Internet cafés don't understand computers should be kept cool.

So, I made it to Paris.

Apparently, I know enough French to yell at a taxi driver for intentionally driving around to waste my money. I ended up walking about as far as I would have needed to from the train station to the hotel, anyway. However, I get a good story out of this. So, I get into the taxi and tell the driver where to go. He starts mumbling something, which I think is because it's a short drive. Well, he finds a blocked road and drives around in a circle. A very traffic-filled circle. He then takes the longest route possible, and I ask him where we are. I was not happy with the response and then asked him why he didn't tell me what was going on. He got angry with me and started muttering in French, some of which I could understand and didn't appreciate. Long story, sort of short, I ended up walking with my bags, which is what I was trying to avoid since they are not light.

I don't have the time to put the whole story in here, but so far the trip has involved a lot of unexpected things. A lot.

I've seen Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle (from the outside), Musée d'Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts*), Panthéon (from the outside), Jardins du Luxembourg (garden), a giant concert in a plaza (that involved the French police taking out a guy that was covered in blood and the people involved rushing to get away), and a giant market (where I purchased fruit of questionable origins).

*The Musée d'Arts et Métiers was awesome. First of all, it was free. Second of all, it had a pretty much the history of invention from 1700 on, technologically. There were old cameras and old typewriters and other old things. I got really excited for the old astronomy and physics equipment, which there was a lot of. The crowning glory: a cyclotron. Yes, the super-nerd took pictures of the nerd equipment.

My hotel room is just about as big as expected. It pretty much consists of a bed, desk, chairs, and a mini-bar (which is currently holding my questionable grapes). The bathroom is small, but does the job. Thankfully, the toilet is with the shower and sink. I've missed that. Unfortunately, I again don't have a washcloth. I could really use one. That's not to say I'm dirty. Don't get the wrong impression; I would just like to scrub off all the suntan lotion.

I'll be back eventually, but not as often as I would like. Internet should be cheap, but it's not.
I also just saw that the exchange rate got worse on my ATM withdrawls. AWESOME.

Goodbyes are hard when you know you need to move on.

I don't have any pictures or stories for you today. I've just been spending the sweltering days in Aix. I go to class, eat, and find other ways to spend money.

I've been constantly reminded that I am leaving in about 40 hours. I don't really know how I feel about this. I'm going to miss some of the people I've met, but I'm going to have a fantastic time in Paris (how can I not?). It's weird; I'm sad, but excited.

There are a few things that I certainly won't miss, but I'm not about to sit here and whine. I'm very fortunate for having gotten the chance to do this, even if some of the side effects include sunburn despite a constant layer of suntan lotion and too much pig meat. So I complained a little.

The moral of this story is that this has been a good experience that has gone too quickly, but like all things, cannot last forever. It's good that it can't last forever because I could really go for some grapes and peanut butter, together. A grilled cheese would be nice, too.

Flames and soap! I dare you to give me a better combination!

I see how it is. No one comments when I don't put up pictures. I have bad news for you, unless I can find an internet café in Paris that has computers new enough to have drives for my camera's memory card, you're out of luck. In fact, you'll be lucky if I update in Paris. Oh, take that. Don't worry; you'll get at least one letting you know I'm still alive.

I think it's about time I introduce you to my favorite road sign in the world: The French Construction Sign.

The first time I saw this sign was on the tour bus four years ago as the bus was driving around CDG airport.

Naturally, I had to get another picture of the sign. I also have a picture of the English equivalent. I hope to see some in Poland, too. I guess I'm going to collect pictures of construction signs.

As I said, last night there was a big fire in the center of town. Who wants to see a video?!
Everyone likes a good fire. Yes, that's me saying "OK". It was painfully hot, and my friend was informing me she was moving back.




To go along with the video, I must include a picture of the pre-fire mound of flammable things.

Please note the outfits in the picture. Before the fire, the costumed people danced their way down the Cours Mirabeau. When they arrived at the Rotonde they proceeded to dance for around an hour more before there were some speeches, which I couldn't hear.

After much waiting, there was a great fire. Here you can see the fire behind one of the Rotonde's lions.

Naturally, I had been standing too close to the fire. I think it actually gave me a little bit of a burn. I still like fire anyway.

