Oh Gaud-I love Barcelona!

The trip to Barcelona began very early Easter morning. As we set off with our luggage and bags of Easter candy in tow*, we took the first bus to Avignon centre. As the gare routière (bus station) in Avignon has been under construction since September, it is kind of confusing to know where these international buses pick up from. After asking at the office beforehand, we waited in a little nook outside of the main road of Avignon, hoping that sometime within the next hour, a Eurolines bus would come to pick us up. As time passed, more and more people started gathering, making us feel much more assured, until finally the bus pulled up. The driver came down and instantly starting yelling directions in Spanish. As neither Alie nor I know any Spanish, we were left using a weird mix of English and French to get our point across. Nevertheless, we boarded the bus to Barcelona…. the nine hour bus. There was ample amount of entertainment though, all stemming from an older Spanish woman chatting up all the young men around her. There was clearly a language barrier between them, but even us outsiders looking in on the conversation couldn’t help but laugh along with them, as their tone of voice and facial expressions were hilarious. 

Finally, we arrived in Barcelona during the evening. We might have gotten a little lost in the process of finding our hostel… an hour later we arrived at the front door of Nikbor hostel, which had a sign attached saying that reception was next door at a different hostel. As we entered the beautiful Casa Gracia hostel and said we were checking in for Nikbor, we were informed that Nikbor was now closed. Inside, I felt an immediate sense of panic until the receptionist continued to say “But we have taken over all their reservations, so you have an upgraded room!” It was a blessing in disguise that this happened, we got a better room at a better hostel for a cheaper price! Casa Gracia is definitely one of the best hostels I have stayed at: spacious rooms and bathrooms, big common area, HUGE free breakfast, reliable wi-fi, friendly staff (minus one receptionist who was not always the nicest), and an amazing general atmosphere. Even the décor had its own unique style, close to a rustic charm. I would recommend this place to anyone visiting Barcelona, definitely worth every penny!

After a nice Easter feast (sangria included of course), we settled in for bed. After waking up early on Monday morning, we set off into the city to try to get to the Sagrada Familia just as it opened, hoping to beat the line for tickets. Walking through the city to Gaudi’s one of a kind cathedral, I was very thrown off. I had heard that Barcelona was a bustling city, some even said it was quite sketchy. Even driving in on the bus on Sunday, you could tell that this city is quite dirty and has some bad parts. As we were walking amongst the spitting rain Monday morning, not a soul was in sight and nearly all shops were closed. This was my first experience with Easter Monday, an extra day after Easter Sunday where many people don’t have to go to work and many businesses are closed. I was aware that France celebrated this but now, Spain is added to the list too. 

As we reached the Sagrada Familia, you could definitely tell that the cathedral was not closed for Easter Monday. With lines wrapping around all sides of the building, we found the end and began what we anticipated to be a long wait. Two minutes after, one of the workers announced that all morning tickets had already been sold out. It was 9:15am, 15 minutes after they opened. It became increasingly clear that if we wanted to go here during our stay, we were going to have to get our tickets online, which is exactly what we did for Tuesday. With a free morning, we decided to explore as much of the city as we could on foot. We walked down the street that our hostel was found on, Passieg de Gracia. This street has a great location within the city and is lined with many expensive shops, including Michael Kors, Prada, and many more. Whenever we walked down it, I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking down the Champs d’Elysées of Barcelona. Also on this street are two of Antoni Gaudi’s amazing casas. The first we came to was Casa Mìla. Unfortunately, there was scaffolding covering the entire façade of the building, and since paying 23 euro to enter was not in our budget, we just left our impression of this casa to be of the poster surrounding the building. The second casa along this street was one of my favorite things I saw in Barcelona: Casa Batllò. With the stone façade of the building almost looking melted and molded into bone like pieces, this was my first real experience seeing Gaudi’s art nouveau architecture and I was nothing short of amazed. I was also struck by the colors, the tiling showing a mixture of iridescent blue, pink, purple and green. Because this was always on our way to the hostel, I was happy that we passed by it at least twice a day during our stay.

