Well, after Amsterdam, I returned to Paris just in time for an expose in my History of Rock Music Class. This expose was all about the development of visuals in SF in the 1960's and it was a joy to research. I LOVE LOVE LOVE learning about the 1960's counterculture, especially from a more intellectual perspective. It went pretty well, and in any event, I had a fun time writing it. (Ask for my outline if you're curious, it's about everything from beatnicks, to LSD, to Jim Morrison, to high arts).
The next weekend, I headed off to Marseille, in the South of France with Tami, Matt, and Neema (aka the Cairo Crew). We had no Friday class (Again!) and had a lovely 3 hour train ride in first class! We arrived in the Beach Town and found ourselves in a lovely hotel room,which fit all 4 of us pretty comfortable, and was actually cheaper than our hostel in Amsterdam! That night, we headed out to a concert by one of my favorite electronic artists, MSTRKRFT, which was kind of our inspiration for going to Marseille that weekend. The concert was A TOTAL BLAST! The venue was in this strange gallery type place that had a side building full of graffitti art, one of my favorite types of art, and had a skate park/patio. We danced the night away to LA Riots and MSTRKRFT, and I had such a fun time.
The next day, we woke up late and made our way to a market in Marseille, picked up some grub, and headed to the beach, where we bathed in the freezing cold water and relaxed under the sun. The R and R was definitely necessary considering all the papers and exposes we've all had for the past few weeks. We then headed over to Old Port, and grubed on the local speacialty, fish stew, which we enjoyed with a nice bottle of white wine. I think I'm going to have to say that this was my favorite meal so far abroad. The stew itself was so flavorful--the perfect mix of salty, savory, and maybe even citrusy, and it complimented the tender fish quite well. What an amazing and authentic meal! Exhausted and full, we headed back to our hotel and chilled out until we feel asleep.
The next day, Neema left in the morning, and Tami, Matt, and I checked out of our hotel and decided to go exploring. Matt had heard that Marseille was known for it's cliffs, which evidently we could hike on/around. We all three decided to check them out, and Matt took the initiative to figure out how to get to them. First, we tried going by boat, but by the time we got to Old Port (around 4PM), it was evidently too late. Next, Matt had heard that we could take a bus there, so we all decided this would be a good idea. We found the particular bus that apparently was supposed to take us to the cliffs, and got on, but we were a bit unsure of what stop to get off of. Matt kept asking the driver, who eventually directed us to the last stop of the line, after we'd travelled out of the city into the boonies for about an hour.
To be perfectly honest, at this point, I had my doubts. We ended up getting of the bus in what seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, but I decided that the worst case scenario of continuing on our journey would be that we ended up not finding the cliffs, but went on a funny adventure instead. I'm all about funny adventures anyway, so we made our way in the direction that the bus driver told us to walk. On our way, we passed by a prison, some houses, and finally, groups of people in hiking gear--a good sign! Something important to note is that when we left our hotel that morning, we weren't entirely sure what we were going to do, so Tami and I were dressed in street clothes, and for me that meant a flowy skirt, tank top, leather jacket, spangled scarf, and gladiator sandals; not exactly hiking-friendly attire.
What's also important to note is that we checked out of our hotel that morning and thus had all of our stuff with us. Ironically enough, I fell back on bad habits before this trip and packed more for my weekend in Marseille than I did for Amsterdam and Cairo combined. But, these cliffs seemed pretty cool so Tami and I went into our bags, changed into our sneakers, and persisted on the road, that would eventually lead to some cliffs.
Finally, after about 20 minutes, we came upon an entrance to what seemed to be a hiking trail and decided that this was it. We headed up and up and up, luggage in tote, and found ourselves on a 45 minute (?) hike ONTOP (I thought it would be AROUND) of some beautiful cliffs. When we finally arrived at the top, the view was majestic. These particular cliffs were right above the ocean. Particularly considering that we really had no idea what to expect, we were all mystified, amazed, and eccstatic (and personally, I was quite grateful to have brought my running shoes). We spent a good chunk of time taking in the view, and at one point paused in silence for a few minutes to meditate, enjoy, breathe, etc. I think the only word that would even begin to appropriately describe what I felt at this moment was sheer awe.
I've been on a lot of hikes in my life, but I can honestly say that this was the most beautiful (and short!), so in lieu of attempting to describe it, I'm posting pictures. (see below).
That night, we ate some VietNamese food, checked out a fortress, and made our merry way home on a Party Train that Tami had inadvertently booked. This party train was quite hillarious, and consisted of a bar with a DJ and lots of middle-aged men dancing and getting drunk off of beer and Smirnoff Ice (a bottled combination of Sprite and Vodka, for those of you who are too classy to know), which I don't think I've seen in person since first semester my freshmen year. Tami and I decided to enjoy the night train in an ironic, we're-laughing-at-you-not-with-you kind of way, and ended up having a surprisingly fun time!
Marseille was amazing and a lot more urban and diverse than Paris, so it was nice to be somewhere that felt more like the real world. I actually really appreciated it and honestly think that if I had to live somewhere in France for a long period of time, I'd prefer somewhere more down-to-earth like Marseille, although Paris is ideal for studying abroad.
The next week, I had tons more work, and this past weekend I enjoyed some time off. In general, my life has consisted of picnics, trips to Parc Monceau, walks around Paris, and time spent with friends.
Last night, I did a presentation on California Wines and their relationship to French wines in my wine class with Andrea and Song-My, and it was a raging success. A few people told us it was the best presentation yet... maybe the chardonnays we fed them got to their heads! I arrived home to the remnants of an engagement party, which was a bit shocking, considering that I live with an older woman, but which was nice, as it gave me the opportunity to bond with her friendly grandsons and their friends.
I am as happy and as grateful as ever. I am really living in a dream. Please don't wake me up yet.
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