So today was the day to see how soap is made. It is a simple, but time-consuming process that takes nearly a month for completion.

My host told my friends and me that his family's soap factory is the last such soap factory in existence, where the soap is made the old-fashioned, natural way. He gave us a bunch of free bars of soap. Some smell, some don't. The coconut overpowers everything; and it's all I can smell right now. My favorite is the bottle of olive oil soap that I've been using here. It's fantastic. He was very generous with the free soaps. We probably got 25€ worth each.

This is my favorite machine.

Yes, I have a favorite machine. It was loud and old (like the rest of the machines in the factory). It cut the soap. First, it pushes the block of soap from the back and then from the side through some wires that slice the soap. It makes cubes of soap out of slabs.

After the soap, we were taken to the Palais du Pharo for a lovely veiw of Marseille and the sea. I have some pictures from the outside of the palace, too. However, they are not as impressive as the view.

We then were taken to Notre Dame de la Garde, which rests on the highest point of Marseille. The view was equally fantastic, but pales in comparison to the inside of the basillica.

Ridiculous, isn't it? Ridiculously fantastic.

This is the ceiling above the alter. The rest of the ceiling was a group of domes held up by gilded walls.

It's absolutely fantastic both inside and out. I was not expecting the inside to look like that at all.




Here's the outside. It's all white and grey with a glorious view of Marseille and the sea, naturally. It's also much larger than this picture lets on. I don't think it's possible to photograph the whole structure when on its hill. Anyway, this is the bell tower (there is a DRAWBRIDGE, too!). On the top is a gold statue of Mary holding the baby Jesus. They watch over the harbor and Marseille.

We then drove through the vieille porte section of Marseille (the old port, I put pictures of that up last time...we also didn't stop, so no pictures this time...the ones with all of the boat masts).

As for the rest of the week, I have no idea what I am going to do. Three days.

There are festivals involving music and fire here; I like it.

Saturday was the Fête de la Musique. I have to admit that I was disappointed. On the other hand, it was far too hot to go anywhere else. For most of the day I sat around listening to bad covers of bad American/British music. In sum, the event was really like a bad bar: drunken fools throwing beer bottles while listening to a bad cover band. It was a bit amusing to walk down the street and be completely surrounded by sound on all sides.

One highlight was an orchestra playing covers. The most amusing was Muse's Starlight. This song includes words like "live" and "blackhole". These gave the singer a hard time. Oddly, they chose to have a female singer...who pronounced these words as "leave" and "blah-hole". No one around me understood why I was laughing at that. The best part of their set was Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which they played without words.

Yesterday was equally boring as it was far too hot to move. I regretted walking into town almost immediately after I walked out of the apartment building. I took some pictures of buildings, which I'm guessing are boring to everyone other than me. I went in the Museum of Old Aix which is in a building near my school. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was still nifty. It's in an old hôtel particulier that is much better preserved than the one that my school is in. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure photographs weren't allowed. There were a lot of dolls and dishes from the nineteenth century. There are also these nativity sets, santons, that were prominantly featured. The amusing part of all of this is that most of these things were from Marseille, and not Aix. Close enough?

After that, it was far too hot to walk back to the apartment, so I sat in the cathedral for somewhere around two hours listening to choirs practice for a concert that night.

Later I had a conversation with an old lady who told me it was nearly 40°C (over 100°F). She then proceeded to ask if it gets that hot where I live in the United States. I confirmed this. She then assumed I was from the west coast.

Again, today it was far too hot to do anything, yet I proceeded to eat outside and spend money, my two favorite things here. I am quite excited because I finally went into the fabric store in town. There are some distinct patterns in the south of France, and I haven't purchased anything in them because nothing aside from the fabric itself caught my attention. I found the fabric and got some of that today. I have no idea what I'm going to make out of it. Probably an apron.

Tonight there is going to be a giant fire in the center of town for the Festival of Saint Jean. You can count on pictures of that one.

I get to go to work with my host after school tomorrow to see how he makes soap out of olives!

My Google Homepage indicates that the temperatures in Paris are to be about 10°C cooler some days this week (that's nearly 20°F different). That makes me wish I were there already. That doesn't happen until Saturday.

I drank a cassis and pomme (black current and apple) flavored Capri-Sun in Cassis.

