Les Vacances de la Toussaint

As of October 19th, I have officially been in France for one full month-- which means I only have a little over 7 months left. Since my last post, I have been on quite the emotional roller coaster feeling pretty stressed out and homesick for the first time since my arrival. It's actually kind of amazing that with all the changes I have been experiencing it took me so long to begin to feel this way-- last time it was within the first week. While moving to France IS exciting and a dream come true, that's not to say it doesn't have it's difficulties. I have been trying to adjust to life as an au pair in the suburbs, while also juggling a confusing teaching program, while balancing being social, finding time to travel, and just enjoying my time here-- all while being completely immersed in my favorite language 24/7! It's thrilling... but definitely exhausting.

Needless to say, this two week vacation could not have come at a better time. While I only traveled the first week and will still need to be home to be an au pair for the second, I am so relieved to have a chance to do some traveling as well as relaxing!


Aix en Provence: Oct. 17th-20th

For years I heard about how beautiful Aix en Provence is and how it is an absolute must see city in the south. Heading to Aix was actually my first taste of traveling alone, and I found it very enjoyable for a bit... but I was still glad when Maria joined me about a day later. I spent my first 24 hours wandering aimlessly around town with my camera glued to my hand and face. I found myself continually snapping photos of nearly every street I walked down. Quiet, clean, and stunning. It's one of the richer cities in France and boasts a large student population and lots of different languages can be heard while walking down the street. It is a very walkable city and did not require (or have) much public transportation to get around-- so I enjoyed walking the cobblestone streets!

After a stressful few days leading up to my trip, I felt I had earned a night to treat myself and not tell myself no... so I splurged on a steak, drinks, and even some gelato, in one of the beautiful squares in the center of the city. It was well worth it and a great way to unwind and collect my thoughts on my life in France. I found myself calling it an early night because I hadn't been slept well in days and wanted to make sure I was up for the famous Saturday flower market that next morning.

Luckily, I talked myself out of bed in time to make it to the flower market and grabbed a croissant on my way. The day before this square was filled with tables and chairs from the surrounding cafes and restaurants, but all of that was removed to make way for all the French flowers. I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked because I felt a little awkward photographing merchandise I had no intent of buying, but suffice it to say it was beautiful and well worth the visit.

When Maria arrived later that day, we were able to grab a late dinner and view the city a bit more at night. The next day was a Sunday, which meant mostly everything was shut down or at least had very limited hours. Still, we were pretty occupied by walking around and snapping photos-- me with my Canon Rebel and Maria with a GoPro. Le Cours Mirabeau is the most well known and main street in Aix en Provence and Maria and I spent a lot of time in and around it. There are many restaurants, cafes, and stores all along it so it made it very easy for us to find anything we needed!

Marseille: Oct. 20th-23rd

Two years ago, I lived fairly close to Marseille and never found my way over there. It honestly never held much interest for me, and I hadn't heard the greatest things-- dirty and dangerous were among the most common adjectives I had heard to describe it. Looking back, it was incredibly interesting that we chose to go to one of the wealthier cities in France (Aix), which is essentially a suburb to one of the less wealthy cities in France (Marseille). In all fairness, it is a much larger city and I am sure harder to keep up, but we did find plenty of beautiful locations while exploring!

Our room in Marseille, courtesy of Linda and Victor!

The day we left for Marseille, both Maria and I woke up to some not so pleasant surprises: a killer head cold for her and pink eye for me. Lovely. We weren't going to let this get in our way of enjoying Marseille, though. We arrived early that afternoon and made our way to an adorable apartment where we had rented a room through AirBNB. Before Aix en Provence, Maria and I had never tried AirBNB, but both experiences were really wonderful. We decided to navigate our way to a grocery store to get some groceries, instead of eating out all the time. We quickly decided that we were going to have a low key night because we were both feeling so run down... and we may have purchased some wine, cheese, and chocolate to help the healing process.

The next day, we woke up and really made an effort to walk around as much of Marseille as we could. We had been warned many times about certain dangerous neighborhoods in Marseille that we played it pretty safe and decided to stick near main tourist areas like the Vieux Port (Old Port) and Le Panier neighborhoods. Both areas provided amazing sights and luckily we had a sunny day to take it all in!

We actually made multiple attempts to be really touristy and take a boat trip along the coast, or see an old fort, or the old palace-- but each of these were closed or not running for some reason so we ended up finding cafes to people watch. Luckily, we saved our tourist title by finding a museum to visit, Le Musée d'Histoire de Marseille, to learn about the history of Marseille through lots of broken translating. I had forgotten that Marseille is actually THE oldest city in France and was founded near 600 A.D., and it was always a really successful and large city because of its location on the water.

