Chateau Virant, Lac Ste Croix and les Gorges du Verdon

What a weekend!!! The weather here is getting warmer and warmer! This past Friday, a few IAU students went to Chateau Virant, a olive farm and a vineyard located right outside of Aix. It was about 70 degrees and sunny; the perfect day for a tour in the countryside of the South of France! We began witha tour of the building that was built in the 1660s and then moved on to the building where they explained how the made the olive oil and wine. After the tours of the buildings, we were able to taste both the olive oil and wine! Yum! We had three different types of olive oil (one was mild, spicy and then a mix of the two) on little pieces of bread, and then we were able to taste five different types of wine. A white, a rose, two reds (one aged in stainless steel and one aged in oak) and then the Provencal Christmas wine (sweet.... has a caramel taste). They were all delicious, of course. We then went on an hour walk through the vineyard and the olive tree groves to where the bus would pick us up. Needless to say, it was beautiful! We passed some ruins in the field (only in France), some wild rosemary and various herbs and of course, hundreds of olive trees and grape vines!
Sunday there was an excursion to Lac Ste Croix and les Gorges du Verdon, which are about an hour and a half to two hours from Aix. We stopped at a lovely little town along the Verdon river to buy food at the local market for our lunch! After the market, we drove to Lac Ste Croix, which was stunning. It is an artificial lake that was created after a dam was built along the Verdon river, which has turquoise water. And when I saw turquoise, I mean it! Unfortunately it was not that nice out and gray all day (it was supposed to rain... but it didn't!!) but it was still beautiful. We had a little picnic on the beach of the lake and then ventured on to see the gorges and the Verdon River! It was breath-taking and words really will not be able to do it justice (I feel like that is often true, especially when I try to describe things in the South of France)!



After we stared at the gorges for a while in pure amazement, we boarded the bus yet again and took the drive of death up a tiny little road that barely could fit the bus! Luckily French bus drivers have no fear and can conquer any road, everything was fine! We finally made it to the top of the cliffs and it was totally worth it. The views were amazing. We could see the lake that seemed to stretch on forever. But what was ever more amazing, was that it was around 65 degrees and to our left there was a huge mountain that had snow on it! It was beautiful to see a turquoise river meeting a snowy mountain!



We then went to our final destination for the day, a little village named Moustiers Sainte Marie, which is one of the cutest little villages ever! It was so quaint and French (thus adorable) and we explored a little bit, found a cafe overlooking a little river and had some coffee! So for a short conclusion: la vie francaise est bonne et chaque jour est une aventure!

Montpellier, Hérault and Sète

This past weekend I went to Montpellier to see Alissa and my aunt and uncle! I arrived in the afternoon, after a pretty two hour train ride along the coast! We walked around a bit and I enjoyed being in a little warmer climate than Aix (with lots of palm trees!). After a little while, we were all hungry and tired (they had just arrived after a long flight) so we began our search for crepes. After our early dinner (5:30) Aunt Lynne, Uncle Ted and their friends headed back to their hotel that was outside of the city and Alissa and I went back to our hotel as well, but ours was in the center of Montpellier. We hung out for the night and I was able to meet a lot of Alissa's friends!





The next day, we went on a great journey! We began by getting out of Montpellier and heading towards the Hérault region, which was about thirty minutes outside of the city. We were on a mission to find some grottes (caves)! After driving through the wine country part of this region, we stumbled upon the pont du diable ( bridge of the devil) and a beautiful turquoise river! After exploring some ruins that we weren't supposed to, we entered into the Grotte de Clamouse, one of the coolest things i have ever seen! It was a huge cave that was just recently discovered (50 years ago) with stalagmites and stalactites that were hundreds of thousands of years old! Definitely one of my favorite things I have seen and experienced so far! We walked up and down stairs in the cave for about an hour and a half and stared in awe at these giant, ancientt formations!