Behold! I return!

Miss me?

I'll start with the fact that that heat wave that all of you had last week is apparently here (temperatures well over 90°F). There is not a single cloud in the sky and I needed suntan lotion just to walk back from school. Despite my best attempts, I think I got sunburn anyway. All I do is get sunburn. I think I may have "tanned" slightly. I don't like it. Maybe it is just freckles.

Moving on.
Tuesday night I had the brilliant I idea to go to town after dinner to watch the France-Italy soccer match. After walking around searching for a table for some time (there were many venues, but no tables), one was found off to the side of a café/bar. It was a table in a place with a television, so it was fine. The establishment was in a plaza that had several other cafés and bars with televisions set up, too. The crowd got really agitated at two events during the game, otherwise it was pretty quiet because the game was just bad. The two events: a red card to the French and the first Italian goal. I really would have liked to have seen the French score. Alas, I just get to say that I watched a soccer match at a café in France. I also had some kir, which is apparently Cassis white wine (Cassis = town on the Mediterranean Sea), cassis liquor (cassis = black current), and blackberry, raspberry, and peach flavorings. It's supposed to be a before-dinner drink. Oh, well.

After class on Wednesday I took an adventure to Cassis. A lot of other people decided to go there, too.

I swam in the Mediterranean. I was caked in salt to prove it. The water was extremely cold, but entirely worth it. I went in twice, which was a bad idea since the second time was around 5 p.m. and the temperature had dropped a bit already and the waves were getting more vicious.

This was where I discovered that PNC put a stop on my bank account because of international charges. That was especially fun since I only had enough money to get back to Aix. I didn't want to eat anyway. In reality, I wasn't alone, so I could have eaten if I really needed something.

Aside from having my credit card rejected, another fun moment was waiting for the train from Cassis to Marseille (naturally, the first train we wanted to get on was cancelled; I see a pattern). I was looking in awe as a TGV was coming from Marseille and headed for Toulon. The train à grande vitesse really is fast. While I was marvelling in it, another one passed in the opposite direction. I was probably about ten feet from it, and I almost was blown over by the wind it made as it passed. The near-stumble may have been in part because the train scared me, since I didn't realize it was coming. After that, I saw the sign warning of the TGV passing through the station.

In Marseille, there was a giant fire. The bus I was on to return to Aix drove a block behind it. All I could see were plumes of smoke exitting a building (no flames). I can't find any record of this fire.

Apparently, worldwide there is a music festival on Saturday for the beginning of summer. Here, the Fête de la Musique is held in the only park in Aix that requires me to walk completely across town (or nearly). I'll be attending that tomorrow.

The really great thing about Aix is that there are free concerts the week before and the week after called Musique dans la Rue (Music in the Street). Last night was some less than stellar world music and tonight is tango, but it's something to do.

With that, I depart with my hostess on an adventure that I have no idea what it is. She told me, but I only understood about half of it. I think the word for dance was used.

Today, Nutella-flavored ice cream.

Howdy. Let's get onto the weekend's events!

During the routine café stint during the break in class, some of the girls in my class told me that there was a performance tonight for which they had free tickets and had extras, so I was invited. Briefly speaking of class, I believe I previously mentioned that I was in the second level. I was slightly disappointed with that placement, so was the rest of the class. The school realized that we really should have been in the third level class, so for administrative purposes the class level was changed and I am in the third level, which is "Advanced Intermediate" or something. Anyway, I had plans for Friday night. I was told that it was a ballet. I got there and it wasn't ballet. It was modern dance. Like most modern art, much of it was abstract, and I was disappointed because I was really hoping for ballet. Regardless of that, I got to see a cultural event for free.

For Saturday, I ambitiously decided to make my own trip to somewhere in France. I decided on Avignon and Pont du Gard. These two places really excited me because the former is a fortified city, and the fortified city I saw last time I was in France (St. Malo, and I know I'll be corrected on that one if I'm wrong) amused me so much. The latter is a Roman aquaduct that I saw pictures of in my Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome class textbook (Mom and Dad, it's in Roman Art, which is one of the books I put on your bookshelf if you want to read about it.).

