by Kaitlyn Anne: South of France Weekend

I spent this weekend in the south of France with my friends Taylor, Laura, and Kara. We went to Nice, Cannes, and Aix-en-Provence. Since we don't have class on Fridays, we left on Thursday night and spent a day in each city. We took the high speed train to Nice on Thursday night after class which took about five and a half hours. We got there at 11:30pm, so we checked into our hostel, got a snack at McDonald's (it was the only thing open), and then got ready for bed. The weather was beautiful and it was still in the high sixty's when we got there at night. In the morning, we walked around the city for a while and had croissants for breakfast. The buildings were beautiful and brightly colored, and the whole city had a fun, tropical vibe. We found an open air market in a big courtyard that we walked around in for a while. These markets are really popular in France, and this one was packed. After that, we walked towards the beach and found a tower on a hill that we climbed up to. There were amazing views at the top and we took a lot of great pictures. Then, we went to the beach to relax and swim. There were palm trees everywhere and it was my first time seeing them in person. The beach was covered in rocks instead of sand which was uncomfortable and hard to walk on. It was really annoying to lay on them but it felt so good to just relax by the water and feel summer again. The water was a beautiful turquoise color and the whole area by the beach was amazing. After laying there for a while, I got really hot so I ventured into the water and it was so refreshing. It wasn't even hard for me to get in because I'm so used to New England water and this wasn't as cold as it usually is at the beach I go to a home. I swam for a while and enjoyed the view of the pretty coast in front of me. I didn't realize how much I missed swimming, and it felt so good to just hang out at the beach for a few hours.

After the beach, we changed and found a place for dinner. We ate at a place that had sea food because the girls wanted to try fish soup which is popular in that region. I of course did not partake in the poisson fest, but I got ricotta ravioli with vegetables. It was really good and of course I had to take a picture of it :)

After dinner, we got our stuff from the hostel and went to the train station for our train to Cannes. This ride was only about forty-five minutes and we got to Cannes around ten thirty at night. Since there aren't many hostels in Cannes, we stayed in a hotel which meant we had to have two double rooms. Laura and I had one room, and Taylor and Kara had another. We had a T.V. in our room and I found "Vampire Diaries" dubbed in French. I was so excited, so I watched it while we got ready for bed. Since I had already seen the episode and knew what was going on, it was really fun to see it in French and try to figure out what they were saying. I feel like this would be a good way to learn more French and I really wish I could watch my favorite shows in French at home.

The next morning, we got breakfast and then found the place where the Cannes Film Festival is held. We saw the hand imprints of famous people all around the building, but most of the signatures were too hard to read, so we didn't know whose they were. We found Cameron Diaz's and Nicole Kidman's and took pictures with them. Then, we found another open air market and walked around it for a while. After that, we made our way up to an old church on a hill. There were houses all the way up the hill and there were only small, windy roads and lots of stairs to get up. I can't imagine doing that everyday to get to my house. We made it to the top and there was an amazing view of the city and the water, so it was worth the climb. To me, Cannes wasn't as pretty as Nice because the water wasn't as pretty a color and the buildings weren't as bright and fun. I did prefer the beach in Cannes though, because there was actual sand instead of rocks. We spent a few hours on that beach and then went to dinner kind of early because we had an earlier train to catch.

We took the train to Aix-en-Provence which is a few hours north of Nice and Cannes. It has a lot of Universities, so it is a big town for students. My first impression of Aix was that it is like a little Paris. The buildings and streets are very similar to Paris, but it is much smaller and there are much less people. We stayed in an apartment-like hotel that was really nice. It had a small kitchen area with a sink and a microwave, a bathroom, a bedroom with a double bed, and a small living room with a pull out couch. It was the perfect size for the four of us and it was nice to stay all together on our last night. In the morning, we went out to explore the town. There are so many small, windy streets in the town that make it really easy to get lost. The town was adorable and had a much nicer atmosphere than Paris. The people were much more friendly and there was a more relaxed vibe, as opposed to all the people rushing and running around in Paris. We found another outdoor market and walked around for a while. Then, we found a really old church that had been added onto over the years and represented several different architectural styles. We went inside and were surprised by how big it is since all the roads and buildings in the town are so tiny. After that, we went to the studio of Cizanne, a famous painter who lived in Aix. It was in a pretty wooded area with paths to walk around through the trees. His studio was nice and bright, and had a pretty view of the garden. It was nice to get out of the city for a while and to see some of the things in the studio that were used by Cizanne himself. I an always fascinated by history and artifacts that have survived from the past.

After our little adventure to the studio, we went to find the house that Taylor's mom lived in when she studied abroad in Aix. We took a picture of her with it and then went to a cute park that we had walked by. We rested there for a while and then when to find a restaurant for Laura's birthday dinner. We found a cute place in one of the town's big courtyards that we all liked the menu. I ended up getting pork tenderloin with a cream of shallot sauce and gratin potatoes. It was much better than I expected, and the potatoes were amazing. Our waiter was hiarious and he kept making us laugh throughout dinner. Since it was Laura's birthday, we had to get dessert, so I just got vanilla ice cream with berry sauce because I was pretty full. After dinner, we went to get our stuff and take our train back to Paris.