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Markets, boats, fireworks, and…a prison?!

Markets, boats, fireworks, and…a prison?!

Bonjour!

This past weekend was filled with markets, shopping, quite a few boats (including a kayak), fireworks, and oh yeah, a prison. Starting off the weekend with Friday evening, our whole group went out for a nice dinner at the Bistro Romain on the Cours Mirabeau, and it was delicious! After eating too much and exploring Aix at night we got back to our rooms for some sleep before our early rising Saturday morning for the markets. Let’s just start out by saying this: if you think you aren’t going to buy something at the markets, or maybe that you have this thing called self control, you’re wrong. Plain and simply wrong! From clothing, to jewelry, to food, and literally anything you can want, it’s all decorating the streets throughout Aix and it’s impossible to avoid. But who can complain? So after we all spent a little (or a lot) more than we were planning on, we headed off to grab some coffee at our newly favorite Australian coffee shop (yup, Australian haha) before catching the bus to Marseille. From Marseille we hopped on a boat out to the Chateau D’If, which is basically an amzing historic castle-like prison you can walk around in, and then on to the island of Frioul, a place now known to me personally for its incredible white chocolate and nutella ice cream (real chunks of both!!!), and from which me and a friend rented a kayak for some Mediterranean exploration :p

SAMEDI

Les Calissons – A traditional candy of France, and specifically, Aix-en-Provence. Calissons are made of candied fruit, ground almonds, and are topped with a special icing.

Vibrant pottery at the Saturday street market in Aix

Lavender sachets for sale at the Saturday market in Aix

Port at Marseille

Chateau D’If

Port area of the Chateau D’If

Chateau D’If prison door

Kayaks at Frioul!

 

DIMANCHE – LE 14 JUILLET…AKA BASTILLE DAY!

Our Bastille Day consisted of lavender fields, sunflowers, beaches and fireworks, and who could want it any other way?! Sunday morning we took a school organized bus from our university out to Valensole (which for the most part looks like a fairytale land of lavender and sunflowers with small old stone homes here and there) and then continued on to Saint Croix du Verdon (a small lake village with a few cute rock beaches to relax on and plenty of boats to take out onto the water). When we finally got back home in the evening, we were just in time to shower, make ourselves some dinner, and get on our balcony to see the fireworks in celebration of Bastille Day! So joyeux 14 Juillet tout le monde! A plus tard!

Lac Saint Croix

Lac Saint Croix sailboats

Bastille Day fireworks over Aix

 

 

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