Et voilà, Avignon! Here I pretty much just walked around the city while eating and taking pictures. The bus left for here at 8:30 a.m. and one of the girls that decided to come along didn't make it to the bus stop on time. It was just one other girl from my class and me.

The tourism office in Avignon told us that the best way to do a trip to Pont du Gard was to leave around noon and then take a bus to Nîmes and a train back to Avignon since we had return bus tickets to Aix from Avignon. The kind people gave us all of the necessary schedules, and we were set.

Again, there was walking around in Avignon and taking pictures of the walls and the buildings. Nothing aside from the picture above really stands out enough to put it in here.

I must mention that if I were to move to France, I think I'd want to live in this city. It's beautiful, fortified, and not ridiculously expensive.

The bus to Pont du Gard was next on the itinerary. The bus drops off passengers about half a mile from Pont du Gard, but the walk is entirely worth it as you start to see the stone arches through the trees.

This is a first look at Pont du Gard.

My reaction to this structure was very similar to that of Stonehenge: taking massive amounts of pictures and being stuck there for several hours with nothing better to do other than taking those pictures and spend money in the gift shop.

Want another view of Pont du Gard? Here you go! I was allowed to touch this one, unlike Stonehenge.

After sitting on the side of the road for about a half hour waiting for the late bus, the Nîmes was the next stop on this tour. According to the train schedule back to Avignon, we were going to miss the first train, but the second one was about an hour later. There would be just enough time to go to the Roman ampitheatre and then catch the train after walking around the town a bit. It should also be noted that the girl that missed the bus from Aix called us to tell us she was in Avignon while we were headed to Pont du Gard. We would catch up with her in Avignon when we got there before the last bus left for Aix and ride back with her.

We got to Nîmes and headed right for the Roman ruins.

In front of the ampitheatre were all of these tour buses. I automatically thought "tour group". There were signs all around pointing in the direction to get into the whole thing. As we walked, I saw shirt vendors and people sitting around as if it were a concert. I didn't think they held such things in such places. While walking further around, some American tourists were encountered that clearly couldn't figure out how to get in either. They informed me that there was a Radiohead concert there tonight. One word: ridiculous.

Apparently bullfights go on here when there aren't concerts.

After walking around a bit more we walked back to the train station. There we found out that the train we wanted to get on in twenty minutes didn't exist. That's fine, there is another train forty minutes later that will get to Avignon in time to make the bus.

Unfortunately, the sign indicating departures showed that our train was a bus. I inquired at the information desk and I was told "Today, that train is a bus". I was reassured that it would get to Avignon 25 minutes before the bus to Aix was to leave.

After a long wait, the bus shows up 15 minutes late. The bus was also driven by the only safe bus driver in France, so the bus pulled into the train station of Avignon instead of the bus station as my anxiety was sky-rocketing because we arrive about a minute before the bus to Avignon is to leave, which would have been fine if we were in the bus station. Our friend was on the bus, but apparently didn't think to try to stall the bus driver. When we get off the bus we take off running, and I make it into the bus station just in time to see the Avignon-Aix-press pulling out of the station. I run after it for much further than I thought I could run, but the driver doesn't stop. The girl I was with was on the phone with our friend who was now trying to get the driver to stop. He said he would if we could keep up. He made no attempts to slow down. We didn't keep up.

Stranded in Avignon would have been alright had I not had plans for a trip Sunday morning. There were no more buses back to Avignon until the morning. The only direct route is a taxi, which is not cheap since it was over an hour by bus. I apparently have pretty good troubleshooting and thinking-outside-the-box type skills because I realized we could take the train to Marseille and then the bus to Aix because those buses run almost all night. Train tickets were obtained ten minutes before the train was to depart. While standing on the platform, the train that was to leave after the train to Marseille leaves. A minute or two later the departure board changes to indicate that the train to Marseille is deleted. That is the second train that didn't run when I needed it to! Fortunately, there are two more trains to Marseille on Saturday nights. The next train leaves around 8:40 p.m. (the bus left at 6:45 p.m.). Finally, I was slightly relieved when I found myself sitting on a train. We arrived in Marseille a few minutes to 10 p.m. Fortunately, I knew the name of the bus that runs between Marseille and Aix, so when I saw someone at the desk, I was overjoyed. She told me that there was a bus leaving in about three minutes, but it was at the bottom of the hill. We took off with more rapid motion and found the bus with a minute to spare. After finally arriving in Aix there was no way I was walking back to the apartment. I sucked it up and paid for a taxi. That is my fiasco. I wonder if the moral of this is that I shouldn't plan travel on my own. That's foreboding for Paris.

