not just a cookie

the next stop on the italian tour was milano. there seems to be a bit of a prejudice against milan among the northerners. all the italians i spoke to were curious as to why i was going there and were concerned when some friends were planning on staying several days. i can see where they're coming from, as the city is the financial center of the country but has little else that wouldn't fit in a day's visit.

luckily my stay was only one day and it was a perfect amount of time to enjoy the city. i arrived late at night, navigated the metro and then walked 20 minutes through a suburby type area to find my host. the next day we left in a hurry and it wasn't until i was on the metro until i realized that i had forgotten my tickets to the last supper. not only had i already paid (double-digit), but it was likely sold out and i was not going to miss my one chance to see it. after silently panicking for a moment i calmly realized i could just find an internet cafe to print off a new one. this turned out to be more difficult than i had imagined, but several unhelpful italians and a few euros later i had the ticket. whew.

my first view of milan proper was, fittingly, the duomo. (i shot it in several types of light - monet -style - but i think this one is a favorite) i always remembered thinking it looked very pointy in the slides/textbooks. in person i mainly noticed the flatness. the inside is rather unremarkable, except for a nice ceiling on either side of the nave. but perhaps i'm just spoiled when it comes to cathedrals. shortly after seeing the duomo i met up with another assistant, gemma, and her friend from home (in sydney). they're both musicians which meant that at random intervals they were likely to burst into song, talk about the acoustics of a particular building, or comment on the off-key busking. they made for very good company. we walked through the galleria (fancy shops with a marble hallway under a glass dome) and tried on sunglasses in prada. we also saw the facade of la scala opera house - not really even worth mentioning - where they had seen a ballet the night before. for lunch we popped into a cafeteria-style yet nice restaurant where i had traditional risotto milanese for a mere 3,50. this is what's wonderful about the primi platti - just as delicious as the main course but smaller portions and less money.

after lunch we parted ways as i had a date with leonardo. i arrived at the santa maria della grazie 20 minutes prior to my appointed time, as requested. i was told to wait an additional 30 minutes past my ticket time. in the meantime there was a small anteroom with explanations of the painting and its destruction/restoration.. all in italian. the english version was in the next room, where we spent about 30 seconds before being let into the climatised room. i'm getting used to that. the refectory itself is a large empty room, bigger than i expected. the painting itself is up pretty high on the wall and they keep you a good 15 feet away. even so, you can see how masterfully it's been painted. especially when you compare it with whatever nonsense is on the opposite wall.

after a quick look around the castle and its 5 museums (only 1,50 for admission to all of them) and the rest of the old city, all located conveniently in walking distance, i met up with gemma and matt again. it was gemma's birthday so we had a small dinner of delicious pasta and questionable dessert (the lemon cake was chewy..). this turned out to be unnecessary as afterwards we met up with a few french guys (one of whom she'd met on the train) who took us to an aperitivo. one of italy's best accomplishments, as far as i'm concerned. you pay 7 euro for a cocktail of your choice and then have your pick of the extensive buffet of appetizers. they had quite a spread, including gnocchi, polenta, paella, and even chips and salsa. as we were stuffing ourselves, a waiter came around with foccacia and then nutella sandwiches. i think it was heaven. in between platefuls we managed to chat with the frenchies. it felt surprisingly good to speak french again, and they even said i parled vachement bien. if only they knew how good i was at franglais. at any rate, this ended being a nice end to my stay in milan and a good transition to my final destination...

voila verona

in continuing with the alliterative trend, my next stop was verona. i left with another couchsurfer, daniela, in hopes of catching the first train into the city to meet two other girls and tour the city. the morning was interesting.. a sort of comedy of errors, if you will. we were dropped off at the train station only to find that the train had left ten minutes earlier. and the next train from this tiny station? three hours later. greaaat. we quickly decided to hop the next train to vicenza (backtracking) in hopes of catching an earlier train from there. when we arrived we happily discovered that there was another just 20 minutes later. we dutifully went to the track, awaiting its arrival. it never showed. no reason, just didn't run. so we were faced with waiting until 11.30, what we had been hoping to avoid. to pass the time and get an errand out of the way we decided to head towards an internet cafe. so we set out towards the city, luggage and all. the first place we were directed to (luckily daniela spoke italian) was closed on wednesdays. naturally. the next place had only one broken computer so we were directed to another on the main street. eventually we were able to get what we needed, but only after allowing the proprietors to make copies of our ID (apparently this is standard practice in italy). all this, and it wasn't even a tuesday!

at any rate, we eventually made it to verona, though we had no way to track down our other friends. daniela and i spent the morning wandering the city and only managing to find its most touristy locales. stop #1: juliet's house. obviously this has tourist trap written all over it, especially bearing in mind that juliet is a fictional character. it's basically a very old house that dates to juliet's era with a courtyard and balcony. some local entrepreneur took it upon himself to fill it with period furniture and film memorabilia and charge people 8€ to go inside and take their picture on the stone balcony. well done. additionally visitors have taken to drawing graffiti (romantic graffiti?) and hearts all over the walls and stairwell. the whole thing was amusing to see but perhaps not one of the more authentic corners of the city.

daniela and i walked through the city until the early afternoon when she had to leave and i met up with amanda, another couchsurfer, and a random italian man who had started guiding/following her. it was very bizarre. he just followed us, occasionally advising on where to go when we tried to explain what we were looking for. he seemed perfectly content and didn't blink when we would intermittently laugh at the strange situation. in this way we walked around the city, seeing its various bridges, castles, and piazzas until we headed back to the train station. nothing really stood out as remarkable, it was just a nice little italian town that probably has shakespeare to thank for the bulk of its tourism.

v for venizia

the second day of my trip i made it to venice, which had been my initial reason for going in the first place. i had planned on staying there three days but with the cost of the hostel i opted to couchsurf instead. if i hadn't i wouldn't have seen some of the smaller or towns or met any of the people i did so it turned out to be a good decision.

i got on the train early to enjoy a full day in venice. on the hour-long train ride i was trying not to notice the overcast sky and hoping it would clear up. italy once again came through as the skies cleared just as i was crossing the scalzi bridge from the train station. venice is interesting because on the one hand it's very easy to get lost, with all the meandering canals and dead ends; but on the other hand, it's difficult to go anywhere without running into signs that direct you to san marco or the rialto bridge.

i headed towards the rialto first where i saw the fish and vegetable market down below. on the way i passed all sorts of stores, some interesting but the majority peddling the same kitschy carnevale crap.

