Becks Invade France

One more post...

2009-07-25T20:30:00.001+02:00

I finally got our pics from snorkeling in the Med developed, and they can be viewed HERE.

Last post on this blog

2009-07-17T04:57:00.001+02:00

Now that Chris and I are back in the states, we figured it was time to start a new blog. You can find us at our new location at Blooming Becks.

Back in the USA

2009-07-06T02:06:00.004+02:00

Yes, we really did lug all this with us!
Happy to be done traveling.

Chris, Oreo, and I left Marseille on July 1st. We took care of a few last things in the morning, before the taxi picked us up to take us to the airport. Oreo was not happy to go inside his carrier, and had no idea that he was no longer going to be a French chat.

The taxi picked us up and we headed towards the Marseille airport. I was so sad on the way, but kept thinking to myself, this is not goodbye, Marseille, this is "'à tout à l'heure" (see you later).

When we arrived at the airport, we were unable to check in using the machines. A woman came up to us and tried to help, but she couldn't figure out why we couldn't check in. We stood in the short line and finally got up to the ticket counter. The guy told us that he couldn't find our reservations. He made a couple of phone calls, and figured it out, but then he said that we hadn't paid the pet fee yet (which we thought we had over the phone). Chris had to go stand in another line and work on that, while I checked in the 4 suitcases. I was so happy to see that the scale was off by -0.4 kg, so all of our luggage but one weighed in under weight. (I had been so paranoid about the weight of the suitcases, weighing them over and over). The guy didn't even care that one was severly overweight.

Chris eventually came back, we paid the pet fee, then the guy asked us for Oreo's papers. We had been told over the phone when we checked our reservations that we would not need papers for him. I showed them Oreo's papers from when we had first traveled to France, and that seemed to be enough.

Our plane was 25 minutes late, so we started worrying about making our flight in Munich on time, since our layover was less than an hour now.

The flight from Marseille to Munich was smooth and quick. I had a window seat and was able to see Frioul, Marseille, and the coast. We arrived in Munich and found out that we would have to take a bus to the terminal. Great. Once we got off our plane, I realized that I left the GPS back on the plane, so I ran back, waited for everyone to get off the plane, then jumped on to get the GPS. We looked at the time and Chris thought there was not way we would make our connecting flight.

When the bus pulled up to the terminal, we jumped out and ran. There was a guy waiting with a sign saying "Newark" on it and about 7 people plus us were to follow him to the gate. He escorted us through to the passport check and said he would wait as we went through there. We were very happy with Lufthansa in providing us with an escort after all the trouble we had went through earlier.

The passport check was very slow, and we ended up chatting with a woman heading back home to Washington and a French family heading to NYC for vacation. When we got up to the passport check, the guy looked at our expired Visa, and asked us if we lived in Marseille. We said "not anymore", and he passed us through.

Our escort got us to the gate, and they had monitor with our names, except for Chris'. They said not to worry about it and printed up new tickets for us and told us to get on the plane. They had held the plane for us, and we were the last one's to board, which lead to some dirty looks from the other passengers. When we were told where our seats were located, we realized that our seats were not together as they were suppose to be. Chris was in the middle of the plane, and I was all the way in the back. I had to try and get Oreo and my heavy backpack through the aisle on my own, and almost broke my arm trying to get my backpack up in the overhead. I was so ticked off from all the hassle and not having Chris with me, that when I almost dropped the suitcase on my head I said "sh&*". Later, I noticed I had said that with a child in front of me and a nun sitting behind me. Ooops....hahahaha.

I got Oreo under the seat in front of me and I sat down fuming about having to spend the whole trip without Chris. I was seated next to a young French boy, one of the other late passengers. I guess they just switched him for Chris in the seating arrangements.

The plane took off and we started our 8 hour flight back to Newark. I started watching a movie, "Duplicity", which was terrible, and after about a half hour, Chris found me and asked the boy to move so he could sit by me. I was SO happy!

The flight was pretty bumpy at times, which really bothered me, but overall it was fine. I watched "I love you, man" which was a super cute movie, and "He's Just not Into You" which was worthless.

We arrived in Newark around 6:30pm, exhausted, and ready to get to our hotel for the night. We went through immigration easily, and picked up our bags. It cost $5 for a cart for the suitcases, which was ridiculous. Then we went through customs and had to go to the side to show Oreo's papers (even though, again, we had been told we didn't need to show his papers). We eventually found the shuttle over to the Sheraton hotel and we checked in.

Oreo was so good on the trip, and he was very happy to come out of his carrier and get some food and water. It was a great idea for us to have the hotel room for the night and separate the trip into two parts.

Chris and I had dinner at the hotel cafe and crashed early. We had to get up at 4am to make our next flight on Continental to Cincinnati.

Even with arriving early, we still almost missed our flight thanks to the LONG line at security. I can't believe how difficult it nowadays to travel by plane! They just don't make things easy! We got to the gate, again being the last one's to board, and the ladies there asked me what I had in the carrier. I told them it was our cat, and they said he would not fit on the plane. I told them that his carrier is flexible to fit under the seat and that it is airline approved, and that Oreo would be fine, and the woman said "well the cat can't tell you otherwise." We wanted to punch her! Like she knew what was best for our boy?? She let us past, and then the stewardess did the same thing to us when we got on the plane. I told her that I fly with him all the time and that he will fit, and she just looked like it was impossible. Funny, I was able to get him under the seat in front of me without a problem. Oreo was just fine and slept the whole way.

We were so happy to finally see David and Carolyn at the airport and get our luggage. We were DONE with flying! We stopped off at a Starbuck's on the way home, which was funny since I was craving a soy chai latte! The trip back to Salem was long, but it felt nice to finally get here.

Being back in Salem made it fell like the 9 months had been simply a dream. It was quite surreal. I had jet lag for the following few days and going through Marseille-withdraw. It's funny being back and thinking about how France and the US are similar and different. Very strange being in restaurants and understanding what everyone is saying. Chris and I no longer have our secret language of English, because everyone around us speaks English! :)

I'm getting more use to being back now and am feeling better. I really look forward to going back to Marseille in the next few years. For now, it's nice being with family and friends and looking forward to our next adventure.

Last day in Marseille

2009-06-30T23:13:00.002+02:00

Today was our last day here in Marseille, and we spent the day packing and cleaning the apartment. We are so exhausted! It's really hard to pack up after 9 months abroad! Oreo is not pleased about the situation, of course. We only wish he could carry himself along with a carry-on and a checked bag to help us out.

We did our check out with our landlady and just finished mopping (at 11:20pm). Now all is left is to send some boxes via post tomorrow, and we are on our way back. We fly into Newark tomorrow night, where we will stay at a hotel. Then we have a very early flight on Thurs to Cincinnati. Chris' parents will pick us up and drive us back to Salem.

To "celebrate" our last night, we went to Le Resto Provencal for dinner. We sat at the Cours Julien, watching the little kids play on the playground, listening to the music of the busquers, and eating delicious Provencal food.

Just your average day in the Med

2009-06-29T22:32:00.004+02:00

We are down to our last two days here in Marseille, and since we have to spend tomorrow cleaning and finishing packing, we took the opportunity today to go swimming and snorkeling in the Med!

We got up late this morning, ate leftover crepes from yesterday (which were still good the next day), and hopped the Frioul/d'Iff express boat over to Frioul. Standing in line for the boat, we bypassed the entire line waiting by standing in front of the gate to the far left (closest to the ticket counter). We have taken this boat enough times to know that they only open up that gate, yet everyone stands in front of the other 2 gates to the right. Just a travel note to those of you going to Frioul someday, stick to the gate to the far left...you'll get first pick of seats on the boat.

I love riding in the very front of the boat, so we went up there and enjoyed the little trip over to Frioul. We were the only one's walking to the other island of Pomègues. Most people don't know that there are lovely little inlet beaches there (oops, probably shouldn't post this on the net, or next time we go, the inlets will be packed!). We walked quite a ways on the island before we got to the beach we had picked out on our last hiking trip. We were upset to see 5 boats in the inlet, but decided not to let it bother us.

In the inlet, there is a very small island that you can wade over to. That's where we put our things, figuring, no one will bother them there, and that we could swim without having to worry about constantly watching our stuff. Funny how everyone who was swimming around, just had to walk up on this island (well, more of a big rock really), right next to our things, before getting back in the water to swim. So much for keeping our things away from others.

We had a great time snorkeling and swimming in the cove. The water was peaceful like a lake, so didn't have to worry about waves. There were lots of fishies that would come up to us and Chris even got a few pictures of some! However, we had a waterproof film camera, so you'll have to wait a little while for us to get the film developed.

The water was pretty warm to start, but got colder as the day went on. Chris went a bit further out than me, since he's a stronger swimmer, and saw some large fish, got caught in a school of small sardines, and found a top of a mine, not to mention a couple of little caves.

There were quite a few people snorkeling in the area, mostly men, but a couple of women playing with their dog and topless tanning on the beach. There was a group of 4 guys that came around for a bit that were kind of creepy since they just swam for a few min, than sat on the beach staring at everyone. Luckily, they left after about an hour.

My mask broke, so that pretty much ended my snorkel time, and I just swam around until I got too cold to stay in the water. I layed on the rocks in the sun and wondered how the Marseillais find the rocks to be so comfortable (since we see them lying on the rocks all over the place, sunning themselves). There were some little tide pools on the little island, and I saw 3 tiny crabs eating. First crabs I have seen here in the Med! I also saw lots of little snails and some sea anemones.

Around 6pm, we headed back to the boat and we left Frioul to go back to Marseille. It was sad coming back and looking behind us at Frioul. I almost started crying thinking about leaving here....our Mediterranean home....but Chris kept reassuring me we will be back many times in the future! YEAH!

We were very hungry by the time we got back to the port, so we went to Le Collins for our favorite meal there...moule frite (mussles and fries), rose wine, and flan caramel for desert. It was fitting to go there since that was the first place we ate at when we moved here to Marseille. We also went there before our first boat trip over to Frioul. So it was perfect to eat dinner there tonight, looking out at the Bonne Mer over the Port, and talking about when we will return to Marseille.

After dinner we came home, and I watched the coucher de soleil (sunset) from our window.

Pictures are HERE

At Home in Marseille

2009-06-28T10:30:00.004+02:00

Chris found this song called "Marseille" by Patrick Fiori that he wanted to share with everyone. He has translated the lyrics below. We both really love it! Some of the locations may look familiar to you if you have seen our photos of Marseille.

We are going to miss our home here in Marseille. We look forward to returning here in the future!

The paper is a little yellow,
but the colors come back,
All on does is close your eyes,
to return back there,
Oh, I hope that I will always be,...
At home, in Marseille
The Old Port stretches out,
Like two arms in the sea,
It has often that,
I already sang of it like this
I didn't always love every day,
but I suffer far from it,
Oh I hope to one day be,
At home in Marseille
I often truly forget the distance,
When I left the streets to go and take my chance,
But it isn't long that I don't think of there,
Oh, Marseille.
It is like when one stays too long staring at the sun.
You open your eyes slowly,
and the colors come back,
a little more beautiful like the years of sadness and joy,
passing behind,
Oh I hope to one day be,
At home in Marseille
It's true,I often truly forget the distance,
When I left the streets to go and take my chance,
But it isn't long that I don't think of there,
Oh, Marseille.

Martigues, the "Venice of Provence"

2009-06-24T11:38:00.008+02:00

Today we decided to take the train to Martigues, which is 44 minutes away from Marseille to the West. We had some train certificates left over that needed to be used, and the website for Martigues looked great! They said it was the "Venice of Provence" with it's canals running through the city.

The train going to Martigues went along the Cote Bleue line, which was right next to the sea. I wish the pictures I took on the train were better, but the windows were rather dirty.

We saw so many cute towns along the sea, and noted some places we want to check out when we return to France. The train ride was excellent simply for the views of the Med.

We arrived in Martigues, and asked someone if it was possible to walk into the town center from the train station. The girl said yes, and it was about 15 min to walk it. So we figured, why wait and pay for the bus if we can just walk along the canal to the town. WRONG! First, there were no sidewalks along the interstate like road. Second, we had no idea which way to go. We walked a ways down the road to figure out that walking was not going to be safe since we were basically walking along the road. We turned around and made it back to the train station bus stop just in time to get on the bus going into town. Once on the bus, we realized there would have been no way to walk to town. That local girl was crazy!

We hopped off the bus and started walking around the town. Our first impression was "we came all the way for this?" The town was cute enough, but not "Venice". We tried to cross the canal and got stuck on the draw bridge as it was coming up to let boats through. We waited, and then went over to the other side, which was nicer looking. The town was clean and colorful, and right on the beurre de etang (a very large lake connected to the Med by the canal). There was one spot that was Venice-like but other than that, didn't see the comparison. The Office du Tourisme was quite a walk away from the town center, so we gave up on going to it. There was a windmill up on the hill, but it was quite a hike, and I wasn't wearing hiking shoes. We spent a good couple of hours looking around, but other than that, there was nothing to do in the town. It was worth checking out, but not a place you would want to spend an entire day in.

We thought about hopping the train and going back to one of the sea towns we had passed before heading back to Marseille, but there was only one train back to Marseille for the day. Something was stopping trains heading in one direction, and causing issues, so we were lucky we got back to the train station when we did, or we would not have made it back to Marseille!

Once in Marseille, we stopped at a Tunisian bakery to pick up some goodies. Chris has wanted to buy Tunisian goodies since we moved here, and figured he better do it before we leave.

Afterwards, we went over to the mall to pick up a few food items and to check out the sporting goods store to see if we could find some swim masks. They were having a deal on the swim mask/snorkel sets and the water shoes, so we grabbed two of each and got into line.

When we were checking out, the sales girl told us that it was buy 2 get one free for the mask/snorkel and the water shoes. We told her it was only the two of us and we didn't need another set. She thought we didn't understand her, so she brought her manager over to explain in English the sale. Chris told her he understood, but we just didn't need extras. A lady behind us said she would take the free set, and so we said sure, why not. Chris took her to the back to get another mask/snorkel and water shoes, and we gave her the free equipment. It really made her day, and we were happy to do something nice for someone else.

We can't wait to go back to Frioul and use our new gear!

Pictures of the day are HERE

Conquering Pomègues Isle

2009-06-23T11:24:00.006+02:00

Chris and I had lunch with our friend Jaclyn today at our favorite Indian restaurant in the neighborhood. Jaclyn is finished with her stay here in France, and is heading back to New York (she lives North of Westchester).

Her fellow teachers at work gave her a lovely bouquet of sunflowers, and she was unable to take them with her on the flight. So she left them with us.

After lunch, Chris and I decided to go hiking out on Pomègues Isle (part of the Frioul Archipelago). We had explored a section of it when my Mom was here, but we hadn't had a chance to see the rest of the island. Our goal before leaving Marseille was to see all of Frioul (minus the one island you can't get to without a personal boat).

On the way out to the island, there was a filming crew on the boat doing some sort of news broadcast. We kept thinking that the woman they were shooting would fall off the boat since she wasn't holding on. We never did find out what they were doing exactly, but it was entertaining to watch.

The weather was perfect for hiking...in the 70's, perfectly sunny, and the cool breeze kept us from getting sweaty. We found a lot of interesting things on Pomègues. More nazi bunkers, buildings, a fishery off the coast, beautiful inlet beaches, and gun ports. Chris & I were the only one's on the far end of the island, and the seagulls were not happy with us being there. They kept diving at our heads and making terrible noises at us. I felt like I was in "The Birds" and did not want to get hit by a raging gull. Chris just threw rocks at them if they got to close, but I was in duck and cover mode, running from one Nazi bunker to the next.

HERE are a few pictures

and some more are HERE

We found a perfect beach, minus the guy sleeping on it, to explore and wade in. We hiked the rocks around the beach to a more private one on the side, away from the sleeping guy. It was so quiet and relaxing. The crystal clear water was FREEZING, and I do hope it warms up so we can swim before we leave. We found some tide pools that had little sea anenome, an urchin, and little fishies that blended in with the rocks and liked to come right up to our feet. It was so much fun!

We hiked back over to the other island to catch the boat, but it was running late. So we ended up sitting at the port for an hour waiting for the boat to return. The ride back to the Vieux Port was also entertaining, since there was an American guy with three French guys trying to communicate. The French guys barely knew English, and the American guy barely knew French. They were also drunk, and drinking more beers on the boat, cracking up at everything they would say to each other. The French guys started singing "I'm to sexy for my shirt", but they only knew that line, so they sang it over and over. Then they knew how to say "Where is my umbrella?" Chris and I were silently cracking up at the whole conversation.

More pictures from our day can be found HERE and more HERE

Mistral affects our afternoon

2009-06-22T19:54:00.004+02:00

Marseille has been getting hit by the Mistral winds since Saturday, which has put a damper on things we have wanted to do outdoors. This afternoon, we figured that we could go hiking in Luminy woods and be protected from the winds.

We took the bus all the way out there just to find out that the Calanques were closed! The sign said they are shut down to hikers until the end of August! NOOOOOO!!! We knew they shut down in July-Aug due to the dry summer and fire hazard, but this is early! We had hoped to get a few more hikes in before leaving Marseille.

So instead of hiking in the woods, we took the bus to the beach at Parc Boreley. The beaches were empty, minus a few people jogging, some kite surfers, and some wind surfers. The 37 mph Mistral winds made it unbearable for anything else. Luckily, not all of the beaches are sandy, because when the wind kicks up the sand, it's painful!

We could see smoke in the distance and realized that there was a fire over in the woods near the Calanques. There were planes dropping water on the fire, and we could see the flames going up rather high, even though we were very far away from the fire. By the time we walked down the beaches, the fire had been put out and hopefully no one was hurt or property damaged. No wonder they had the woods closed off today! We really haven't had any rain in a month and with the winds, a fire could spread very quickly.

As we walked along the beaches, we enjoyed watching the kite surfers play in the water, doing twists, jumps, and pretty much flying at some points. The wind sufers were enjoying the water too, and some of them had to be newbies, as they were crashing a lot.

Walking head on into the Mistral takes your breath away and makes it very hard to have a conversation or even take a step. We are exhausted from fighting the winds back to the bus, but enjoyed our time out.

HERE are some pictures from the beach.

Adventure in the Luberon

2009-06-19T14:55:00.014+02:00

Our day trip with Nell & Dylan began early at 9:30am at the Gare St. Charles. We had ordered an automatic rental car for the day and Nell had volunteered to drive for us. We were surprised to find that first of all, the car we were suppose to have was not parked in the correct spot in the garage, and that our "car" was actually a mini-van. Those of you who have not driven in France before, should know that a mini-van on the streets here is just ridiculous. We should have had a little 4 seater car, but I guess the mini-van was the only automatic they had for us.

We got in our bus, or mini-van, and took off out of Marseille heading towards the Luberon. The Luberon is a region of Provence North of Marseille.

Our first stop of the day was a market in Lourmarin for picnic supplies. Nell & Dylan had thought ahead and packed water for us and a bottle of wine they had purchased the last time they had visited the Luberon. So all we needed to do was pick up the rest of the items we wanted. We bought sausages (duck, fig, nature, and pepper), formage (gruyere and chevre), bread, melon, cherries, olives (green and black), apero garlic (cloves of garlic with herbs that were very mild and tasty), tomato spread, coconut cookies, and nougat.

The market was filled with English speaking people, both American and British. No surprise since it's tourist season here. There were booths of food, clothing, spices, flowers, soaps, lavender items, kitchen utensils, and so much more. It was a gigantic market and we really could have spent hours shopping there.

Pictures of the market are HERE

Our next stop of the day was at l'Enclos des bories which is a village of neolithic ruins out in the middle of nowhere. The drive out to them was on a tiny, dirt road that looked like it was made for four-wheelers only. Nell & Dylan had been out there before, so they knew how to get out there and wanted us to see the ruins.

Apparently, the property is the familial property of the lady who was there to greet us and give us a tour. She wants to preserve the history of the ruins, and is looking for archeologists to do some research on it. But since the land is not publicly owned, it's hard to find the funding for the research. She charges 5 euros per person to come and walk around the ruins and to explore. She told us a bit about the bories (stone beehive huts) and about the people who had lived there SO many years ago. We couldn't figure out if the people had been uber short, since we had to bend all the way down to get in and out of the huts, or if they had just made the openings that way for protection.

The owner said that she had grown up playing in the bories and wanted to keep it as preserved as possible now that she was older. I kept imagining what it would be like to have grown up playing in the village. The ruins were quite spread out. We found 3 wells, many huts, areas that were obviously where they had kept animals, a grove of olive trees, murder holes, and a view over the countryside that was breathtaking. We could see the village of Bonnieux over on the mountainside.

Some interesting history, the bories was used from the 1500-1700's for refuges of various wars in Europe. People have been living in them for pretty much every era, which is hard to imagine.

I bet you are wondering what "murder holes" are. :) Check out my pictures HERE and find out.

We were getting hungry, so we decided to find a spot to have our picnic. The hot, humid, 90 degree weather had changed and it was starting to rain a little bit and get cooler as we drove through the countryside. We passed many vineyards, groves of cherry trees, olive groves, and beautiful Provencal homes dotting the landscape.

Nell had wanted to picnic along a wine walk. It ended up being too hot to do the wine walk, but we found a perfect picnic spot near Oppède Le Vieux. When driving up to Oppède Le Vieux, you eventually come to a parking lot that says that parking is obligatory and that it costs 3 euros to do so. Later, we found out that we could have driven past the parking lot and gone straight into the village.
We parked, grabbed our loot, and walked into the woods looking for a spot for our picnic. We passed a mini field of lavendine in bloom, buzzing with bees and butterflies. Lavendine is a hybrid of two types of lavender plants.

There was a perfect spot just down from the field to spread out our blanket and eat. The food from the market was perfect and the wine that Nell & Dylan had brought was a wonderful accompaniment.

While eating, we saw something that looked like a miniature hummingbird flying around us in the flowers. It wasn't moving quite like a hummingbird, but it looked like one. I got closer to it and discovered it was some strange mothlike creature that was disguised like a hummingbird. It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen!

After our picnic, we walked around the lavendine, rosemary, juniper, and then headed up the hill to see the village which is nestled into the mountain. The village seemed a bit far to walk with everything else we wanted to see in a day, so we passed it up. Chris was disappointed, but it leaves something to do the next time we go there.

We jumped back in the car, and heading down the road, we stopped off at two local wineries for tasting. The Luberon is known for Rose wines, but their oak cask rouge wine is very tasty.

