Flew into Marseilles on a thursday-i was greeted by glaring sun and T, my pal who's been studying in France. From the airport its a 20 minute bus ride to Aix, which is a little town somewhat west to Marseilles. Its pretty- lots of fountains; big ones, little ones....it gets pretty hot there so its nice to have a stop at a fountain, have a drink, splash some water on my face and just run my fingers in the cool water. The town is built around a main street called Mirabou which is where its at in Aix. The street is tree lined, and it shades the little cafes and shops. Off the Mirabou are winding cobbled streets- lotsa brand name shops and posh restaurants and further off you've got all the other little shops and things. T's place wasnt far from town, about 10 minutes away. His place was small, so i tried to stay outta his hair and be in town most of the time.
On the first day i went to an art gallery- the Musee Garnet. There were a few pieces i found really interesting and all day i kept on doing this thing where i would think of a song that went along with the painting. I kept on chuckling to myself because some paintings would make me think of the randomest songs-who'd think Eve 6's song "think twice" would be the perfect song to a painting?
I lunched there at the gallery, and after wandered the town a bit. I managed to trek all the way to this park slightly outside of town where i spread my pario on the grass, lay down to read my novel and eat yummy french artisan cookies.
On the saturday we went down to Marseilles- and hit the beach. We arrived at the beach at about noonish, but screw sun safety- we covered each other nice and good with sunscreen and was out there for a good 3-4 hours. The beach was gorgeous. Not sandy, but i can handle a beach of small pebbles. The water was lovely. It was cold, and it was a great way to cool off from all that sun. The water was really salty and so very buoyant- it was perfect to just float in and swim....... Oh, and allow a moment of vanity. I wore the cutest purple halter neck tankini that i had bought at the airport before i flew in. I didnt get matching shorts, but i had tiny-tiny black shorts with hot pink swirls on them. I thought i looked very cute. That's a personal opinion by the way. T didnt say anything. Not like he would. I could've been sunning topless and he wouldnt say anything. Not like i would ever do such a thing.....no........
That evening we met up with some friends of his for dinner. I was lost in the midst of french menu and french chattering- still, his friends were nice to me. There was a spanish girl so i was trying my rubbish spanish, but all of them spoke english (bless!). I had pastis for the first time: initially it tasted a bit like mouthwash, but i liked it in the end. We washed down dinner with some local Rose and after that went to his friend's place for cocktails. Had a few and then went to a little underground bar for a giraffe of beer. I had one slow, and was falsely informed to down my next glass. Before you can guess it i was tipsy and dancing inappropriately. Was dragged home at 4- i didnt remember much to be fair, except walking through the sprinklers and T being very sweet and letting me have the bed.
My allergies didnt flare up much (hurrah! and no hangover) but T suffered somewhat (apparently there's a lot of people with this kind of allergy.....i never would've guess- im glad im not a freak).
I was in Aix for a week- didnt do all that much really. Sleeping in, watching Death Note, siestas, hanging out at cafes, reading my novel and generally chilling. There was a bit of work involved as well, i was expected to earn my keep :P . T made me do his laundry (to be fair a bit of it was mine) but to make up for it i got sunflowers. Im still a girly girl at heart, flowers can make up for a lot..... on a side note- sunflower petals are NOT yummy.
There was the horror which was trying out the moving van: he couldnt figure out to get the damn thing to reverse for like half an hour and i was getting a stitch from laughing. Apparently there's a funny trick to it, which the lady at the car rental place showed us later. So brainlessly simple, but both of us couldnt figure it out. Brains isnt everything, i guess. That night we picked up Paulo and headed for a midnight drive around Aix- just to get T to get used to the van (it was massive and tall) and practise parking.
I helped pack up his stuff and clean his room- honestly i think i was just in the way, but i tried to help out where i can. We were all done at about 9-ish and set off from Aix about quarter to 10.
Bye-bye Aix, here we come Toulouse!
On the first day i went to an art gallery- the Musee Garnet. There were a few pieces i found really interesting and all day i kept on doing this thing where i would think of a song that went along with the painting. I kept on chuckling to myself because some paintings would make me think of the randomest songs-who'd think Eve 6's song "think twice" would be the perfect song to a painting?
I lunched there at the gallery, and after wandered the town a bit. I managed to trek all the way to this park slightly outside of town where i spread my pario on the grass, lay down to read my novel and eat yummy french artisan cookies.
On the saturday we went down to Marseilles- and hit the beach. We arrived at the beach at about noonish, but screw sun safety- we covered each other nice and good with sunscreen and was out there for a good 3-4 hours. The beach was gorgeous. Not sandy, but i can handle a beach of small pebbles. The water was lovely. It was cold, and it was a great way to cool off from all that sun. The water was really salty and so very buoyant- it was perfect to just float in and swim....... Oh, and allow a moment of vanity. I wore the cutest purple halter neck tankini that i had bought at the airport before i flew in. I didnt get matching shorts, but i had tiny-tiny black shorts with hot pink swirls on them. I thought i looked very cute. That's a personal opinion by the way. T didnt say anything. Not like he would. I could've been sunning topless and he wouldnt say anything. Not like i would ever do such a thing.....no........
That evening we met up with some friends of his for dinner. I was lost in the midst of french menu and french chattering- still, his friends were nice to me. There was a spanish girl so i was trying my rubbish spanish, but all of them spoke english (bless!). I had pastis for the first time: initially it tasted a bit like mouthwash, but i liked it in the end. We washed down dinner with some local Rose and after that went to his friend's place for cocktails. Had a few and then went to a little underground bar for a giraffe of beer. I had one slow, and was falsely informed to down my next glass. Before you can guess it i was tipsy and dancing inappropriately. Was dragged home at 4- i didnt remember much to be fair, except walking through the sprinklers and T being very sweet and letting me have the bed.
My allergies didnt flare up much (hurrah! and no hangover) but T suffered somewhat (apparently there's a lot of people with this kind of allergy.....i never would've guess- im glad im not a freak).
I was in Aix for a week- didnt do all that much really. Sleeping in, watching Death Note, siestas, hanging out at cafes, reading my novel and generally chilling. There was a bit of work involved as well, i was expected to earn my keep :P . T made me do his laundry (to be fair a bit of it was mine) but to make up for it i got sunflowers. Im still a girly girl at heart, flowers can make up for a lot..... on a side note- sunflower petals are NOT yummy.
There was the horror which was trying out the moving van: he couldnt figure out to get the damn thing to reverse for like half an hour and i was getting a stitch from laughing. Apparently there's a funny trick to it, which the lady at the car rental place showed us later. So brainlessly simple, but both of us couldnt figure it out. Brains isnt everything, i guess. That night we picked up Paulo and headed for a midnight drive around Aix- just to get T to get used to the van (it was massive and tall) and practise parking.
I helped pack up his stuff and clean his room- honestly i think i was just in the way, but i tried to help out where i can. We were all done at about 9-ish and set off from Aix about quarter to 10.
Bye-bye Aix, here we come Toulouse!
2 comments:
Just so you know... I'm living vicariously through your somewhat travel blog. :)
Its not really a travel blog, its more like a bedtime story.......
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