since i had been to the city before i didn't feel obligated to hit all the usual highlights and opted instead to visit the islands. murano, the glass-blowing island, was just a short boat ride away. i don't know that i've ever been in a place where the 100% of the stores sold the same product. the glass was fun to see of course but i was disappointed that i wasn't able to see more actual glassblowing. good thing i don't have a weird glass fascination or anything. after walking to my satisfaction and seeing a number of public large scale sculptures, i island-hopped over to burano.

the process was more strenuous than hopping; the boat ride was at least half an hour. but when i arrived i was not disappointed by the cuteness of the island. as promised, it was full of canals lined with colorful shops and houses. i had only a little over half an hour but i found that was ample time to eat my sandwich and explore the entire island - it's tiny.

boarding the boat to return to the main island i got my first taste of the carnevale madness. there were several people (generally pairs) in costume who seemed to be trailed by either personal photographers or very accomodating friends with large cameras. other people were surrepitiously taking pictures of them; it was a little strange. once we arrived i continued on foot towards piazza san marco, where i was hoping for more carnevale excitement. i was not disappointed. the square was beginning to fill up with people in costumes and masks. i'll say this for the masks: they are certainly beautiful and detailed but it is a little creepy to see the same hollow face everywhere. that didn't stop me from taking pictures, however. as far as i can tell the festivities (on an admittedly uneventful day) consist of people in costume posing endlessly for onlookers to take pictures. i can't understand what would motivate a person to do that, but i took advantage of it anyway. also there were three large bird/dinosaur/dragons on stilts, complete with sound effects.

once i had had my fill of the carnevaliers, who continued well on towards the grand canal and past the palazzo ducale, i begrudgingly paid 1€50 to go the bathroom (that's the "low season" price) and walked on. i wandered through the canals, popping out occasionally for a view of the grand canal at dusk. i also made one stop (and one of the few purchases of the day) for gelato. the flavor? nutella. how quintessentially italian can you get?

i wandered back to the train station where i came across the canal just as the sun had set and the lights were coming on. then it was back to vicenza for another dinner filled with home-cooked food, lively conversation and other couchsurfers.

veni vidi vicenza

my first stop on this whirlwind tour of italy was padua (sorry for the misleading title; i couldn't think of a good pun for padua). the highlight of padua was my first stop, the capella della scrovegni, which, for some reason, is also called the arena chapel. the chapel is giotto's masterpiece; the inner walls are covered with his frescoes. i waited in a climatised room for my fifteen-minute visit during which i watched a nice video on the paintings' meaning and restoration. as the previous group came out we were allowed in.

the chapel itself was bigger than i had imagined and the frescoes were quite impressive. you could really see giotto's skill in demonstrating depth and capturing emotions. before masaccio even. he's a bit like the cezanne of the 14th century. apparently he also used relief in some of his paintings, like with leaves or tears. the sequence of paintings is like a giant comic book depicting the life of mary and jesus. but honestly even knowing what was supposed to happen it was pretty hard to follow the order. after fifteen minutes we were ushered out and, i have to say, i don't like being given a time limit with art.

at any rate i continued on, being shooed out of the adjoining museum (apparently closed that day). i walked the rest of the city, stopping occasionally for interesting buildings or spectacles. speaking of which. well, padua's known to be a big university town; the campus dominates the better part of the old city. it's the second oldest in italy and galileo taught there. (i know, i know. galileo.) at any rate students are a common site but on the particular day i was there, there was some strange sort of demonstration. in several spots there were students dressed strangely covered in foodstuffs, reading from a poster in italian. at certain times they would have to variously drink something or get hit with something (likely more food), as well just generally being gawked at. (it was kind of like when dreiss wore a baguette on his head and read dali.) italian hazing? i'm still not sure.

i continued on, finding mainly churches - including sant antonio's. he's the patron saint of the city and receives all kinds of pictures, letters and general supplications. these things as well as the devout (who have no trouble walking through you in order to get to his tomb) somewhat overshadow the giotto fresco on the wall behind it. upon returning to the main squares i found a big produce market and nearby bread/pasta shop where i bought my lunch fixings. (i was particularly proud of myself when i completed a transaction in italian and gave the correct change - "perfetto"). afterwards all that was missing was a sunny spot to eat. i turned the corner and what do i find but a group of benches in the middle of a piazza. thank you, padua. (vence could take a lesson from this).

i figured i wasn't going to top that so i traveled back to vicenza. this is where the title becomes a bit of a stretch, as i did not so much conquer the city as walk around it aimlessly and take picture haphazardly. you can't walk more than about 50 meters without bumping into a building designed by palladio. some of the bigger estates are naturally outside the city limits and the biggest of these, the villa rotunda, does not open until march. so i walked until the good lighting faded and made my way back home. that evening my couchsurfer host and two other guests shared a meal of beef, vegetables, couscous, an omelette, and of course wine. it is nice to have a home to come back to, even if it's not yours.

lost in transition

so after my fantastic week in tunisia and less than 18 hours back in lyon i switched gears completely for a week in northern italy. instead of traveling with a great group of friends i was flying solo and instead of sometimes questionable lodging situations i was staying comfortably in real apartments with real italians (thanks to couchsurfing).

my vacation got out to a shaky start. let me share with you the story of my first night in italy and preface it by saying that i never claimed not to be an idiot.

i left lyon and arrived at the airport without a problem (the shuttle wasn't striking this time, thankfully). i went terminal three, a very temporary looking circus tent type of apparatus that's used for easyjet flights. the flight itself was very short and uneventful, as easyjet requires you to pay for any and all snacks. there was a really lovely view over venice at dusk when we were landing which, unfortunately, i did not have a great view of from my aisle seat.

i landed, retrieved my bags and determined which bus i needed to take to get to vicenza, my first destination. the woman was rather short with me and told me to get off at the train station at the "second stop". as the bus pulled away i was feeling pretty confident. hungry, but confident. we drove a bit on land and then across what i suppose was the lagoon until we reached venice. here all i could see was a parking lot full of buses and tourists as it seemed like everyone got off the bus. i got nervous and thought maybe the woman had meant the second stop including the airport as the first. i tried to ask the driver how to get to the 'mestre' station and he directed me towards the parking lot. i assumed the station was the big building behind it so i took my bag and walked on. first mistake.

i had an uneasy feeling as i continued towards the large building and after crossing several streets (with difficulty) it became clear to me that this was not the train station at all. i started to feel panic a bit but instead joined the tourists smushed together in a line for one of the buses. when it arrived i confirmed (once again in broken italian) that the bus went to the mestre station. i crammed myself and my suitcase onto the bus and hoped there was no sort of ticket involved. though i don't think a controller could have fit on the bus anyway.