Pictures are HERE

Our journey continued and our next stop was the Abbe de Senanque. We pulled off the road and took a few pictures of the Abbe down in the valley from the mountainside road. The road going down was so small, and we could only hope that no one would head towards us since there was only one pull off point.

The lavender fields in front of the abbe were a little disappointing. I had expected beautiful, full bloom lavender fields, but instead, the lavender hadn't bloomed yet. I believe it was late in blooming due to being down in the valley. It was still beautiful, but I had really wanted to see the bright purple blooms.

There were lots of Asians around the abbe, which we thought was a little strange, until we saw a bride and groom getting their pictures taken in the lavender field. We rarely see Asians in Southern France.

We didn't do the tour of the abbe, but we did go inside the bookstore. We were looking around and heard someone up at the cashier asking, in English, for a phone card. A young couple needed to make a phone call to their hotel, and a phone card for the pay phone was going to cost them 7 euros. Nell offered to let them use her cell phone to call, and we started up a long conversation with them. It turns out, they live in Louisville, KY, but are orginally from Michigan. They were very nice and we chatted with them for a while, as Nell tried to get a signal on her cell. We never did get reception for them to call, but had a good time talking with them about Louisville and France.

Near the abbe is the town of Gordes. According to Nell's guidebook, the town is "too beautiful for its own good." This was an accurate description! The town was a gorgeous, hillside village with a large chateau at the top. We stopped and had some drinks at a cafe and ended up having to go hide from the rain for a bit as it poured. Once the rain stopped, we walked around the village and found a lookout point over the valley. After taking a few pictures, and looking at the lavender fields in the distance, a rainbow appeared! Then a second arch started to appear next to it! Gordes being "too beautiful" was quite true!

More pictures HERE

We drove through the country, passing lavender fields and fields of sunflowers that have not yet opened. If only we could drive the same route in August when the sunflowers would be in bloom!

The village of Roussillon was our last stop of the day. Roussillon is a small village with deep red clay for soil. We believe that the red clay used to create Santon must come from this region. The buildings were vibrant red and burnt sienna as the sun was setting. At first, we were the only one's walking through the town, other than ALL the stray cats! There was a stray cat every few feet in the village. It was very sad to see so many kitties, some not in such great shape, out and about.

We found a lovely cafe with a terrace for dinner. The plate of the day was cabillard fish with a butter sauce, garlic green beans, and rice or duck with pepper sauce. Chris & I had the fish and it was excellent! For dessert, creme brulee for moi, and Chris had figues cooked in honey with vanilla ice cream!

The drive back home was long, and in the dark. We didn't get back to Marseille until close to midnight. We were pretty tired by the end of the day, but amazed by the amount of things we did and saw! Chris and I are so happy that we were able to do it before leaving Provence. The Luberon is a definite must see when in the area.

Last photo album of the day can be found HERE

Our 3 year wedding anniversary

2009-06-17T13:41:00.003+02:00

Today we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary (11 1/2 years together!). We had planned to go to Cassis for the day to swim and hike, but when we got up, it was cold and cloudy and looked like it was going to rain.

We went to the Bio (organic) market at the Cours Julien and picked up some cherries, white peaches, eggs, and mussels. Next, we went to a gourmet shop and bought some wines for dinner. We brought those back home, and then decided to go out to lunch nearby. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant we have been wanting to try for a while called Le Rajasthan. It was SO good! I had the eggplant and potato baigan with fromage (cheese) naan and rice. Chris had an assortment of 10 items ranging from poulet tikki masala to lentil curry. The food was delicious and we really wish we had gone there earlier! We will have to have lunch or dinner there one more time before leaving Marseille.

After lunch, we decided to relax at home for a bit, and then go to the village of Allauch for a few hours. Allauch (pronounced Al-Lo) is just outside the suburbs of Marseille. It is a very quaint Pronencal town with windmills and a church up on the hill. To get there, all we had to do is take the metro line to La Rose, get out and hop the 144 bus to Allauch. It was very easy to get there, and once there, we found the Office du tourisme to get a map.

Allauch was very cute, clean and small They allow cars on the tiny, narrow streets, which is crazy considering the sidewalks are too small to walk on so you must walk in the street. The windmills are mostly ruins, except for one that has been reconstructed. From the windmills, we walked up the hill through the winding streets, all the way up the hill to Notre Dame (yes, every town has at least one church called Notre Dame). We were the only one's treking up the hill and the only one's at the top! It was in the 90's with very high humidity, I bet everyone else was staying smart and not hiking in the heat. But even with the sweat pouring off of us, we still had a great time. We hunted for cigale (cicadas) that we could hear chirping all around us. We had a great view of Notre Dame de la Guarde in Marseille from the top of the hill.

On the way back down the hill, I found a cigale on the tree! I took a quick picture before it flew to a higher branch.

We went back down into the village and over to the cemetary. I know, a bit morbid to visit a cemetary on our wedding anniversary, but hey, we are just weird like that.

The cemetary was very interesting and it was so different than one's we have seen before in the states. First of all, there is no grass, only rocks. Second, there will be one large stone on the ground, and on top, you will find ceramic flowers and little plaques with cameo pictures on them of the dead. The dates went all the way back into the 1800s. The ceramic flowers were very smart. You never have to replace them and they always look nice. The cameos were very strange and creepy. The one's of babies and young children were so sad.

It took us a long time to figure out how the bodies were actually buried below. We finally guessed that the stone in front could be lifted, and then you would go down into a family vault where the bodies are buried. Otherwise, they would just be stacked up one on top of the other (which is possible) under the large stone.

Some of the mosoleums were above ground, and you could look in to see statues of Mary and lots of flowers. Some were upkept better than others.

We went back home for dinner, and began cooking. We had a four course meal. For starters, we had a wonderful sparkling rose muscat wine. It wasn't too sweet, and tasted like honey and white grapes. We drank it along with our canapes of salmon egg, fig and formage, ham and formage, and egg. Our second course was lobster (frozen from our favorite frozen food store, Picard). Third course was fresh mussels from the morning market in a garlic and white wine sauce. And last, black forest cake!

The cake had a cherry on top that I gave to Chris. On our very first family date (with his parents), he said to me "If I can tie this cherry stem in a knot with my tongue, will you marry me?" I just smiled, and he tied the stem into a knot with his tongue. Well, look how that ended up. :)

It was a lovely day and evening relaxing and enjoying time here in Provence.

Pictures are HERE

What we will miss and not miss about France

2009-06-15T15:08:00.003+02:00

Chris and I have been talking about our upcoming move back to the states, and we keep mentioning the things we will miss and not miss. I decided to make a couple of Top 10 lists based on our conversations. It was a LOT harder to make the Top 10 things we will NOT miss!!!

Top 10 things we will miss about France...
10. Being SO close to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea!
9. Hiking in the Calanques and on Frioul.
8. Not being rushed to pay the check and leave at a restaurant. Always takes at least 2 hours to eat and you are never rushed to leave once you finish eating.
7. SUN...SUN...SUN!
6. The friends we have made here.
5. All the wonderful places to visit in Provence.
4. Our lovely apartment.
3. Easy, laid back pace of life.
2. Inexpensive wine!
1. THE FOOD! Fresh, seasonal produce, DELICIOUS fruits, duck, fish and seafood, eggs and milk that don't have to be refridgerated, baguettes, I could go ON AND ON.

Top 10 Things we will NOT miss about France...
10. Being harrassed by drunk and/or homeless people.
9. Language barrier.
8. The beef.
7. Inefficient bureaucracy.
6. Six hour difference between friends and family.
5. Not being able to watch TV shows easily or access certain websites.
4. Strikes
3. Dog mess on the sidewalks and graffiti everywhere.
2. SMOKING! Not being able to enjoy sitting outside at a cafe due to smoking or having to smell it just about everywhere.
1. Days and days of Mistral.

Walking along the Corniche

2009-06-13T11:41:00.002+02:00

Nate, Chris and I spent the afternoon walking along the corniche here in Marseille. It was a gorgeous day to be out...even if it was close to 90 degrees. The plages (beaches) were packed, and people were covering the rocks either sunning or jumping into the cool water.

I was amazed by the groups of young boys diving and jumping into the sea from various rocks and high points. Brave or stupid, you be the judge, but I wish I had the guts to do it. They would jump, climb back up to the top of the rocks, jump again, and just keep repeating over and over.

It never ceases to amaze me the numbers of topless women sunning as well. Women of all ages will just lay out without their bikini tops on. The guys don't even seem to notice or care, which I can't imagine would ever be the case if the same thing happened in the US. I think it's wonderful that they are able to be so free with their bodies and not care. Plus, just think of the money you save only having to buy bikini bottoms without the tops!

We saw at least 4 wedding groups driving past, honking their horns and screaming out their windows. The Marseillais like to hang out of car windows to celebrate weddings, apparently, and I couldn't help think that one false move on those crazy streets, and a celebration could turn to disaster.

Along the corniche, there are long staircases where you can walk down to little, somewhat hidden coves. We had a great time exploring the coves and winding pathways.

We almost made it from Plage Catalan to Parc Borely, but we were getting hot and tired, so we hopped the bus back to the metro. I would have liked to walk the whole strip, but perhaps another day.

With the temperatures rising, I think Chris and I will have to go swimming in the sea very soon!

PICTURES HERE

Ratonneau Isle of Frioul Archipelago

2009-06-07T11:34:00.008+02:00

Last time Nate visited, we spent one of our afternoons exploring 1/2 of the isle of Ratonneau off the coast of Marseille. Today, we explored the 2nd half of the island.

In my earlier posts about Frioul, believe I didn't menion that Frioul is actually the archipelago made up of 4 islands...Ratonneau, Pomègues, If, and Tiboulain. Chris and I have been to If, have now seen all of Ratonneau, and only 1/3rd of Pomègues. Tiboulain is off the coast of Ratonneau, and without a boat, we can't get over to it. It's rather small comapred to the other islands.

The day was perfect for hiking, in the low to mid 70's and sunny with clouds dotting the sky. After a hearty brunch of savory and sweet crepes, we took the boat over to Ratonneau and began our hike.

Ratonneau was once the site of Nazi forts, and then was bombed out leaving only ruins of forts and bunkers. We forgot our flashlight, but were still able to go down into some of the underground rooms and explore what is left on the island. The fort at the end was unforunatley blocked off, possibly rennovation or something else, but we could only walk around it.

The gulls were quite crazy since they have babies everywhere. Every gull couple has about 2 to 3 babies, which are hard to spot unless you know that you are looking for grey colored babies. The gulls were not happy with our explorations and kept yelling at us and, at one point, decided to swoop down at our heads...causing us to run back up the hill to get away from the attacking birds. I wonder if Alfred Hithcock ever visited Ratonneau?

There were lots of people at the beaches and boating around the island. Quite a few topless ladies on the boats. Chris was dying to go swimming all day, but it was a bit chilly. He was happy to at least put his feet in the water at one of the beaches.

We topped off the lovely day by eating van pizza. Yes, we bought pizza that was cooked in a van! (Nick...you'll appreciate the pics of this) The pizza was rather good...and the figatelli sausage one was best! The guys have now made me a convert to van pizza.

PHOTO ALBUM 1

PHOTO ALBUM 2

Saturday night on the town

2009-06-06T11:13:00.004+02:00

Chris, Nate, and I went down to the Vieux Port for dinner at a Tunisian restaurant. Nate ordered couscous with an assortment of meats (lamb, sausauge, chicken, and beef), and Chris and I ordered tajine's...mine with fish and his with mouton (sheep). The food was good, but it took me forever to pick through all the small bones in the tilapia.

After we finished our meals, we went walking around the port. It was a busy night with at least 3 bachelorette groups walking around, a large group of men who we think were the crews for the MedCup, and of course locals and tourists out to eat.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the MedCup this week. The race seems to be quite a big deal here in Europe, and it's great that we get to experience it before we go. The ships for the race are now in the port, so we got a good look at them up close.

The night was a bit chilly, but beautiful with the sunset. It was nice looking at all the expensive cars that were parked on the port and looking at the new yacht that has pulled in (the other two from Friday are gone).

HERE are pictures from our night.

It's June....our last month in Provence

2009-06-05T20:17:00.005+02:00

June has finally arrived, and we are filled with mixed emotions. It's hard to believe that we will be moving back to the states in less than a month! I think we both wish we could have more time here, but are excited about the next chapter in our lives.

Chris has been working on getting some final documents photographed and I am thinking ahead to new projects and adventures. We still have some time left to do a few more things before we go, and our 3 year wedding anniversary is coming up on the 17th.

Today, Chris and I spent the day together, which was a treat as we have had so many visitors over the last few months that we really haven't had time to do things out together. We went down to the Vieux Port for lunch at Ginger, our new favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Then we walked around the Port looking at the two huge yachts that have arrived. The yachts are the "Latinou" and "Celestial Hope". We believe they are here for the Audi MedCup regatta this week. Chris and I didn't know about it ahead of time, and glad we learned about it so we can check it out.

Pictures of the port can be found HERE

Nathan is back!

2009-06-05T19:41:00.002+02:00

Nate has rejoined us here in Provence for 2 1/2 weeks. He arrived only a couple of days after Mom left. He will be doing research on his dissertation proposal while here, and also, doing a few fun things when he can.

June 1st
Today we went hiking out in Luminy. It was Nate's first time out there, and I think he was impressed. We brought sandwiches along and sat on a bench for lunch.

We took a new trail heading up the mountains, only to find that the trail would continue to wind up the mountain and over. By the time we got to the point where the hike starts going straight up, we decided to go a different route down the mountain a bit. We just didn't have the equipment, or the energy to tackle it.

It is amazing how the terrain has changed since we were hiking with Mom just a week or so ago. A lot of the flowers were gone that had been in bloom, and new flowers were growing now. There were tons of ants marching in lines looking like they were relocating to new areas (oh to be an ant living in the Calanques overlooking the Med...take that "A Bug's Life"). Wooly worms were walking along the path, and there were all kinds of strange, colorful beetles. The insects and gulls were the only wildlife out and about.

The day was gorgeous and perfect for hiking along the Med. There were a lot of boats out in the water and we could see people swimming down below.

When we came home, we had a gorgeous sunset out our window. Every time we hike, we come home to the most gorgeous sunsets. Something I will really miss when we leave.

CLICK HERE for pictures from our day.

Last few days with Mom in Marseille

2009-06-04T12:31:00.002+02:00

May 23rd
Mom, Chris, and I went down to the Port for lunch. We took Mom to our new favorite Provencal restaurant, Le Dorade. We got there a little late to order from the formule (menu of the day), but there was a lot of other great choices. Chris & I ordered the dorade (seabass) for two and Mom ordered the sole. We figured since it was Mom's last day, we would go all out with a fabulous lunch!

The waiter brought out the uncooked fish on a plate for us to approve. I was scared that they were still alive, and turned my head, but Chris assured me they were dead already.

We waited for a while, waiting for the fish, and the waiter brought out the 2 person dorade (rather large fish!) all cooked with veggies to the side. He showed us the fish, we said it looked great, then he took it away again. What? Where did he go with our fish?

While we waited, Mom made friends with a little girl at a restaurant across the street. The little girl was probably 2 years old, and she loved making faces at Mom and eventually, had her Dad bring her over to the window of our restaurant to say Bonjour to Mom. It was so cute! We also got harrassed a bit by a woman trying to sell a newspaper and a guy with a bunch of trinkets and junk. One bad thing about eating around the Port, is the buskers and trinket sellers.

We waited some more, then he brought out two plates, with the dorade split between the two, cooked, cleaned, and deboned. Nice!

Then we waited and he did the same thing with Mom's sole, showed it to her cooked...then brought it out later all cleaned and deboned. No fish heads staring at us. :)

The fish was delicious! For dessert, we had a variety of sorbets that were perfect on the hot day.

After lunch, we walked up to Le Pharo so Mom could get one last view of the Port and sea before leaving the next day. It was SO hot. We sat down on a bench in the shade and watched an older woman feeding a stray cat, and watching the pigeon's trying to steal the food from the cat.

We ended up heading home early due to the heat (it was in the 90's), and just relaxing at home for the evening.

Mom left early on Sunday, May 24th. We went with her to the airport by taxi, and helped her get checked in. She got stopped going through security because she had soap in her carry on bag. Shouldn't they be use to people carrying soap bars from Provence through there?

Mom's flight home was better than the one coming here. She had more space, a TV in front of her, and the food was much better. It was hard seeing her go, but I know that I will be seeing her very soon again!

For some last photos of our trip with Mom and a few pics that Carolyn and David sent us, CLICK HERE

Tarascon: Monsters, Saints, and Kings

2009-06-04T10:22:00.007+02:00

May 22nd

Mom, Chris, and I took the train from Gare Saint Charles (our train station here in Marseille) to the town of Tarascon. Mom was excited about her first train trip here in Europe! The ride was only about 45 min to an hour and we got to see a lot of nice farm land on the way.

Tarascon is known for Saint Martha and the Tarasque. The Tarasque was a dragon-like monster that would attack the people of Tarascon, until Saint Martha tamed it. Throughout the town, you can find statues, paintings, and decorations with the Tarasque on them. They have a parade every year to praise St. Martha and people dress up as the Tarasque. Inside the cathedral, the bones of St. Martha can be found along with a stained glass window showing her taming the beast. It's really fascinating!

We stopped off for lunch at a wonderful restaurant. I had a whole trout that was delicious! All of the food was great, and our waiter was very friendly and attentive. I wish I could remember the name of the place at the moment.

Tarascon also has a tremendous castle, still intact, that was once home to the Kings of Anjou. We paid the entry fee and spent the next few hours exploring the castle. It was more impressive than the Popes Palace in Avignon.

There was an art exhibit in part of the castle of South American art, which was strange, but the rest of the rooms were free from extra things. We really loved the Kings chambers and his own private toilet! Yes, we saw where the King would go to the restroom, and it was hilarious! A hole going straight down next to the Rhone River. We also walked through the Queen's chambers, the wardrobe, the guest rooms, and so many other rooms. The castle was huge! Mom wasn't thrilled about the spiral staircases, or standing on the roof of the castle. From the roof you could look across the Rhone River to the next town over, where there was a castle not as intact as this one.

After the castle, we went over to the cathedral across the street, but there was a funeral finishing up so we had to wait to go inside. Once inside, we saw Saint Martha's crypt and one of her bones.

We stopped at a cafe for some drinks, and then walked over to the Rhone to the large Tarasque statue.

The town of Tarascon is rather small, and we walked through most of it in an afternoon. I highly recommend others going to Tarascon and learning about the legendary monster.

So many pictures from the day. I had to separate them out into a couple of albums.

ALBUM 1

ALBUM 2

ALBUM 3

More Marseille with Mom

2009-06-03T18:23:00.003+02:00

Update to an early post...which one, I'm not sure

One night while around the Vieaux Port with Mom and Chris, we were looking for a place to eat. There are lots of restaurants around that area, everything ranging from Vietnamese and Japanese, to Provencal, to Tunisian. However, looking for something we knew Mom would like, was a bit tricky. We knew she loves chicken, but it's rare to find chicken on a menu here. So we went from one restaurant to the next, looking at the menus, and trying to find something we knew she would enjoy. We had almost settled on one place, when Chris found the Buffalo Grill. Yes, a restaurant called Buffalo Grill here in Marseille...with grilled chicken, ribs, buffalo steak, all sorts of foods that you would find in America.

Mom really loved the "Kentucky Grilled Chicken." :) I had a buffalo steak that was simply OK, but the platter of food Chris ordered had some really good ribs on it.

The place inside was so funny. Cowboys and Indian pictures an statues, and felt like we were inside a Tumbleweed restaurant. It was fun!

May 21st

Today, Mom, Chris, and I relaxed most of the morning, and then went down to the Vieaux Port to a ceramics market that was only around for one day. There were so many lovely items, that I wish I could have bought more and had a way to easily ship it back to the US. Mom found a little ceramic item that was painted the color of the Mediterranean. I found a cute little kitty necklace that Chris bought me.

Chris took off for home to get work done, and Mom and I hopped the tourist train up to Notre Dame de la Guarde. It was a bit cloudy, but still a beautiful day to go up to the cathedral. Since it was a holiday (when is it not a holiday here in France?), they were having mass. Mom and I stood inside of for a while to watch. Then we walked around outside looking out over Marseille.

We took the train back to the Vieaux Port and decided to shop around at some of the local stores. We had a great time together!

I have a few pictures that can be viewed HERE

Cassis

2009-06-02T11:58:00.002+02:00

May 20th

Chris, Mom, and I took the bus from Castellane (just down the street from us) over to Cassis. The ride only took about 4o minutes, and it was a beautiful drive. The bus went up into the mountains and then through the mountain tops over to Cassis. Chris was wise in sitting to the inside of the bus, because looking out the window and down at the edge of the mountain would have really bothered him.

The bus dropped us off a bit oustide of the main part of town, so we walked towards the port (or at least what we thought was the direction of the port) and wound up in the town center. We stopped into a shop so that Mom could buy a hat, then we walked through the open air market admiring the Provencal goodies. We had heard that the raisin bread is the best at the market, but we got there too late. We bought some dried figs and apricots, and then walked over to the port for lunch. For lunch, we had pizzas while watching people walk on the port.

The three of us went over to the beach and Chris & I touched the water. It was pretty cold to me, but a lot of people were out swimming. We went into the office of tourism and got a map of the area and plotted out what we wanted to do for the afternoon. There was a tourist train at the port, and we hopped on. It took us over to Port Miou, let us out for 10 min, then went back to the port. It was worth the ride because the scenery was beautiful! Chris and I had been to Port Miou when we took the Calanques tour boat.

Back at the port, we decided to walk to one of the 12 local vineyards to do some wine tasting. We walked the hill up to Clos Sainte Magdeleine. With the wineries, you are suppose to call ahead and make a reservation. We decided that we would just take our chances upon arrival.

When we got to the door to the winery, there was a couple waiting there. They spoke English and said that they had rang the doorbell and was waiting to see if they could get in. A lady appeared at the door and said that all of us could come in for a tour and tasting for 13 euros a piece. It turned out to be a very sweet deal!

The couple with us on the tour was from South Africa. The woman spoke English and French, and the guy only spoke English. Chris and the lady would translate for the rest of us on the tour. We walked over the vines and the view was amazing. I would love to live there and tend to the grapes, with the mountains on one side, and the sea on the other. We walked over to the cliff and looked down where people were swimming and one guy was holding a huge octopus.