This is all we could see of Casa Mila... boo!

As the Passieg de Gracia met up with the famous La Rambla, there was a big square connecting the two, called Placa de Catalunya. A big area, filled with fountains and flowers, and a big area for vendors or people to walk in. However today, as there were not a lot of people around, the pigeons took center stage. They are there every day, as I noticed afterwards, but since it was cold, rainy and Easter Monday that first day, I might have partaken in some pigeon running…. Then we continued down La Rambla, the biggest pedestrian street in Barcelona. Many compare it to the Champs d’Elysées in Paris, but I consider this street to not be the same level of chic that the Champs boasts. Even with the rain and cold, we walked the entire length of La Rambla until we reached the sea, and then turned around and walked it all again. With the awful weather, we were surprised to see how busy this street was – we were having to squeeze through people at times! Back at our hostel with pizza and easter candy, we took a well deserved break indoors for a few hours.

Just chasing some pigeons...

La Rambla

When we left the hostel to walk back to La Rambla, we were happily surprised to see the sun peeking through the clouds and the temperature rising. When we reached the pedestrian street, we were surprised to see it even more packed**. We walked to Placa Reial, where we were meeting for a free walking tour of the Gothic quarter. Since we got there early, we got to soak up the sun while sitting by a fountain.

Our free walking tour of the Gothic quarter was really amazing. We were able to see the Catedral de Barcelona, Santa Maria del Mar (what the locals consider the real cathedral of Barcelona) and the Jewish quarter. Our guide was SO knowledgeable and she really made the history come alive, even making some of us act out the events. Needless to say, it was a great way to see a part of the city that we probably wouldn’t have explored by ourselves.

Catedral de Barcelona

That evening, we went back to the hostel to have dinner. Casa Gracia allows you to make your own food using their kitchen or you can sign up for their dinners that they make each night. We decided to sign up for paella night, since we wanted to have some while we were here anyway. Although I had definitely had better paella before, it was a great cheap meal and we got to enjoy it while listening to live Spanish music (with an American classic here or there).

On our second full day in Barcelona, we woke up to cloudy skies and a chance of rain yet again. I was even thinking about naming this post “The rain in Spain does not stay in the plains” but I thought it might sound too negative. Either way, we set off to explore another Gaudi masterpiece: Parc Guell. When you enter Parc Guell from the metro, you have to walk up a steep hill. Several steep hills. Thankfully, they provide escalators for those who are not so physically fit. That’s right: outside escalators. Once you enter the park, you are rewarded for your hard work with a wonderful view of Barcelona. As we wandered through the park, trying to find where the entrance is to Gaudi’s portion, I couldn’t help but notice how massive the site was, and that the sun decided to come out! After paying for a ticket to enter, we were able to marvel at the mosaic tile work that covered the surrounding benches of the park. This type of mosaic work was called trencadìs and was specific to what Gaudi created. I was also amazed by the two houses at the front gates of the park, both looking like gingerbread houses with some type of marshmallow roofs. And who can forget about that impressive mosaic gecko?! I wish that we had more time to explore the park, but instead we rushed through it and got back on the metro towards the Sagrada Familia.

Learning our lesson from the day before, we bought our tickets online a day in advance. We went directly up to the gate showed our screenshot images of our tickets and were in the Cathedral in less than 10 minutes. Its that easy folks – always buy your tickets to the Sagrada Familia online! Anyways, I really don’t think I can describe in words or images how breathtaking this cathedral is. Still unfinished, it literally took my breath away when we went inside. The only thing that I did not like about it was the fact that you could still hear the loud jack-hammering and sawing from the workers still constructing. Even so, we sat for a bit and just stared around us, trying to soak in its beauty. Then we headed up one of the towers. Through the recommendation of a friend, we bought tickets for the towers to get a better view of the city. Now, those who know me know that I don’t like heights, so its not surprising that I was a little weak in the knees. Not to mention that the winding staircases from tower to tower are clearly just a one-way affair, leaving anyone to become incredibly claustrophobic in the process. I am glad I went up in them, but I don’t think I would do it again – got such a better view from Parc Guell!