A few hours later, I was headed off to Luberon!

The first stop was Isle-sur-la-Sorgues. Here there were a bunch of water wheels!

There was the second largest market in France (second to Paris). Here I purchased fougasse that put Wegmans' fougasse and entire bread counter to shame as well as half a kilogram of strawberries. This was the best meal that I have eaten in France. All I need is some fruit and bread, and I'm satisfied. That is a surprise to no one.

After this was Roussillon, where my camera battery died because I foolishly forgot to recharge it the night before.

Roussillon is on top of a mountain and off to the side is a quarry of red, orange, and yellow rocks. The buildings of Roussillon are made out of this rock and are beautiful.

The rocks themselves make one wonder if they are in France. The colors were beautiful, and there was a hiking path, that I naturally had to take even though I was ill-equipped and full of strawberries.


This is for Renée.

I matched the rock. Had the color stratification been more rapid, I could have matched all of the colors on my shoes.

Commence the making fun of me.

After Roussillon, it was off to Gordes, which is another city on the top and sides of a mountain. I will soon have the pictures of this city when one of the others on the trip e-mails them to me, she kindly let me use her camera when mine was not agreeable. This is the single picture I have of Gordes at present. It is the castle in the center of the town. Here, like Roussillon and Isle-sur-la-Sorgues, there was just a lot of walking around.

Most of the streets in French cities are unpaved. Gordes claims the title for the first place to make me fall because of the uneven stones. I've stumbled, but recovered in almost every other town I've been in.

Finally, tonight at dinner, the little girl in my host family told me that they missed me this weekend. It was precious: Toi, tu nous manques.*



*For those that know French, a note: Yes, she used the present tense. She is eight and her homework sometimes resembles mine. Yes, that is how manquer is used; I was right the first time.

Mint syrup for pancakes and waffles in my drink?

My apologies dear friends and family for being scarce this weekend, but a phenomenal occurrance occurred! I actually had plans on Friday and Saturday nights! Well, I wasn't supposed to Saturday night, but we'll get to that (in a later post, sorry!).

Let me show you two images for now.

This evening, my host mother offered me mint syrup for my water and I just looked at her confused. Syrup? Am I missing the translation?

She whips out this bottle of bright green mint-flavored stuff. She pours some of it into a glass and then adds water. "I assumed you had this in the United States."
Do we? I don't think so, as I responded with my most-used French phrase "Je ne sais pas" (I don't know). I want a different phrase to take that title.

Anyway it was tasty, minty, and refreshing.

Please note a few things about this picture: the green drink, the candy bar behind the glass (bueno, with milk and hazelnut), and the ovalish white objects behind the nerd book. Those white objects are called calissons. I think they are delicious, and you will undoubtedly get to try these if you see me soon after my trip because I intend to bring a lot of them back. They're an easy "I was thinking of you while in France, but I didn't want to buy you something useless" sort of gift (so is Provencial soap). In other words, if you are reading this, prepare yourself for these things. Anyway, the candies are a bit tangy (lemon/melon), have sugary icing on the top, and a surprise on the bottom. Tasty.

On my walk home today, I passed by some interesting things. I'll leave most of it out, but THE SNAILS RETURNED!!! To satisfy Renée's request to see the snails, here is a picture.

They were all over the sidewalk, but I think the ones climbing on the mailbox were my favorite.

Anyway, it's late and this post is going to be insanely long if I recount my tales of the weekend. They'll come soon.

Once again, I am blown away by how old everything is here. It's fantastic.

I have to toot my own horn here, since I am far too lazy to e-mail or call the appropriate people to tell them this. I am a finalist for the Vanderbilt Prize for Undergraduate Research in Physics and Astronomy. I believe the winner knows who they are already after having read the e-mail again. Anyway, I get $500 and a free trip to Nashville if the award ceremony is held on a day that I am available. A nice big thank you goes out to the Harmons for getting me to apply for that award, too.