After our cave tour, we went on a search for lunch. We had a French picnic in mind, but had difficulty at first finding food! It was a Saturday afternoon and in this region, everything seemed to be closed from 12 to 3! Finally, we were able to find fresh French bread, lots of cheese, and of course, wine. After locating our lunch, we went back and found a spot overlooking the pont du diable! We were surrounded by olive trees and vineyards and it was absolutely beautiful. The picture that comes to mind when someone describes the French country side doesn't do it justice; it is just that beautiful. We then had to make a hard choice; wine tour or find another cave to explore! Alissa had told us that she saw a winery near by that she is familiar with from working at a wine shop! She sold a few types of their wine and said it was delicious. So we decided a wine tour in the south of France was a great idea. We went to the Mas de Daumas Gassac winery, which was located a few miles down a stone road, surrounded by little chateaus and tons of grapevines! We were given a tour and ended up being able to taste a special wine that they usually do not offer for tastings (it was a 90 euro bottle of red... YUMMY!). After our wine tour, we took the scenic route back to Montpellier, which took us through some adorable towns!




My favorite part of every day comes next: dinner. We went to a restaurant with a great menu! I decided I was going to be adventurous and try things that I have always wanted to try. For an appetizer, I would have terrine de foie gras (goose liver spread), my second appetizer (yes there were two) was les cuisses de grenouilles (FROG LEGS... tasted like chicken!), then I had duck cassoulet. Then came the cheese and dessert... what a meal! I was also able to try a little shark (sorry Ashley!!) that Alissa's friend Lisa ordered, which was delicious! It was similar to swordfish! What a day!!!!!!!!!



On Sunday, my family left to drive Alissa up to Marvejolsand they could continue on their vacation to the Dordogne! Instead of going right back to Aix, I decided I would travel on my own to Sète, which is a little town on the Mediterranean coast! It was really windy and since it was Sunday, there was not much open, but I still enjoyed my day very much! When I first arrived, I immediately was in love. Sète has the nickname of being the Venice of France, with tomns of canals! It was one of the cutest towns I have ever seen! I headed right for the ocean and found a nice little spot to sit and read, right near the harbor and under the lighthouse! I basked in the sun and the warmth for a little while! I spent the day people watching,reading, staring at the canals and ocean and drinking coffee. What a hard life I am living! What a great weekend!!!!!!!

Marseille for the day

So over the past week or so I have had to chance to travel a bit! First, I went to Marseille, one of France's largest cities and about a 30 minute bus ride from Aix. My two friends and I did not do much research at all, but I knew that the old port section of the city was supposed to be beautiful! But the bus dropped us off in the sketchiest part of the city... luckily we stopped in a McDo (McDonalds...) and found a map of the city and figured out where we were and how to get to the old port. We walked along the quais (side of the harbor) and found some really old and cool fortified castles and had lunch right along the Mediterranean!!! It was a beautiful day and we decided to spend our last couple hours at the place with the best views. Notre Dame de la Garde is one of the highest points, if not the highest, in Marseille and has gorgeous panoramic views of the city and the ocean! We were able to see Chateau D'If (from the Count of Monte Cristo) and all the islands right off the coast! Notre Dame de la Garde is most famous for the 9 ton statue of Mary and baby Jesus (his wrist is 42 inches around... and gold!) We spent some time photosynthesizing and basking in the warmth of the sunlight of the South of France.

As we were leaving, we realized that there were a lot of policemen hanging out on the road where our bus was supposed to pick us up to bring us down to where we would catch the bus back to Aix. Now, there are often policemen around... but near bus stations and train stations... so it was unusual to see policemen at the base of Notre Dame de la Garde! We sat waiting for the bus to come pick us up (we didn't know the way back otherwise we would have walked!) for about twenty minutes. After a little while, we decided to find our way and walk down.. since the police population kept growing! We finally figured out that there was either a riot or a strike going on and figured that the buses were not going to come get us! We finally made it back to Aix, and all in all it was a great day!!