we drove back over the lagoon (hmm..) and at one of the stops the nice old italian man directed me to get off and walk back towards the train station just after the overpass. i clumsily thanked him and got off in search of the train station. i had thought i knew where it was but upon doubling back i found myself stuck in a parking garage and then walking down a seedy-looking street. i gave up and turned back around and crossed the overpass back to where i had started. at this point i thought it best to try to ask someone, which i probably should have done in the first place (second mistake.) i was directed to follow the street i was on, which was parallel to the street i had been on before except that it was in a 'not so good area'. whoops.

eventually i did find the train station and even after all that i still just missed the train by about 2 minutes. the next train? not for another hour and a half. ouch. luckily there was a waiting room where i was able to sit and watch all the colorful italians. i really think they might have more crazies per capita than any other country.

i was worried about being late for my couchsurfer but it wasn't a problem and as it turned out he picked me up at the same time as another girl (from peru) and we were taken to a group dinner at a local restaurant. most people were just ordering so i wasn't even late. i comforted myself with a delicious, authentic italian pizza and good conversation. benvenuto indeed.

desert-ed

our main objective in coming to douz was to visit the desert. we left with our guide, zou, at about 2 in the afternoon, when the saharan sun was still high and bright. we took a van from the center of town to the outskirts where we met our camels. they were loaded up with our stuff, and then we jumped on ourselves. and when i say jump, i mean we hoisted ourselves over the layers of blankets and held on for dear life as the camel lurched forward and back. the extra joint in their leg makes the process rather interesting.

we continued on in pairs, with my camel at the lead. his name is amir, incidentally, which means king. we learned a bit about our camels during our two-hour trek. firstly, if left to their own devices, they will eat any vegetation in sight. secondly, camels have a very interesting mating practice. and apparently mating season is december-february. it consists of them sticking a big, lumpy tongue-like object out of their mouths and make a gross gurgling noise that sounds something like jabba the hut swallowing. no spitting, though.

the camel ride itself was rather uncomfortable but not altogether unpleasant. we were really enjoying the hot desert sun and exploring the terrain. once you leave civilization, the expanse of empty land is quite impressive. the white sand was different than the red sands of morocco.

when we arrived at our campsite, we were asked to gather brush and sticks for firewood. once our guides got the fire going we took it upon ourselves to play in the desert, walking around barefoot, jumping off dunes and making fun silhouettes when the sun went down.

once our dinner (couscous with vegetables and lamb) was prepared we gathered around the campfire for traditional (or maybe current top 40) tunisian songs accompanied by zou on the drum. once the stars came out we heard about the constellations over a dessert of oranges and tea. we ended the night with more songs and jokes until the moon came up and we were too tired to stay awake.

we retired to our tents, two people in each. the one that jasmine and i shared had a broken flap so we were instead given zou's paper-thin dress/shirt as a covering. even with our four thick blankets and my nice warm socks it was a long, cold night. we woke up several times, waiting for the sun to come up. this was not made any easier by the prospect of going to the bathroom out in the cold. "the sun comes up at about 5 right?" more like 7.30. it was the longest awaited sunrise of my life. wow.

when it was finally light outside we gathered around the fire and sat in a stupor, wrapped in our blankets. dazed and still cold, we watched as zou's partner (mufta?) stoked the fire and made delicious desert bread out of just flour, water and salt that he baked right in the sand under the hot embers. it was delicious and filling. after we had eaten our fill of sand bread (surprisingly sand-free) we remounted our camels and continued back to douz. our camels were lively, making plenty of disgusting noises (some of which i'm convinced lucas must have been inspired by).

it was quite an experience, and i think we were all glad we had done it. plus now whenever i have to do something i don't want to do, i tell myself, 'i peed in the desert; i can do anything.'

hammaming it up

our next destination was the small town of douz, which was the most remote and least touristy of the cities we visited. one of the most memorable experiences in this little town was our visit to the hammam, essentially a public bathhouse. men and woman visit separately (for obvious reasons) and after vince explained his trip there we thought we knew what to expect..

we arrived in the morning, when the women usually visit. we were directed into the first room, which is lined with lockers for clothes. this is why we were somewhat surprised when a woman came in and motioned for us to give her our clothes to put outside (?). we reluctantly obeyed. slowly we undressed and continued on to the back room (the first room) in our underwear. this room was what vince described to us as "the rainforest", basically a giant sauna where the women use scalding hot water to scrub themselves. we quickly realized we were the only ones who were not half naked so.. doing as the locals do we decided to follow suit. (it was awkward for us at first but as you'll see by the end, we quickly got over that.) this ended up being a good decision, as we were covered in sweat within a few minutes.

once we had stayed in the rainforest as long we could stand it, one of the hammam ladies ushered us into the next room where we were expecting our massages (as per vince's description). the woman asked who was first and we graciously volunteered paloma. we quickly learned that it was not a massage so much as a complete bathing. the women treated us like giant babies, washing us quite literally from head to toe. they had no shame, setting us on their laps or pulling our underwear this way and that. they scrubbed us until our skin was raw; jasmine's right arm was red for several days afterwards.

after the scrubdown (not rubdown), we went to the individual showers to soap up and wash our hair. this we did by pouring water from buckets. after the hammam ladies (with whom we had become fast friends) asked for our shampoos and body gels we went back to retrieve our clothes and redress. in the meantime another girl came by offering putting makeup on us. we kind of felt like giant baby dolls. we were still damp as we left the hammam and went back into the cool morning air. as they say, it's harder to leave the hammam than to go in. but we definitely felt refreshed and our skin felt cleaner and lighter. probably because we left half of it on the hammam floor.

kairouan, southern sun

the next stop was kairouan, which i had pretty high expectations for. it is, after all, the 4th holiest city of islam and home to one of the world's oldest mosques. in addition it's called the "city of fifty mosques." as we arrived in town we were greeted by many shops with cow's heads hanging in the window. (not particularly shocking after seeing goats' heads and cows' hooves in the markets in tunis).

we enjoyed walking around in the warm southern sun and exploring the winding streets of the old town. i suppose the streets were very similar to the other towns we had been to - simple white walls with colorful doors and windows - but somehow it seemed less touristy and more 'real'. eventually we made it to the great mosque which we weren't able to go inside (we had just missed its open hours) but had a lovely view of from a nearby terrace. we stayed at the store to be polite, and for a nice carpet show with tea. kairouan being the carpet capital of tunisia, we were able to see some beautiful silks as well as big berber rugs. we were all enjoying ourselves but jasmine's enthusiasm was apparent - particularly when she lunged for the carpets, fingers splayed. needless to say she ended up spending a little dinaro (ha) there. not one, but two rugs! they were beautiful, of course. somehow as we came back we found ourselves in another carpet store where paloma and vince bought rugs as well.