The lady led us inside and downstairs to the cellar to do the tasting. Cassis is known for white wines. I'm not a big fan of whites, but the Cassis wine we tasted at this winery was the best white I have ever had. Even their Rose was delicous! Chris did an excellent job with translating and going back and forth between French and English. Mom was pretty impressed.

After the tasting, we paid the bill and found out that each of us got a free bottle of our choice to take home! So we chose 2 bottles of white and 1 bottle of Rose to take with us.

We didn't have time to explore any other wineries, but the one was perfect.

We went back to the port and decided it was time for gouter (snack). There was a cafe serving crepes, so we stopped there. Mom had a banana and chocolate crepe, I had banana and Nutella crepe, and Chris had creme de marron (chestnut cream). They were delicous!

We shopped around for a while and then headed back to the bus stop. It was a nice ride back to Marseille. Cassis is now one of my favorite places to visit along the sea.

CLICK HERE for pictures of the day

Chateau d'If and Frioul Island

2009-06-02T11:25:00.003+02:00

May 19th
Since the weather was so nice, we decided that today would be the day to go to the islands off the coast of Marseille. We went to the mall and bought some sandwiches to eat for lunch, then walked down to the Vieaux Port to buy our tickets to Chateau d'If and Frioul island.

We had to wait about an hour for the boat, but that gave us time to show Mom the fish market and to eat our lunch.

The boat arrived, we went to the very top, and off we went to Chateau d'If. Chris and I had not yet had the chance to go to Chateau d'If and were looking forward to seeing something new. Mom really loved the boat ride out to the island.

We bought our tickets to the Chateau and walked around the island for a few minutes before heading inside. The Chateau was once a fortress, turned into a decent prison, with fireplaces and windows with views of the sea. At one time, there was a rhinoceros kept at the Chateau, but that was a very sad story.

We were a bit disappointed with the Chateau, it was interesting and fun to walk around, but quite small and easy to explore within a couple of hours. Also, there was an entire room devoted to the Count de Monte Cristo and all the different movie versions of the story.

CLICK HERE for our pictures of Chateau d'If

After exploring the Chateau, we took the boat over to Frioul Island to hike. Chris and I had explored one island, so we decided to go to the other one on this trip (Frioul is made up of 2 islands connected by a dam).

It was a hot day for hiking, but we had a blast. For the first time, we saw baby seagulls! They were SO cute! We also saw a rabbit, which was a first for us here in France (outside of a restaurant menu).

We hiked a large part of the island, but there is STILL more to explore!

After hiking, we stopped off in the village for some drinks and ice cream. Chris had Thyme sorbet and I had violet. It felt so good to sit and cool off for a little while before catching the boat back to Marseille.

CLICK HERE for pictures of our trip.

Exploring Marseille with Mom

2009-05-29T13:14:00.004+02:00

May 18th

Today, Mom, Chris and I walked around the port over to the Abbey. We took Mom through the Abbey and down into the crypts, which I am not sure she enjoyed very much being that it was underground. :)

Afterwards, we walked over to Fort St. Nicholas, which Chris & I had yet to explore. After hiking all the way up to the entrance (which was quite a walk up the hill), we found out that the fort was closed to the public. So we just walked around the top and took pictures of the port and the sea.

We walked down to the port and took the ferry across. The ferry is free and it only goes the width of the port. A little lazy, but it was fun seeing the port from a different vantage point. When we got to the other side, we found a cafe and sat down to have drinks. Watching the people walking by and the boats coming in and out of the port was great. There was one lady that walked by that really caught our eyes....she was at least in her 50's, and was wearing a red evening gown, spiked heals, and lots of makeup. The way she walked was definitely a "notice me" kind of stride. We couldn't figure out why she was so dressed up, but it was fun coming up with ideas. :) We later saw her walking back with a small bag of groceries. hahaha

We went to a few shops so Mom could by souvenirs. We ended up shopping around the mall too and again, picking up groceries to take home.

Hiking in Luminy with Mom

2009-05-29T13:11:00.006+02:00

May 17th
Today, Mom, Chris and I went to Luminy to hike. We took a trail that Chris & I had been on, but this time, took it further along the Calanques. It was a beautiful day, and a lot of people were out hiking, having picnics, and down at the beaches. Mom really enjoyed the views of the Med and it was such a gorgeous day to be out hiking! We had a great time out there!

To see pictures, go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25219&id=1012407145&l=09849d9db0

Parc Boreley, Beaches, and THE DORADE!

2009-05-29T12:52:00.006+02:00

May 16th
Mom and I took off for the day by ourselves and let Chris stay home to do some work. We took the bus down to Parc Boreley and walked through the park towards the beaches. It was a beautifully sunny day and warm. Mom and I walked the beaches around the corniche towards the Calanques. We stopped along the way to sit in the sun and chat, and watch people pass by.

For lunch, we found a string of restaurants on the beach to choose from. One of the menus had dorade (which is sea bass) for, what I thought would be, 6 euros for a 100 gram fish. Good deal, right? So we went into the restaurant, grabbed a table, and relaxed. I ordered for the two of us in French, which was a bit nerve-wracking since I had NEVER done that before without Chris' help. I was pretty proud of myself and only messed up once or twice while ordering. The biggest mess up, though, will be revealed momentarily.

I ordered the dorade for Mom and moule frite for myself, plus a half bottle of Rose wine. The food was excellent! We sat somewhat inside in the shade, but close enough to the beach that we could watch people. Kind of interesting sitting and eating at a restaurant, looking out onto the mobs of people on the beach, and noticing what people were doing. Lots of topless ladies sunning themselves...some of them not very young either. Quite a few pregnant ladies on the beach, and lots of kids running around having a blast in the water and sea.

I told Mom when I ordered the dorade, that she may end up getting an entire fish on her plate, head and fins included. She said she would be OK with that. And, I was right. The fish was intact, gutted only, on the plate staring at us! Oh, and it had teeth! Mom was a trooper though and ate it. It was really good too.

I asked for the bill and when I looked at it, I was FLOORED! My meal had been 12 euros, which for moule frite, that is not bad. Mom's meal, on the other hand, was 24 euros!! I had to stop, re-read it, and make sure I was seeing things correctly. I had thought it would only be 6 euros! I wondered if they had charged us correctly, or were trying to be sneaky since we weren't French, but I didn't know enough French to ask what was up with this incredible fish bill. Mom went ahead and paid for it, and we stopped by the menu posted outside to double check the price again. It said "Dorade, les 100 grms, 6 euro". I called Chris and found out that it was 6 euros PER 100 grams...meaning that the bill was correct and I was in need of some additional French lessons! Mom didn't seem to mind too much, and it was an experience we will never forget.

Mom arrives in Marseille!

2009-05-28T14:11:00.007+02:00

May 14
Chris and I met my Mom at the airport here in Marseille. We were a bit late getting there, and didn't mean to leave her standing outside worrying about us. We jumped off the Navette (bus) and ran to greet her! I was so happy to finally have her here in Marseille! It was her first trip to Europe (actually, the only other time she had been out of the country was a trip to Mexico when she was a kid).
We took a taxi home and sat around talking, eating lunch, and catching up. Mom eventually had to nap as she was exhausted from her trip. Her flight was rough on her physically with not being able to sleep and it made her ankle swell up, but she had a good time chatting with a couple of 30 year old guys sitting next to her.
We didn't go out the first day since Mom was tired.
May 15
Mom's first day in Marseille was pretty easy going. It was rainy for the earlier part of the day, so we walked over to one of our favorite Provencal restaurants (Le Resto Provencal) in the Cours Julien for lunch. Afterwards, we took her to our fave soap store just down the street. We came back to the apartment and relaxed until the sun came out around 4pm.
We went down to the Vieux Port and walked around so Mom could see the Mediterranean. We took her around the port, over to Notre Dame de la Major, but it was closed so we couldn't go inside. We walked back over Fort Jean and towards the mall to pick up food for dinner at the grocery.

I love Paris in the Springtime

2009-05-26T13:22:00.003+02:00

We only had the day of May 6th (Sharon's Bday) to explore Paris. For only havin gone day, we were able to see a lot!

The first thing we did after having breakfast, was go to Notre Dame. I didn't take very many pictures, since I had seen it on our last visit. We didn't go inside, but we walked around so Sharon could see it.

From there, we walked to Saint Chapelle, which is a church with incredible stained glass windows. I really didn't know anything about the church prior to going in, and I'm glad I hadn't looked it up beforehand. It was such an experience to walk in and realize that the walls were all made out of stained glass and beautiful columns. The main room was quite small, but the decorations made up for it. I was very impressed with the tiles, the columns with medieval castles on them, and, of course, the tall windows of bright colors and images.

Our next stop was a small park that had a tomb inside. We couldn't go very close to the monument, but were able to get some pictures around it.

For lunch, we stopped off at a nearby cafe. It was very nice, and the food was delicious.

After lunch, we walked down the Siene and looked at the sidewalk stands filled with old books, posters, and paintings. Chris found a book on the legends and mysteries of Provence, so I bought it for him as an early bday present.

We walked around the outside of the Louvre, and then into the tuileries garden. We enjoyed looking at all the statutes. For a snack, we bought some ice cream and sat down to watch the ducks playing in the water.

Our next stop was the Eiffel Tower. On our last visit, we did not go to the top, so this time, Chris, David, Carolyn and I decided we needed to do the elevator up. Sharon decided that it would be best if she waited below. The elevator to the top was a little strange, and it took me a few minutes at the top to feel grounded enough to walk around and look. Not sure why it bothered me, considering I have been to the top of the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower, but the openness of the Eiffel Tower was different. The views from the top were incredible!

The only thing I did not like about the Eiffel Tower, was all the men standing around the bottom trying to sell you key chains and other junk, plus the women asking "Do you speak English?" then proceding to beg for money. We did our best to ignore all of them, but there were SO many! The police were doing their best to scare them away, but they would just come back and harrass more people.

We were very tired from walking around and decided it was time to head back, have some dinner, and then relax for the rest of the evening back at the Best Western. We found a cafe near our hotel to have dinner, and I enjoyed a plate of salmon carpaccio (raw salmon).

Pictures are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25029&id=1012407145&l=f2924af654

Northern France (May 3-5)

2009-05-25T19:38:00.010+02:00

From Munich, we flew to Paris where we took a train to Caen to spend the night. We stayed at a very cute Best Western there. The next day, we saw a little bit of the town as David, Chris and I went to get the rental car. We were a bit suprised to get a manual instead of the automatic we had requested, but David did an excellent job of driving through the crazy streets.

Here are our pictures...http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24958&id=1012407145&l=8cd6a9bf6f

In Caen, we saw William the Conqueror's grave, which David and Chris really enjoyed. We walked around looking at some of the sites, before taking off to Bayeux to see the tapestry. The tapestry was really incredible! I wish I could have taken pictures of it to show. It was very long, and displayed embroidered pictures of medieval times of William the Conqueror. We listened to an audio tour while walking along so that we knew what each part was about. My only complaint was that the audio tour went too fast, and I would have loved to have had more time to really look at each part of the tapestry. The museum where it is held talked about how it was actually made. Being a knitter, I had a deep appreciation for the work and time that went into making it.

After the tapestry, David, Chris & I walked over to the cathedral to go inside. It was beautiful and it even had a crypt that we could go into.

Pictures of Bayeux here...http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25022&id=1012407145&l=3221a8521a

From there, we drove to Omaha beach. David did a great job driving with Chris navigating. Our GPS kept getting confused as a lot of the roads were newly built. Our GPS (we named her Gretta) wanted us to go off onto some strange country roads, so Chris would use a map to double check and keep us on the right path to the beach. The small towns were very cute and lots of flowering apple trees could be seen next to fields of canola. Most of the time, when I was in the car, I would fall asleep, so only got to see bits and peices of the way.

We got to Omaha a bit late in the day, but had just enough time to walk around to see some of the monuments and the beach. We were not the only English speakers there. We heard a lot of Americans and British around the area talking. Chris & I walked down to the beach and Sharon, Carolyn, and David went to look around on the hill. Standing at the water, it was hard to believe that troops had once disembarked from their ships and ran up the hill carrying guns and ammo and wearing wet clothing. It was quite a trek up the hill and I was breathing hard simply walking up on my own! How did they do it PLUS win the battle??

Chris & I walked over to the American cemetary, and that was really unbelievable. Rows and rows of crosses, all lined up perfectly, as far as we could see. Some of the crosses had Jewish stars on top. No names could be seen from where we stood, since we were not allowed to go directly to the graves. A wall was built with all the names of the dead on it. I found a man named Wright, but found out later that there is no relation. I couldn't believe how many people were buried in the cemetary.

Pictures are here....http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25023&id=1012407145&l=6ec64bd280

For the night, we ended up at the Best Western in Ducey which was the BEST hotel we stayed in! It was an old mill that had been converted into a hotel. The room that Chris & I had was right where the mill wheel would have been, so underneath our room, the river flowed! We looked out our windows to see the river going by and it was just picturesque. I wish we could have stayed there longer. We went around the corner to a lovely restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, my stomach ended up being quite upset by the end of the meal, and I had to leave early. I did enjoy the monkfish and crab pie that I ate!

Pictures here....http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25025&id=1012407145&l=9d4cdcf193

The next day, after breakfast, we drove to Mont St. Michel. This medieval town is built on an island. Driving to Mont St. Michel, we were captivated by the floating city in the distance, as we got closer, and the city came inton view, we were so excited to get out and explore. Chris & I could have spent all day there, but we only got a few hours.

The winding streets as we entered had lots of crappy tourist shops with things that were probably made in China and not France. Once you bypassed that mess, there were incredible views out over the sand, water, and pastures. It was low tide, so people were out on the sand walking to another small island. Brave or stupid? Not quite sure since people have died when the tides have come in unexpectedly. Sharon was unable to make it up too far, so we left her on a bench, and the rest of us hiked upward to the abbey. We walked all through the abbey and really enjoyed seeing all the different rooms and halls.

After we finished walking around we found Sharon and went to a restaurant for lunch. It was packed with tourists, mostly Asian, and served some decent food. We could look out the window over the pastures filled with sheep.

Pictures are here...http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25027&id=1012407145&l=687b593e30Advertise

We went back to the car and drove to Rennes, where we dropped off our car (an ordeal I won't go into) and got the train to Paris.

Day in Munich

2009-05-24T20:45:00.008+02:00

May 2nd

Sebastian & Sina surprised us with our own private walking tour of Munich (Munchen is the true name). I guess Sebastian's Dad purchased the tour for the Beck's to thank them for taking care of Sebastian back in high school (Sebastian was a foreign exchange student in Salem and that is how he met Chris). The tour was wonderful. Our guide walked us around the city, telling us the history of each place as we stopped. The tour ended in the market place where she brought us a plate of bread and sausage from one stand, some beers from another, a plate of pickels from a different stand, and last was a plate of cheeses from yet another stand. It was quite a lunch, sitting in the market, tasting local foods.

After our tour, the rain started again, so we went into a large store and bought chocolate bars and wandered around waiting for the rain to stop. The rain passed quickly, and we were able to get out and explore more of Munich on our own before getting tired. On our way home, we bought some strawberries and cakes to eat as a snack, before going out for dinner.

All of us went back to Sebastian & Sina's to snack and enjoy some time on their porch. For dinner, we went to a nearby restaurant that was very good. The owner gave us a huge pretzel and was very friendly. After we had stuffed ourselves with food and beer, we ordered some fruit schnapps to drink. There was an assortment to choose from, pear, strawberry, orange, etc. A very nice way to finish the meal.

The next day, Sebastian & Sina prepared a lovely breakfast for us at their place. We made them dress up in Bavarian clothing afterwards to show off for us. :)

Traveling around Germany was a great experience. It just went by too quickly! It was difficult for Chris and I adjusting to the new language. I kept wanting to respond to waiters in French, and Chris would go back and forth between German and French (he at least knew some German). It made me realize how much I have learned here in France and how comfortable I feel here. Going to Germany made me feel very out of my element. How funny!

Pictures of the day can be found here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24860&id=1012407145&l=840abb4086

and more pictures here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24934&id=1012407145&l=559e51090b

Dinkelsbuhl, Rothenburg, and Nurnburg Germany

2009-05-24T17:16:00.002+02:00

May 1st.

Sebastian and Sina took us to three German villages...Dinkelsbuhl, Rothenburg, and Nurnburg...all in one day.

We went to Dinkelsbuhl for lunch. The village was very cute, exactly what I had in mind when thinking about a German village. Colorful buildings, A-frame houses with windows to the very top, and very charming. We found a lovely outdoor restaurant for lunch, and ended up spending a few hours just sitting, enjoying the sun, and eating wonderful food. I had a salad with chicken, and Chris enjoyed sausage and kraut. Dessert was apple strudel...which was amazing!

Pictures can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24825&id=1012407145&l=21b004602a

Rothenburg was next and it was a little different from the first village. It was larger, walled in, and we got there a bit late in the day, so only a few things were still open. Sebastian, Sina, Chris and David went for a quick dungeon tour, while Sharon, Carolyn, and I went to the Christmas shop to peruse the 3 floors of Christmas decor. I'm not one for dungeons as the energy from tortured victims long ago really affects me, and I don't care to see replicas of the horrible things done to other human beings in the past.

We walked around the city and enjoyed the colorful flowers in the park. Walkign along the wall of the city, we could see rolling hills in the distance and little houses dotting the land.

Pictures can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24829&id=1012407145&l=1c6cec9d6f

Our last stop for the day was Nurnburg for dinner. It was raining when we got there, and we had a difficult time finding a place to eat without a reservation. We were all quite tired and it was getting late. We luckily found a beer hall that had seating and we were happy to sit down and order. I had macaroni and cheese with fried onions and some local wine (should have ordered the beer). Sebastian, Chris, Carolyn and David orderd the meat plate, which was enough food to feed 8! It included sausages of different kinds, loads of pork in a variety of styles, two kinds of kraut, potato dumplings and I'm sure other things that I can't even remember. It was an insane amount of food on one plate.

Pictures are here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24852&id=1012407145&l=5b2ef9e4b9

Off to Germany!

2009-05-13T14:06:00.010+02:00

**Haven't had much time in between visits to blog, but want to finish blogging about our travels with Chris' family before my Mom comes!

April 30, 2009...

Chris, Sharon, Carolyn, David, and I hopped on an early TGV train to Paris. The trip was uneventful, which was good. No strikes, no delays, just a smooth trip North. I slept most of the way, but awoke to see fields and fields of bright yellow flowers. We thought they were mustard, but later found out (thanks to Sebastian) that it was canola! I wish I had a picture to show you how beautiful it was. It looked like this http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://image24.webshots.com/25/1/25/44/39512544rKoIch_ph.jpg&imgrefurl=http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1039512544027692426rKoIch&usg=__Qpsbwh04uhb6mD47RI5WumblDuY=&h=577&w=768&sz=70&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=sP5-xpyfO25o2M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcanola%2Bfields%2B%252B%2Bfrance%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

The TGV took us straight to the Paris airport for our flight. It was a bit difficult navigating Charles de Gaulle airport (the place is not set up logically), but we managed to get everything checked and ready to go with about an hour or so to spare.

Our flight from Paris to Munich was smooth and fast, only about an hour and a half total. Chris & I had seats in the very last row of the plane, which was strange. I usually choose to ride close to the front, but we didn't get to pick our seats until right before the flight. It was fine though and we arrived in Munich right on time.

Our good friend, Sebastian, was there at the airport to greet us. We had ordered a rental car from Dollar Rental (supporting US business abroad), and after we couldn't find their kiosk, Sebastian called and found out that the rental place was not at the aiport as they had advertised. It was actually quite far, in the middle of nowhere! They told us they were sending a shuttle to take the gang over to the rental car services. Note to self: use google maps when a rental company says "airport location". We figured it would be easy, and have had good luck with Dollar in the past, but were very disappointed with their services. Next time, we do Europcar or another European car company.

Chris & I rode with Sebastian, and David, Carolyn, and Sharon rode in the rental car, which was a Mercedes. We went to the apartment where the fam was going to stay (Chris and I planned to stay with Sebastian and his girlfriend Sina). The apt was quite nice, and the landlady was hilarious. Very particular about her place...having us take off our shoes before going in, and freaking out that there were so many people (she wasn't expecting to see Sebastian, Sina, Chris, or I).

Sebastian & Sina have a lovely apt not far from where the fam was staying. They have only been there a few months, but the place was nicely decorated and quite comfortable.

We were all tired and hungry from our travels, so Sebastian had set up reservations at Augustina Brew House for dinner. We walked in, and it was a HUGE beer hall with long wooden tables to share and waiters and waitresses running around in Bavarian clothing. It was loud and people were clanking their beer mugs every few minutes before drinking back their brews.

We sat down at a table with a bunch of young guys and one girl who had already been drinking for quite some time. They were very friendly and enjoyed chatting with Sharon and Carolyn. We all ordered a round of beers and our food. The pork, potato dumplings and sauerkraut were excellent! I usually don't like sauerkraut, but this was quite good. The beer was also so good and much better than most I have tasted. We ate, we drank, we chatted, it was so much fun! After the meal, we ordered a round of Williams Pear shots, which was a nice finish to our heavy meal. A few of us ordered some more beer as we continued to hang out in the noisy place. One of the guys near us said it was his birthday, so he bought a Williams pear for Carolyn and him to drink together. It was hilarious! One of the guys showed her how to do the shot properly, and they did it together. I was impressed and we all had quite a laugh over it! It was so much fun and I would love to go back there again someday!

The end of the night, we went back to our separate places and crashed.

I didn't have my camera at the brew house, so waiting on pics from everyone else to show. I only have a few from that day, which can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23789&id=1012407145&l=bff9c19574

Ship in the Port

2009-05-09T10:10:00.002+02:00

Thanks to Carolyn Beck for providing me with more info on this ship we saw at the Vieux Port!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belem_(ship)

http://3mats.net/belems_history/

April 29th, 2009

2009-05-08T15:56:00.004+02:00

After eating breakfast with the family, we walked over to the Vieux Port to catch the mini tourist train up to Notre Dame de la Guarde. We figured it would be the easiest way to get up there, without having to go on the hot, smelly bus. Plus, Chris & I had not yet taken it, so we were curious to see what it would be like.

The trip started around the Vieux Port, and then headed up into the tiny streets towards the sea. It drove along the corniche up the hill to Notre Dame. The view of the sea on our way there was beautiful, and we saw lots of interesting houses along the way. We disembarked at Notre Dame, and Chris & I showed the family around the cathedral. It was a sunny day, so we could see for miles all around the city.

