sorry sorry sorry

so this past weekend i was in provence. we traveled to aix, cassis, marseille, avignon, and a few other small towns along the coast. the whole lot of us, our entire API group, woke up at like 430 to catch the 715 TGV high speed train from Gare de Lyon to Provence. if you look on a map, it's a pretty freaking far distance, but the TGV is one of the fastest passenger trains in the world. we hit provence in a little under three hours. our program director was telling us about how texas was in a bidding war with some german company to acquire the schematics and the technology. i'm pretty sure texas lost, but it's okay because they'll never win again. i slept for most of the way, as did most of the other people on the train. but when we exited, it was a beautiful 60 degrees and sunny! our hotel was situated right in the middle of aix, just a few streets from the city center/the giant fountain roundabout.

we all got off the bus and immediately were hungry. we went to this great restaurant on the main street. it cost a pretty penny, but was totally worth it to eat delicious seafood, to have a few drinks, and to soak in the mediterranean lifestyle. i got this salmon pasta thing, t'was delicious. we spent the rest of the afternoon visiting Cezanne's house and chilling in his garden. the tour guide was telling us about how everything in his workshop is original. it was pretty wild to see his old, used paintbrushes and isle... etc. that night we didn't do much because we were all just fatigued to the bone.

the next day we went to marseille. oh... ma... lordy... batman...! it's absolutely beautiful. even the awkward smells that protrude from the streets and bay have a sort of delightful charm to them. we took a walking tour of the city... monuments and such. but we ended right on top of the notre dame church, which the people that live there call "mommy." i don't know why, people are just crazy. regardless, it is an absolutely beautiful church. there is a giant gold statue of mary holding jesus at the way top overlooking the entire port. the inside is very colorful, full of religious symbols, ornate sculptures, paintings, and beautiful stained glass.

then came the best part. we got free lunch. our directors brought us to this restaurant right on the med sea. their specialty is mussels... stuffed mussels. so freaking delicious. i could eat them for the rest of my life if i wanted to. we were a group of about 40 people. drew, will, and i, three of the four people with penises on our trip, sat at the edge of a table and made it abundantly clear to the rest of our group that those who did not like mussels could more than generously pass them to us. after calculating our piggishness, we amassed three full plates of mussels each. yeah...

the views in marseille are to die for. castles and mansions protruding off of cliffs, hotels that look like beachside resorts in miami, beautiful white sandy beaches... i can't describe it. pictures will be up soon.

we then went to cassis, a beautiful tiny, seaside, port town. we didn't spend much time there. but it was beautiful. the decent to the beach was quite effortless, but the trek back up took almost three times as long. there was also this mass meeting of motorcycle riders who had just arrived from their weekend rides. i spotted a few ducattis, BMWs, triumphs, etc...

the next day was pretty hectic. we had to catch the train around 5:30 and had a full day planned. we first went to this old castle somewhere in the middle of nowhere. i had been there before, with mrs. ellsley and my high school french class... major deja vu. 

we then went to avignon, a walled in city where, on sunday, happiness goes to die. this town was dead, absolutely dead. we visited the palais des pap and got a bite to eat. we pretty much just walked around the entire time, taking side roads and alleyways in hopes of discovering the city. the pont d'avignon is nothing special. we dubbed it a bridge to nowhere.

cheers, jhabra