we returned to our hotel, right next to the medina. it was a splurge at 13 dinar (around 7 euro) for our private room. its best feature was the open rooftop which we decided to take advantage of. we went up just before dusk with the idea of spreading out on our rugs and enjoying our hookah and pastries as the sun went down. we had some issues setting up the hookah - it turned into a 2-hour ordeal of replacing parts and finding a working lighter.

but in the meantime we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and watched as the lights went up in the medina during the call to prayer. we waited until the stars came out before we went out for a dinner of 2 dinar chapati (omelette, tuna and veggies in a pita) during which we were invited into what we think was a living room and serenaded by american hip hop music. a fun ending to our nice evening.

pas de soussis

our next stop in tunisia was the seaside town of sousse (pronounced soussa), which we got to via the preferred mode of transportation, shared taxi or 'louage'. basically you wait until a van fills up with enough people to go to your destination. seems sensible enough though as we discovered it takes patience.

sousse itself wasn't terribly impressive - sort of a beach resort town - but we still had a good time exploring the old city and, naturally, the markets. after a long lunch, accompanied by a creepy yanni tribute concert, we walked along the beach and enjoyed the other side of the mediterranean. we continued on until we reached the walls of the medina where we found the ribat which translates approximately to fortress. from there we had a nice view of the city and the port below. it reminded me quite a bit of the medieval castles i've been to in england.

we continued wandering the rest of the medina, finding the souqs (markets) much less overwhelming than in tunis. this must have showed because we all walked away with some kind of big purchase - poufs (leather ottoman), carpets, spices, brass plates, all kinds of little wonders. the best purchase by far, however, was made by paloma. it can best be described as a diaper dress -it has a long piece of cloth that goes under your legs and comes back over your shoulders. she insisted she was only trying on clothes for jasmine to see which is why we were all stunned when she walked out of the store with the weirdest thing she had tried on. it did make for a lot of fun jokes though.

around dusk, just after the call to prayer we bought a sampling of pastries and wandered back to the new part of town where we hoped to find a nice place to sit along the water. once we got to the water we were greeted by a stunning view of the full moon coming up over the water and, just around the corner, a perfect little seaside cafe for tea and hookah. i had a delicious pine nut tea and we sampled/devoured the pastries we had bought. it was a nice end to a nice day.

ruined?

our second full day in africa was spent outside tunis in the neighboring towns of carthage and sidi bu said. we were hopeful because the skies had cleared and we could see some blue. we set out for the train station, about a 15 minute walk. we reached it and were first directed to the metro across the street and then to the other train station across town. we were told to continue on and follow the tracks. we did, and they led us to a part of town i doubt we would have seen otherwise. along the way we saw lots of jackhammering/construction, empty restaurants, a dead dog (yeah, sorry), and an old couple wading through a small flood in their street. we were literally walking on the tracks and eventually we did approach the train station, though likely not how most people do. when we got there we realized we could have taken the major boulevard the entire way down. but we preferred our scenic route anyway.

the train to carthage, which was really more of a metro but sounded like a car, got us there in about half an hour. and our first site in this ancient city? monoprix. nothing like a french convenience store to put you in the old world mindset. at any rate we continued on to the site of the basilica (not the basilisk, as jasmine referred to it) where we found the remains of a church and some (authentic?) mosaics which we did not disturb at all. ahem. the highlight of carthage was probably when jasmine and i decided to 'translate' the historic guide we were given by making up a history of our own. the best part was when vince took a picture of the "original phoenician remains" of the stone wall under the "subsequent roman construction". it wasn't until they discovered that there was no description of the basilica that all was revealed.

the remains of carthage itself are pretty minimal, as we had heard. we climbed to the top of the hill where we could see the mediterranean as well as the ruins that remained. several columns, some statues and the outlines of buildings below. another fun fact about carthage: it contains the presidential palace, which cannot be photographed under penalty of up to three years in prison. we had heard rumors of this but saw no trace of the actual palace. nor do any come up in a google image search. we're still skeptical as to the palace's actual existence. after exploring carthage the rain began so we ducked into a restaurant where we had a lovely lunch of bread/olive oil (seems to be the standard appetizer) and pizza and pasta that we realized afterward we had eaten in silence because we were so hungry.

from there we went on to sidi bu said, a lovely little tourist trap known for its white walls and universally blue doors and windows. it was charming but would have been even more enjoyable had it not still been cold and rainy. nevertheless we wandered the streets taking pictures of strangers' doors and lemon trees. we had a look into a private home in what i think is known as the 'family house' where we enjoyed mint tea and a view from their rooftop terrace (the precise moment at which it started to rain again, naturally). the city was cold but still cute and totally redeemed itself with a lovely hookah bar that was beautifully appointed and had delicious flavored hot chocolate. we gave it 5 out of 5 smoke o's (our hookah rating system).

despite the weather, we had a fun day outside tunis and still made it back in time for the delicious hostel dinner (approximately 2 euro).

open door policy

i've just returned from a lovely holiday in tunisia, or, tunissiya, as the brits (apparently) call it. the four of us (jasmine, paloma, vince and myself) spent a week there and were completely enamored of this fascinating country. we experienced some interesting aspects of the culture and i'll try to hit the highlights for you.

vince set the tone for the trip on the taxi ride (naturally, the shuttle was on strike that day) to the airport: "i assume there will be low to minimal judging on this trip." it ended up being very appropriate, as lodging (read: bathrooms) were sometimes questionable and showering was never a certainty.

we began our journey in tunis, where we arrived at the airport and took a cab to our hostel in the medina (roughly translated to old, walled, wind-y part of the city) which was surprisingly easy to find. we knew we were in a totally different place. the obvious things of course, like the language and the labyrinthian city. but also little things like the money: they use three decimal places which means they count up to millimes (thousandths). for example a coin with 100 on it is really 100/1000 or one tenth of one dinar. but a 1/2 dinar coin would be 0,500. this took some getting used to. also, the locks in the doors turn backward. no righty-tighty here. what a country.

immediately two aspects of landscape became very apparent: the flags and the doors. both were everywhere but the latter was the more captivating. for those of you who don't know, i happen to enjoy taking pictures of interesting doors. i had heard tunisian doors were particularly beautiful (and warned my travel partners about my habit well in advance) and i was not disappointed. door capital of the world, as far as i'm concerned. it seemed like every door was painted a bright color or patterned with studs. it doesn't seem like much, but it really added so much to the city.

more to come...

by the numbers

as it's a new month i thought i would give a little preview, in numeric form.

here are
the number of...

