aix-en-provence.

A good friend of mine from Tufts, Kevin, is studying in Aix-en-Provence, France. It just so happened I had a free weekend and found a good deal on a plane ticket, so I hopped the border from Spain into the South of France. He’s fluent in French, and has his own apartment and everything. The town of Aix was ADORABLE – cafes and pastry shops and stores everywhere. I would have been fat and broke if I was studying there!

I just happened to pick a great weekend to come visit. Kevin’s class was taking a trip to Marseilles, which is about a half and hour drive from Aix, and going sailing on the Mediterranean. Kevin signed us up and surprised me the night before. It was amazing – I never thought I would spend three hours sailing on the Mediterranean!

The port in Marseilles

Steering the boat!

The prison from the Count of Monte Cristo

Relaxing on the boat with beautiful scenery

Me and Kevin at the front of the boat

We found a cove - crystal blue water

After sailing, me, Kevin, and three of his friends from his program headed to dinner. Long story short, Kevin had met a guy from Luxembourg who had connections at the best pizzeria in Marseilles. These connections were good enough to get us a reservation at a place that doesn’t take reservations, and the wine started flowing. The meal was delicious, and when we finished three and a half hours later, Kevin and I raced to make the last bus to take us back to Aix.

The weekend went by really quickly, but there was sailing, wine, and French pastries. What else could I ask for?

chamonix and geneva.

We left the hustle and bustle of Paris for a quaint little mountain town called Chamonix. It’s located in the Alps, and during the winter it is quite the vacation destination for the avid skiier. In the summer, however, it was dead.

Getting there on the bus was terrifying, to say the least. Our bus driver, Gerardo, was a very good driver and manipulated the narrow European streets in a wide bus very well. However, regardless of how good of a driver he is, whipping around the curves while scaling a mounting with nothing but a wimpy rail to stop you from crashing to your death is slightly nerve-wracking. I closed my eyes and held on tight, opening them only enough to notice that I was the only one freaking out about our imminent death.

Needless to say, we made it to Chamonix alive and spent the night in a lodge before heading to Geneva for the day. In Geneva, we stopped by the World Trade Organization and the United Nations before having “the best chicken in the world” for lunch (this is all according to Paul, the director). Both places were equally boring, and after spending the day before sleeping on a bus, none of us were very interested in what each place had to say.

The view of the United Nations gardens in Switzerland

Peacocks randomly roam the grounds at the UN

After our day in Geneva, we raced back to Chamonix to catch the last train up the mountain to see the glacier. After getting there, we were literally able to go INSIDE the glacier. It was a bit difficult seeing as how we were still in our suits and dresses from earlier in the day, but the view was incredible.

The Alps – view while going up the mountain

The Alps, near the glacier

More of the Alps

Standing in my suit in front of the Alps!

After taking a train UP the mountain and climbing down lots of stairs to go back DOWN into the valley, we got to go inside the glacier. Yes, inside, where the body heat inside was causing the ice to drip all over us and we could touch the walls. It was incredible.

Up close and personal with a glacier

There wasn’t much to do in Chamonix at night, except eat. We experienced what an American Burger was – an enormous beef patty on a huge kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, American sauce (aka Thousand Island dressing) and French fries. All on the bun. It was delicious.

 

paris.

After spending a few days in gorgeous Germany, we all piled back onto the bus and drove to Paris for the weekend. Turns out, we didn’t really have a reason to be in Paris – there was no company that we were visiting or anything, but it was in between locations and a good place to spend a few days.

After Paul, the director of the program, prepared us how to deal with French boys, we were all eager to experience their persistence and take pleasure in “swatting them away” (as Paul referred to it). On Friday night we made our way to the neighborhood around the Sarbonne, the famous French university, thinking that we would find a good nightlife with other students our age. The clubs are really expensive to get into in Paris, so we found a fun bar and had a drink. They put glowsticks in each drink and that kept us entertained for a while…

Jess managed to collect some extra glowsticks!

We walked back to our hotel to give us a chance to see some more of Paris, and ran into an unusual sight. As we were crossing the street, nearly 400 rollerskaters appeared and took over the street. There were police officers there to make sure everything ran smoothly, and we chatted with some of them. Turns out, the rollerskaters had created a “flash crowd” a while back (people hear about where to meet up via text message and no one knows where until the day of) and had started taking over the streets late on Friday nights. It became a bit disruptive and dangerous for the rollerbladers, so the police accepted that it would happen and have since monitored the event. I managed to capture some of it on video.

Saturday we woke up and decided to do a little sightseeing. We saw Notre Dame, had a baguette and some wine in a park for lunch, and walked around the Seine.

The front of Notre Dame (I think)

Side view of the Cathedral

Standing on a bridge over the Seine

Saturday night we met up with the rest of our group for dinner at the Louvre. After dinner, we took a boat tour down the Seine. I’m pretty sure there was a tour guide directing our attention towards important landmarks, but anytime you put a group of 35 American college students on a boat with countless bottles of wine, you really can’t expect them to focus.

Standing in the plaza by the Louvre before dinner

After the boat ride, we were dropped off at the Eiffel Tower. Since the European Union is celebrating its 10th birthday this summer, the Eiffel Tower was lit up in blue lights. Every hour or so there was a “light show”, when the whole Tower would sparkle for a few minutes. It was incredible to see. I didn’t think the Eiffel Tower would be SO BIG. It stands out even more in contrast to the rest of the buildings in Paris, which are generally not more than 5 stories high.

The Eiffel Tower light show

On Sunday, we all caught up on some sleep and did the last of our sightseeing. I went with a few friends to see the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed the stairs to get to the top. Climbing that many stories of windy staircase without fresh air is a bit difficult, but the view from the top was absolutely worth it (and the €5 it cost to get up there!)

Me standing in front of the Arc

The view of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc

I enjoyed being in Paris, and I got used to saying Oui and Merci (pretty much the only French words I knew) but I was excited to move on and see other parts of France.