Pictures don't do it justice.

After having a lunch of a churro con Nutella (couldn’t resist), we were exhausted. So, we headed back to the hostel to partake in another Spanish tradition: an afternoon siesta. One thing that this whole whirlwind travel adventure has taught me is this: traveling, no matter how grandious it may sound, is TIRING. You need to take breaks every once in a while. For dinner that evening, we decided to get some Spanish tapas. Taking a recommendation from our tour guide the day before, we went to Gasterea, a little hole in the wall L-shaped bar, which looked like it could successfully seat about 20 people. Mind you, we arrived at 7pm, VERY early for any Spainard to be eating so the place was quite empty. As we sat down and tried to decipher the menu, I think both of us wondered if this was the right place to go to. Then the friendly waiter came by and explained as much of the menu as he could, letting have some time to think. We ended up ordering MANY different types of tapas, including fried calamari, patatas romescadas and lots of pintxos, which are tapas that toothpicked on top of a piece of bread. What was my favorite? The sweet cheese and blueberry pintxos. I seriously could have had thirty of those  things. We washed our meal down with a few glasses of tinto de verano. To walk off the meal a bit, we took a nice evening stroll down Passeig de Gracia. It was beautiful to see all the stores lit up, and Casa Battlò as well.

Our last day in Barcelona,  we were hoping for good weather so that we would finally be able to spend some time on Barcelona’s famous beaches. When we woke up, we were not disappointed – sunny blue skies outside our window. As we went into the lobby for breakfast we noticed everyone around us with roses. All of a sudden, one of the workers came up to us and gave each one of us a rose and said “Feliz Sant Jordi!” Saint Jordi Day is a tradition in Catalunya, the region of Spain that Barcelona is in. Tradition says on this day, a man must give a woman he loves a rose. As this day is also National book day, tradition also states that a woman must give a man she loves a book. And so, in Catalunya on this day, anyone can sell roses or books anywhere in the city. As you can imagine, it was a busy day to be in Barcelona. Thinking back to Easter Monday, I would NEVER call that day busy anymore. Either way, it was an exciting day to be there, and amazing to see vendors on the street everywhere selling their goods.

We headed down past La Rambla to the port and the beaches of Barcelona. We decided to go to the most popular beach, Barcelonetta. Although it was sunny, the wind made it quite cool, a perfect beach day. However, I will say that this was not a relaxing beach experience. Just as you are about to close your eyes and enjoy the sea breeze and sound of the waves, you hear someone yelling “Masaje, massage!” or “Ice cold mojitos!” The amount of vendors on this beach surprised me and, honestly, really annoyed me. I am glad that we had some time to soak up the sun, but I prefer the calm beaches at home any day!

The rest of our last day was spent souvenir shopping and relaxing at the hostel. As we left our hostel and waited for our overnight bus back to Avignon, I couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved to get back to somewhere familiar. I really enjoyed all of the architecture I saw in Barcelona, everything Gaudi did was amazing to see in person. However, I don’t feel like the city was really for me – I’ll take small town Provence any day!

*Thanks Tammie and Debbie! (Our moms are the best)

**After reflection, this could have been because of two things. 1. The sun came out. Those Spaniards love sunlight! 2. It was 4:30pm. If you live in Barcelona, you basically are nocturnal, since the clubs don’t close until 8am.

Ouuuiii Pariiiis

Our trip to Paris began VERY early on a Sunday morning. And when I say early, I mean 4:30am early. We dragged ourselves out of bed, into the tight rental car one last time and drove to the Avignon TGV station. Though the mistral tried to knock us and our bags down as we walked into the station, we sat down and waited for the train to arrive. Once we boarded the TGV, we all went out like a light and three hours later we awoke to a beautiful, sunny Parisian day.