• days in february: 28
• days of vacation i have: 16
• days i have work: 5.5
• countries i'll be visiting: 2
  
• cities i'll be visiting: 13

if you didn't hate me already, there's a good chance you do now.
i apologize.

grève grave?

so this past thursday was a grève generale in france. yes, france. it was nationwide. what that amounts to is that everyone who feels like it goes on strike. teachers, students, train/metro workers, but not - as we discovered - retail franchises. not during precious, precious soldes season. we were anticipating some major demonstrations or disturbances. aside from some shouting we could hear from our window, there wasn't much. we decided to check out bellecour, the main square, which is normally busy for any kind of event. in that square i have seen everything from native american musicians to acrobats and baby tigers. we went over in the middle of the afternoon expecting some sort of activity, but there was nothing. the only remnants of any activity were some spray-painted sheets with typical slogans (see above). i guess all that not working really takes it out of you.

so, basically all the strike amounted to was a day off of work. no complaints here. hello, 5-day weekend!

fashion à la français

given my recent experiences and observations in close proximity with lots of french people, i thought i would give my advice on how to look, and dress, french. should you find yourself in need of such a skill. and if you think it's all scarves and pointy shoes.. well, you're 80% right but i'll explain anyway.

so you want to look like...

...a young french woman in her 20s
the key here is dark colors and neutrals. you'll need skinny jeans, naturally, to showcase your cute flats or tuck into your boots. boots are an absolute necessity, but the style is flexible. tall or short; black, brown, tan or gray. don't forget your lonchamp bag which you can buy in a range of colors - just make sure they have the impractically short handles. you'll need a nice heavy wool coat (black) for winter and a ridiculously long, thick scarf - preferably in a neutral shade, like a grayish brown - that you'll wrap around several times and bury your face into when it's cold. your hat should be a neutral black or white (purple if you're feeling daring) and should complement your short hair and sideswept bangs. even though the top of you's all bundled up, feel free to wear skirts and dark tights all through winter.

...a middle schooler
there's a lot more freedom with color and pattern here. plaids are acceptable, and the color of your tights can range widely. on a night out, you might even be able to swing a bright pair of leg warmers. your sneakers can be any color though chucks are of course preferable. the key here is the heavy eyeliner and loud talking on the metro.

...you're tough
we'll go with the typical marseille-inspired fashion here. you'll need a track suit, black or white is best though you might be able to get away with red if you've got it in you. the key here is - and i cannot stress this enough - you must tuck your pants into your socks. so as to better display your narrow european sneakers. pumas or asics are preferable. baseball hats are acceptable but they don't naturally showcase your haircut, close-shaved on the sides and a little thicker on top. if you're in middle school consider getting a design shaved into it. for the total effect, be sure to listen to your music without headphones on any public transport system.

...an elderly woman
here it's all about the accessories. your actual clothes won't matter much because you'll be wearing a long, warm coat over them. as for footwear, boots are of course still your best bet. when it's a little warmer, you can opt for sensible yet still stylish flats. you should keep your hair short but if you feel like expressing yourself, why not try some unnaturally red hair dye? and of course no elderly european woman would feel like herself without her wacky european glasses. make sure the shape is nice and angular and that the frames are a noticeably bright color. try for red or purple.

...and elderly man
don't even bother. with all these characters, nobody's looking at you.

paris pas pareil

i just returned from a much-needed excursion to paris for the weekend. maybe it was something in the water, but it seemed like everyone's students have been getting crazy (you know, two whole weeks without a vacation..) and we were ready for a change of scenery.

i left for paris with two fellow assistants, jean and vince, who were lovely company. we managed to see a lot in one weekend: montmartre, the institute du monde arabe, the holocaust memorial, pompidou (bookstore..), the arc de triomphe, my favorite crêperie (probably worthy of a post in and of itself), the seine/eiffel tower by night (never seems to get old), the grande arche, and of course the big picasso exhibit, which was the impetus for our trip.

and now, a few other random highlights..

i'd like to describe for you our "hotel". somehow i stumbled across this online. i should have been tipped off by the questionable tripod website and the fact that there were no sort of online reservations, but it was less than 20 euro and in the middle of town, so we went for it. we arrived to find our hotel - that would be the "hotel bed & breakfast" - with no one there. after a phone call, someone came to let us in. the place was a mess of colors, patterns (from faux brick to giant flowers), tiles (fruits in heavy relief), and giant movie posters (the golden compass?). truly something for everyone. other fun surprises: the key cost 2 euro, as did the showers. and the included breakfast consisted of sliced white bread (already offensive, considering we're in the land of fresh-baked bread), a packet of butter and jam, and sludgey hot cocoa. it was an experience. luckily we made the most of it by annexing our own room (the 'family' room?) and making fun of the hideous decorations and very strange owners.

we were also surprised by the parisian metro. don't get me wrong, it's a great system and very easy to follow. but the metro cars themselves seemed more narrow and cramped than we remember. and the ride itself is very jerky! we're just spoiled in lyon i guess. i will say one thing for the parisian metro though. the manual doors make it easier to jump off while the train's still moving. we got in the habit of doing this and we got pretty good at it, though i think it may have also raised some eyebrows. i guess we have to give the parisians something to look down on us for.

solde out

today marked the beginning of one of the best french innovations: the SOLDES! this refers to the twice-yearly time period when french stores have ridiculous markdowns in order to get rid of last season's merchendise and make room for the new stuff. everywhere you look there are store fronts plastered with signs for sales (usually in many languages.. they try to be accessible).

i decided to go to the mall today at lunchtime (dangerous) to see all the madness for myself. even approaching the metro stop for the mall you could tell the crowds were bigger than usual. the mall itself was pretty crowded, which is no small feat. by american standards, it's a pretty big mall. but by european standards.. well it's said to be the biggest downtown shopping mall in europe.

i made my way through several stores all with giant signs in the windows showcasing 30, 50, or even 70 percent off. every store had long lines at the dressing rooms and cash register but it was worth it. i came away with shirts for 5 and 7 euro, a dress for 14, earrings for 2 and a hat and scarf for 10. things brings me to one of my favorite french words: profiter! i don't think there's a proper english equivalent. the closest would be to make the most of or take advantage of. i learned it when i asked a little old woman where the park was and she advised me to profiter the nice weather.

it looks like january's going to be an expensive month (with travel expenses, sales, and weekends) but oh well. only 29 days of soldes left. il faut en profiter!

home for the holidays

i've just returned from a wonderful 10 days back in the US. it was a blur of seeing friends, family and trying to eat everything remotely american i could get my hands on. it felt very comfortable being back but there were a few clear american/european disparities i couldn't help noticing. which i will now attempt to elucidate in my favorite form of communication, bullet points.

things i missed about france:

• velov'ing! i swear, it felt like i hardly moved. except, you know, in a car.
  
• generally beautiful surroundings. or, failing that, old.
• open container laws - what do you mean we can't have a bottle of wine in the street?
  
