A Weekend "in Aix"

We finally had a weekend without any big travel plans. So we skipped out on Friday and went to the beach in Marseille. The weather here has decided to skip spring temperatures and head straight for the upper-70s and 80 degree days. It's absolutely beautiful and I don't think I have seen a cloud in the sky for about a week. The beach in Marseille was really nice and we even got to play a little volleyball.

Saturday we actually attended the program trip. It's already paid for in our tuition for the semester, and this was the only program organized trip that we made it on (due to our other travel plans). We went to see a bunch of "perched" villages that are perched on hills. They're really beautiful and the towns look as if they are almost growing out of the rock. We saw Rousillon which is known for it's Ochre Footpath where the rock is orange and a gorge has been carved. We then saw Gordes, Brouillon, and the Abbeye de Senaque. The Abbeye is famous for the lavendar fields that are outside, but unfortunately it's not blooming this early in the season.

Today we went to the calanques in Cassis. The beach was rocky and incredibly beautiful. The waves were pretty rough where we were so we couldn't really swim. Oddly enough, rough waves and big rocks are a bad combination for swimming. It was still really beautiful. As warm as the days get, the water in the Mediterranean is still pretty cold. We went into the town of Cassis to get some ice cream and wander around for a little before heading back to Aix. Cassis is definitely a town I would love to spend some more time in- perhaps next weekend!

I just jumped off a mountain!

We arrived in Grenoble on Friday night and stayed in a hotel that was basically Malta part 2 (aka literally a one-star hotel that shouldn’t have had any stars at all). Instead of rugs for blankets, we had the slight upgrade to scratchy blanket haha. In the morning we got up and wandered the town which turned out to be much bigger than I had imagined, and actually really nice. We took a ride on the Télépherique-Bastille (a suspended cable car) that rode over the river and up to the top of the mountain just on the edge of the city. We had great views of the entire city and the Alps that surround it. There was snow on the mountain tops and it was a crystal clear day- couldn’t have asked for better!

In the afternoon we took a bus 45 minutes out of town to Saint-Helaire de Trouvet where we had made a reservation to do parapente (French word for paragliding). 75 euro later Allie and I were hooked up to a parachute, standing on the side of a cliff/hill with an instructor attached to us. Of course, all instruction was in French, so I was super nervous that I was going to do something wrong and then end up falling off this cliff and dragging the instructor with me. At some point he just said “run” and pointed to the side of the cliff. I just looked at him, shrugged my shoulders, and said ok! We ran and the wind caught in our parachute and lifted us up off the ground. The instructor circled us higher until we were just suspended in the air, pretty much sitting there and looking at the cities below us, the mountains all around us. After a while he let me steer and I drove in circles in the air. At one point he turned to me and said “tu aimes la sensation?” I said, yes! And before I knew what was going on, he was whipping us around in a circle, testing out my stomach for doing flips!

After the initial shock, I asked to do it again haha and then the third time that we did it we were practically flipping. I could honestly see the parachute below us; between us and the ground. It was so amazing (and terrifying at the same time!) but it was so exciting and I would definitely do it again. After landing in a field my body had so much adrenaline that I was just shaking and it took me probably 15 minutes to calm down haha. The sights were amazing and the sensation was like none other. We literally just ran off a cliff and parachuted down 700 meters (2300 feet) like it was no big deal!

I highly suggest parapente to anyone that has the opportunity, and if you can swing it, the Alps in the springtime is simply amazing. There is still snow on the mountains but the weather is in the 70s, perfectly sunny, and all the trees are blooming. Flowers and snowy mountains is such a beautiful combination.

Adventures of Marley and Me: Episode 2

We took another lovely flight through Paris Beauvais to make our way to Pisa. We stayed in a hostel there (our cheapest yet, without being completely illegitimate! Haha) that was actually pretty nice and had internet access. The designated creepy old person was in our room of course. I guess I have to explain that one a little bit… in hostels there is almost ALWAYS at least one person that is way too old to be staying in a hostel; most of the time they have been there for a really long time. In Madrid there was a lady that was in hiding while trying to sue the American government (this is the caliber of weird that we are talking about). So, in Pisa, the designated creepy old lady was in our room with her flannel nightgown, long string of pink beads, and hair cap that she slept in. We weren’t there long enough to get her story, but I’m sure it was a good one.

We took a day trip to Florence, and unfortunately got fined (only 5 euro each) on the train for not getting our tickets stamped, although there was nothing obvious to say that we needed to do such a thing. Once in Florence we ran into a group of four Americans that we had actually met on our flight and we decided to spend the day with them. We saw the duomo (the big famous churc) where we took our infamous jumping picture (and the others’ equivalent to a jumping picture: a pyramid photo, just to solidify our American-ness).

We saw the leather markets that were huge and amazingly cheap and then we wandered toward the river to see the Ponto Vecchio. It was a really beautiful day so we bought some boxed wine and classed it up on the riverside. Lunch was at an Italian restaurant called Zaza where we had some amazing pasta and really cheap and well priced house wine. Dinner, much later, was at a pizzeria that was fantastic even though the waiter tried to serve me a pizza I definitely didn’t order and was refusing to change the order until another waiter came to the rescue.

The next day my parents flew in to Pisa so Marley and I went to pick them up at the airport, grab the rental car, and drive the 2 hours through winding mountain roads to our Italian villa. It was extremely picturesque: stone walls, terra cotta tiled roof, pebble driveway that led up to the house through the olive grove in the front of the house. There was a pool and also a hot tub (where we spent plenty of time) and incredible surrounding panoramic views.

We ate dinner at a restaurant in the tiny town that was closest to us (not even really within walking distance, we had to drive). We were the only diners there and the lady didn’t speak any English. Generally we just pointed and she brought food. When we didn’t finish it all she took on the Mom Role and demanded that we must finish before she brought us dessert! She knew the couple that we were renting the villa from and then offered to deliver pizza all the way up to our house if we wanted her to!

When we took Marley back to the airport we stopped at the leaning tower of Pisa and took the necessary tacky tourist photos (yes I can hold this building up!) before heading back out into the country.

Pisa, Tuscany, and Florence especially were all really beautiful and the people were so friendly (and needless to say, the food was amazing!). I am so excited to go back to Italy at the end of April!