OK, so I could not spend a year, but here is how I spent my day in Provence.
I rented my car.
Visited Cassis, a very pretty seaside destination with cliffs which I saw and inlets called calanques which I did not see. I always thought this was where the liqueur cassis was from, but Wikipedia tells me it is an actual wine. I did see a ton of vines driving down there.
Visited Marseilles and wanted to try Bouillabaisse. I think this was the first time I've had this dish, and I wanted to make it a good one. Asked my Marseillaise friend for a recommendation and she told me Le Rhul. Apparently real bouillabaisse has to be made with a certain number and types of fish, and the fish must be presented and cut table side, which it was. Yay for authentic experiences. The soup was VERY delicious and I loved it. I liked some of the fish, but one tasted like wet socks. It also came with mussels which were pretty mushy and gross. Le Rhul is one of the "founder" restaurants of the dish, which must mean it's very good, and I paid a hefty price for it. Glad I tried it but probably will not be coming back.
Funny story at the restaurant, though I'm sure I will not tell it well. I had a smelly waiter (not essential to the story but I wanted to point out), and I was texting Lingon that I thought he was Vietnamese. When I left, I had a short conversation with him and he asked whether I was Chinese or Taiwanese, and I in turn asked him if he was Vietnamese. Right at that moment his boss came in and was pretty amazed that I knew what he was. She then proceeded to say all Asian people looked the same, and then pulled on the edges of her eyes to make them slitty, like Chinese eyes, and I laughed and told her all white people looked the same to me!
So on to Marseille. First things first, they had a Starbucks and I made a beeline for that, and lo and behold they had a Marseille tumbler! At first I was quite bored with Marseille, big city with big port, but then I went over to the north side of the port where the cathedral and Fort St Jean were, and everything got a bit more special. :-)
On to Arles. Now I'm a big Van Gogh fan, so I wanted to see all of the things he painted. However I was really not prepared for bad parking which I met in pretty much every place. Arles was the worst. So I was grumpy and running out of time when I finally parked here, but I did manage to see the cafe that he painted, find a pretty shuttered door, and eat an ice cream. So much for being a true blue Van Gogh fan. :-(
The reason I was running out of time in Arles was because I wanted to go to the Carrières de Lumières in Baux-de-Provence. On the way though, I stopped at a sunflower field, continuing on my love for the artist. Funny enough, I met a Ali who I think also likes Van Gogh, and he gave me this postcard he made of the yellow house in Arles that Van Gogh painted which does not exist anymore, superimposed on the spot it used to stand on. Incidentally, he had worked at Carrières de Lumières for 17 years and told me I had to see it.
So back to Carrières de Lumières. I knew it closed at 7pm. I arrived at 6.05pm. Like 5 minutes late. The lady not only did not let me enter, but was quite mean about it. Biyatch. I was really sad. Really really sad. This is a cave where they project art works of chosen artists on the stone walls that were carved into the cave of the valley. My French teacher told me about it first, then my Airbnb host here at Aix-en-Provence, and then Ali said it was magnifique and I had to go. So yes, very bummed.
Trying to stay positive, I decided to go to Baux-de-Provence for some exploration which turned out to be a blessing. The city is named Baux for the bauxite walls, very different from the other cities I had visited. I did not know this until I got there, but the city is designated Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") by an independent association to promote small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage, and I quote Wikipedia here. I learned about this designation in class when someone spoke of a different city Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Baux-de-Provence was off the beaten path and really beautiful - I highly recommend it!
Back to Aix-en-Provence where I had a simple salade niçoise for dinner, which was most enjoyable.
Driven: 278.7km
I rented my car.
Visited Cassis, a very pretty seaside destination with cliffs which I saw and inlets called calanques which I did not see. I always thought this was where the liqueur cassis was from, but Wikipedia tells me it is an actual wine. I did see a ton of vines driving down there.
Visited Marseilles and wanted to try Bouillabaisse. I think this was the first time I've had this dish, and I wanted to make it a good one. Asked my Marseillaise friend for a recommendation and she told me Le Rhul. Apparently real bouillabaisse has to be made with a certain number and types of fish, and the fish must be presented and cut table side, which it was. Yay for authentic experiences. The soup was VERY delicious and I loved it. I liked some of the fish, but one tasted like wet socks. It also came with mussels which were pretty mushy and gross. Le Rhul is one of the "founder" restaurants of the dish, which must mean it's very good, and I paid a hefty price for it. Glad I tried it but probably will not be coming back.
Funny story at the restaurant, though I'm sure I will not tell it well. I had a smelly waiter (not essential to the story but I wanted to point out), and I was texting Lingon that I thought he was Vietnamese. When I left, I had a short conversation with him and he asked whether I was Chinese or Taiwanese, and I in turn asked him if he was Vietnamese. Right at that moment his boss came in and was pretty amazed that I knew what he was. She then proceeded to say all Asian people looked the same, and then pulled on the edges of her eyes to make them slitty, like Chinese eyes, and I laughed and told her all white people looked the same to me!
So on to Marseille. First things first, they had a Starbucks and I made a beeline for that, and lo and behold they had a Marseille tumbler! At first I was quite bored with Marseille, big city with big port, but then I went over to the north side of the port where the cathedral and Fort St Jean were, and everything got a bit more special. :-)
On to Arles. Now I'm a big Van Gogh fan, so I wanted to see all of the things he painted. However I was really not prepared for bad parking which I met in pretty much every place. Arles was the worst. So I was grumpy and running out of time when I finally parked here, but I did manage to see the cafe that he painted, find a pretty shuttered door, and eat an ice cream. So much for being a true blue Van Gogh fan. :-(
The reason I was running out of time in Arles was because I wanted to go to the Carrières de Lumières in Baux-de-Provence. On the way though, I stopped at a sunflower field, continuing on my love for the artist. Funny enough, I met a Ali who I think also likes Van Gogh, and he gave me this postcard he made of the yellow house in Arles that Van Gogh painted which does not exist anymore, superimposed on the spot it used to stand on. Incidentally, he had worked at Carrières de Lumières for 17 years and told me I had to see it.
So back to Carrières de Lumières. I knew it closed at 7pm. I arrived at 6.05pm. Like 5 minutes late. The lady not only did not let me enter, but was quite mean about it. Biyatch. I was really sad. Really really sad. This is a cave where they project art works of chosen artists on the stone walls that were carved into the cave of the valley. My French teacher told me about it first, then my Airbnb host here at Aix-en-Provence, and then Ali said it was magnifique and I had to go. So yes, very bummed.
Trying to stay positive, I decided to go to Baux-de-Provence for some exploration which turned out to be a blessing. The city is named Baux for the bauxite walls, very different from the other cities I had visited. I did not know this until I got there, but the city is designated Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") by an independent association to promote small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage, and I quote Wikipedia here. I learned about this designation in class when someone spoke of a different city Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Baux-de-Provence was off the beaten path and really beautiful - I highly recommend it!
Back to Aix-en-Provence where I had a simple salade niçoise for dinner, which was most enjoyable.
Driven: 278.7km
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