• speaking french (yes, it's true)
• smoke-free bars. let's get with the times, virginia
  

things i did not miss about france:

• our pitiful shower
• spending all my precious euros on groceries
• cold toilet seats and equally frigid water
  
• having to think all the time (about, you know, speaking)
• commonplace public urination
• the awful, awful music.. though much of that is contributed by america
  

american things i think the french would be mystified - or amused - by:

• driving over the speed limit. and just driving everywhere in general.
• not greeting everyone you see
• hugs
  
• cheese in a can
• football everywhere
• portion sizes. and the snacking.. all the snacking
  

i must admit it's a little strange to be back after a relatively short relapse into my american lifestyle. so for now i'm just trying to readjust and keep warm.

oh well.. only one month until the next vacation!

alsatiated

just got back from a lovely long weekend (though in this case a 3-day weekend is the norm) in strasbourg. we decided months ago to spend a weekend in the alsace and were rewarded with a good deal on train tickets and a lovely, albeit cold, weekend of christmas festivities.

on this trip we found out that strasbourg in december is full of two things: german food and christmas markets. we experienced both in massive quantities. as a collective foursome, we ate the following: pretzels (both plain and with cheese), spatzle (with cheese and ham), vin chaud, kougelhopf (sort of brioche-ish cake), tarte flambée (basically a pizza with crème fraîche in lieu of sauce), boules de neige (like peeps but huge and covered in chocolate), potato galettes (like latkes but super greasy), 'strasbourg' sausage with cheese, alsatian white wine, pizza/baguette, hot orange juice (sounds weird, doesn't it?), churros, crêpes, belgian beer, chocolate covered fruits, and hot chocolate. actually, listed altogether like that it sounds disgusting.

between eating we somehow managed to see the city. the old town is called 'petite france' - the city is so german they actually have to label one part of it france. the canals, half-timbered houses and cobblestone streets make it thoroughly adorable. we walked through the old part of town, exploring christmas markets on the way. this means we stopped and shopped roughly every 50 meters. the markets put lyon's to shame; a wonderful mix of food and crafts from france, germany and beyond. particular specialties that kept cropping up: little ceramic half-timbered houses, christmas ornaments (from cheesy moose-reindeer in santa hats to intricate carved wood), and all types of gingerbread and other dense cakes.

we also took a brief sojourn into the small town of colmar, only 30 minutes by train. it's been called "little venice" or, more plausibly, "venice of the alsace". we weren't particularly impressed by its canals (i'd put the final count at two, and that's being generous) but rather by its overall cuteness. this compounded with the fact that we were in the midst of a giant christmas market on a saturday in december resulted in ridiculous crowds. still, we enjoyed the city and after dark we saw the city's famed fiber-optic lighting system (because we hadn't gotten enough of lights the previous weekend, evidently).

overall a good weekend. a nice introduction to the alsace region, which i'd like to explore further - either in spring or when i've invested in some warmer socks.

fête des lumières

well! this was a big weekend for lyon. the first weekend of december marks the annual fête des lumières, a fairly recent tradition. but, as this is france, it was not just any weekend celebration but four days of festivities. though considering that 4 million visitors are crammed into the city in that time, it's really not all that long at all.

we began our explorations on friday night, starting at parc de la tête d'or which is usually beautiful in and of itself. it turned out to be rather disappointing. this (see left) was the best shot i could come up with. some of the trees were lit, there were some scattered lights in the distance, and there appeared to be some boats very dimly (and slowly) coming into focus. we lost patience and gave up. later others confirmed that there wasn't much to see here.

we pressed on. eventually we made it to the opera where we were surprised to find that it had only its usual red lights. but when we crossed over into the adjacent place des terreaux, we were not to be disappointed. certainly a centerpiece of the festivities, two of the long buildings making up the square - the hotel de ville (below) and the musee des beaux arts (right) - were the backdrop for a light show. the lighting was intricate and aligned precisely with the contours of each building which made it pretty spectacular. the show, which ran on a continuous 5-minute loop, centered around the 'little giant' who plays with his toys after his parents have gone to a party. complete with music and sound effects. it was amusing overall except for the point at which the child/giant puts out a fire by peeing on it. the french seemed amused; i think this is what contributes to their lackadaisical stance on public urination. that aside, the spectacle was lovely.

from there we crossed over the saone into vieux lyon where we expected to find some fantastic displays. we saw a decent light show (peppered with ads to ride the train) on the tiny gare st. paul and some 'bats' flying around in the windows of a nearby reformation church. what held most of our attention was the masses of people (read: tourists) and dozens and dozens of stands selling crepes, gauffres, tartiflette, hot dogs and of course delicious vin chaud (if you haven't had it, it's mulled wine spiced with cinnamon, citrus, and sugar). eventually we made it to the main church, st. jean, which was absolutely stunning. not only did the variegated lights hit every angle and niche of the façade, they even projected sculptures that (i imagine) would have once been carved into it.

now, onto night two. we began on rue de la république, the main pedestrian street running from bellecour to places des terreaux. it had a number of smaller displays, beginning with the shallow fountains (left) and spring-y lights in the trees. at one smaller square there was a display of 'flying fish' circling a fountain and being projected onto the nearby buildings. near the rhone, inside the hotel dieu (old hospital) there was a covering of colored lights accompanied by organ grinder music that the pictures didn't quite do justice. continuing on, we arrived at hotel de ville to discover that there was a light display inside it as well (at right). walking through it seems as though you're inside, under a ceiling of twinkling lights. only when the lights fade out do you realize you're actually in an outdoor courtyard. it sounds silly but it really was like a blanket of stars.

we continued on the presqu'île where we discovered a church (that i never knew existed) with a small show of its own. from there we reached the quai, where we could see both st. jean and fourviere on the hill lit up. this may have been my favorite view. i thought both churches were beautifully lit and to see them both and the river? come on. as we crossed the bridge we were accompanied by (in addition to many, many people) a small group playing native american music. we're still not sure of the significance/origin of this but it seems to be a constant at the festival. after crossing the river we marveled once again at st. jean and decided to walk up the stairs for a better view. from there we could see the church façade as well as bellecour's ferris wheel in the background. (we never did discover anything else going on in bellecour - strange for the largest square in the city). we decided to go for it and climb up to fourvière. the view of the city was nice but the view of the church from below was even better. they lit it beautifully, alternating between blue, pink/orange, and blue/green. also atop the hill were giant letters spelling out 'merci marie'. the origin of the festival, incidentally, is to thank the virgin mary for saving the city from the plague. she can also be seen atop the church (the gold statue to the left).