We took the train back to the port, and were a bit late in finding a place to have lunch. The restaurants only usually serve between noon and 2pm, and it was already 3pm. We were lucky to find a place that would serve us! I can't recall the name of the restaurant, but it was only a block from the port. The food was decent, and we enjoyed ourselves. Although I did learn a valuable lesson...never go to the bathroom without Chris.

I had walked up to use the restroom on the second floor, and asked a waiter up there where the toilettes were located, he pointed to a door, and said to me, in English, "Where are you from?" I told him the US, and he asked where, and I told him New York City. He smiled and said it was a pleasure to meet me. I walked into the restroom, and found that there was only one stall and it was occupied. I stood there for a few minutes, and figured I would just wait and walked out of the restroom. The waiter was still there and said "You are very beautiful." He grabbed my hand and kissed it, then pulled me to him and said "let me give you a kiss" then proceded to kiss both my cheecks. I was shocked, and stood there thinking "is this for real??" I smilled, and quickly returned to the table downstairs and recounted what had happend. Chris was livid, but I told him it was fine. We all had a good laugh over it and left the restaurant to go walking around.

Chris & I took the family over to the other cathedral, Notre Dame de la Major, and then we headed back to our apartment to sit and relax before dinner.

For dinner, we went to the Cours Julien neighborhood nearby and took the family to our favorite Provencal restaurant, Le Resto Provencal. We were still full from our lunch, so didn't eat very much, but enjoyed the meals.

Pictures can be located at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23715&id=1012407145&l=4da060bacf

April 28th, 2009

2009-05-08T15:19:00.004+02:00

Today we decided to head out of town with the family and go to the city of Nimes, which was a train ride away. Nimes is a beautiful ancient city dating back to the Romans. The ruins there were similar to the one's we saw in Arles, but the city itself looked more modern. There were shops like in Aix en Provence, and lots of places to eat. We found a very nice cafe where we could sit outside to eat lunch. The food and service was excellent.

After lunch, we walked over to the Roman colloseum. The setup was more touristy than in Arles. More lights, signs, audio tour, and lots of people. Chris & I left the family and climbed all the way to the very top so that we could see out over the city. They still do gladiator and bull fights in the ring during the summer there. Hard to imagine the amount of inhumane cruelty that has occurred within those walls.

From there, we walked towards the Roman tower, which was a long walk through Nimes. We stopped off in the gardens where there was ruins of a Roman temple to Athena along with statutes spread out throughout the gardens. A bubbling spring ran right underneath the park and created a small river that flowed through the city.

While standing in the garden, it started to rain, and none of us had brought our umbrellas. Chris & I started walking up the tall hill to the tower in the rain, while the rest of the family decided to stay behind and take cover at a local cafe.

The walk uphill was a bit of a hike, and we got pretty wet doing it, but it was worth it to get to the tower. We climbed the spiral staircase inside to the top where we had quite a view of the city.

After meeting back up with the family, we went over to the Roman theater where they had an indoor 3D movie of the history of Nimes. It was only 20 minutes long, and pretty cheesy.

We got back to Marseille, and Chris cooked dinner for everyone. Walnut encrusted duck breasts, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and chocolate lava cakes for dessert, along with a bottle of sparkling wine. It was delicous!

Pictures can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23652&id=1012407145&l=0316577f60

more pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23655&id=1012407145&l=87a67e93f9

Family Returns to France

2009-05-08T15:02:00.005+02:00

Chris' parents, Carolyn & David, along with his Aunt Sharon, arrived on Sunday, April 26th. They were pretty tired from their flight, so they came over to our place first and relaxed and slept during the afternoon. Chris & I helped them get their bags to their hotel, which was right off the Vieux Port. The location was perfect, as there was a metro station right outside. We dropped off their bags, and took them over to a Brasserie for dinner.

On Monday, April 27th, we met up with the family at the Vieux Port. It was a bit cloudy, so we walked around the port trying to decide what to do for the day. The boat to Frioule and Chateau d'If were not running, so we couldn't do that. So we walked around the fish market, which was an experience. Fishermen would go out for the morning, and bring in their fresh catch right up to the port, right to a small table where they would display the fish. The seafood was still alive sitting on the table, and when someone would purchase one, they would kill it and clean it right there in front of you. I had a very hard time witnessing this and now know I will not be purchasing any fish from there.

There was a massive sailing ship pulled into the port. I don't know how they managed to get that ship in and out of the small port, but they did!

The sun started coming out, and we decided that we should grab some lunch and then do the Calanque boat tour. Lunch was at Collins Cafe, the place where Chris & I ate for the first time after arriving in Marseille.

We hopped on board the tour boat and took off into the Mediterranean for the Calanques. The sun was shining bright, and the clouds cleared away. On the first half of the trip, I was feeling a bit quesy, but was enjoying myself. The tour boat took us around the coast of Marseille, all the way over to the port at Cassis. We were able to point out where Chris & I had hiked the Calanques to the family. The views were beautiful from the boat and it really gave Chris & I a different perspective of where we hike. There were people hiking along the paths of the Calanques, and some sunning themselves on the beaches. We even saw one topless woman who displayed herself right near the water.

On the way back from Cassis, on our three hour tour (cue the Gilligan's Island theme song), I started feeling very nauseas. I had to close my eyes and put myself into deep self hypnosis to make it back to shore without being sick. I imagined myself on the NYC subway rocking back and forth, which worked like a charm in relaxing me. Usually, I'm fine on the short boat ride to Frioule island, or on a boat going around the island of Manhattan. The small waves of the Mediterranean ended up being a bit more harsh than I had imagined. I did get sick when we did our whale watching tour in Maine, so I guess 3 hour tours on the sea are not so great for me. Oh well, will just have to do some hypnotic preparation next time I want to do a boat trip.

Everyone else enjoyed the whole trip and we took lots of great pics along the way. When we arrived back on shore, we went for dinner at Le Daube, a Provencal restaurant just of the port. The food was excellent! I had oysters gratinee, and a delicious fish of some kind. David had bouillabaisse soup, which is famous here in Marseille.

Pictures can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23644&id=1012407145&l=e34237afe4

Off to the Archives...together

2009-04-22T00:14:00.002+02:00

Today, I went with Chris to one of the archives here in Marseille to help him with his work. It was my first time at an archive, and I have to say, it was quite interesting.

Chris and I walked into the archives, he helped me get a temporary pass card into the archives, and then we headed to the stinky locker room to put our bags away. We were not allowed to take bags into the main room.

The main room where we worked was a lot more impressive than the rest of the archives I walked through. There were long sturdy wooden tables, wooden rafters above us, and lots of light from the windows. It was very hot in there, but we got use to it after a while.

Chris went up to the desk and "ordered up" some books. Chris takes digital pictures of the pages in the books and then goes back through and translates the information. Some of the pages are in Latin, some in French, and a few are even in Provencal...which he can't read. The books are registers of council meetings from the 1300's. The handwriting on some were elaborate and beautiful, and others, it was just as bad as Chris' signature. :) Some of the pages have been destroyed due to water or other things, so that makes Chris' job much more difficult. There are pages made out of paper and some made out animal hide.

Looking through these old documents was quite fascinating! It was almost like a treasure hunt....looking for interesting things about piracy. Of course, Chris had to look and I just admired the writing and found the doodles to the sides hilarious. You could tell how boring some of those meetings were based on the kinds of doodles to the side.

I helped take pictures or hold the pages flat while Chris snapped photos. We spent the afternoon doing that and got quite a bit accomplished.

Once we get the pictures uploaded...I will have to post a few of them so you know what I'm referring to and you can see what kinds of things Chris works with.

Planning...

2009-04-16T14:42:00.003+02:00

Chris is off in Paris today, doing a talk at a conference. He had a rough time getting up there, because his train got stuck about 30 min outside of Marseille this morning. They somehow got things back on track (pardon the pun) and he should be doing his talk later today.

We have been making a lot of plans for when we return to the states this July. We will be flying out of France on July 1st, staying the night in Newark, and flying out early on July 2nd to Cincinnati. Why Cincinnati you might ask? Because we were not going to pay $500 for a one way flight to Indy or Louisville.

We will be living at the Beck's for the month of July. In August we will be moving to....drum roll please....Bloomington, IN!

That's right! We have decided to move to Bloomington and start a family! Chris will be funded for another year to write his dissertation, so we have a year to live anywhere we want before he goes on the job market. We thought long and hard about moving back to NYC, or even to NH. In the end, we chose Bloomington. We want to be closer to family when we add to our family and we like the atmosphere that Bloomington provides.

Tomorrow, Chris' parents are going apartment shopping for us. We sent them a list of places to check out. It's weird having other people do that for us, but we feel confident they will do the job well. :)

Chris and I plan to return to NYC off and on for work and visiting. We will have to go there sometime this summer to get our things out of storage.

Just wanted to share our plans with you! We are very excited about the adventures that will follow our time here in France.

Morgiou

2009-04-10T16:44:00.003+02:00

Yesterday, Chris and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful, sunny day and go for a hike out at Luminy. Chris wanted to hike down the Calanque to the little port town of Morgiou.

The trail down was steep, but not too bad. There were a few times when the gravel under our feet made it tricky, but we just took our time and I only fell on my butt once coming down. Maybe we should invest in some hiking poles?

It took less than 20 min from the top to the bottom of the Calanque, and the rest of the way to the little town was alongside a single lane road. Lots of cars were parked to the side of the road, but it was mostly tourists and hikers parking at the trail heads.

As we walked through Morgiou, we really felt like we were in Europe. We wondered at the prices of the little sea shantys, and imagined the people who lived in the quaint litte port. The only people around were tourists taking pictures, one fisherman, and a couple of other people who seemed to be locals. We only found one Cafe/Bar that had a good amount of people stopping for a drink and a snack.

While walking along the port, we saw the strangest thing. t first it looked like a snake the way it was moving across the pavement, but on closer inspection, it was a family of caterpillars! We had never seen anything like it before!

We saw a trail heading up the Calanque in the other direction, but it was bit rocky for us to do in the same day, plus we were on a time schedule to get back and for dinner and to watch Lost with Jaclyn. A trail for another time.

Chris wanted to head up the Calanque another way, back to the Rouge 6 trail where we had encountered the rock wall and chain last time. He wanted to face his fears and climb up the chain and head back to the bus from that direction.

He made it almost to the top of the wall, before having to come back down and take a breath. The panic and fear really got to him. However, after stopping for a few minutes, a little hypnosis pep-talk from me, he turned around and made it to the top! He conquered his fear of heights and was so happy he did. I was very proud of him!

We made it back to the bus and headed home to pick up a few groceries for dinner.

You can see our pictures of the day here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21512&id=1012407145&l=2dedeba2eb

Market Shopping

2009-04-08T14:35:00.002+02:00

The weather today is quite gloomy and it feels like rain is on its way. The change in weather lately has been messing with our sinuses, and for me, that is odd because I haven't experienced sinus issues in a long time.

We wanted to go hiking today, but due to the weather, we decided not to. We had also wanted to get up early and go to the oranic market at the Cours Julien, but I didn't sleep well last night so couldn't get out of bed in time this morning.

Since we missed the organic market, after breakfast, we walked down to Castellane to the market there, and bought some fresh fish...salmon and shrimp. The shrimp are so fresh, they still have their heads on them! We also bought a huge baguette from a man who practically stuck it in our noses saying "Very good!" in English.

After we finished at the market, we stopped in at a gourmet Provencal deli that we have been meaning to check out. Chris has been wanting to try rabbit, so he bought enough for lunch. I refuse to eat rabbit, so I bought some supion (cuttlefish) in a tomato sauce.

Then it was off to the Patisserie! We have found a new one on Blvd. Baille near us that has a wonderful assortment of chocolates and baked goods. The woman who owns it makes everything in shop, and is super sweet and knows a tiny bit of English. We picked out some small chocolates and filled easter eggs.

Our last grocery stop was at the green grocer to buy some Provencal strawberries, salad items, and bananas.

It may seem like a lot of work going so many places to make two to three meals, but it's really quite fun exploring different places and having so many choices in food items. It's so different than simply walking into a super grocery store and getting everything at once. So much of the stuff we buy is also locally grown, which is the way we should do it in the US. The food is so fresh and delicious!

The only problem with all this food, is the dirty dishes that accompany it. :) I do miss our dishwashing machine.

Spring Savim

2009-04-05T21:23:00.002+02:00

Today we had plans to go to Savim, the wine tasting festival here in Marseille, with Nell and Dylan, but Chris wasn't feeling well this morning so we decided to stay home. We relaxed some, and after a while, he started feeling like he could eat something. So we fixed a couple of sandwiches, and decided that since it was SO nice outside, we should have a picnic on the balcony. I put a blanket out there, and we sat outside and enjoyed our lunch in the sun. Oreo wasn't too happy, since we wouldn't let him join us.

Here are pics of our lunch...http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21167&id=1012407145&l=4614584775

After lunch, Chris was feeling much better, so we decided to head out and go to Savim after all. We tried hooking up with Nell & Dylan, but they had left early since Nell wasn't feeling well either.

Chris & I enjoyed four hours of waundering around stand after stand, tasting wines, champagnes, cheeses, honey, desserts, and sausage. We really enjoyed chatting with the vendors and learning about the creation processes of the different food items.

The honey vendor was from the UK, and told us the whole story, in English, of how they take their bees around France at different times of the year to get different flavored honey. So part of the year they are in Provence for the lavender, then they go to the low mountains, then high mountains, to the forests, and all around and they have a honey for each region they visit with their bees. He let us taste each of the honeys, and they were SO good! Each one with a unique, complex flavor.

We stopped at one vendor that Nell had recommended to taste the wine, and a couple of older ladies asked us if we were just married (she saw my wedding ring), because they thought we were here on our honeymoon. We told them that we had been together for a very long time and Chris explained about his studies. They were very friendly and we enjoyed talking with them.

There was one woman vendor who made fruit confit. She explained to us that she had to cook the fruits 14 times in sugar to get the right flavor and consistency. We bought some cherries from her.

Another vendor from Roquefort region was selling Roquefort cheese. He let us taste 3 different one's of various ages, and we liked the oldest one best. We talked to him about the ridculous tax the US has put on Roquefort cheese because the French won't buy US chicken. We told him that it was stupid, because the two have nothing to do with each other. The French don't want US chicken because it is pumped with hormones (something they don't commonly do here) and the taste doesn't even compare to French chicken.

We bought some organic gruyere from a different vendor, and apparently, this is the ONLY organic gruyere in France. He was very passionate about his cheese and told us about how it's unpasteurized here and that it is better for the cheese to be made that way. We agree! The cheese here is so different than cheese we have purchased in the US. Fannie was telling us that the EU wants all cheese makers to swtich to pasteurizing their cheese, but I don't think it's going to work here.

We chatted with a wine vendor that sold wines to benefit the French foreign legion. They were very nice and we bought a bottle of Rouge to support their cause.

We bought olive oil from our favorite vendor from Arles. The guy gave us an extra large bottle for the same price as the smaller bottle.

We used our golden rule of when someone asks where you are from, always say New York City. You get better things that way! We got so much free food.

The wonderful thing about Savim, is that you can taste food and wine from many different regions in France in one location. It's like traveling around France with your taste buds in the course of an afternoon. We really enjoyed it.

We brought our loot home and had a wonderful spread for dinner.

Here are some pics of our loot http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21191&id=1012407145&l=aefcac4ded

Lunch at our French friend's apartment

2009-04-04T21:05:00.002+02:00

Today we went over to Fannie & Nico's apartment for lunch and an afternoon of relaxation (ie knitting for the girls, listening/chatting about music for the guys).

This was our first time having a meal in a French household, and we were in for a treat. The first thing we had was bread with terrine of deer. I really liked the terrine, even though I haven't enjoyed it in the past. It is similar to pate, only more moist. Our main dish was chicken curry and rice, which wasn't a traditional meal, but very delicious!

After we finished that, Fannie asked us if we wanted some cheese. Chris started laughing, and he explained that in the US, we don't eat cheese after a meal (unless you are in a very expensive restaurant and you get the offer of either a cheese plate or a dessert). Fannie said it's common to eat some cheese after you eat your main course, and before dessert. The assortment of cheeses were wonderful...chevre, tomme (my favorite), parmesan, and another one that I can't remember at the moment.

For dessert, Chris and I had bought a Gateau de Basque cake from Piccard and some Fruit Rouge Coulis (red fruit sauce). The Gateau de Basque is a almond flavored cake that is crispy on the outside, and so creamy inside.

After we finished eating, Fannie made us some tea and we spent the afternoon chatting about politics, the differences between the US and France, the best places to get groceries in the neighborhood, etc.

Their son, Gael, who just turned 3, is amazing. He kept asking us how to say things in English (since he understands that we speak English and not French). So he would ask, in French, how to say momma, baby, and Gael in English. He laughed when he realized that the words were about the same. It was so cute! He also had a Dr. Seuss book that he brought to us to show that he had a book in English. We are always fascinated by his grasp of vocabulary at his age and how advanced he is.

Fannie helped me sew the knitted pieces of my sweater together, since sewing is my least favorite thing to do. So I can't wait to wear my sweater this week!

It was a lovely afternoon with our friends! We are already planning our next day with them.

Time is passing quickly...

2009-04-01T22:46:00.006+02:00

Another beautiful view of the sunset outside of our windows.

Oreo crawled onto my back and decided it was time for a nap.

It's hard to believe that we will be leaving France 3 months from today! Where has the time went?? I'm not quite ready to go back to the states, and Chris feels the same. Yes, there are things we miss there, but there are SO many things we will miss here too.

Chris & I sat down the other day and made a list of things we want to do and see before we leave France. Our list is quite long, and I know we won't be able to fit it all in, but we are going to do our best.

We are both looking forward to Chris' parents and Aunt coming to visit in a few weeks. We are thinking of things we want to show them here in Provence. Then we will all be flying to Germany for a few days and hanging out with our friend, Sebastian and his girl, Sina. Then on to Northern France to see Normandy.

My Mom will be taking her first trip outside the states in May to come visit. I'm so excited to show her around Provence! She's going to love it.

Nate is rejoining us at the end of May for a couple of weeks. He has more research to do, and we want to show him some areas outside of Marseille this time.

Why do I feel like our 3 months is going to fly by quickly? Hmmm.....I wonder. :)

Chris has been making a lot of progress on his research. He's feeling a bit of a time crunch, but he's doing fine. He'll be heading up to Paris in a couple of weeks to give a talk at a conference. I wish I could go too, but decided to stay home with Oreo this time and save money for our anniversary trip in June.

The weather here has started warming up, although today was cool and very rainy. April showers are going to bring plenty of May flowers to Marseille!

We have a fun weekend ahead of us. Saturday, we will be heading to Frioul with our French friends, Fannie, Nico and their 2 yr old Gael. Sunday, we will be going to Savim with Nell & Dylan. Savim is the wine festival (we went to one last year and LOVED it) here in Marseille. We are planning which wines we want to hunt for and foods we want to purchase. Chris has froi gras on the brain, while I'm looking forward to yummy local walnuts and cheese!

Spring at the Calanque.

2009-04-01T20:47:00.005+02:00

Spring is here in Provence, and that means blooming trees, flowers, rain, and warmer weather. Last week we were not able to get out and enjoy the sunshine, since Chris was recovering from a cold. So when the sun was shining yesterday and weatherbug was saying it was at least 60 degrees outside, we took the opportunity to get out and go to Luminy for a hike around 4pm.

We usually don't head out for a hike that late in the day, but it was actually pretty nice considering most people were leaving Luminy as we arrived. We decided on a trail called "Rouge 6" which wrapped around the Calanque overlooking Morgiou, the very small fishing port we have seen from the overlook.

The trail started off fairly easy and flat. Lots of wild rosemary growing along it, and other wild herbs and flowers. The Calanques are starting to be more colorful now that Spring is here.

It started getting a little more rugged as we wrapped around with Morgiou down below. The only other people out there were two rock climbers on the side of the Calanque. We continued on the trail, not really knowing how far it would go, until we reached an impasse. Well, not an impasse for me, but for Chris...as it was a rock wall with a chain attached leading downward. Chris decided that since it was getting late, we better turn around. I admit, holding on to the chain and looking down, it was a bit of decent to the trail again, but I was willing to do it. I'm not a fan of rock climbing, but the chain was comforting.

We turned around and headed back to the bus. It started sprinkling on our way back, and by the time we had reached the bus, it was raining. It was nice walking through the woods, listening to the rain.

Our decision to do so ended up being a wise one, after we got home and looked at the map. Apparently, Rouge 6 continues on around the Calanque and hooks up to one of the trains we have done before at Sugiton. If we had continued on, we would have had a very rough hike up the Calanque back to the bus, taking probably at least an hour. We would have been worn out! So, we know what to expect next time we want to do this trail.

On our way home, we picked up some desserts at a bakery a few blocks away. The ladies inside were very nice, and even spoke a little English to me. The French just take one look at us, and know we are not French.

We also picked up some of the most AMAZING strawberries we have ever had. I had heard from others that Provence had the best strawberries, but didn't quite believe it until I tasted them. WOW!!! They are truly delicious and something to experience.

Pictures from our day can be found at http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.3xhra57f&x=0&h=1&y=9iamhd&localeid=en_US

Hiking to Callelongue

2009-03-26T17:46:00.002+01:00

Last weekend, Nate, Chris & I decided to go hiking along the Calanques. Usually, we head over to Luminy Woods and go from there. However, this time, Chris had a map and we decided to be adventurous and check out some new trails.

We chose a trail to hike from a bus stop right outside of Marseille to a small town called Callelongue.

The bus ride to the trail head was a bit long, but a nice ride. The bus followed the beach along Parc Boreley. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people in the park walking, playing, there were people out in the water swimming, and the water was dotted with wind-sailers and sailboats.

We hopped off the bus and started on the trail. We asked a couple about the trail and they said it would be about an hour and a half hike to Callelongue. We were off!

As we hiked, we kept passing, and being passed by, a large group of French people. One of them spoke English and would ask if we would take pictures for them and they would take pictures of us.

The hike was very nice...but rougher than usual. Some points we had to do minor rock climbing. The trail began in the woods along the Calanque and eventually ended up being more rocky.

We had a great time hiking along. We stopped at one point and explored an old fort. There wasn't a door or entry way, so Nate found a spot where bricks had been stacked to hop over the wall. Someone had put concrete and peices on glass on top to prevent this, but the glass was worn down, and it wasn't that much of a detterent to stay out. There wasn't much inside the fort, but fun to walk around in.