We decided to take the metro to the apartments we rented in the 3ème arrondisement, the neighborhood of le Marais, as it was only two stops on one metro. However, we didn’t think about early Sunday morning metro traffic and found the 5 of us trying to push into an already filled metro with all of our bags. Needless to say, not a good beginning to the day. After a little bit of walking and orientation, we found Dan and Brenna’s apartment. They were staying in a private room with a lovely French woman who lived right next to the metro stop. She was more than accommodating, spoke wonderful English and even proceeded to have a nice French conversation with me about my business living in France as I left the apartment. Finding my parents and I’s apartment was a completely different story. Though the host said it was “a 7 minute walk”, a half an hour later, drenched in sweat from carrying our bags, we arrived at the gate of the complex. After buzzing at our hosts apartment twice and receiving no response, I panicked and quickly found the number to call him. Just as I pressed dial, the door opened and a man said “I am Kevin” with a smile. He was clearly expecting a reaction, but as I was expecting a man named Alexandre, you can sense why I hesitated. We soon learned that Kevin was Alexandre’s housekeeper and he helped us with our bags and showed us the apartment. Once we got cleaned up, we walked back to Rue de Rivoli to pick up Dan and Brenna from their apartment but were greeted instead by 40,000 people running past us, complete with people cheering and bands playing for encouragement on the sidewalks. We had just ran into the Paris Semi-Marathon. 

Some where more prepared than others. Spotted: someone wearing a polo shirt and khakis STRUGGLIN'

After letting the runners subside, we went for a quick lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Jewish restaurant nearby. Having falafel was only fitting, as I had tried it for the first time in Paris on my last visit. After a nice lunch, we headed by metro to the Opèra Garnier where, after a little bit of time getting oriented, we got on a bus tour to explore the sights of Paris. As Dan and Brenna had only one day in Paris, we decided that this was the best option so Dan (who had never been to Paris before) could see as much as possible in one day. The tour began under sunny, blue skies and sitting on the top of the double decker bus seemed like a perfect way to be spending the day in Paris. Although near the end of the tour, the clouds came out and it got a bit breezy, I saw many things that I had seen before but with a new perspective from the audioguide of information.

Cheesin' in front of the Opera Garnier

Lovers in front of the Eiffel Tower

For our last dinner together, we stopped by a little restaurant on the walk back to my parent’s and my apartment called le Sévigné. I was not sure about this place at first, as it looked quite chic and as most places in Paris are overpriced for cold, unpersonable service, I am always hesitant to go to sit down places. This place totally changed my opinion, the owner being instantaneously personable the second we came in. Even though we were dinner quite early for a French standard*, he made a table up for us amongst the many people in the restaurant who there pour prendre une verre**. Though he greeted us in English, when he noticed I was speaking in French, he asked how I knew to speak, which led to the discussion of my living here, Provence and aioli, amongst other things. My family and I enjoyed one last wonderful meal together at this restaurant, filled with wine, duck, steak, baguette and dessert. As it was Brenna’s birthday that day and Dan’s birthday the very next day, we went back to our apartment and toasted in celebration with a white wine I had sneakily bought from Chez Sylla the day before. Soon after, we had to say goodbye to Dan and Brenna, as they were leaving early in the morning for their flight. It is always difficult to say goodbye to loved ones, especially when you don’t know when you will see them again, but it was so great to have them here that I will take the tear-filled adieu anyday.

Monday, my parents and I took an excursion outside Paris, to the region of Normandy on the northwest coast of France to visit the D-Day beaches. We had to catch a 2 hour train in the morning, getting us into Bayeux around noon with our half day tour of the beaches starting at 1. We thankfully had some time in there to grab lunch before the tour started, which I was not worried about as there is always some type of food at the train stations. However, our train had a half hour delay, getting us into Bayeux with only 15 minutes before the tour started. When we hurried into the train station to get some food, we were only greeted with vending machines filled with pop, chips and candy bars. As there were no restaurants in quick walking distance, we downed two twix bars each and set off to explore what Normandy had to offer.