sunday was a day of rest. this is necessary in france as there is normally little open. we did, however, 'profiter' from the open-air markets. food, books, and crafts in the morning and christmas markets in the evening. as we tried to make our way up to croix rousse we were shocked to find that the number of tourists seemed to have multiplied. after bypassing three metro stops because of the lines, we were forced to squish our way past the overcrowded place des terreaux in order to make our way up the hill. we arrived at the rather small croix rousse christmas market which left us underwhelmed. though they did have a yurt, donkeys and sheep, and no shortage of chocolate. we decided to make our way down to perrache instead where we found a real marché de noël (above). the selection was bigger, with crafts ranging from africa to russia to south america and food from france and beyond (okay, mostly germany).

finally, monday night. traditionally this is the biggest night as the actual celebration is supposed to be on the 8th of december. according to the (free) local newspaper this is the night for the 'lyonnais'. this did not stop tourists from bombarding the train/metro stations, however. the people of the city are all supposed to light candles and put them in their windows in homage to the virgin mary. i bought my little candle and put it in the window like a good lyonnaise. nevermind that no one can see it way up on the 10th floor (i checked from the street).

the crowded streets and the cold made staying in very tempting but i decided to venture out for the last night of the fete. we began heading towards rue de la république, where we were led to believe there would be some kind of candle-lit display. there was, but it wasn't worth the walk back and forth across the bridge. this ended up being a mistake as there was something much better going on just across the river. by the time we made it to the lumière institute (fitting, i know) the firework/acrobatic show was just ending. it was probably the one disappointment in an overall exciting weekend. on the bike ride home, though, i did discover one more light display at one of the universities and saw candles in windows and balconies around the city.

overall i thought festival was wonderful and such a boon for the city (if a tad annoying at times). as for seeing all the light displays, i barely scratched the surface (there were over 50) but still i felt i fêted properly.

as i sit here in the candlelight with my tea and the window cracked open (don't worry, dad, i'm wearing a scarf) listening to the sounds of the city, it seems like a perfect end to a lovely little festival.

i live here.

plus de pensées

after spending a now substantial amount of time in the french schools (well, three of them) i've been able to note some more observations and idiosyncracies. maybe this just comes from spending quite a bit of time in american schools, but i find it rather fascinating.

the schools themselves are what i would consider small. each of my three schools has one class in each level (the equivalent of 1st-5th grade) and no more than 25 or 28 students per class. the other teachers seemed a little shocked when i told them we might have five or six classes in one grade. the schools are physically small as well. the library (if there is a library) often doubles as the teachers' lounge. the 'playground' is little more than a small blacktop that may or may not have two soccer goals/basketball hoops. there are no separate rooms for music or art.

as it turns out, this is because the general classroom teachers are responsible for teaching every part of the curriculum, including music, art plastique, and even p.e. (evidently all teachers have to be able to pass a swimming test.). oh, and incidentally, the only things french students seem to do for p.e. are things that american students likely never would: biking, swimming, and judo.

with all this extra work you would think french teachers would be even more burnt out than american teachers. not so. lunch, which i remember as being a blur of 15 minutes to make copies and scarf down a sandwich, is a relaxed affair. (obviously this has something to do with the two hours break they have.) teachers discuss complaints about students, problems with parents but overall don't seem too troubled by the demands of their job.

this is quite a contrast from the teachers' behavior in the classroom. routine disciplinary actions consist of shouting and shaming. teachers have no qualms about expressing their annoyance and calling students names ('baby' is quite common). this doesn't seem to be effective, as the loudest teachers tend to have the most boisterous classes. even the directeur (principal) often has trouble controlling his/her class. i was intrigued by the fact that the principals actually teach a class in addition to handling the burden of administrative details. it's a bit like the head of a department at a university. i'm not sure how effective it is, but it certainly makes for a different teacher-principal dynamic in the teachers' lounge.

well, that's all for now. perhaps this energy would have been better spent working on my grad school applications...

beaujolais! beaujolais! beaujolais!

last night marked the beginning of the new season of beaujolais wine. evidently it is one of few wines that actually tastes best when it's new. (i've also heard it's one of the worst wine regions in france). nevertheless, there are celebrations all over the beaujolais region, and lyon (being the biggest city in the region) was no exception. we arrived at 9:00 to find a small crowd and nothing happening. so we retired to a bar for a few hours and returned at about 11:30. the festivities began with the new wine being brought into town on a horse-drawn carriage. the barrel was adorned with a red cloth and some rather wimpy-looking tree branches. the horse/carriage were followed by people (rather wildly) waving lit torches, a huge marching band, and plenty of idiot tourists (such as myself) trying to snap pictures/not get trampled. it was a sight.

when they arrived at the clock tower they brought the new barrel of wine to join what i imagine was barrels of the old wine. then the spectacle began - showers of fireworks shooting out from behind the barrels, colored lights (and more fireworks) illuminating the clock tower, and of course terrible french techno music. they began a very snappy chant (see title) that fit in nicely with the music. then they count down and finally illuminate the giant '2008' at the stroke of midnight. it's a bit like new year's but about 10 months late. then the madness begins. they offer a 'degustation' of the new wine, gratuit, which evidently means everyone rushes forward and smashes into the person in front of them. some people were there for the wine, others just seemed to be there to encourage the madness. eventually, we got our samples and the crowd thinned out a bit.

and that was how we rang in the new year of wine.

gooooal(s)

just before i arrived in france i came up with a mental list of things i hoped to accomplish while i was here - improve my french, travel, etc. etc. pretty standard. after being here for about six weeks i've come up with a new set of goals. while they may not be as practical, they certainly seem more fun.

• be able to write with the handwriting of a french student. (i'm getting there!)
  
• finally get the whole 'celsius' thing down. and kilometers, if i'm feeling ambitious
  
• distinguish between regional english dialects
• be able to walk by (and smell!) a patisserie without staring in amazement/whimpering a little
• have some sort of understanding of french wines. or at least be able to fake it convincingly.
• be able to tell people off in french (i've had to do this twice now but it was not quite to my satisfaction)
  

more to come..

velo'v/hate

so lyon, being the wonderful city that it is, was one of the first to implement a city-wide biking system. there are bike stands all over the city and they cost next to nothing. in fact the first half-hour costs exactly that: nothing. this combined with lyon's rather flat terrain and ubiquitous bike paths and bike lanes make it ideally suited for velo'ing, or, i should say, velo'v-ing. (they found a cutesy name for it, naturally.) the one catch? you need a bank card with a 'puce' - a little chip that, for some reason, is only put in european cards.

and so the saga began..

i waited three weeks for my bank card (they forgot to order it), four weeks for my pin code (they had to send it twice), a week to recover my card (eaten by the atm) and, later, several days to find a bank that would 'unblock' the card so i could actually use it.