Our hike to Callelongue took about 2 hours. Callelongue was nothing more than a very tiny fishing port. There were a few cafes and beach houses, but nothing more. From the parking area around it, it looked as though many people would drive to Callelongue and hike from there along the trails.

We didn't know where the bus stop was located, so we kept walking along the road until the bus passed us heading in the opposite direction. We had to run to get to the bus and luckily, we were able to squeeze in for the trip back to Marseille.

For pictures of our hike, check out the links below...

Gallery 1
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.5la3eq7v&x=0&h=1&y=bnujf4&localeid=en_US

Gallery 2
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.aukuhgaj&x=0&h=1&y=h3ie1o&localeid=en_US

Gallery 3
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.9m4arlyz&x=0&h=1&y=-u5mwi2&localeid=en_US

Locked out and yummy regional food

2009-03-25T13:22:00.002+01:00

Last Friday night, Nate, Chris & I stepped out of the apartment to head to dinner. They had been at the archives and to a conference all day, and all of us were ready to just kick back, relax, and eat some local food.

We stepped out the door, and Chris started to lock the door when he realized that I had left my keys in the lock inside the apartment. Once the door was closed, Chris could not put his keys in from the outside, nor could he open the door. We were locked out.

We attempted to bang on the door, use an umbrella to open it, and a credit card. Nothing worked. Panic set in. Chris had me call our landlady to see what our next step would be.

She told us that this had happened once before, and that she could call someone for us to come get the door open. It would cost us 100 euros!

I told her to go ahead and call and hung up. Chris kept messing with the door using a credit card and eventually, popped it open! I called our landlady back and let her know. We were SO happy to get back in! We grabbed my keys out of the door, and we were on our way!

The guys had me choose the restaurant, and so I decided on Le Resto Provencal at the Cours Julien. Perfect choice it turned out!

Nate, Chris & I had an apero of a sweet local wine. I wish I could remember the name...Parpadille or something like that. It was delicious!

For our first course, Nate & Chris had foi gras that was amazing! I had moule gratin that was equally delicious.

For the 2nd course, Chris had a meal similar to beef stroganoff that he really enjoyed. Nate and I had boullabaise...a traditional fish soup here in Provence. Chris said it tasted just like the soup he use to eat with his family and friends down at Callabash in North Carolina.

For dessert, Nate & I had creme brulee and Chris had fig tarte.

The meal was one of the best we have had here! We will definitely be going back.

I'm on YouTube talking about HypnoBirthing!

2009-03-24T15:52:00.003+01:00

Last year, ParentsTV interviewed me at my office. It was aired on ParentsTV On Demand, and I just found out that it is also on YouTube. So today I got to watch it for the first time. :)

You can watch it too at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtOV3IvIUJ0

Frioul Island with Nate

2009-03-24T13:51:00.004+01:00

Nate, Chris & I went to Frioul island while he was visiting us last week. We had a great time hiking. Even though Chris & I had been to the island before, we found new parts to explore.

There were parts of the old fort there that we had not found before. This time we had our flashlights with us so that we could go into the dark, rooms underground. I think I was the bravest one. :)

The hospital ruins on the island were not accessible, which was a shame. They are currently rennovating the area and we are unsure what they plan to do with it.

We hiked all afternoon and then watched the sun set over the horizon.

There is still another 1/2 of the island to check out and plus the attached island (by way of concrete walkway). We look forward to going back soon!

Pictures of our adventure can be found below by clicking on the links.

Frioul 1
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.4y2df3bf&x=0&h=1&y=-pgwhpa&localeid=en_US

Frioul 2
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.b0dcf56z&x=0&h=1&y=-t9dugb&localeid=en_US

Frioul 3
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.8rx1sgq3&x=0&h=1&y=-6dghzv&localeid=en_US

Frioul 4
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.5jzu9dt7&x=0&h=1&y=-ixnrpk&localeid=en_US

Updates and Nate invades Provence

2009-03-18T17:19:00.003+01:00

My apologies for not posting on the blog for a while. I have become addicted to Facebook and have been posting quite a bit on there.

I've been working on some Mp3s and going over the results of my Hypnosis & Knitting/Crochet study. Also planning our trip to Paris next month for a conference Chris will attend and speak at, as well as hiking as much as possible out at Luminy.

It's hard to believe that we only have 3 1/2 more months here in Provence! The time is flying by!

Chris received his funding for the coming year, so very pleased about that.

I found out that we are going to have another nephew or possibly a neice! Amy & Nick are expecting and we are excited about seeing our new family member over the holidays in December.

Our friend, Nate, is visiting us this week. He's one of Chris' collegues at Fordham.

He arrived on Saturday, March 14 in the morning. Feeling jet lagged didn't keep him from walking all over Marseille that day! We took him down to the Port, to Notre Dame de la mejor, around the Panier, and back home.

Here are our pics from the day http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.2qj8zo17&x=0&h=1&y=me5cza&localeid=en_US

Nate is currently working on his dissertation proposal, and is doing some research while he is here this week.

Hiking along the Mediterranean

2009-02-28T13:08:00.003+01:00

Chris, Jaclyn and I went hiking again on Wed in Luminy Woods. We love the ease of getting out there and how inexpensive it is (just a short bus ride there and back). Plus it's SO beautiful!

On this trip, we decided to hike down to the Mediterranean to be near the water. Most of the hiking path was flat concrete. However once you started going down towards the sea, the path became rockier and a bit more difficult for those not wearing hiking shoes. We also had to do some minor rock climbing at times to get down to the little secluded beach we found.

There were quite a few people out by the sea sunning, eating lunch, and just letting their kids play on the rocks. It was a gorgeous day to be there.

You can see our pics here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.cp0eib1v&x=0&h=1&y=lur37w&localeid=en_US

Jaclyn, Chris and I are going to look into hiking to Cassis (next town over from Marseille) if it's not too far of a hike. We could take a day and hike over there and take a bus back to Marseille. We will definitely have to do some more mini hikes to prepare ourselves...but it would be quite an adventure if we can do it.

We spent most of the afternoon out at Luminy. Not sure how many miles we actually hiked, but we were exhausted by the end of the day. It had felt like nothing getting down to the sea, but climbing back up-hill to the bus was slow going.

When we got back to our apartment, Chris cooked us walnut encrusted duck breasts with Spanish green beans and Jaclyn brought over dessert...homemade banana bread. We spent the rest of the night with our feet propped up watching episodes of Lost together.

Hiking in Luminy Woods

2009-02-20T13:01:00.008+01:00

February 18, 2009

Chris, Jaclyn and I took the bus over to Luminy Woods to go hiking. It only took us 30 min on the bus to get out there (Luminy is on the outskirts of Marseille). We had heard from others that the hiking on the Calanques out there was really nice on a warm day, and today was perfect! It was sunny and 50 degrees. Chris & I have been itching to do something in nature lately. We miss having the Zoo and Botanical Gardens down the street from us.

We didn't have a map of the woods, but the trails were easy to find and we weren't the only one's out hiking. I was actually surprised by the number of elderly men and women hiking out there.

The views and scenery were so beautiful!

You can view our pictures here...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.bsteoh9f&x=0&h=1&y=5hbesr&localeid=en_US

We stayed up on top of the Calanques, but next time, we plan on taking the trails that lead down to the water. We found some great places that, when warmer, might be good places to swim. There were trails going higher up that Chris wanted to do, but we stuck with the middle path (guess we were Buddhist for the day).

We didn't see much wildlife out there...only a few little birds. There were quite a few hikers and even some rock climbers.

We only spent a few hours out there, since Jaclyn needed to get back to meet up with a friend. My legs were pretty sore by the end of the hike anyways, and we figured it was so easy to get out there, that we can go every week if we have the time!

Buckeye Party

2009-02-20T13:01:00.007+01:00

January 29, 2009

When Jaclyn and I went to Aix, we both bought jars of peanut butter. She bought one extra jar for us to use to make buckeyes. We picked a day and decided to have a buckeye making party!

Jaclyn and I looked through recipes and found one that would work with the amount of ingredients we had on hand. We rolled up our sleeves and started rolling the peanut butter balls. Chris got out the camera and started taking pictures.

Here's the pics http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.8kdbtt43&x=0&h=1&y=-nd3eby&localeid=en_US

We had so much fun! Chris got into a chocolate craze and started looking for other things to dip. The bananas were a logical choice and were very yummy (although not that great looking!).

Since the girls made the dessert, Chris made the pizzas...one cheese and one veggie.

We had a great time and the buckeyes were very good!

Holidays in Marseille

2009-02-17T19:20:00.000+01:00

Holidays here in France are quite different from in the states. They don't celebrate Halloween or Valentine's day, but they do have some great holidays
that involve FOOD!

On February 2nd, we celebrated Chandeleur, or "Crepe Day". All the groceries sell crepe supplies and hard cider for this special occasion. The reason for this holiday? Well, I'm not really sure, so I looked it up. According to http://french.about.com/od/culture/a/chandeleur.htm it is a Catholic holiday to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the baby Jesus.

The French also don't celebrate Valentine's day....too commercial as a couple of my friends told me. Chris & I celebrated anyways. :) We had a great day just staying home, eating, relaxing, and watching a movie (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist). For dinner, we had little finger foods, quail stuffed with foie gras with an armangac sauce, sparkling wine, and homemade dark chocolate dipped strawberries and a almond/pistachio cream cake for two.

Here are pics from our Valentine's (all G rated I promise) http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.1imt5wir&x=0&h=1&y=-fxl6xg&localeid=en_US

Saturday is for eating raw seafood and chatting with bums in the grocery

2009-02-17T18:34:00.002+01:00

January 18th, 2009

We decided to meet Jaclyn for lunch at Cafe Messena. Chris & I have been wanting to try the raw seafood there....oysters, mussels, snails and shrimp (which was cooked not raw), and urchin. The urchin turned out to be too expensive, so we just ordered a boat of the other items. We also ordered some supion (fried cuttlefish).

Jaclyn was brave enough to try an oyster, but ordered a separate, cooked meal.

The food was very interesting. I am a huge fan of sushi, but this raw seafood was so bizarre....slimy...and something I probably won't eat again for a while. It was an experience to say the least.

Check out our pictures here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.cd6jz34z&x=0&h=1&y=3mf7hc&localeid=en_US

After we had lunch, we stopped by the grocery to pick up some food to cook for dinner. We invited Jaclyn to stay with us for the day and to have dinner later.

While checking out, a very smelly man behind us started talking to Chris. Chris offered (in French) for the man to go ahead of us since he only had a bottle of alcohol, and we had a lot of food to purchase. The man was obviously homeless and reeked of urine and alcohol. He heard the 3 of us speaking English, and in a very proper way, asked if we were from America, in English. We said yes, and he said he was from DC. The man continued talking to Chris in English and he said it was an honor to speak to Americans here. He was very nice, polite, and very interesting. He asked if we were all family (including Jaclyn), and we said no. Then he asked Chris if he had two wives, and I spoke up and said "No, he just has me." The man wished us a good day, and we picked up our groceries and left. It was very interesting speaking with him, and we couldn't help imagining why he was here in Marseille, of all places.

When we got back home, Chris started making a milk pie for dessert later, and I got to work on making some hot chocolate for the three of us. I used dark chocolate bars, one and a half to be exact. I even added a pinch of cinnamon, which was very good. We made some whipped cream to go on top, and I have to say, it was the best hot chocolate I have ever had!

For dinner, Chris made savory crepes of cheese, smoked salmon, ham, onions, and mushrooms. Yummy!

Becks Invade Arles (1/15/09)

2009-02-17T18:33:00.001+01:00

I just remembered that I have not posted about our day trip to Arles back in January! Apologies to the readers of this blog. Chris and I have been pretty busy so far this year, and I seem to be on Facebook and Ravelry more than our blog. Will be better about that though.

Arles is about an hour train trip from Marseille, and is a wonderful little town with a rich Roman history.

The highlights of our trip were the ruins of the Roman Amphitheater, Roman theater, the Allycamps, and the Roman baths. I took almost 300 pictures in one day because I loved the town so much!

Here are the links to the photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.2v0941yb&x=0&h=1&y=pa1jxt&localeid=en_US

Second set of photos here...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.28mue1gj&x=0&h=1&y=-o4us3&localeid=en_US

Third set...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.3sektcyr&x=0&h=1&y=dj2ew0&localeid=en_US

Fourth set...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.bcx6qeeb&x=0&h=1&y=-7e7hop&localeid=en_US

Last set...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.bzzeimar&x=0&h=1&y=-ajimv1&localeid=en_US

(If a link doesn't work, just copy and paste the entire link address into your browser. I know some of the previous posts have had bad links, so you can do the same thing with those.)

Chris & I chose a good time to visit Arles, as it is low tourist season. We were the only one's walking around the sites! We were freezing, but it was well worth it.

The Roman Amphitheater and Roman theater are still being used, and are currently being renovated. Apparently, Wednesday nights in the summer, they have bull fights (some bloodless and some not) at the amphitheater. Not something I care to see. When walking inside the amphitheater, we both noticed how weird the energy there is. Just thinking about animals and humans dying violently there was upsetting.

The town of Arles was very cute. Lots of stores and cafes, none of which were open until after 5pm. I randomly found the yarn store (I have a sense for finding these things), so we stopped in there.

The Allycamps was probably my favorite thing in Arles. It has been painted by Van Gogh and others. When Chris first told me about the place, I thought it would be an old Roman cemetary. I was in for quite a surprise, well, we both were, when we actually got there! It was a large path with empty cement caskets on either side! The path led to an old church, that was even creepier. The place would be great to visit on Halloween (if only the French celebrated Halloween).

We are looking forward to going back to Arles sometime soon. We would like to explore the nature preserve nearby called the Camargue, where you can find wild bulls, white horses, and even flamingos! Definitely something to do once it gets warmer.

Waiting for an update?

2009-02-11T00:52:00.001+01:00

I've been very bad this year about updating the blog! I apologize for that. I have been meaning to post about a few trips I've done, and some things happening here...but have been so busy with my Hypnosis & Knitting/Crochet study, that I haven't posted!

I will work on getting some stories and pictures posted soon! We are still alive and well here in France! :)

An Exciting Day

2009-01-20T18:31:00.005+01:00

Sunset behind Notre Dame. Waiting for the inauguration.

I know there in the states it's still mid-day, but it's the end of the day here in Marseille and we have to say, it was an exciting day.

We went to the local grocery to pick up some food for dinner. We also decided that if there was a day to drink Mumm Champagne (our favorite), then today would be the day. Our next stop, was the boulongerie to get some bread. The female owner asked us if we were excited about today, and we said "Yes". She said she had bought a copy of La Provencal newspaper to read about Obama. She seemed excited as well.

After going to the vegetable and fruit stand, we stopped and picked up our own copy of La Provencal to see the news. Two pages were devoted to the inauguration with the title saying "The Immense Hope".

Chris did some work, as did I, waiting for the inauguration to be shown on CNN. We got our bottle of Mumm ready for when they played Hail to the Chief for President Obama.

Being here in France and watching the inauguration was really amazing. The two of us held hands and toasted the newly elected President. How exciting to witness this amazing day in history...our first African American President to take office only one day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. To watch President Obama take his oath and give his speech on TV really instilled a feeling of hope and happiness.

We were impressed with President Obama's speech and are interested to see what happens in the next four years. Being here in France, we know the hard times many are facing back in the states, and we keep thinking that positive things are to come. We know there is a lot of problems that need to be fixed, and that it is not going to be easy for our new President, but as his slogan says, we have hope!

Toasting the new President of the United States of America.

Oreo slept through most of the event. Being half white and half black himself, he knew that this day would come eventually. :)

Fire at Notre Dame

2009-01-14T18:25:00.001+01:00

This morning, while eating breakfast, I looked out the window and noticed black smoke in the air. I asked Chris if the smoke was coming from a chimney, but he couldn't see from where he was seated. So he got up, looked out the kitchen window, and said "It's coming from Notre Dame!" I jumped up and looked out and saw the smoke.

Chris looked online, thinking that sometimes Catholics will do smoke if the Pope has died, but I didn't think that was the case. Sure enough, nothing on the internet told us what was going on.

I grabbed my camera and took a picture so I could zoom in and see where the smoke was coming from. It was coming out of a window near the dome. I asked Chris if we should notify someone about it, but he figured that everyone in the city would see it too and call the fire department.

The smoke stopped before we even finished breakfast.

This afternoon, we looked on the Provencal news website, and found out there had been an electrical fire at Notre Dame. They had to evacuate some people, but no one was hurt, and very little damage was reported.

Tonight, Notre Dame is dark. It's very strange looking out and not seeing the glowing lights.

Blog bug bites Chris

2009-01-11T22:35:00.003+01:00

Chris has been bitten by the blog bug. He is working, I promise, but he needs something to do for fun besides game (even if it does involve gaming too).

If you are into computer gaming or cooking, check out his blog at http://eremitegames.blogspot.com

His wonderful chicken cacciatore recipe is on there. :)

Walking in a winter wonderland...in Provence!

2009-01-07T13:17:00.006+01:00

I woke up this morning around 9am, and fed Oreo his food and then looked out of the window to see something quite odd. SNOW! It was pure white outside and we couldn't see very far at all. I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming! Chris thought I was joking when I exclaimed "There's snow outside!"

Not just snow, but LOTS OF SNOW covering everything. It was snowing so hard, we couldn't see Notre Dame on the hill, or the mountains out our bathroom window.

According to the news, it started snowing this morning around 6:30am, after people had already started going to work and dropping their kids off at daycare. The news said that the whole area is under snow, and even over in Venice, Italy. All the trains, buses, plains, metro, and taxis are not running. The Mayor here in Marseille had declared that everyone should stay put, to not drive, and that your kids would be fine in daycare until later on.

I sat around all morning asking Chris "Can we go play in the snow now?" I finally got him out of the house and we went for a little walk around the neighborhood after the snow stopped falling around noon.

We were quite surprised to find that everything was open. Since a lot of people had already gotten to work before it snowed too much, they just kept a lot of the groceries and boulongeries open. There were people out and about everywhere. We saw two snowmen on the sidwalks, and a few kids having snow ball fights.

Chris attempted to build a snowman on the sidewalk, and it was so funny watching kids and adults stare at him as they walked by. I guess they had either (1) never seen a grown man make a snowman or (2) never seen a grown man make a snowman the way he was doing it. The snow was so wet, that he just took a small ball and kept rolling back and forth to make it bigger. He only made the bottom ball before deciding it was time to keep walking.

We bought some groceries and baguette, took a few pictures, and we came back home. Chris' shoes are not conducive to walking in snow, but thankfully, I have my Ugg boots so it's no problem for me.

Oreo tried to walk out on the balcony earlier and he got snow on his head. We thought about letting him out on the balcony to play, but figured he better not get use to doing that.

I measured 6" on our balcony, but I bet we got more than that.

The rest of the day we spent inside. We would have loved to walk to the port, but it would have been a long walk, and Chris probably wouldn't have been able to do it easily with his shoes. It's so nice looking out at the snow covered rooftops. Some of the snow has melted now, but it's still white.

It's a good thing that Carolyn and David flew home yesterday and not today. Our friend, Jaclyn, is stuck in Paris tonight because there is no way to get to Marseille until possibly tomorrow afternoon. Luckily, Air France is putting her up in a hotel tonight.

See our pictures here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.5dyuafrn&x=0&h=1&y=-f4w0te&localeid=en_US

Invasion of Avignon (1/3/09)

2009-01-05T15:00:00.000+01:00

Whoever said that traveling by train in France is easy, hasn't truly been on a train ride....

Today we go up early and headed to Gare St. Charles (the train station) to go to Avignon. For this trip, we needed to reserve our seats at the train station, since we hadn't done it earlier. We went to the ticket area and purchased our seats for the train.

We went to the track and waited for the train to arrive. It was quite cold there in the open air station, and we all hoped it would be warmer as the day went on. I hadn't dressed as warmly as I should since the day before had been in the 50's.

The train arrived, and we hopped on board. We were making jokes that we were once again, in car 13 and that it was a train coming from Nice (we had been in car 13 for our crazy adventure home on New Year's Eve).

When we got to our seats, we found two young men in our seats. We told them those were our seats, and they promptly got up and moved and one hopped off the train (obviously he didn't have a ticket).

We got comfortable and waited for the train to load. A couple with a young boy came over to us and said we were in their seats. We got out our tickets and compared them with their's, and it all appeared to be the same...the car, the seats, the destination, the time, all the same. We couldn't figure out what was going on. We were about to get up and give them the seats (since they had a child with them and shouldn't have to stand the whole way), but they went to find a conductor instead. We figured we should do the same to figure out the whole mess.

Chris looked closer at the tickets, and realized there was a problem, it was dated for January 6th, and not the 3rd! The ticket guy had sold us seats on the wrong date.

We found a conductor and told him our story. He was very nice and spoke in English, saying that we would have to go to talk to the ticket counter or pay more for the correct tickets aboard. He asked if we were American, and we said yes, that we were from New York City. He smiled and said not to worry about it, he would take care of everything. He said we would have to find seats somewhere on the train and that it would be fine this time around. The conductor also told us to get our return tickets fixed once we reached Avignon.

**TRAVEL TIP**

Always say that you are from New York City when traveling in Europe...no matter if you are from there or not. People treat you better when you say you are from there. If we had said "Indiana", I very much doubt the guy would have been as nice to us.

Back to the story....

So we hopped back on the train, in car 13, and there was one empty seat next to the couple and child, so we let Carolyn have it. Chris, David, and I sat right inside the door by the baggage rack. There was 3 seats that you could pull down from the wall to sit on. Here we had paid for 1st class seats, and we were stuck in baggage next to the toilet! When the train started going, we just had to laugh at the whole situation. Chris was still really mad about it all, but I told him things could have been worse, and we may have ended up missing our trip to Avignon. David was joking about his "window seat" since he was right by the door to the train car. There was one guy standing in the area with us, and he just kept looking at us like we were crazy as we laughed and laughed.

The train stopped in Aix, and we had to move a bit to let passengers on and off. One lady asked Chris if he would watch her suitcase since it wouldn't fit in the baggage slot. He said yes, and later said he should have asked for a tip.

We made it to Avignon in about 30 minutes, which was good. Our ears hurt a bit from the pressure in the train (when you go through tunnels, your ears pop, and it was worse being by the door).