Back to France:
On my way to class I pass by some bushes. Amusingly, bunches of snails slime out from under the foliage and they and their slime are all over the sidewalk. The last few days have brought out some of the snails, but some cruel people step on them. If they were slugs, I'd understand. But the snails?! Instead of tiptoeing through a maze of snails, I am forced to walk through their remains. At least no one threw salt on them.

Not too much has been going on here. Class consumes the mornings, and I tend to walk around Aix spending money in the afternoon. There is a lot to see in Aix so I have done some more tourist-type adventures.

Roman baths:
Here is one view of what were the thermal baths.









Here is another view of the thermal baths. The fun part about the Thermes Sextius is that there is a modern-day spa on top of it. The Roman ruins were found during renovation, I believe. The same goes for the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix, which is the one across the street from my school (see below for my tour of the cloisters).

In the thermies, you can drink the water out of this fountain. Naturally, I drank it. It wasn't warm, which I found disappointing. I suppose it comes from a different source. I really have no idea.








On to the cathedral! This is it from the outside. Because the streets are so narrow I can't get a complete image.





Behold! Cloisters! I waited around the cathedral for a long time before the tour of these began because they couldn't find the keys. Anyway, all of the columns are different and at the tops of the columns are images from the Bible. It's pretty interesting to stand in places like the cloisters and the thermal baths and realize that these things have been around for so long. The craftsmanship is impressive.

Again, here are the cloisters with parts of the cathedral in the background. If you know anything about periods of architecture, you will note that this cathedral is truly a hodge-podge of styles. There are the Roman forum remains in the Baptistery that were discovered when renovations were being performed. The cathedral itself was started in the fifth century and additions have been made ever since. There is Gothic, baroque, Romanesque, etc. architecture throughout the whole place. It is quite fantastic to behold.

All of the signs for the thermal baths say "Thermes Sextius". I insist it's really THERMIES.

To start, I would like to mention something I was warned about before coming to France. The French don't clean up after their dogs. I was told this and just stored it in the back of my mind because I didn't remember seeing droppings all over the place the last time I was here. My memory must be failing me. Dog waste is everywhere (they even advertise how much money the city wastes on cleaning it up since the people can't themselves). I have yet to step in it (as well as be the recipient of a gift from the pigeons above). I knock on wood. The stepping in refuse is supposed to be good luck, but I'd rather find luck elsewhere.

I must mention the most disgusting thing I have eaten thus far. It was a meatball wrapped in meat. When I asked what it was "beef" was all that I was told. Well, yes, but what part of the cow? The outside of the super meaty meatball was probably the toughest cow meat that I've ever eaten, so you can assume what part it was. Please let me know what you think because I really have no idea.

Today I went to the Roman thermal baths, which is why this town exists. The thermal baths are called Thermes Sextius, for the Roman ruler Sextius who founded the city because of the thermal spring. The town was originally called Aquae Sextiae, and Aix is a contraction of that. I'll put up pictures soon of the ruins, but not tonight because I'm too tired right now.

I also had a candy bar called "Lion" that wasn't the greatest thing ever, but it wasn't bad: chocolate, krispies (think like the cereal), caramel, and a wafer cookie in the middle. Certainly not a Take 5.

For the last two days I have walked to the apartment in a thunderstorm. Fortunately, today there was significantly less rain and a truck didn't splash water on me as it drove by. The weather here is grossly humid and changes at the drop of a hat. I expected it to be sweltering already, but I guess that's the weather that you have in the US.

I have much to comment on, but it is late here and I have to get up too early for school. I'll fill you in with more soon.

I want to come home to crèpes and Nutella everyday.

Today was not the most exciting day ever. Most things are closed on Sundays here, but I managed to keep myself occupied.

On the Cours Mirabeau there was this fantastic antique sale. Last week it was a craft fair in the same place. The antique sale was far more impressive and expensive. There was much that I would have liked to buy as some things were just "old" and not "antique," but the practicality of that stopped me. There were lots of clear red things, but they were glass, and I didn't even want to think about the transport.

So today I walked around town photographing fountains (I'll save the pictures until I can point out where on a map they are to you). I walked around about half of the town and took pictures of twenty-five fountains. I know where a few more are. My quest is not complete!