once i finally had a working bank card i assumed there was nothing standing in the way of my velo'ving. i went to one machine, it accepted my card, gave me a receipt, told me to wait and.. told me the machine could not give me a velo'v card. no reason. just couldn't. tried another machine.. it didn't work at all. tried a third machine, out of sheer masochism - same story as the first. i gave up, assuming there was something wrong with my card. or that maybe it was just france being france.

then today, on a whim, i tried a machine across town and, much to my surprise, it worked on the first try. it was wonderful! i biked down rue de la république, the major pedestrian streeet/commercial center of the city and then across the river to my apartment. it was absolutely delightful; i think i was actually grinning the entire time. when i wasn't dodging wheelchairs and small children, anyway.

we got off to a rocky start, but now i'm totally smitten.
i love velo'v!

looking to the future

as this vacation draws to a close my mind begins to turn to other things.. namely our next vacations.

i have lots of ideas but i (sadly) realize that i can't make them all happen.
here are the front-runners thus far:

france to croatia overland
hits up some exciting cities (venice? grenoble? zagreb?) as well as some new countries (hello, slovenia). and with the 169 € 15-day bus pass this seems like a brilliant plan. if only all the good cities in croatia weren't so far out of the way.

tunisia!
i would love to get to tunisia somehow. they have a) the obvious appeal of being a muslim country with (naturally) beautiful artwork b) the charm of being on the mediterranean and c) very close proximity.. as the crow flies.. to france and moderately inexpensive plane tickets. plus i hear their doors are pretty gorgeous.

iberian peninsula
beautiful beaches, moorish architecture, a little español, and the ever-elusive tapas. not to mention the one and only annie mchale.

turkey
while i have already been to turkey i am more than sure that it's worthy of a more in-depth visit. i've found some gorgeous regions as well as fabulous architectural masterpieces. now if i could just get around that $45 visa business.

thoughts? comments? relatives who'd like to feed/house me?
send 'em my way.

not so nice Nice

nice
from aix we took a train (for some reason cheaper than the bus) to nice during which it began to rain. by the time we got to nice it was pouring (see fig. 1). we got out and after a quick stop at the tourist office (extremely helpful!) and an internet cafe, happened upon a nearby hostel. we got a 'suite' with a kitchenette for 17€/night, which we thought was decent. against our better judgment, we decided to go out and attempt to explore the city despite the rain. we walked all the way down to the water and back only to discover that even the french riviera doesn't look great when it's dark and rainy.

back at the hostel our struggles with cooking continued. we discovered our kitchenette had: no knives (the woman running the hostel lamented, "they always take the knives.."), many small bugs, few and sticky cooking utensils, no soap, and forgotten nutella (this we weren't too upset about). with much difficulty, including an incredibly slow stove and a brief power outage, we eventually made some delicious and very welcome soup.

the following days were spent trying to keep dry (usually in museums and wherever else we could find cover) and trying to see what we could of nice. after a day we met up with our rather miserable and sick-looking friends who did not look excited at the prospect of more rain. we got lucky one day when the sun (gasp) almost came out and we were actually able to see how pretty the water normally is. other highlights: watching a tour bus knock over a huge lamppost - it broke in about 6 places and the driver promptly came out to check the damage.. to the bus.

the other highlight, just as with the first half of the trip, was not in nice at all. we hopped on a bus to vence (for a paltry 1 euro) where we were greeted by rain and could not find a dry place to have our typical makeshift lunch. we eventually found a small park where we sat on the ground under a bridge.. but that wasn't the highlight. after our less than comfortable lunch we walked on to the matisse chapel (excuse me. the chapelle de la rosaire.. by matisse) which, at 3 euro, was the highest admission price we paid on the entirety of the trip. the chapel was small and simple - the only colors were the yellow, green and blue of the stained glass and the black lines of the paintings on the wall - but masterfully executed. we were able to listen in on what i suppose was a docent's explanation of the chapel; it seems matisse chose nearly everything in the chapel (down to the altar stone that looked like bread) and very methodically. he called it his masterpiece, and with good reason. we spent quite a while there but probably could have stayed longer and been very content. unfortunately taking pictures was (like so many things in france) interdit, so i can't post a picture, but it's worth googling.

and that was our vacation in brief. it was wonderful, we saw some beautiful things, but we were eager to get back to lyon.

vacances en partance

as i mentioned already, the french calendar is very liberal with vacations. this is why, after two arduous weeks of actual teaching, we had a two-week vacation. most of us (assistants) were too busy settling in to make plans in advance. this turned out to be a mistake, since train prices tend to go up and not down. shocking. we ended up making a quick trip south to provence and the côte d'azur. i'll attempt to summarize the best of each.

aix-en-provence
after leaving a cold, foggy lyon we were happy to arrive an hour and a half later in a warm, sunny aix-en-provence. as we walked out of the train station we were greeted by the lion king song playing from someone's car radio. strange, but we took it as a good omen.

the town of aix-en-provence was lovely, with sunlit trees lining the streets and picturesque yellow and peach colored buildings. i particularly enjoyed their markets (crafts/soaps one day, clothes another day). one day a nice older gentleman personally escorted us to the 'best' bakery in town. regrettably we missed cézanne's studio and presumably a good view of mont st victoire. other than that our stay in aix-en-provence was short but enjoyable. the best, however, was our trip that took us an hour and half away.

cassis
we took a bus ride down to the tiny town of cassis, where we were dropped at a random bus stop halfway down to the waterfront. it was a very cute little town of small shops, bakeries and restaurants leading up to the boat-lined harbor. a bit like annapolis except that you're on the mediterranean rather than the chesapeake bay.

from the downtown we walked about 30 minutes until we reached the starting point of our hike through the calanques, which are "a geologic formation in the form of a deep valley with steep sides, typically of limestone in part submerged by the sea. it can be considered a mediterranean fjord." we hiked up for about half an hour before we stopped for our typical lunch (comprised of grocery store, bakery and hostel breakfast goodies. total cost: 2.08 €) on a rock overlooking the sea.

we continued on until we reached the bottom of one calanques where we found families swimming and playing in shallow green water. we hiked up (there was a lot of up and down) where we had beautiful views of the white cliffs, blue-green water and little boats below. it was pretty amazing. we even made it to the 'calanque d'en vau' (though one man adamantly explained that we wouldn't reach it) which seems to be one of the most oft-photographed.

we got incredibly lucky with the weather - apparently the next day it started raining and didn't stop for several days - which was a perfect mix of sun and clouds. and now we can officially say we've been calanque-ing. after we got back into town we capped off the day by watching some boules (pétanques, here) in the park before we caught our bus home.

that's all for now, more on the other half of our trip next time --