We found the ticket booth and Chris got the return tickets changed to say the 3rd instead of the 6th.

Walking out of the train station, we found the bus stop to go to the center of town. We only had to wait about 5 minutes or so for a bus to arrive, which was great, because it was VERY cold outside. I was really missing my long coat, mittens, and hat.

The bus ride only took about 10 minutes to get into the walled city of Avignon. Once inside, we got out at the bus stop and walked down the main road filled with shop after shop. We found a candy store and went in. Chris found some gellied fruits he has been wanting to try.

For lunch, we went to Cafe Lou Mistraul. It was a bad choice in the end. The salmon was way overdone, Carolyn's chicken was blah, and Chris wasn't that pleased with his sausage. The sausage he ordered had tripe in it. Tripe is intestines, for those of you who don't know, and man did it stink and look disgusting! About as bad as the blood sausages we have had in the past. David was the only one who had a good meal...mushroom and chicken gravy over noodles.

Our next stop was the Palace of the Popes. Chateau Neuf de Papes (Chateau of the 9 Popes) was very intersting. We had to pay 11 euros each to get in and that included an audio guide. I'm really not one for those audio guides, and the British guy on there could "put a horse to sleep" as Chris said. I ended up listening to it on and off, but preferred to have Chris explain things to me.

The inside of the Cheateau was very bare. The ornaments, paintings, and decorations have been destroyed over the years, so it's rather plain now. Only two rooms are having their walls restored with copies of the original paintings. I had been expecting a palace like Versailles, but it wasn't like that at all.

After we finished our tour, we came out and walked up the hill to the cathedral. We went inside for a little while. When we were coming out, we heard people yelling. When we got to the edge and looked down, there was a mob of Palestinians with flags, banners, blowhorn and they were all coming to the area right below the cathedral. We stood there watching as more and more black wearing Palestines came in. They were chanting in French that "Israel murders". There wasn't a cop in sight, which was odd because if this had taken place in Marseille or even in the states somewhere, there would have been cops all over.

I took some videos of the rally for you to watch. I'll upload them soon.

The rally was loud, but peaceful, and after a while, we moved on and walked towards the Pont de Avignon (bridge behind the chateau). It was a long walk and we probably didn't take the most direct route there. We were all so cold! Our tickets to the Chateau also covered entry onto the bridge. We walked out on it, Chris danced a bit (I have a video of this too, and will upload it soon) because of the song "Sur le Pont Avignon".

We checked out a few shops on our way back to the train station, and stopped off to buy some bread to take home with us. We ended up getting to the train station early, and we were able to change our train tickets to an earlier time so we would get home faster.

Our trip home was uneventful, thankfully, and we got home in time to cook dinner. Chris made an amazing dish of pork chops with a white wine, apple, and apricto sauce and I made salads and mashed potatoes.

Pictures of the day can be found at http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.9l5hsf6b&x=0&h=1&y=u4qwe6&localeid=en_US

Walking around Marseille (1/2/09)

2009-01-05T14:30:00.000+01:00

Chris & I wanted to take Carolyn and David around Marseille today to see a few things. We walked down to Castellane because we wanted to take them to Pizzaria Magia for supion. It was closed though, so we went into Cafe Messena on the corner. It's always packed, so we figured it would be a good choice.

It was actually a WONDERFUL choice! We ordered the plat de jour...Chris & I had mussles with Roquefort cheese on them and fries, Carolyn and fish with a cream sauce, and David a steak with Roquefort on it. The food was the best we have had yet! For dessert, we all had profiteroles and Chris had a citrus tart. While eating, we saw a lot of people around us eating coquillage (a plate of raw seafood...mussles, clams, oysters, and urchins). Chris & I are definitely going back there again and ordering that!

Chris splashed some Roquefort on his shirt, so we had to head back to the apartment. We spent some time taking care of the missing debit card (see "Crazy Train Strikes Again" blog post), and then we were off to the Cours Julien.

I wanted Carolyn to see the Savonnerie soap store since it's one of my favorite shops. We got there just in time for the tour to see how the soap is made. It was all in French, but David and I still enjoyed watching the guy make soap with very old hand machines. Chris translated some of the information to me so I had an idea of what the guy was saying. We came back out into the store and loaded up on soaps. The soap there is the best! I am going to have to ship a huge box full back to the states when we move. The soap is pure and made with olive oil. The guy had told us that some soap places say they have soap made in Marseille, but it's not true and those places will use french fry oil in their soaps. GROSS! The soap at the Savonnerie is so clean and has really done wonders for our skin.

On our walk, Chris found a game store that had lots of board and cards games in it. He was in heaven!

It was getting dark, so we decided to forego going to Notre Dame de la guarde and just head home for dinner. We ordered pizza from Le Verdi downstairs. Since we ordered two pizzas, we got a bottle of Rose wine for free.

Crazy Train Strikes Again (1/2/09)

2009-01-05T13:00:00.002+01:00

After having lunch at Messena Cafe (wonderful cafe at Castellane...which is just a short walk from where we live), David realized that his debit card was missing. We came home and searched jackets, pants pockets, and his wallet, but the card was no where to be found.

Everyone was going back and forth on whether it had been left in an ATM, stolen, or had fallen out of David's pocket. We checked online, and found that the card had been used by someone the last 2 days on 5 different purchases which added up to about 100 euros. David tried calling his bank, but it cost money to use our phone to call, so we had to use Skype to call the customer service line.

We continued pondering over what happened to the card, when it hit us...it was probably the "drunk" guy on the train!

When we had got on the train from Nice to Marseille, there was a guy who reeked of alcohol who kept talking to us in French. He was sitting just one row behind Carolyn and David, although he really didn't sit much because he kept going in and out of the train car. He kept asking us if we heard the announcements, and Chris would leave the train car to go out and listen...but wouldn't hear any new information.

We were all pre-occupied with reading and waiting for the train to go. I noticed the "drunk" guy going through his bag in the overhead rack a couple of times, but didn't think anything of it since he was just acting odd anyways.

When the others started running towards the train and loading up, that guy was no where to be found.

Thinking back, David remembered that his coat, which he had put in the overhead rack, was in a different place than when he had originally put it up there. When he first got on the train, it was on the other side of my backpack, closer to him. When he got off the train, it was on the opposite side of my backpack, closer to where the "drunk" guy had been. He also had thought it odd that his wallet was in the opposite pocket of his jacket than he usually kept it.

Obviously, the guy was not drunk at all, and was quite the theif. He probably had splashed alcohol on himself. He kept distracting Chris and getting Chris to leave the train car, since Chris was the only one facing him and paying any attention to what was going on around us. He moved David's jacket near his own bag, so he could rummage through it...finding David's wallet. He took out the debit card, since it was the only card in there that he could use, and put the wallet back in another pocket. If he had taken more than one card, it would have alerted us immediately, but taking one card didn't really stand out for a few days until David went to an ATM.

We had been told earlier by a waiter that debit cards can easily be used to recharge phones, so they are usually good targets for theifs. Sure enough, most of the charges on the debit card that the theif had done were for France telecom (phone company).

We all learned something from this adventure...keep your coat with you at all times and do not keep your wallet away from you. Also, beware of seemingly drunk men on trains...keep an eye on your baggage, and don't travel on a holiday.

Taking the crazy train home along the French Riviera (12/31/08)

2009-01-05T09:30:00.000+01:00

Our last day in Nice was rainy and cold. Despite the weather, Chris & I went for a walk on the beach after breakfast and collected more sea glass. He also found a marble and a ceramic bead for me.

We met up with his parents for lunch at Le Bistro. We wanted to get the plat du jour, which was steak with gorganzola cheese sauce and potatoes. Since we got to the restaurant later (1:30pm), they were out of the special. David and I ordered steak and french fries with onion soup, Carolyn and a salade nicoise, and Chris the carpaccio (he really wanted to see what the fuss was about). The food was good, but we were disappointed about not getting the special.

We went back to the condo to pack, and Jean was nice enough to pick us up and give us a ride to the train station. Getting there an hour early was no advantage to us. After waiting for about 20 minutes, the trains started showing delays, and eventually, ours was also delayed "indefinitely". They announced over the intercom that there was an electrical outage in Abergine that was affecting all trains heading West. We sat in the waiting room, thinking that we may end up having our New Year's celebration at the station this year.

A track was announced for our train later, but the boards still said delayed. Chris figured it would be better to go sit on the train instead of the waiting room. We were on the train with two other guys, one guy was quite drunk, the other just smiled.

We figured we had time to kill, so we started playing Hearts. Afer a few games, a crowd of people started running like mad to our train and hopping on board. They took whatever seats they could find. We had asigned seats since we had first class tickets, but everyone else just took what they could. We couldn't figure what was going on. Chris was worried that they had changed the train, but when he asked the others who were on board, they all said we were heading in the right direction.

The announcement said that we would be leaving soon, and everyone cheered. There was a group of teenagers in the back of our train car acting up and playing in the bathroom.

The next announcement said we were waiting on the police. We couldn't figure out what was going on, but we were ready to get home. We were already an hour and a half behind schedule, and we had not had dinner yet.

The police hopped on and continually walked up and down the train. They seemed to be looking for something or someone.

The train started moving and everyone cheered again. It was crawling, and stopped off and on with announcements for people to stay away from the doors, and to stay in their seats. It seemed to take forever to even get to our first real stop.

The rest of the trip was slow and annoying. The kids in the back were driving us nuts with their antics, and I was getting hungrier (I'm always hungry). The police continued walking back and forth through the train. Chris needed to use the restroom, and I told him to go further up the train and not go to the one next to the kids in the back. He came back from the restroom saying it was awful, and that it seemed people were taking out their hostilities by messing up the bathroom. That told the rest of us that we would just have to wait until we got home (whenever that would be).

At one point, we saw a train controller walk briskly through our train car towards the front. After a few minutes, he returned with 13 cops following him! They were running now and some were hurridly getting on their jackets.

The next thing we knew, they were escorting two guys in handcuffs to our train car (of course) to the area by the door. The 2 guys had to sit on their knees for the rest of the trip. The other cops kept going back and forth still, so maybe there were other guys in another train car. It was absolute craziness!

We never did find out what those guys did, but it sure made the trip intersting to say the least. I was ready to jump off the crazy train when we hit Marseille. I was tired, hungry, and ready to get away from stupid kids.

Unfortunately, we ran into more stupid kids down at the metro station. There was a group of boys trying to jump the turn stiles without paying and a controller was telling them they couldn't do it. We had to push through the hooligans to put our tickets in and get down to the metro.

I was SO HAPPY to get home at 10pm last night. We made some soup and waited to ring in the new year with some sparkling wine. We were all exhausted from our trip and ready to go to bed. We stood by the kitchen and counted down the time by looking at our wall clock. We said our BONNEE ANNEE's and then we looked outside to see if there was any fireworks. We only saw a few flares go up.

In an apartment across the way from us, there was a group at the window looking for fireworks too, and they started waving at us. So we waved back and forth and raised our glasses. Marseille, being the 2nd largest city in France, really doesn't go all out for New Year's.

We said goodbye to 2008 and said BONNE ANNEE to 2009 and then went right to sleep.

Monte Carlo, Monaco (12/30/08)

2009-01-04T09:29:00.000+01:00

We got up this morning and Chris & I got some food from the marche and the boulangerie for breakfast. We cooked eggs, and had the most amazing croissants...the best I have had in France so far.

We thought we could catch a train to Monaco around noon, and according to the train station's website the night before, we would be there in time for lunch since the trip was only 20 min. We walked to the train station, which was a good distance away. It probably took us 20 minutes to get there walking at a regular pace.

We bought our tickets at the station, and walked over to the time boards to check on our train. We were very unhappy to see that there was a strike going on (of course), and there wasn't another train for 2 hours. We really should have looked at the schedule board before purchasing the tickets. Since we had time to kill, and the Russian cathedral wasn't far away, we decided to walk over there for a little while. We used our Garmin GPS to figure out the best way to get over to the cathedral.

The Russian cathedral wasn't as big as I had imagined it. It was beautiful, but we couldn't go inside since it was noon. When planning things here in France, you really can't do anything between noon and 2pm since everyone eats lunch during that time.

We thought it would be a good idea to grab some sandwiches to eat while waiting for the train. We stopped at a boulangerie and bought ham and cheese sandwiches to share. When we got back to the train station, we couldn't find a place to sit. In the main hall, there was only a few seats, and people were like vultures with them...one person would jump up, and someone else would swoop in and take it before we got a chance to take a step.

Eventually we had Chris go and ask if there was another place to sit, and he found out that we could go further into the station, near the tracks, and there were benches there. (Later we found out that there was another waiting room further down the track that was indoors and had pay toilets which cost 0.50 centimes).

We sat down and ate our sandwiches while watching trains come and go. The pigeons started coming over and we fed them our scraps. One pigeon was missing a toe on one foot, and missing the entire other foot. We named him Stumpie and we fed him more than the others.

After waiting and waiting, inhaling others smoke (even though the train station was supposedly smoke free), we found out our train track and we got on board.

Our train to Monaco was very fast. When we arrived, we found our way out of the station and walked over towards the port (there are actually two ports in Monte Carlo). We really didn't know how to get to the palace or to the casino, so we just walked around aimlessly for a little while. We could see people walking up the hill, so we thought that would be the way to go if we wanted to see the palace. After some searching, we found the path and walked up the hill.

Our first impression of Monaco was "this is it?" It wasn't nicer than Nice (ha), and didn't really fit our idea of ritzy Monte Carlo. However, when we got up to the Palace and walked around up on the hill over looking the nicer part of the area (the 2nd port), we started changing our view. We couldn't go into the palace, since Prince was actually there (we knew this by the flag flying high above).

Wandering around the tiny streets, we found a small cathedral and the larger cathedral. We also found a lovely garden to walk through with breathtaking views of the Med.

We had a couple of hours, and figured we should check out the Musée Océanographique. It was well worth the money to go through this museum. Outside, there was a yellow submarine that I just had to pose in front of!

The downstairs was an aquarium with a variety of fishes and animals. I really enjoyed the baby dogfish and the loggerhead turtle. The upper floors were part of the oceanographic insitute of Monaco with exhibits talking about global warming and exploring the arctic. There was also a room of death, as I called it, that was filled with whale bones and dead animals. Apparently, Prince Albert was quite fond of studying the ocean, but he was also into harpooning whales to research them.

It was getting late, and we wanted to get back to Nice for dinner. We decided to skip the casino this time (since I couldn't have gone in wearing jeans, and it costs money for you to go inside and gamble). We took the train back to Nice, which was easy and smooth.

For dinner, we went to Bistro Romain, which is a chain of Italian restaurants here in France. The food was excellent...I had the truffle and roquefort ravioli and Chris had the salmon gratin. The restroom was kind of scary, downstairs and unisex. There was a family next to us that ordered the carpaccio. For those of you who have never had carpaccio, it is a dish of raw beef, veal, or tuna, and at this restaurant, it was served with french fries. The mother ordered 3 dishes of this, one after the other, and the man and son ordered about 5 each! We couldn't believe that anyone could eat that much! The family wasn't overweight, nor did they look like they could eat that much food. They just acted like it was no big deal to eat that much. It was really wild.

You can view our pictures at http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.bb4o6uyr&x=0&h=1&y=606xhl&localeid=en_US

More pictures here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.59zoq3pf&x=0&h=1&y=iiwxci&localeid=en_US

Nice: Day 2 (12/30/08)

2009-01-04T09:23:00.000+01:00

Saying that "Things are nicer in Nice" is so cliche. Things are downright WONDERFUL in Nice! I really do love this area...and who wouldn't. The wide beaches filled with rocks and sea glass, the beautiful Med right there, mountains, colorful buildings, no parking on sidewalks, and no dog crap everywhere!

We got up and had breakfast at a cafe down the block across from the beach called Le Jardin de Capitole (if I remember right). For 11 euros, one could have 3 eggs, croissant, baguette, jellies, coffee or tea, and orange juice. This is what the French call "le petite dejeuner anglais" (American breakfast). It was good, but overpriced for what it was.

Chris & I took a quick walk on the beach, filled our pockets with sea glass and rocks, and then we were off again. We took the small tourist train around Nice, which went through old town, around the port, and up to Colline du Chateau (Castle Hill) and the Parc du Chateau. Amazing views on the way there and even more on top of the hill. I would love to return when the weather is warmer and spend more time exploring the park. The train took us back to the Promenade de Anglais (next to teh beach).

We had a late lunch (at 3pm) at Le Saleya. I had the gnocchi nicoise (specialty here) which was very good. Chris had salad nicoise (another specialty).

We spent a little bit of time walking around the antique market while they were closing up. We were not too impressed, since things seemed to be rather overpriced.

We walked along the beach at sunset back towards the port, and then turned around. It was time for dessert, so we went to have gelato at Pinnochio. Our waiter was wonderful, so funny, and saying everything in multiple languages. The gelato was so creamy...much better than regular ice cream in the states. Chris & I split the tiramisu, which was 3 scoops of gelato of different flavors with chocolate and cookie crumbles on it.

With our tummies full, we walked back to the condo and David taught me how to play Hearts. We spent the rest of the night playing. I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Carolyn beat us all.

Becks Invade Nice and the French Riviera: Day 1 (12/28/08)

2009-01-04T09:18:00.001+01:00

Today, we got up early to get to the train station for our trip to Nice. This time, we only took small bags, which was much easier than bags and a suitcase. I highly recommend to anyone visiting France, to bring either a backpack or duffle bag with you for mini trips.

The train was on time, and we hopped aboard in no time. Our seats were all together this time around. The train ride was GORGEOUS! Views of the Mediterranean, mountians, vineyards, so many things to see on the way. The ride was about 2 hours, which wasn't bad.

We pulled into train station, and got a taxi to take us to our condo. The condo was only one block from the beach, and we could even see the water from our windows. The apartment had 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and full bathroom. It was very nice and comfortable for us. It even had a cute balcony with plants and a lime tree.

Jean, the caretaker, met us at the door. He was very nice, giving us tips on what to see and do. David had found this place listed on a rental site. The woman who owns it lives in Virginia, and Jean lives in France.

We were very hungry (I was starving), so had lunch at Le Gourmet which was only one block away. I had ravioli with a creamed truffle sauce that was delicious. The atmostphere was very cozy...almost had the feel of a lodge restauarant with the decor and dark wood paneling.

After lunch (eating here takes about 2 hours), we went to the beach. The beach in Nice is very long, spanning the length of the city. It is a pebble beach, so just a little bit of sand that has been brought in. The pebbles range in size and color, and are just so much fun to look through. Chris & I could have spent the entire time just treasure hunting on the beach. There was a lot of sea glass (glass that has been tumbled enough to look like little stones), so we started collecting it. I reached for a piece and a wave smacked right down on my feet...half way up my leg. I was soaked through my shoes! There were some guys up near the boardwalk laughing hysterically at me and yelling things to us in between laughs. It was quite funny, until later when it got colder outside.

We watched the sun set over the horizon.

We found our way over to the older part of town and found a holiday market, ferris wheel (seems like very French city has one except Marseille), and a small ice skating rink. We shopped around, and bought some marrons grille (grilled chestnuts) to snack on. The chestnuts are SO GOOD here!

We made our way back to the condo, since we were all tired. My feet were numb from the cold and I was ready to sit and do nothing. The guys ran downstairs to a Kebab/Pizza joint to get dinner. The pizza was probably the worse I have ever had (even worse than Sabarro's and Papa John's). It was like cardboard with greasy stuff on top. Tasteless. I have to say, when it comes to pizza, I'm very picky now that I have lived in Little Italy and even in Marseille (our pizza place tops some of the one's in Little Italy even!).

We relaxed the rest of the evening.

Check out the pictures here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.cavebqmb&x=0&h=1&y=b6mqwp&localeid=en_US

**There are 3 albums to view at the above location.

Bonne Annee!

2009-01-01T18:00:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year!

As Beck tradition, Chris made crepes this morning for breakfast. We slept in to about 10am, and slowly got ready for the day.

Chris thought it would be fun to do a la galette des rois today instead of on the traditional day of January 6th. La galette des rois is "King's Cake". You buy a cake from a bakery (the cake is made out of almond paste), that has a small porcelain figure inside of baby Jesus or a bean. The youngest person gets under a table and tells the person slicing the cake which piece goes to which person. The person who finds the bean or baby Jesus is the King or Queen for a day and has to wear a paper crown on their head for the day and buy everyone a round of drinks. You can read more about this tradition at http://www.askoxford.com/languages/culturevulture/france/galette/

They do this even in office buildings, which would be quite hilarious to see!

Chris & David kept going back and forth on who would be the one to wear the crown. When we started eating, Chris found a porcelain Mary in his piece, so he got the crown. We figured they had just run out of baby Jesus or something. After laughing and making fun of Chris, we had a few more bites, and David found a bean in his slice! We passed him the crown and told him that is what he gets for making fun of Chris. He was suppose to wear the crown to the veggie market, but he wouldn't do it.

The rest of the day has been spent playing games, and cleaning things around the house. I have also been working to get this blog updated and upload photos. Oreo is just happy to have us all home again (he didn't like his French kitty sitter while we were away).

Wishing all of you a BONNEE ANNEE (HAPPY NEW YEAR!).

PICTURES HERE http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.brk8b3hf&x=0&h=1&y=gqfmau&localeid=en_US

Paris Invasion Day 4: Eiffel Tower, Napoleon, and our conquest over Gallerie Lafeyette (12/22/08)

2009-01-01T16:00:00.000+01:00

Our last day in Paris was a whirlwind adventure (much like the rest of the trip). We got up and had breakfast, which consisted of cheese omelletes and croissants, at Cafe Daguerre down the street. The metro station was right outside, so we hopped on and went to the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower is impressive, probably more so than the Statue of Liberty. The day was cold and dreary, and we didn't really want to wait in line to go up into the tower, so we just spent time walking around the base, taking pictures. The line for the elevators were very long, but if you wanted to walk the stairs, it wouldn't have taken much time at all. Chris & I will do the stairs next time we go. One of the sides was not in order, so the lines were probably double what they would be if all the elevators and stairs were in working order. We also think that we could buy tickets ahead of time instead of waiting in line for tickets there. I want to go back at night and go up inside. I'm sure Mom will want to climb the stairs with us when she comes to visit in May (right Mom?). :)

Our next stop was Hôtel des Invalides, which I found out was not a hotel at all, but rather Napoleon's Tomb. We didn't have to wait in line to buy tickets, which was very nice. Chris was so excited about seeing Napoleon's tomb, and if he had had his way, we would have seen it on the first day. His tomb was very impressive. The Hôtel des Invalides also had an arms and armor exhibit, which Chris & I really enjoyed. The detailed suits of armor were incredible, and I didn't know they made small one's for children. We also went through the war exhibits. By the time we made it to the WWII part, I was done with the whole thing. Too much for one day really.