The tour first started at the Pointe du Hoc, the highest point between Utah beach and Omaha beach where it was explained how the United States Rangers scaled the cliffs to assault the German forces embedded there on D-Day. It was amazing to imagine the courage of the men, seeing how far up that cliff was.

Next, we headed onto Omaha Beach, where our tour guide Elisa explained the strategy of the US Armed forces during D-Day and what problems occurred with this strategy, leading to unbelievable amount of casualties. It was such a calm stretch of land when we visited, making it even more difficult to believe the events that unfolded there on June 6, 1944. While we were taking in the scene, it began to rain a bit but we decided to tough it out. Only when it began to pour someone in our tour group suggested to go back to the van. As we hurried back, it began to hail little pellets on us…guess that was a good call!

The calm before the (hail) storm

The tour took us next to American soil in France: the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. The sun began to come out again as we heard about the making of this sobering place. From the garden of the missing (where the names of 1500 fallen soldiers whose bodies have not been found are listed), to the bronze statue “The Spirit of the American Youth Rising from the Waves”, to the over 9,000 marble crosses lined in perfect symmetry, this monument’s beauty is harrowing and really makes you step back and realize what people have done to protect our country. They also added a new visitor’s center which acts as a free museum about the soldiers and D-Day in general. Unfortunately, we just barely saw the center and had to leave – we could have spent a lot more time there. We got back outside to watch them take the American flag down and play taps, as they do every day at 4:30pm to honor the fallen. It was a moment that I won’t forget anytime soon.

The stones in the ground at the memorial were taken directly from Omaha Beach.

Harrowing and sobering.

To finish the tour, we headed to another area where German bunkers still exist, but these where different as they still had the canons in them. You could see how they canons had been hit from the attacks and it made the stories that much more real. Also, our tour guide Elisa is from the Bayeux area, living in Colleville sur Mer. When we asked if she knew anyone involved in D-Day, she said her Grandmother had been living near Omaha beach! She recounted us the stories about her grandmother living at that time. One that stood out to me was how she got married the year after D-Day and her dress was made of old parachutes, as that was the only white fabric they had readily available to make dresses in the area. Little details like that is what taking tours like this is all about – we were all very grateful for her insight and personal experience.

Once we were back to the train station, we decided to exchange our tickets back to Paris for ones that were two hours earlier, being too exhausted to stay any longer. So once again, we were left to have a vending machine dinner which consisted of chips and coke. But after hearing the stories of what the American soldiers sacrificed for us, this didn’t seem like a big deal. Once back in Paris, we grabbed some sandwiches quick and crashed the second we got back to the apartment.

Tuesday morning began early once again with a train ride out to Versailles. Although I have visited Louis XIV’s humble abode a few times, my mom wanted to go with a tour guide so we were off to meet this guide for a half day tour. After a quick stop to grab breakfast and lunch from Starbucks***, we met the guide, Sophie, and the other members of our tour group. While getting to know each other, the tour guide found out about my job here in France and that I had visited Versailles before and know a bit about French history. Although it was nice to have her information throughout the visit to point things out, I was surprised to find out that much of what she said was things that I already knew! Maybe studying so hard in FREN 3000 in college did get me somewhere! Anyway, it was a lovely tour for people that don’t know much about French history and the making of Versailles, I would recommend it!

The Little Chapel

The Hall of Mirrors

After we were done wandering around the inside of the palace, we took our sack lunch out to the gardens and soaked up the sun on a park bench. Although the gardens during the winter are nothing to behold when you compare to their beauty during the summer, it was wonderful relaxing outside by the beautiful pruned shrubbery.

