilling on the beach for a while with a lot of the other kids a few of us trekked up to the waterfall. This was an incredible walk because it was up all these stairs that had been first built in the 1600s. They zig-zagged up the hill to the waterfall, which overlooked the town and beach of Nice.

stairs to the top of La Cascade du Château

view from the top

La Cascade du Château
and a rainbow!

We stopped at almost every landing and patio spot to take pictures and catch a breath. Because not only was the view breathtaking but all that walking was - whew! - quite tiring. I wanted to jump back in the ocean afterwards but we didn't have time. We did, however, see a gaggle of kids cliff jumping at the far end of the beach... Including as we later learned some of our friends! K-bird said it was some twenty feet down, super terrifying, but super exhilarating too. Some day....

view during our drive to Monaco

Then it was back on the buses to drive to Monaco and to our hostel. IAU kids have been staying at this place for many years and it is not far from the city center of Monaco. So amazing! It is set into a hill that slopes down to the sea and the entire place is overflowing with lush gardens.

our hostel location

We didn't spend much time here though because it was time to get ready for Monte Carlo - and not in much time!

Now I don’t know how they expected ninety girls to go from the beach to the casino with only an hour to get ready. In my room we had a crazy "car wash" style shower sesh during which we kept running in and out of the tiny shower trying to get clean in the shortest amount of time possible for five people. It worked! As crazy as it sounds we all showered, dried off, got dressed up, and were ready for dinner and the casino!

There was a "cocktail hour" in the cafeteria before dinner. With everyone standing around in their dress clothes at a hostel cafeteria, we were quite a sight to be seen. Dinner was good (and the company even better!) and then we ran off to the buses AGAIN (always running to these damn buses) for our ride into Monaco.

It felt a little bit like prom or formal since it was a bus full of kids all dressed up and going to have a good time. When we arrived it was 9:30pm (21h30). Before going into the grand casino, I walked around the back of it where there were some walking paths with views of the harbor. And there were a lot of big boats, which had dropped anchor for parties that night! You could see the flashing lights and hear the music from all the way across the harbor.

And that was as exciting as it got.

Inside, the Monte Carlo casino was huge, bright, and silent. Not the usual hangout for college kids. While all of us were dressed to the nines and looked the part completely, few people were actually gambling (not I certainly! I don't even know any of the games!) so there wasn't much to do or watch.

I ended up leaving to walk around and get ice cream with a few other girls. Haagen Dazs in Monaco is fancy!!! They had menus with fancy desserts described inside and brought everything to our table. Ok so I did get to be a little spoiled after having dressed up so nice :)

Eventually it was time to leave and go back to the buses and go to bed. Everyone was definitely ready to leave (like I said, Monte Carlo? Not that exciting when you're only 20). Once back, I just changed into PJs and fell asleep.

Le Grand Casino Monte Carlo

Sunday morning we woke up in time to catch the tail end of breakfast. After checking out of the hostel it was back on the buses (again!) and into Monaco (again!) for the morning. We saw the palace and the cathedral, where Princess Grace is buried.

Principality of Monaco

But the majority of time was spent walking around and having lunch. Almost everywhere in the city has a great view of the harbor and the sea. Such a pretty day and the water is so blue! I also got to see more of the funky vegetation that grows here in the South if France. Cacti, cyprus, fig, pine, olive, and other trees grew near many if the walkways.

streets of Monaco

After we left Monaco, we went for a tour at the Fragonard perfume factory, which is right next to the tiny, medieval town of Èze.

parfume smelling station. they go to one of three "nose schools" to become a parfumeur and there are only 500 "noses" in the world

along the Chemin de Nietzsche to get to Èze

I didn't know much about Eze and since it was 3pm (15h) on a Sunday when we went (for only 1 1/2 hours too!) I didn't learn much about it until I went home.

 

church bell tower

view from the town; cemetary in Èze 

carpe diem sundial

And then all that was left was the long drive back to Aix! I slept the entire way to Nice on Saturday so it was nice to be awake and see some more of the countryside. There is a decent mountain rage (Ligurian Alps) that you can see the entire drive. And the highway (l'autoroute) is very winding. Everyone else slept and I don’t blame them after such a late night and long day, but I wrote some postcards and got to see the southern French countryside illuminated in shades of gold bronze and green by the setting late summer sun. Tell me what's much better than that?

in Èze

Had a great trip and hope I get to come to the coast again soon!

xxo, S