From there, we stopped off at a restaurant nearby for lunch. Then we took the metro up to Galleries Lafeyette for shopping. There was a mass of people out shopping and looking at the store windows. Reminded me of NYC this time of year. The inside of the women's department at GL was so beautiful and just grand for a department store. It felt more like a cathedral with it's domed ceiling and stained glass. I found a cardigan sweater there that I have been looking for, so I was happy. No one else bought anything there.

We came back to our neighborhood and stopped at La Creperie for a snack. We had savory and sweet crepes.

Eiffel Tower Pictures can be found here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.aiy2msa3&x=0&h=1&y=2csuv9&localeid=en_US

Hôtel des Invalides Pictures http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.3ai3qs8b&x=0&h=1&y=-dsoxp&localeid=en_US

Noël en Provence

2008-12-25T21:21:00.005+01:00

We returned from Paris the day before Xmas Eve. (I'm still working on blogging about our last day in Paris and uploading pictures...so stay tuned). We got back just in time for Chris and I to run to the grocery to pick up some food for the holidays.

Christmas Eve, Carolyn came down with a stomach virus, and wasn't feeling well all day. David, Chris, and I just spent time playing games, wrapping gifts, and having fun.

On Christmas day, Carolyn still wasn't well, so we just adjusted our day to fit her needs. We had breakfast kind of late, since we all wanted to sleep in. Instead of cooking the large meal we had planned, we postponed it to another day. We opened presents later in the day than usual. Since we didn't have much, and wrapping paper is so expensive, we decided to do our holiday "green" style by using newspapers, foil, and reusable items to wrap our presents. I really preferred this method, as it's much better for the environment. We didn't have a tree, but David and Carolyn brought small stockings to hang by the fireplace, one even for Oreo. David kept saying it was a "hard scrapple Christmas". We didn't mind.

It was very nice having Carolyn and David here with us for the holiday. I really missed my family, and it was so weird not seeing all of them this time of year. I really love living here in France, but it's very hard being SO FAR away from everyone. NYC was still far away, but at least we could get to Indiana for the holidays.

Oreo really enjoyed Christmas. He opened his stocking and played with the mice inside. He also found the bags and newspapers to be fun as well.

The rest of the day was spent playing games, and Carolyn ended up sleeping most of the day. All in all, it was a very Merry Christmas.

Here are the pictures for Christmas Eve http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.2q9n42bf&x=0&h=1&y=-abgi2h&localeid=en_US

And here are the pictures for Christmas Day http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.99rls1tn&x=0&h=1&y=-a1i0df&localeid=en_US

More Pictures from Paris

2008-12-24T23:20:00.000+01:00

Louvre Museum

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.as6q7yxn&x=0&h=1&y=-4tuuyb&localeid=en_US

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.3xe9upnf&x=0&h=1&y=vuk7ko&localeid=en_US

Pictures from Paris

2008-12-24T23:15:00.002+01:00

Just getting more pictures uploaded so you can view them.

Arc de Triomphe pictures http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.1rbmd1mz&x=0&h=1&y=-exd828&localeid=en_US

Notre Dame
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.9r3vq4e3&x=0&h=1&y=vng5be&localeid=en_US

AND http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.cnj9swjf&x=0&h=1&y=pjp8au&localeid=en_US

More info on Paris to come!

Bonne Fete!

2008-12-24T14:50:00.002+01:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Paris Invasion Day 3: Taking over the Palace of Versailles

2008-12-21T22:04:00.002+01:00

After having breakfast at Indiana Cafe (we couldn't pass up going there again for eggs, bacon, and sausage), we got on the train to the Palace of Versailles. The train we took was called the RER, and it was just a little more expensive than the metro.

While waiting for the train, a couple with a small boy came up to us and asked, in French, when the next train was coming. Chris answered in French, and as they were walking away, the little boy said "Thank you" to us in English. It was very cute.

The train was a double decker train (not as nice as the train to Paris, but it was fine), and was underground most of the way, but we did come up to ground level to see some of the outer parts of Paris. The ride went by fast, since it was only about 45 minutes away.

When we arrived at the station, we found out that we needed our tickets to actually get out of the station. Who would have thought that? Thank goodness we hadn't thrown our tickets away, we only had to search for our tickets in our pockets, and scan them through to leave.

The walk over to the palace was only about 5 to 10 minutes. We didn't know what direction to go from the station, but once we crossed the street, someone was there to tell us where to go to get to the entrance.

The line to the palace was long, but it was slowly moving. I think we only stood in line maybe 20 minutes or so.

We found out that there are machines inside where we could have bought our tickets, and possibly could have bypassed the long line. I really wish we had known about that sooner.

The entry fee was about 13 euros and included an audio tour. I'm not one for audio tours, but Carolyn and David wanted to get it to know about what we were seeing. It took some time to find out where to pick up the audio packs (one thing you learn about France is that sites can be quite unorganized without people there to direct you).

The first part of the palace was kind of boring. It was pictures that were not labeled, so you just end up looking at a bunch of old paintings not knowing who the people were. For example, there was one painting of a nun, and we had no idea why her portrait was in one room.

We eventually moved into the other chambers...the King's bedroom and the Queen's bedroom (can't even sleep in the same room when you are royalty). We kept getting interrupted by a Russian tour group that kept pushing their way into each room. It wasn't even an official tour group...just a lady holding an umbrella leading a large group around. The other thing that was greatly unfortunate was the Jeff Koons exhibit. I only have one picture of a piece from the exhibit because it was so AWEFUL I just didn't want documentation of it. I did my best to take pictures around the ugly exhibits. I can't imagine who had the idea of putting this kind of thing in the Palace of Versailles! (Type in "Jeff Koons" into Google and you will see the hideous things I'm referring to). There are Kings and Queens rolling in their graves knowing that this crap is in the palace. The worse exhibit was Michael Jackson and a monkey. I had to just run to the next room to get away from it. It was scarier than our water closet clown!

I kind of zoned out with the audio tour, and just had fun taking pictures and looking at the furniture and elaborate paintings on the ceiling. I think a lot of people just walk through missing all the amazing things on the ceiling! However, if everyone looked up, they would just end up running into each other even more. (Note to others...don't go on a Sunday...it was VERY crowded!).

Eventually, we made our way outside into the gardens. This time of year, they were not as impressive as I'm sure they are in Spring and Summer. We did find a little tourist train to go around the gardens. We didn't stop at Marie Antoinette's house, which we will probably do if we go again.

We were all getting hungry, so we hopped off the train and had dinner at a little cafe along the water in the gardens. The food and atmosphere was warm and inviting, and I finally got to have vin chaude (hot spiced wine) here. It's a lot like mulled wine in the US, but even better when you have been out in the cold riding a tiny, bumpy train around. I also had profiteroles for dessert, which was quite yummy!

When we left the cafe, it was dark outside (just after 5pm), and the train was no longer running. We had to hike back to the palace, and from there, to the train station. There were no lights in the gardens, so it was a dark and long walk back up to the palace.

Back at the train station, it took us a little while to figure out which train to get on (we missed the sign that said that all trains went back to Paris), but we made it and back to the hotel we went. We were all very tired from walking all day and ready to crash.

Pictures of our trip to Versailles can be found here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.23nvo063&x=0&h=1&y=-jxjbpz&localeid=en_US

More pictures are here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.bmh0dst7&x=0&h=1&y=-9b2667&localeid=en_US

Paris Invasion: Day 2

2008-12-20T22:55:00.007+01:00

This morning, we got up around 9:30am and went down the spiral staircase (our rooms are on the 3rd floor) to the basement for breakfast. The hotel had a continental style breakfast for 10 euro per person. It consisted of over boiled eggs, croissants, chocolate bread, yogurt, jambon and fromage.

The first stop of the day was Notre Dame. Upon walking to it, the building didn't look all that big or impressive, however, once we got closer we realized we had judged too soon. There were figurines all over the outside as well as gargoyles hanging over head. There were people all over taking pictures, but the lines were not that long to get into the cathedral.

Inside, it was very dark and gothic looking. Not brightly decorated like the Notre Dames here in Marseille. We walked through, looking at the ornate windows and taking pictures of the alter. To get into the treasury, we had to pay a small entry fee. Inside, we found clothing belonging to previous cardinals and popes, bones from saints and other important Catholic people (ask Chris and he can list off everyone we saw), and other relics such as a piece of the cross and the crown of thorns.

We walked through the cathedral, taking time to look at each room dedicated to one saint or the next, and at the holiday scene and creche they had constructed, which was really amazing. It was lit up and the lights changed making each scene glow and disappear into the darkness. I was able to catch a video of it, so you can watch it here.

We found a cafe near Notre Dame for lunch. I had salmon with veggies and Grand Marinier crepes. We had a lovely view of Notre Dame from the cafe.

We walked from Notre Dame, along the River Seine, over to the Louvre. I have always heard it pronounced like "looov", but here they say "Looo-v-ra". Walking to the entrance, we saw men carrying machine guns, which really gave a new meaning to "police force".

Since we arrived late in the day (it was 4pm and the museum closed at 5:30pm), we had to really rush to see the things we wanted to see. We saw the Mona Lisa first. She's a lot smaller in person than you would think. Plus, she is behind glass and she is roped off so you can't get very close. There was a mob of people flashing her (with cameras of course).

Chris & I would cringe when walking through the museum as people used their flashes on their cameras. They have no idea what they are doing to these old documents and paintings...and only few were told not to do it by the guards.

We saw the Venus de Milo, as well as many other things that are kind of a blur to me at the moment. We were running through trying to see as much as we could in such a short amount of time. We ended up getting lost in the museum, unable to find the exit. We saw sortie (exit) signs all over the place, but each time we went towards one, we got further lost. We ended up in the basement in the medieval section, which was great. Apparently, there use to be a castle built there and you can still see some of the foundation and mote below the Louvre.

We eventually found our way out, and we were so tired, it was time to head back towards to the hotel for dinner.

Would you believe, that we found a restaurant just down the street from our hotel called "Indiana"? It's true! We were so surprised, that we just had to eat there. The cuisine was Tex-Mex, Indian, and American all rolled into one. The place was packed with locals, which was also surprising. I guess they do like burgers and fries after all. I had a chimichanga (something that I have not found anywhere else here in France) and a marguerita (not something you should order in France). We asked the waiter why it was called Indiana, and he just said that the owner had once visited Indiana and liked it so much, that he made a restaurant chain called Cafe Indiana. There are about 8 locations in Paris. Their hamburgers were made from Angus beef, which is a rare find here in France. We enjoyed it, even if it was American food in Paris.

Beck Invasion of Paris

2008-12-19T23:22:00.017+01:00

We got up very early this morning...5:30am. Oreo knew right away that something was wrong when we all started getting ready to leave...backpacks and suitcase (only 1 for the 4 of us) in hand.

We took the metro to Gare St Charles to catch the train. When we arrived at the station, we found out that there was a strike (not sure who was striking exactly), but it was causing our train to run 45 minutes late. So we found a table outside of McDonald's to sit at and wait. The station was very cold, since it's an open air train station. We were all very tired, and ready to get moving.

Our train track was finally announced on the boards, and we went to wait for the train. The sun was coming up at that point, and it was after 9am. The TGV train pulled into the station and we started looking for the right door to board. There really didn't seem to be any method to the madness...people were just lining up and hopping on. We almost got on one train car, but realized it was 2nd class, and we had 1st class tickets. We were also on the top deck, so when we found a car labeled 1, we jumped in and headed upstairs.

That is when we realized that our seats were not next to each other. We were suppose to have 4 all together, but somehow that had been rearranged. I thought I had found my seat, but it was next to a young boy, and it looked to be his father standing over the seat that was marked with my number. While I was standing there wondering what to do, Chris asked another passenger how to find our seats, and we realized we were still in the wrong train car. I'm guessing that the conductors were on strike, because there was no one to tell us what to do or to ask questions.

Our seats were in the front of the train, with Carolyn and David seated together and Chris & I sitting behind them (Chris was suppose to sit across the aisle from me, but since we had empty seats around us, he moved over next to me).

The train was very nice. Seats were cushy, near the WC (water closet), and quiet. The ride was very fast and smooth. It only took us 3 hours to get from Marseille to Paris. I loved the ride up here. We saw farms, vineyards, snow capped mountains, little villages, castles, fields, sheep and cows, rivers, so many sites! When we got closer to Paris, the view wasn't as impressive...more like IN really, so I knitted for a little while and took a brief nap before pulling into the station.

Finding our way down to the metro wasn't too difficult. Chris was very good at navigating. The only hard part was going up and down stairs with the suitcase. Note to self and others: When traveling in Europe for only a couple of days, be sure to have a very small suitcase that is light weight. We only had large suitcases, and a couple of backpacks, so we had thought originally that it would be good for all of us to use one suitcase...however, it was quite heavy with all of our things crammed into it, and quite unwieldy. When we head to Nice after Xmas, I am taking far less...maybe just two backpacks for Chris & myself.

The metro here is more complex than in Marseille, but on par with NYC. We had to transfer trains once to get to our destination. When we emerged from the metro station, we were right across the street from our hotel. We are staying at a cute little Best Western here in Paris. Carolyn & David's room is lovely with a huge bed (bigger than a King). Our room is smaller. Apparently, we have paper thin walls, as we got quite show from our neighbors tonight. :)

After we dropped off our bags earlier, we went down the block for lunch. There is a pedestrian street not far from the hotel with all kinds market stores and cafes. We stopped in to a bistro called Le Chope Daguerre. It was very crowded, but they managed to literally squeeze us into a table in the back. The food was delicious.

We came back to the hotel room and crashed for a bit. We were all very tired, and really didn't intend to take a nap.

After resting for a little while, we put on our coats and headed back out into Paris. Our next stop was the Champs Elysee. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it was a river here in Paris, but no, it's a big street leading to the Arc de Triomphe. Coming out of the metro, we found ourselves right at the ferris wheel, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The sun was setting, giving us a lovely backdrop for our pictures.

The Champs Elysee had a holiday market, not unlike the one's in Aix en Provence and Marseille (only there are not Santons). We walked 2 miles to the Arc de Triomphe, passing stores like Cartier, Mercedes, Louis Vuitton, and others as well as bistros, cafes, and restaurants. The sidewalk was HUGE compared to the one's in Marseille, and even in NYC. It was so large, it was practically a two lane street. Why can't all cities be built like that?

After taking a few pictures in front of the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to go in. You can pay 9 euros to climb over 200 steps to the top two floors. Carolyn and David weren't thrilled with the idea of climbing all those stairs, but they did it. Did I mention the stairs were also spiral? It was quite a climb, but we made it to the top. Going at night was a good idea since there were few people up there. We walked around, seeing Paris all lit up at night. We also got a full view of the Eiffel Tower. It was cold, but beautiful and worth every centime!

For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant on the Champs Elysee. The poisson (fish) soup was quite yummy. There was a family sitting behind us from America, and from the sound of their accents, from the Midwest. We have come across quite a few Americans here in Paris.

PICTURES FROM THE TRIP PART I http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.4tp16daj&x=0&h=1&y=y7cnld&localeid=en_US

Reinforcements Arrive

2008-12-18T22:54:00.008+01:00

Carolyn and David (Chris' parents) arrived today from the states. Chris met them at the airport while I finished getting things ready for them. They had a decent flight, although they were unable to sleep on the plane. We thought they would crash as soon as they arrived, but they actually made it until later in the afternoon before laying down for a nap. Chris even took a nap (which is a rare thing), but I stayed awake and knitted. Eventually, I got everyone up in time to see the sun set behind Notre Dame de la guarde.

Chris cooked a roast chicken for dinner and molten lava cakes for dessert. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and then zonking early.

The next morning, we met Nell at the Santon market. Santon are a traditional holiday figurine made here in Provence. Made out of clay and ranging from just longer than your finger tip to doll size, these figurines are used to decorate family creches (nativity scenes). There are baby Jesus', Mary's and Joseph's, but also figurines of people harvesting, baking, dancing, breastfeeding, and even knitting! Here in Marseille, there are booth after booth filled with Santon and background pieces. I found a really nice doll sized one of an old woman knitting with a cat in her lap (picture to come soon). Carolyn found a couple she liked as well.

At first, when Chris & I heard about Santon, we thought they would be quite cheesy. However, they are actually very interesting and fun when you start looking at them. Some of the creators take a lot of pride in their work, others are more mass produced.

After shopping around the market, we headed down towards the port for lunch. Nell picked out a cute cafe called "Cafe Vin" that had a very good mid-day meal. When looking for lunch here, it's best to order from the formule or lunch specials. Each restaurant, cafe, or bistro has their lunch menus posted outside, so you can have a look before entering the eating establishment. We had a very good meal of froi gras quiche, seasoned tomatoes and mushrooms, jambon (ham), salad, baguette, and of course, rouge (red) wine.

After grabbing some macaroons from a local bakery, we walked down around the Port. It was a cold day, but clear, blue sky. We stopped into a few shops, one being La Mason de Pastis. Pastis is a locally made aperitif made from star anise. It really smelled of anise (like licorice) in there. We didn't purchase anything, but Chris asked the shop keeper to explain how it was made and the difference between it and Absinthe (which could also be purchased there, unlike in the US where it is illegal).

The 5 of us walked back to the holiday market, and Carolyn found a few things to purchase. We also went into the mall (only to use the pay restrooms...you would think that if you pay to use a toilet, that at least it would be clean) and then to Monoprix to pick up some items for dinner.

PICTURES CAN BE FOUND HERE http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.8iem272j&x=0&h=1&y=wckuve&localeid=en_US

Rainy Sunday in Marseille

2008-12-14T14:13:00.007+01:00

It has been raining for hours, non-stop, since last night. The mistral has settled down, at least, but the rain just won't give up. We even had little bits of hail!

The rain started around midnight last night, right before I went to bed. With the rain and wind, it sounded like we were living inside a super car wash!

Throughout the night, the rain and wind beat down on our apartment building. We woke up at one point and closed the shutters in the bathroom (we always close the shutters in the living room at night), and we attempted to close the one's in the bedroom, but couldn't get the window open.

I had a very hard time sleeping with all the wind. It blows down the chimney and rattles the apartment. According to the weather channel, we were getting gusts at 23 miles per hour, but it seemed like stronger winds than that. The mistral winds here are just incredible. I guess we should get use to it as mistral happens throughout the winter here in Marseille.

Having the shutters closed, and it raining outside, our bedroom was pretty dark this morning, which was conducive to sleeping in. We got up around 11am, a lot later than we had wanted, but it was nice to sleep in after being awake through the night.

We haven't been able to open the shutters today due to the rain, so it's rather dark in here. It makes me feel like it's night instead of day. Flashbacks to living in the basement apartment in the Bronx fill my mind. NOOOO!!!

On a happier note, Chris cooked a wonderful brunch of savory crepes and hard cider. He tells me it's a tradition to have the two together here in France. The savory crepes consisted of bacon, mushrooms cooked in the bacon grease, and each one had a different cheese in it. One had chevre, one had Roquefort, and another had Roblechon. The crepes were delicious, and the hard cider was a nice complement. We had bought a bottle of organic hard cider. I'm SO STUFFED now!

We are very much looking forward to the week ahead. Chris' parents will be flying in on Wednesday morning. Thursday we are going to take them to the port and the Christmas markets. Friday we are off to Paris! I'm very excited about going to Paris! I am crossing my fingers that we have just a little snow while there. We'll be in Paris for 4 days, then we return to Marseille for Xmas Eve and Xmas.

Trip to Euromed with Nell (Dec 11)

2008-12-14T14:00:00.001+01:00

Today we took Nell to a part of the Euromed district that she had not yet seen. Chris & I had explored this area previously, so knew some of the area. Nell is working on a PhD in anthropology, and her research is on cultural changes in Marseille as a Mediterranean port.

Euromed is an area that is being newly developed. Old buildings are being turned into new apartments and office complexes. One part of the project is converting the old shipping docks into offices. Last time Chris & I walked around the area, we didn't get a chance to go inside the building, but we did this time.

Inside the docks, there are lots of offices...coiffures, G&E, wine store, dentists, and many other businesses. A lot of Euromed is actually funded by US money, so it's not uncommon to find American businesses here.

There were also strange little holiday scenes throughout the building.

You can view our pictures here http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.8anexx2j&x=0&h=1&y=-b81704&localeid=en_US

Pictures from Savim

2008-12-14T13:55:00.003+01:00

Here are some pics that we took when we went to Savim last month with Nell & Dylan.

Stopping off for a snack of raw oysters and scallops!

Raw oysters are so strange. You just suck them down without chewing.
I preferred the raw scallops.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, and also a baguette

2008-12-11T20:32:00.004+01:00

Chris and I decided to wake up early this morning and go to the Prefecture. I never receieved my temporary carte de sejour in the mail; only a letter saying that they didn't know why I was here or how I was affording to even be here.

We woke up before the sun came up at 6:45am (which is a big deal for us, since we like to sleep in...and by the way, did you know that the sun does not rise here in Marseille until 8am? Craziness!). We were able to walk to the Prefecture, since it's not far from where we live. Getting there early was a good thing, as there was a line already formed almost to the entryway.

We hopped in line and waited patiently for our turn. While waiting, we had 3 people jump the line in front of us. What is with that? We had two kids doing the same thing to us yesterday at a grocery market! Can't people just stand in a line like everyone else?

Anyways, we waited patiently for our turn, and bided our time with watching the other people in the room. There was a waiting area full of people, the line was getting longer and longer as we waited, and there was only 2 people working behind glass booths. Chris & I were the only white people in there...and maybe the only Americans in there.

We finally made it to one of the booths to speak to a woman working there. Chris told the woman why we were there. She was very nice, took our papers, and told us to go upstairs and wait for our names to be called.

We went upstairs and took a seat. The waiting room upstairs was larger than the one downstairs, and we didn't have to sit smooshed next to others.

We only waited a litte while before they called our names over the loudspeaker. We found the door and went in to another booth where a man was waiting for us. Chris told him our situation, and the guy looked over our papers. He asked if I had medical insurance, and Chris told him no, not yet. We were waiting for our temporary carte de sejour to have socialized medicine cover me here in France. The man told us that I needed some form of insurance. He then went around the corner to speak to someone about our situation. Meanwhile, Chris and I were trying to figure out what we would do. I could apply for travel insurance, but that would be a pain and probably expensive.