Since we were so tired from waking early two days in a row, especially those days filled with tours, we headed back to the apartment early to make dinner ourselves and have a relaxed night. I relish in these times on vacation, spending time with loved ones in a place that feels like home.

Bon Appetit!

Wednesday, I tried to jam-pack as much Paris as I could in one day. First, we started at the Louvre. We went in with a list of things that Mom wanted to see, including the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Rebellious Slave, etc. We saw nearly everything on that list, except Winged Victory which sadly was being renovated while we were there. As I have visited the Louvre many times, I am always not only floored by the amount of art it holds in its walls, but by how the architecture of the buildings is an art in itself. Room after room, particularly concerning the ceilings, I find myself floored by the beauty. After seeing the necessary works, we stepped outside to enjoy some sun in the courtyard and take some pictures with the glass pyramid.

"Don't that ceiling ever want to make you cry?" (ten points to whoever can name that movie)

After a long search, we found Madonna on the Rocks. She was pretty excited.

Next, as Dad is a Hard Rock Café lover, we made our way over to the Paris restaurant and enjoyed us some great burgers for lunch. There is nothing like a big burger from the Hard Rock! After, we headed to the Notre Dame cathedral. Each time I visit this place, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of calm. Sitting in the pews and reflecting on things with the immense beauty of the cathedral surrounding me, I was surely feeling (and continue to feel) blessed. Plus, that rose window though. It gets me every time.

Crying. So beautiful!

To end the day, it was only necessary to take my parents up the Eiffel Tower. Knowing that we would have to stand in line for an hour, I got us there so I thought we would have enough time to go up, see the sunset at the top, come down, and see the first time the lights turn on. As we waited though, I began to doubt myself, as the sun was setting faster and faster. In the end, it was absolutely perfect. The sun setting on the city, casting yellow light on the white washed buildings, with a periwinkle, lilac and pink sky in the background, I cannot put into words what it meant to share that sunset with my parents.  I don’t think I have ever seen Paris so beautiful, especially from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and it is only fitting that I got to share that with the people I love most.

I could have posted 100 more photos that I took of the sunset and the amazing view of the city that night. But this one is my favorite, so beautiful!

HAPPY!

 

We got back down from the tower just in time to see my favorite thing in Paris: the twinkling lights that happen every hour after dark. I always get a little melancholic when I see it and this was no exception. After the lights ceased their twinkling, we headed back to the Marais, but not after first grabbing some take-away Chinese food. At first, I was a little hesitant. But let me tell you, that was some GREAT Chinese food. I would definitely go back! We settled into sleep before our last day in Paris. Well sort of. At 3am we were awoken by a young French woman who was screaming in the hallway and sounded to be knocking on our door. After listening closer, I figured out she was knocking on our neighbors door, yelling to let her in. Obviously intoxicated, obviously upset from being left on the side of the road, she had found her way into the building, where her manfriend obviously didn’t want her. The yelling and fighting continued for about an hour, and though it was scary at times, it mostly just struck me that I didn’t know what to do (call the police, security, etc). In the end the screaming stopped and we got back to sleep.

With that commotion, morning came early, even though we did allow ourselves to sleep in a bit. We spent our late morning touring through the impressionist art at the Musée d’Orsay. Always my favorite museum in France, I loved seeing these works of art again. What made it more enjoyable was showing my mother one of my favorite paintings, one of the Houses of Parliament paintings by Claude Monet, and having her give me a wide eyed look and say “That is so funny… when you were a little girl you used to LOVE this stuff at museums… that is so weird!” I guess my 4 year old self knew that I was a fan of impressionism!

After some lunch and some souvie shopping, we headed to the Champs Elysées to see the Arc de Triomphe up close and personal. Unfortunately, it is under renovation right now, so part of its façade is covered, but we still had to get the obligatory photo.

