Cassis et Aix-en-Provence

Last weekend I fell in love with France again. Not that I ever fell out of love, but it's been hard to see the beauty when I'm overwhelmed and stressed out. All that went away as I headed to the South of France with some girls from my program to enjoy some sunshine and explore unfamiliar cities. Well, sort of unfamiliar. We went to Cassis, a little sea village on the Mediterranean just a 40 minute bus ride from Marseille that none of us had ever been to before. After our stint at the coast we headed inland to Aix-en-Provence, the famed French ville known for its lavender, cafés, and artists. I'd been to Aix before with my mother, two years ago this past summer, so it was interesting to be back with a different crowd.

Cassis

Now that you have a small synopsis of the trip, I'll go into more depth about it and why I have a renewed appreciation for France. First of all, the idea to go down there sprung up when we discovered Ouigo, a subsidiary of the French national rail line, SNCF. Ouigo offers fairly inexpensive (in European terms- for me and other USD dependent folks, everything is expensive here) train tickets throughout the South of France. Our tickets from Lyon to Marseille were 10 euros, quite a steal if you ask me. I could easily spend that amount on a drink in a bar. Our tickets for the way back were slightly more expensive but it was worth it to see 2 cities (or towns?) in 2 1/2 days.

We arrived in Marseille bright and early, before the tourist office even opened, so naturally we sat down and had coffee and pastries. We walked near the port for a little bit and stood underneath this really trippy mirror reflection roof thing. Yes, I realize that was really articulate but I'm not even sure what it was. After dillydallying around for a little bit we found the bus headed for Cassis and hopped on it. The drive there was through green and rocky terrain. It reminded me of the movie "Manon des Sources", a French film starring Gerard Depardieu I watched several times in my high school French class.

Reflecting roof near the port in Marseille

Once we arrived in Cassis we checked into our boutique hotel and wandered through the town streets. Naturally, I gravitated towards the sea as it'd been a while since I'd been near a large body of water (if you don't count Lyon's two rivers, the Rhone and the Saone). The water, as expected with this region's name (the Côte d'Azur), was a brilliant blue. It wasn't as inviting as I hoped what with the heavy breeze and choppy waves but I was tempted to go in nevertheless. Before going in, however, we decided to explore and made our way towards Port Miou, one of the three "calanques" Cassis is so famous for. It's hard to describe so here are some pictures to give you an idea of what a calanque is.

On our way back from the Port Miou we stopped at a rocky beach and finally decided to take the plunge. Well, Kirsten and me that is. I had been wanting to go in all day but when the time finally came I almost chickened out due to the small waves that were present but Kirsten put things into perspective and finally convinced me to go in. I'm so glad that I did. That would have been a shame to be at the Mediterranean and not go in the water.

Kirsten and me waving from the Mediterranean

Cote d'Azur

Port Miou Calanque

After spending a full day and a morning in Cassis we made our way (via train) to Aix-en-Provence. Like I said, I'd been there before but very briefly so it was nice to be back and do things that I hadn't done before. We basically spent all Saturday afternoon strolling around the very French streets of Aix, basking in the sunshine, eating Mexican food and ice cream, and eventually finding our hostel (which ended up being much farther away than we expected...oh well). The thing that I found the most exciting though was, believe it or not, finding decent Mexican food! Yes, I know, I should embrace French culture and leave my Mexican food cravings behind in California but I couldn't help but be excited to stumble upon this treasure. Below are some funny posters that were in the restaurant/take-out place. 

For dinner we went to a very quaint restaurant that Kirsten found in her guidebook. It wasn't too expensive for what we got and had a very authentic atmosphere, which I liked. The best part was that we were seated outside in what felt like a backyard, with ivy growing all around and nothing but French being spoken around us. It was nice to get away from the tourists and feel more immersed in la vie française.

On our last day in Aix we spent the morning at the Musée Granet, which holds collections from artists such as Cezanne, Picasso, Dali, and other famous painters that were known to have spent some time in Aix. I'm no art connoisseur but I really enjoyed the exhibit and would definitely recommend it. 

Overall the weekend was pretty great and I'm glad I was able to spend some time in the South of France before it got chilly (as it is right now, raining and about 50 degrees). I would love to go back to Cassis in the Spring or Summer when it's warmer and visit the two other calanques that I never made it to! 

Below are some more pics from the trip. 

Cassis

Aix-en-Provence, also known as the city of 1,000 fountains