At one of the fountains at the end of town I decided to sit on a bench. There were plenty of people walking by, and I was just taking in the view. Then Nikoli walked into my life. Oh, this was a real treat. He must have spotted me long before I saw him, or I would have gotten up to leave before he was right in front of me. This guy looked to be around twice my age. He apparently has a ban on deodorant and toothpaste. He realized I was a tourist (although he thought from England) and decided to tell me all of the fabulous places to go around Aix. I had probably a fifteen to twenty minute conversation with him in which he told me that I don't talk enough, I should not wear sunglasses so men can see my beautiful eyes, and I have a wonderful smile. He also offered to buy me a drink (this was around 11 a.m.). When I made my getaway he asked if I would like to meet up in the afternoon. Although it is good to practice French, I deemed agreeing to that a bad choice.

I had the best ice cream I have ever had in my entire life today. One scoop was caramel with pockets of the most delicious oozing caramel in the history of the world, and the other scoop was vanilla with delightful chocolate shavings.

I had a lot of goat cheese today. I think I'm done with that for a while. Same with the green beans. That's right parents, they serve me green beans and I eat them. Don't get any ideas.

The strawberry tart couldn't be passed up again.

Today was quite the good adventure.

All week its been four hours of class, lunch, wandering around town, dinner, homework, e-mail writing, and bed. All week. Life isn't too interesting.

Today I went to St. Tropez. It is the famed summer spot for celebrities, aristocrats, and people that otherwise think far too highly of themselves.

The bus ride took about two and a half hours one way, and the driver made mistakes going in both directions as we ended up going around several of the same roundabouts twice. I don't think anyone else really noticed. I got some beautiful views of the French Alps, but good pictures cannot be taken through bus windows. I contemplated how I found myself so lucky as to get to see such things. I didn't come up with an answer and just stared in awe. I can't believe people slept through that bus ride. The views only got more spectacular as the day progressed.

St. Tropez is a cute little town where I got some caramelized almonds that all of you will be lucky to taste if they make it back home. I got a lot, so there's a chance.

Here is the harbor in St. Tropez: fancy new boats in front of fancy old buildings.

Not too much was done here other than eat and walk around a lot. It is a beautiful little place, but I'd hate to be there during tourist season, which is not June thankfully.

After St. Tropez it was off to Cap Taillat. If you Google Image search this place, you'll come up wit a bunch of images similar to this one. I assure you, this picture is not a fake. This is just one of the plethora of the beautiful, peaceful views from the obnoxious, rocky path I climbed to get to the perfect little beach.

If I'm ever in the south of France again in warm weather, I must return here (or somewhere very similar).

This is my reaction to the cold Mediterranean Sea. I was standing in it with my pants rolled up. I would have had my bathing suit, but my host family assured me that the weather was supposed to be cold and wet in St. Tropez, as did the Internet. Naturally, as a result of the removal of my suit from my backpack this morning, it was a gorgeous day and only my feet got to experience the cold water. Most of you know me well enough to realize how upset I am that I could have gone swimming, but didn't.

I think I really enjoy putting bad pictures of myself on the Internet.

Also, I reassure everyone, I had suntan lotion on. Naturally, I missed a spot on the back of my arm.

After returning to Aix, where it was really, really cold all day, I got possibly the best hot chocolate that I've ever had. It came from the café across the street from my school. It ranks up there with the Venezuelan hot chocolate I had in Philly. The other food of the last few days that should be noted are all desserts, so I look like a pig. I had some mint chocolate ice cream, another crèpe au caramel, another strawberry tart, and probably a few other things.

Last night I told my host family that my throat hurt when they noted that I looked tired and ill. It's just a cold, rest assured. I walk around in the rain too much. The weather here is very humid, but cold. The warm days tend to be a bit on the humid side, too. According to my host family, I'm sick because I don't cover up my throat when I'm outside. I guess that's why scarves are so big here...? To alleviate my throat pain (because I refused the need to go to a doctor), I was given some warm milk with honey in it, which actually worked.

Je recherche les étoiles avec beaucoup de taches!

A public "Happy Birthday" to Dad. Either the parents were at work or out when I tried to call.
Lame. I paid $23.19 for 30 French minutes for the cell phone I was given so I can call home (specifically for this, Dad...). The guy at the store couldn't tell me if they were fine to use to call the United States or not. I am pretty sure there was no way I was going to avoid being ripped off, but I am pretty sure I'll get at least twenty minutes of US calling, which is more than necessary if no one is home when I call.