Then I took my parents on a small walk down the Champs Elysées, a necessary thing to do on any trip to Paris. Plus, I had something to check off my Bucket List at the end of the road – eat macaroons from  LADURÉE! After many trips to Paris, I finally made it to the Marie Antoinette inspired tea salon and boutique. Although crowded with tourists inside, we waited in line and took in the decadently decorated queue line. Once it was our turn, I picked out 8 different flavored macaroons for me and my parents to sample and, with a little mix-up of macaroons on the side, I left the boutique clutching one of those mint green bags in my hand, excited for the sugar overload that was going to occur later.

So much sweety goodness!

Obligatory.

Even earlier than the last time we got dinner at this restaurant, our last meal in Paris at le Sévigné started at 4:30pm. We had to return as we had gotten such great service the last time, and such great food! I took advantage of such a great place to face my fears and try what I have wanted to try for years: escargots! I got it with a side of fries, just in case I didn’t like them and needed something to eat. I needn’t have gotten the fries, the escargots were absolutely DELICIOUS! The chef had prepared them stuffed with pesto (a nod from the owner who knows I live in Provence and love pesto, I am sure…) and they tasted just like any other seafood, like a brother of mussels. I thoroughly enjoyed this last meal with my parents, toasting the end of a wonderful two week vacation. After the meal, we headed back to the apartment and had dessert, the LADURÉE macaroons of course!

one word: YUM

From left to right: Chocolate with coconut, praline, salted caramel, raspberry, marie antoinette (which we found out was mint), chocolate, vanilla, and lemon. SO SWEET AND SO GOOD!

The rest of the night ensued in packing and packing and weighing luggage. As our taxi for the airport arrived at 6am the next morning, we made sure all our bags were ready. After a short ride to the airport, my parents checked into their flight, we enjoyed one last breakfast at Paul, waited with me at the train station, hugged and waved me goodbye as I left for my train back to Provence. Because it was so nice being with them for such a long period of time, I forgot how hard it was going to be to say goodbye. With tears flowing at the station and my eyes red and puffy as I boarded the train, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the first time I took a train from that station to Avignon. So afraid of the unknown, nearly in tears out of sheer stress and jetlag. Now, there is no fear – instead, I am nearly in tears out of my heart being in two places at once: Michigan and France. I feel like all this year that is all I have been doing – constantly saying goodbye. I relish in the day that I will be able to constantly say hello, only ending with a small see you later. Until then, I have a 6 week teaching term, followed by 4 weeks of whirlwind European travel. I know it will fly by in the flash of an eye, but I must say that the prize at the end will make it all worth it: being reunited with my family and friends.

*It was 6pm, mind you. The normal eating time is around 9pm.

**Translation: To have a drink. This is quintessential in French culture, from about 4-7 is the time where people get together at a café to have a drink: coffee, beer, wine, etc.

***This is important to note: I had a blueberry muffin, which I have been craving for MONTHS. It’s the simple American pleasures in life.

An Aix-traordinary Weekend

All cuddled and cozy with my warm blanket, listening to the faint drops of rain and wind from outside, I am pleasantly tired this Sunday evening. This weekend, though packed full of events which left me tired, was greatly spent even though the rain tried to bring us down a few times.

On Friday morning, I went to grocery shopping and to run a few errands in town with Amy, which included a stop at the Boutique SNCF on the other edge of town. Although we don't have a train station in Apt, we have always been told that we have a train boutique, where you can go buy tickets for trains. As I had always done this online, the fact that this store was never open was not a problem for me. However, due to problems online, I had to resort to asking around to inquire why this establishment wasn't open. Turns out, it has been open for awhile, potentially all this time - I probably had just gone at lunch hours the time I had went before. Très bien, Becca. Anyway, now I am happy to say that all accommodation and travel tickets are booked for when my parents, Dan and Brenna arrive in nearly a month! What a big weight of my shoulders.