We did make our way to at least one "fancy" restaurant with good "a la carte" options-- 15 euros for an individual appetizer, entree, dessert, and a drink made us feel really classy. I actually ordered duck for the first time in my life and while I am glad I broke free of my habit to stick with something familiar, I do think my au pair mom cooks duck much better!

Our last night in Marseille was probably my favorite of our trip because we ended up staying in, drinking multiple bottles of wine, and chatting with our hosts, Victor and Linda. I guess you could say it was more of a cultural experience than a tourist experience. They were incredibly kind, clever, and interesting to speak with-- plus, I got to practice my French in a more social setting! By the end of the night it felt like we had made a great connection with them and I hope we are all able to stay in touch.

In addition to the many photos I took, Maria made a great video compilation of our trip to Marseille-- if you want to see us in action, check it out by clicking here!

Grenoble Oct. 25th-26th

Somewhat last minute I decided to go to nearby Grenoble because one of my best friends from study abroad, Adrienne, was going to be in town with her boyfriend, Guillaume. The timing worked out well because my au pair family was going to be out of town at a family function for the weekend. I briefly debated if I just wanted to be lazy for a weekend, but decided I really couldn't pass up seeing my friend AND a new city. So off I went for a quick overnight just a two hour train ride away.

Adrienne and Guillaume were nice enough to pick me up from the train station and help me back to my hotel. It may sound silly, but I was pretty excited that I decided to get a hotel instead of trying for a room in an apartment on AirBNB-- I was able to have complete privacy and it was perfectly quiet in the morning. I have definitely been craving this peacefulness because the boys are pretty loud each morning and that can be hard, especially on my days off.

Grenoble is surrounded by mountains and some are already snow capped, so everywhere you look makes you feel like you're in the Sound of Music. Guillaume was nice enough to drive us to nearby Vizille where there was a chateau and park at the base of one of the mountains. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel to rest for a bit before heading out to check out some of the pubs in town with Adrienne and her friends. I was actually thrilled they had no interest in going to any clubs, just bars and pubs, because I have come to truly loathe the club atmosphere which is just too loud and crowded for me. I was happy to be able to see some of their favorite bars and be able to socialize in French some more! Adrienne even coereced me into trying a Grenoble drink specialty called chartreuse. The best way I can think to describe it is that the taste is very similar to gin-- but much, much stronger. Can't say I'll be ordering it anytime soon, but I am glad I tried something that was known to come from the region.

After sleeping in for the first time in a month in the comfiest bed I have ever slept in, I got up and walked the city of Grenoble toute seule (alone). It was great to explore the city on my own and go at my own pace for the entire day. The one thing I knew I wanted to do was take the téléphérique (cable cars) up to the top of one of the mountains. Luckily it was a smooth and quick ride because I am NOT a fan of heights, but the views were unbeatable. I leisurely walked around the mountain top and eventually decided I would go to one of the no doubt touristy restaurants that overlooked the entire city.

My train didn't head back home until 5, so I had plenty of time to walk around the city and explore some more. I'll let some of the pictures speak for themselves, but this was a great way to wrap up my vacation... In one week, I will finally begin teaching again and I cannot wait, even though I am a bit nervous!

Things I've Learned

• City buses don't keep the same schedule during school breaks. Found this out the hard way when I tried to go home after getting in from Marseille.
• Taxis are incredibly hard to find-- especially in a smaller town like Saint Chamond. Even if there is a location for taxis to sit and wait... they don't. So instead, you have to call them and then they come to pick you up... if they feel like it. Learned this in conjunction with my previous lesson when I decided I didn't want to walk up my favorite hill with my rolling luggage.
• Banks are closed all Sundays and Mondays... And actually, it's a safe bet that Monday is NOT the day to run errands because I always seem to find that places are closed because, well, it's Monday.
• When eating bread with a meal I have seen that most people don't put the bread on the plate-- it just sits on the table. I must look like a neat freak when I put my baguette slice on my plate...
• Melted raclette cheese with any sort of meat, bread, or vegetable is a legitimate lunch. We melted the cheese in separate slices before putting it on our plates to cut up and eat with the other foods. Very French and very yummy.
• I am not afraid to travel or eat alone. The idea of doing either used to make me feel somewhat uncomfortable, or even awkward. Now? I kind of cherish the rare times I get to spend completely alone. Then again, I also crave being social, so I can't do this all the time, but I have at least found enjoyment in it!