While we were debating what to do, the man came back and handed Chris a piece of paper. He told Chris to take it in the other room and write a statement saying he was in charge of me. Chris was confused and asked what he should write, in exact words. So the man walked him through writing a letter that basically said that he is in total charge of me. Then the man wanted him to write a second letter saying that I wasn't going to be working here. After that, he told us to wait outside again. We were so amazed that it only took two handwritten notes to bypass the whole insurance situation! That would have never gone over in the US! We went out in the waiting room and just had to laugh.

Then we were called back in, and the man handed us the temporary carte de sejours. That was it! Super easy, in and out in less than 1 1/2 hours!

Now, we just have to wait to be called in to get the permanent carte de sejour. Although, from what I have learned from others, that rarely happens before you leave the country. So I'm guessing, we will not get ours before we leave to go home. Which is fine by me, because that would mean we would bypass the insane, violating medical exams that we would have to get in order to get our French green cards. I'm all for skipping a chest X-ray that is not medically warranted (I don't have TB, and there is no reason for them to X-ray my chest for that!). So, we wait, and see, and as far as I'm concerned, not worry at all.

My visit to the Coiffure

2008-12-10T16:38:00.003+01:00

I have been wanting a hair cut for some time now, and was afraid to go by myself to a coiffure. Chris didn't want to take me because he was afraid that if things went wrong, I would blame him.

My friend, Jacklyn, graciously found me a salon to go to and even took me there today to get my hair cut! She's so nice!

Chris wanted to take a couple of "before" pictures to show how long my hair had grown. It was so thick and always in my eye. I have to be able to see so I don't step in dog crap when walking on the sidewalks here!

Definitely has grown since I got it cut in Salem in September!

Jaclyn and I met up for lunch at Bistro Haxo (where we went last week for lunch before the Van Gogh exhibit). We both had the plat dujour, which was pork on rice with a curry sauce. When the waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, Jaclyn ordered tea, and I said "cafe d'eau"...which is water coffee. I had meant to say "carafe d'eau" which is water for the table. The waitress looked at me funny, but then figured out what I was trying to order.

We finished our lunch, and then walked just 1/2 a block down the street to the salon. They were empty and ready to cut my hair as soon as we walked in. They didn't speak English, but Jaclyn translated for me. I had pictures of what I wanted done, and the lady who cut my hair had her hair very similar to the pictures.

Most of the experience was similar to getting a haircut anywhere else. The one thing I noticed was that the chairs did not move up and down. She had me stand up at one point to work on the back of my hair, and kept having me stand up so she could move the chair to a different angle. She was very thorough. Jaclyn chatted with the 2 other ladies who worked there. I just sat and listened and watch the woman cut my hair, hoping it would turn out just as I wanted.

In the end, the cut was a bit more expensive than I had expected, 44 euros, but I'm very happy with it!

Sad thing is, that it was raining outside after I left the salon, so my hair doesn't look as good as it did when I was there...but I'm still loving it!

Food, Glorious Food

2008-12-09T18:29:00.002+01:00

Chris has been making some new things that I wanted to share with all of you.
Persimmons are in season now, and we thought it would be good to make a persimmon apricot tart. Chris found a recipe, and we went shopping for the ingredients. We found everything we needed (only took 3 trips to 3 different groceries). The tart ended up being more labor intensive than it should have been, only because Chris got a bit confused on the measurements in the recipe.

And, unfortunately, the tart didn't come out all that well. It looks nice, but provides a nice dose of slight cotton-mouth when eating it. We ended up just eating the apricots on top and the cream underneath.

This was a meal we made on another night last week. I was craving a traditional Thanksgiving meal after talking to Nate (who had cooked himself a wonderful meal on Thanksgiving). So we made a roasted chicken with stuffing and cranberries!

Last night after we returned from Aix, we raided our freezer and made some seafood dishes. We bought some bread at a local boulongerie (she gave us an extra one for free!), and had escargot, Coquille St Jacques (scallop) pastries, and stuffed scallop shells with fruits de mer (mixture of seafood).

The escargot was earthy...not my favorite item. But the rest was delicous!

Trip to Aix en Provence (December 9)

2008-12-09T17:57:00.005+01:00

Yesterday, we took the navette (bus) up to Aix en Provence for the day. We arrived in time for lunch, so we stopped at Cafe Darius for their plat dujour. Chris had the chateaubriand (yes, it was actually called that!), and I had the salmon with zucchini. The chateaubriand was steak and potatoes. Both meals were excellent!

We went through a few stores, and then I had to go to the bathroom. Now, yes, this is more detail than you probably would have wanted in a blog post, but I have a reason for posting this information.

In IN, when you are out shopping, bathrooms are very easy to find. Malls have them all throughout, almost all large shopping stores have them, and all restaurants will have a toilet or two. In NYC, one must be a bit more aware of when and where to go. Not all stores have bathrooms, and there are few public restrooms when out shopping in the city. However, if you can find a Starbuck's, you can slip in and use their restroom without having to ask for a key or buy a coffee.

Here in France, toilets are harder to come by. Cafes and restaurants have them, but stores do not. The mall only has one restroom for the whole building, and it is a pay toilet. It costs 30 centimes to use the toilet. At the train station, you pay 40 centimes. In Aix, finding a toilet was a difficult thing. We found a stand alone pay toilet by the side of the road...only one, and it cost 40 centimes. It was similar to the pay toilets in San Francisco that self clean after you use them. I was desperate, so we got change at a local newspaper stand, and I did what I needed to do. I just kept chanting in my head "please don't self clean before I get out of here" over and over. I made it out fine, and was ready to continue on our shopping excursion.

The Christmas market in Aix was similar to the one in Marseille. We did find a man selling lavender wands! I have been wanting a bouquet of lavender ever since we moved here. This guy takes lavendar bouquets and makes gorgeous wands that smell amazing. The man was very nice, and spoke English to us. He also knew Italian, Spanish, German, and Japanese. His wife (who wasn't working on this particular day) was from NYC. The man, his name was Phillipe, said they have a store in NYC and that they have sold their lavender wands even to Vera Wang.

Picture of the Christmas market booths

We went into a Monoprix store, and to our delight, we found an extendable shower curtain rod and shower curtains! It was SO nice this morning taking an American style shower using a shower curtain!

After Monoprix, we hopped the bus back home and called it a day.

Music in the air

2008-12-06T11:44:00.002+01:00

Usually, when we wake up in the morning, we hear the lady below us doing piano/voice lessons. This morning, it was surprisingly quiet. Until around 10am when we started hearing music. The music sounded Spanish in a way, and I couldn't determine if it was coming from downstairs or from another building.

I got up, fed Oreo his breakfast, and opened the shutters. The music was louder with the windows open, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It almost sounded like parade music now, and we started wondering if there was some Xmas parade in the area.

I finally saw where the music was originating....there was a man, down the block, standing in the road, playing a trumpet. He had a stereo beside him playing the background music. I don't know why he was playing in the street, but people just walked by him like it was no big deal. One city guy was sweeping off the sidewalks, so I'm sure he enjoyed some live music while working this morning.

la fête de Saint Nicolas

2008-12-05T13:06:00.005+01:00

Tomorrow, December 6th, is la fête de Saint Nicolas here in Marseille. According to www.about.com...

"French children put their shoes in front of the fireplace, in the hopes that Père Noël (aka Papa Noël) will fill them with gifts. Candy, fruit, nuts, and small toys will also be hung on the tree overnight. There's also Père Fouettard who gives out spankings to bad children (sort of the equivalent of Santa Claus giving coal to the naughty). In 1962, a law was passed decreeing that all letters written to Santa would responded to with a postcard. When a class writes a letter, each student gets a response." http://french.about.com/cs/culture/a/christmas.htm

I hope that they have a set of clean shoes specifically for this. Who wants feet smelling candy and fruit anyways?

And who actually responds to all the Santa letters? Someone, or a group of people out there, are reading through letters and sending out postcards. Think of the time and cost that goes into this. What do the reponses from Santa say?

And lastly, the spankings. If I had a choice between coal or spankings...hmm...what a hard decision to make.

Out and about in Marseille

2008-12-03T22:19:00.003+01:00

This afternoon, we met Jaclyn for lunch at Bistro Haxo. It was a cute little place off of Rue St. Ferreol (major shopping street here in Marseille). Chris & I both had farfalle pasta with Roquefort cheese sauce. It was SO good! Very creamy and filling.

After lunch, Jaclyn invited us to the Van Gogh exhibit here in Marseille. It was over at the Panier district, so we walked around the port over to the area. It was sprinkling slightly, so Jaclyn and I had the umbrella, and poor Chris got wet.

Along the port they have set up Xmas trees (real one's) that have fake snow spray painted on them. You'll have a grouping of white Xmas trees next to palm trees. Pretty funny!

The Van Gogh exhibit was rather inexpensive...they asked us if were students, and we said Yes, so we got in for 4 euros each. It was a fine exhibit...but not our favorite. Some of Van Gogh's works were interesting, but there were some paintings by Monticelli that were not so great. I'm not a big art fan, so I can't comment too much...but it was fun hanging out with Jaclyn and getting out for the afternoon.

We took her over to the cathedral by the port since she had never been inside before. It was very quiet in there, and apparently, we missed the Noel holiday choir that performed yesterday.

We walked back, in the rain, to the holiday market around the port. It was time for some warm drinks, and I knew of a hot chocolate stand at the market. The hot chocolate was 2 euros for a tiny plastic cup, and it had to have been an instant mix. Not good. Next time, I will have to try the spiced wine instead.

After we finished our drinks, we hopped into Monoprix to get some food and litter for Oreo. It's not so easy getting him good food and litter here, but we have found a couple of brands we like. Just have to go to certain stores to find them. He's worth the trouble though!

It was fun getting out today as we have been stuck inside for a few days. Chris went to the archives yesterday, but other than that, we have been indoors because it has been so cold and rainy. I am really missing snow right now (I know those of you in the states who are getting snow are probably moaning right now...but I do love snow!).

I did some laundry tonight since I found that I had chocolate on my jeans. Not sure how chocolate got on the seat of my pants...wasn't on the couch, not around the house...don't remember it on the metro. But there it was, and I had to wash it out fast. I timed our washing machine and it takes 1 1/2 hours to wash a load. Then we have to hang up the laundry to dry (which I did inside tonight), and that will probably take a day or two to dry. Laundry here is a SLOW process.

Chris is Single??

2008-12-03T22:10:00.003+01:00

The French government has apparently deemed Chris as a single guy. "Celibataire" as it is written on his temporary carte de sejour (basically a French green card).

So you are probably wondering what my temporary card says. Well, good question, as I have not yet received it.

Both of our applications were processed together, along with multiple copies of our marriage certificate. We are perplexed as to how they got our info separated and why they think Chris is single. What, they looked at our marriage certificate, my bad French passport photos, and thought, he can do better, let's label him as single?

We are hoping that my temporary card comes in this week so we can go to the Prefecture to get it all straightened out. If not, then we still have to trek to the Prefecture and figure it all out without my information.

After we get our temporary cards, then we wait for a letter in the mail telling us we can go to the Prefecture to do our interviews and medical exams (fun sounding right?). Ah, the life of temporary visitors to France.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of our Carte de Sejour drama.

Small World by Chris Beck

2008-11-29T21:28:00.004+01:00

This morning, we were surprised by the door bell. We didn't have any packages coming, so didn't know why someone had rang up. I (Chris) went down the stairs to check it out and was met by a man from the gas company.

The man asked me if I was "Anglais" (which is the first thing French people ask us...which means are we English). I said no, American, and the guy lit up at the sound of that. He asked me where, and I told him NYC. In slightly broken English, although still pretty good, he said "I live for 2 months in NYC! I live in Boston for 2 years. It was nice, but not as nice as NYC. I loved it!"

He then started to tell me, in both French and English simultaneously about how he marveled at the buildings the first time he saw Manhattan and that it was so interesting that the city was different in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. I said that I felt the same way, and had marveled in the same fashion myself at the tall skylines (and the tall price of food, although I didn't say this). Like every French person who has been to New York, he had a brother or cousin who owned a restaurant (I guess in Boston) and had been there to help with that. I told him we had lived near Yankee stadium, and his eyes looked joyful.

Then came the awkward moment where he, like all French people, asked how we liked Marseille. I said that we enjoyed being here and that we found the city to be very similar to NYC. At first, he looked disappointed, I guess he either wanted to defend his city to me or commiserate in his hatred of a "lesser" city than New York, but he then pensively agreed that the "melange" of people here was very similar to NYC and that the people in NYC were very "Mediterranean" in their passions, tastes, and tempers. He himself would have fit in well in NYC, he had the look of a Little Italy or Lower Eastside slum... er... landlord, wearing a white track suit for some sports team, a beaming toothy grin, and slicked back dark hair above eyes that clearly showed his emotions.

He then proceeded to tell me where his latest journeys had taken him. "Dubai!" He beamed proudly, "Dubai est comme NYC, mais with newer buildings, tres beautiful, very comfortable." I showed my admiration for how well traveled he was, trying to get my brain to focus on one of the two languages he was using. I showed that I knew where Dubai was and knew about the new building projects (although one shouldn't fool around on the beaches there, as two recent British tourists found out), something that he probably did not expect from an American. Then he produced a card from his pocket, "Mon ami, he travail, works, for the Sultan . If you want, you go to Dubai, I will appelle my friend and you will have a great time!" He wrote his cell number on the paper. "You call, when you go to Dubai, I will let my friend know!" At that, he said his Bonne Journee, and walked out smiling (incidentally, he thought Kat, as my wife, was French just by looking at her, and began to speak French to her very quickly when he saw her).

Overall, I would say this is the typical attitude of the French people we meet towards Americans. The idea that Americans are "odious" in some way is relatively mythical, and more people here in Provence enjoy talking about whatever knowledge they have about America. This is especially true since we come from New York City, a place where nearly all of these people have been or want to go, but at least they know about it and typically want to display this. Another question immediately asked when the word "Americain" or 'Etas-Unis' (United States) crosses my lips is "So, how do you feel about Barrack Obama winning?" After I answer, they are MORE than happy to let me know how THEY feel about Barrack Obama winning, and it is probably no surprise that the French are typically "Very happy" with the outcome.

I once got in a very heated (at least on his end) discussion with a cab driver of Algerian descent about Obama, racism (in France and America), and the pitfalls Obama would face (he was not optimistic). This was the day of the election, and the man felt that an African-American president in the U.S. was as unlikely as an Algerian or Muslim president of France. He is probably pleasantly surprised now, at least as pleasantly as the perpetually pessimistic French can be surprised...

Chris

Thanksgiving in Marseille

2008-11-27T23:01:00.003+01:00

We had a lovely Thanksgiving today. The weather was warmer and quite sunny.

Chris & I started a tradition last year of eating duck for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. We went to 3 different butchers here, and could not find a whole duck. We were so disappointed. Today we went to the grocery, thinking we would just have to buy a few duck breasts to cook, and to our surprise, they had whole duck! We bought a few other things and came home to clean up the apartment.

Generally, we wake up on Thanksgiving, start cooking and watch the parade. Since we didn't have the parade to watch here, and Jaclyn (our new friend from the expat meetup who is also from NY) didn't get off work until later in the day, we decided to not eat until after 5pm.

Chris cooked a duck with cherry sauce, he also made the pumpkin pie (with the can of Libby's pumpkin that I wrote about in an earlier blog post) with homemade whipped cream. I cooked a French food called "aligot". It's basically mashed potatoes with lots of butter, creme fraiche, garlic, and tons of cheese. I don't even want to think about the fat grams in it! Jaclyn brought a fresh baguette. The meal was delicious, and I'm still feeling so stuffed!

We had a great time. It was nice having Jaclyn here with us. Oreo came out of hiding and entertained us by chaising a string around.

Just wanted to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you reading this back in the states! We are very thankful to be on this French adventure!

My 28th Birthday Celebration in France

2008-11-26T20:45:00.002+01:00

I turned 28 today, and it was a pleasure celebrating my bday here in Marseille. It was also our 11th anniversary together, so that made it even more special.

Chris cooked me baked french toast this morning, which was amazing. He had added raisins, walnuts, creme de cassis, and sparkling wine to it to make it Kir french toast. So yummy!

We went to the Centre Bourse for lunch. There is a cafe there that is always packed and we thought it would be nice to eat there. We both had salads. Mine was lettuce topped with smoked salmon, pineapple, grapefruit, sheep's cheese, onion, tomatoes, strawberries, kiwi, apple, and green beans. It sounds strange, but it was a wonderful combination. Chris' was slightly different with baked chevre (goat's cheese) and less fruit.

After lunch, we shopped around the mall for a while, then went to the Xmas holiday market out on on the port. We enjoyed looking at the booths and we bought a few things...strawberry pate and jasmine tea.

I went into a few shops looking for clothes, but didn't find anything. Lots of things were quite expensive and I'm a the point where I will look at a sweater and think "Can I make this myself?" If the answer is yes, I don't buy it.

Chris treated me to a tres manufique dinner (if only I could put accent marks on here so the French looks correct). He bought frozen Canadian lobsters (yes, the lobster here is from Canada which is very strange), and cooked them along with steak (rare...just the way I love it!), and stuffed scallops. We had a lovely champagne that we purchased at the Savim last weekend.

For dessert, he cooked lava cake! He said the recipe was very simple, but the taste was far from simple. It was SO GOOD! I had some before dinner, as well as after. :)

What a wonderful day!

Lovely Sunset

2008-11-25T13:02:00.005+01:00

This is a view of an amazing sunset Thursday night from our balcony. I wanted to post this today in memory of my Grandma, as she would have loved this.

In Memory of Helen Compton

2008-11-25T12:59:00.002+01:00

I just wanted to post a little note about the passing of my wonderful Grandma, Helen Compton. She peacefully left this world on Sunday at the age of 87.

Love you Grandma!

This picture was taken last year on Xmas Eve.

Video of Chris

2008-11-24T18:57:00.001+01:00

Chris & I made this video when we visited Le Pharo last month. I just now got it to upload to YouTube for all of you to view. Enjoy!

Views from our apartment

2008-11-22T20:33:00.002+01:00

We had a magnificent sunset on Thursday night. Right before le mistral (winds) came in. Thursday night it was incredibly windy here. I actually had a hard time sleeping with the winds being so loud.

Things settled down Friday, but Friday night the winds kicked up again. Today they were gusting at 25 to 50 mph. People had their laundry up to dry and I don't know how they kept their clothes pinned to the lines in this wind!

Here are pictures of the sunset. These were taken from our balcony just off our kitchen.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.ccq9pyez&x=0&h=1&y=52s328&localeid=en_US

Taste of France

2008-11-22T20:12:00.003+01:00

Our friends, Nell & Dylan, invited us to an event called Savim Automne today at the local convention center. It was only 7 euros to get in, they give you a wine glass to keep, and you can taste all you wanted! They had not only wonderful French wines and champagne, but also froi gras, honey, bread, cheeses, caviar, calissons (little cookies that are well known here in Provence), and so much more. We were there from 2pm to almost 8pm.

I was very surprised by how many people spoke English to us. That made it easier for Dylan and I, but Nell and Chris spoke French to many of the exhibitors. The people were so nice. We met a guy from Arles who invited us to dinner sometime!

Nell stopped twice for raw oysters and scallops. We had a couple as well, and they were interesting. I liked the raw scallops best. For those who have never eaten raw oysters before, you are suppose to just swallow them whole. It's not for everybody, and personally, I would prefer to chew and taste my seafood...but it's an experience.

We came home with bags of goodies from the day...creme de marron (chestnut cream), wines, champagne, cheeses, bread, lavendar cookies, duck cassolet, and even lobster bisque that Chris says tastes like the soup they use to have at Calabash (for those of you who know what that means).

We had such a great time. There will be another event in April, and the four of us will be there!

Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!

2008-11-20T14:18:00.006+01:00

Our lunch of pumpkin and chestnut soup, eggplant and shallot sandwhiches with goat cheese (Chris cooked these) on fresh baguette, and a glass of Beaujolais wine.

Today is Beaujolais Day here in France. It is the first day to get this year's Beaujolais wines in the stores. The expat meetup was having a tasting tonight, but we decided not to go. So we were pleasantly surpirsed to find our local grocery had tastings and a few bottles of the newest Beaujolais wines.

Beaujolais is a red wine that comes from the Beaujolais region of France. It is made of Gamay grapes and is fermented for only a few weeks before being released on the 3rd Thursday of November.

We purchased a bottle of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais and both had a glass with lunch. The wine is a beautiful red color...not like other red wines. More of a clear, bright red. It is very smooth and clean tasting. The 3 we tried at the store didn't even compare to this one. It has a nice grape flavor and tastes so new. The cork is so new too compared to other corks you find in wine bottles that have sat over time.

What an experience to taste a wine that was just only made a few weeks ago!

Our wonderful apartment

2008-11-19T23:01:00.000+01:00

Here is a link to some pictures of our apartment.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.bp92vvej&x=0&h=1&y=-kzrn8c&localeid=en_US

More pictures of Parc Borely

2008-11-19T18:00:00.000+01:00

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.a9he62wr&x=0&h=1&y=ckdrid&localeid=en_US

Parc Borely Pictures

2008-11-18T20:57:00.001+01:00

Here is the first set of uploaded pics of Parc Borely. I'll post the others soon.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3saykfvv.824gy2bf&x=0&h=1&y=mg59kc&localeid=en_US

Technology has arrived

2008-11-18T14:34:00.003+01:00

We are BACK ONLINE AGAIN!!!

Our landlady and the France telecom guys were here this morning to open a line (which means assign a phone number to our apartment). Cornelia (our landlady) received the cable box and the internet/phone box just today, which was a pleasant suprise. She told us that once we had everything set up, it would probably be another 10 days to 3 weeks before everything would be up and running. However, when we plugged things in, we were online immediately!!! She was shocked, and we were estatic. We are still waiting for the cable TV to start working, but we now have internet and phone.

Cornelia bought us a phone, and we are charging it. We will be able to use it starting tomorrow. We will be able to call people in the states, so we are happy about that!

I have to admit, being offline for these past few weeks wasn't bad. I did miss out on some news, but it was actually nice not being tied down by technology. Sometimes it's very nice to be able to unplug and focus on other things. Now that we have internet, I haven't spoken to Chris in hours.

Just kidding. :)