In the afternoon, I had my first private lesson with a boy from the college. As this is the lowest level I have had to work with here, it posed quite a challenge and I found myself having to use a lot of French to try to explain things to him. I also taught him how to make and use flash cards to memorize vocabulary, something nearly unheard of here. After a successful lesson, I walked back outside to beautiful blue skies, with sun peaking through a few clouds. As this was the first time to have had sun in a while, and would be the last time I have seen it since, it was a welcomed change in weather.

That night, Alison came in from Avignon and we enjoyed our first dinner using our new Crockpot*. Brought all the way from the U.S., we haven't had a chance to use it yet - wanting to make sure that the first time we would use it, we would be in the apartment the entire time it was on in case the voltage converter I bought was incorrect. Thankfully not, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner of sausage casserole with baguette and red wine.

Awaking at 5:30am, we caught the 6:30am bus to return me to my French home: Aix-en-Provence. Although this route was the windiest one I have ever experienced, making your stomach feel like it was in your throat at times, I was so excited when we finally arrived at the all to familiar Rotonde in the center of Aix.

Felt like coming home!

I wondered if I would have trouble remembering where everything was at, was worried whether everything had changed or moved, and even thought that I just might not recognize anything in the city. My reaction was none of these things: it truly felt like coming home. It felt like I had never left. I could recount instantly where a good boulangerie was for breakfast, my exact route I took to and from class every day, and where O'Sullivan's Pub was (our normal watering hole). I can not fully describe how this feeling of familiarity with this city has put me even more at ease by being here in a foreign country, but it has.

Cours Mirabeau.

Even though the entire day it was raining, and sometimes it was pretty cold, it did not matter. In fact, I welcomed this change, as I had never seen the city so drenched in rain due to the amazing Provencal summer weather where every day is sunnier than the last. We wandered through narrow alley after narrow alley, me pointing out various things I learned about the buildings or squares we visited. We of course walked several times down the Cours Mirabeau, viewed many fountains, and visited the Cathedrale Saint-Sauveur. Amy and Alison even kept refering to me as the resident Aix-pert.**

My favorite fountain! In Place d'Albertas.

We sat for a long lunch at Geisha sushi, the place where I first tried sushi and fell in love with it. Dipping in and out of shops during the afternoon to avoid the rain as much as possible, we ended the day with a nice long hot chocolate with a friend of Alison's who just moved to Aix. Although it was a long day, when we got on the 6:30pm bus back to Apt, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad about leaving this amazing city. But, knowing I will be back again, I will just say à bientôt Aix!

This morning, I awoke starting to feel a little sick. I think the rain and colder weather, along with walking around in it all Saturday, is starting to catch up with me. But, as Amy and I had a lunch rendez-vous planned with Cathy (my coordinating teacher) and her family, I get myself up and bundled up to head off to St. Saturnin for the day. It was so nice to be welcomed back into this family atmosphere, as they had me over for Sunday lunch when I arrived in France. This time though, I feel like I did much better with my speaking as well as comprehension. There is always mistakes you make, but I feel like that is the point of being here: to learn. And to learn from the French who also speak and teach English, I could not ask for a better way to improve my language skills. I know that sometimes this experience has allowed me to get a little down or critical of myself, but what is important is that I am trying, I am being confident in trying to put myself out there and use the language.

The hospitality of this family is quite indescribable. Cathy made us a full lunch of aioli, cod with vegetables and a homemade mayonnaise, complete with several glasses of white wine and a galette des rois for dessert. As I have had the opportunity to try many galettes during this January in Provence, I do have to say that Cathy's homemade frangipane King's cake was the best one I have tasted yet. To digest our food, we enjoyed a quick, cold, wet walk and then a nice hot tea with nougat while listening to Marc and his two daughters play bluegrass music. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and am continually realizing I am blessed to have these experiences.

Provencal countryside

*Thanks Dan and Brenna! We will be using it a lot more now, and it works perfectly! :)
**Forgive this horrible pun. And the one in the title of this post. I just had to.