I came back to the apartment the other day to find that my laundry was being done for me, my room was being cleaned, and the pitchfork was hung up.

I just don't know what to say about this. At first I was afraid that it hung itself. Then it was explained to me that it used to be on the wall, but it fell at some point. I didn't get an explanation of if that's how it broke.


I really like this town, but I don't think that I could live here unless it's in this house:

Who wants to buy it for me?

It's in the "new" part of town. That just means that the roads were planned in a grid pattern a few centuries ago as opposed to the all-over-the-place roads like the part of the city that started with the Romans.

This could be considered a hôtel particulier, which just means a really fancy aristocratic home, not a hotel as the word is presently understood. There are a ton of these things all over Aix, and they're beautiful and old. Naturally, I love them. My school is actually in one. I often wander around the building wondering what it used to be like. I'll more than likely take pictures of that place, too.

How about some food? Recent delicious desserts include a raspberry tart and a chocolate éclair.

In my class we had to talk "freely" about something for around three minutes. I talked about my research. That could be categorized under "Bad Choice" because a lot of the words I needed I don't know in French, and no one had any clue what I was talking about. OK, the fact that no one knew if what I was saying was right or wrong could move it to "Good Choice" (note that everything I said was accurate, but overly simplified).

Saturday, I am going to Saint Tropez, or the "jetset" center of the Provence/Côte d'Azur region, as my hostess describes it (with that particular word).
Sunday, I will probably walk around the city taking pictures of the fountains. I hear that there are actually only forty of them. Don't worry, I probably won't post all of them on here.

Last night I watched Titanic in French.

Oh hay, look! That last post posted...not the version I wanted, but I'll deal and you would never know the difference had I not mentioned it. Nice job internet!

Anyway, I have a present for you:

I sat on le Cours Mirabeau the other day and watched traffic. There are these fun features in the middle of the road that keep some order to what's going on with the vehicles driving on the sidewalks and whatnot. It is most amusing when tourists encounter them.
Here we see a confused tourist that eventually figures out what to do and then stalls his car.



I wish the inside of the car could have been seen in the video because the driver's expressions were priceless.

I sat on that street again today and got approached by some guy that was looking for money for something involving children, candy, and bicycles. He didn't like my response of "I have no money" and took his flyer back. Well, I didn't like that he touched my arm and my back, so we're even.

The delicious food of the day was the strawberry tart I had with lunch.
Yesterday, I had a raspberry lollipop, which I described as divine.

The other exciting feature of today was that 1.5L bottles of water that cost 0.70€ were discovered. I don't exactly enjoy carrying around the gigantic bottle, but that's the best deal I can find. Since the tap water is safe to drink, it looks like the giant bottle will be reused.

I came back to the apartment to find that my hostess had washed my clothes for me. I win.

I found out what I got myself into today.

Today was the first day of class.
I admit that I was extremely excited for it, then I got there and met my classmates.

They are a special group of people. Some of them don't think that they belong in that class. Honestly, I was a bit shocked to see that I only placed into the second level...then class started, and it's going to be what I need. At least, I wasn't sitting there thinking that I am better than everyone else and asking pointless questions just to hear myself talk. Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing that happens when there are too many females in the same group: they try to best each other by any means. Unnecessary. You all know it's true. There is yet another reason to work in male-dominated fields.

There is one other student in the class who is there just for the self-enrichment, if you will, that I seek. However, when we introduced ourselves and said what we study and what activities we enjoy, I was the only one to say anything scientific.

I must note that the professor is fantastic. She loves teaching foreign students French and says that anyone that speaks English in class will be defenestrated.

The final aspect of class to analyze: homework. The homework is exceptionally easy, but reading and writing French is not where my problems lie.

After class, I went to a café and stuttered some fragmented French at the waiter. I really need to stop doing that...the fragmented French, not the eating. After lunch, I found some decently cheap ice cream, which really makes everything better (especially when I use one of those Lactaid pills).

Moral: Class is going to be a (good) challenge, but if it gets me down, I know where to find creamy goodness.