Croissants and Cappuccinos

Since my last post both Fall break and Halloween have gone down. I say “gone down”, because shit literally went down. :) For Fall break, my Matthew was going to come to Paris, so I did not plan to go on any trips, but with the late passing of his mother, he was  not able to come see me in Paris. Believe it or not, this news wasn’t that unexpected or horrible. I miss hi, but family is important. 

My next step was to try and decide where to go at such last minute for my break. I had already been all over Paris, to places in France, and Amsterdam. The weekend before I had visited Barcelona, so I wanted to go somewhere warm and beachy…again. So, Marseille was the decided place to vaca off to. Marseille, located in the South of France is a beautiful beach town that consists of many old churches, a port, any sail boats, islands, Calanques (which are huge side mountains that shrivel into the ocean), art, tags, and much more amazing things!! Oh and did I mention the loads of sea food? MY LIFE!

My wonderful Jean and myself went to plan our trip to the South of France, and basically this should have taken us about 40 minutes…it took all night! We had both internet and credit card issues (since we are out of the country and all). 

By the time we got closer to our leaving date, Marseille’s workers decided to go on strike, since that is just SOOOOO popular here in France. The trash workers of all workers stopped working, and PILES of trash invaded the city! We basically at this point thought we were going to have to change our plans, because of the trash, riots, gas masks, po po craziness, transportation failures, etc. Finally, a few days later the Army was sent in to clean the city…just in time for us to go on our little vaca. 

Off the Marseille on the train, Jean slept as I watched the most amazing views ever! The fields were colored with rows of purples, greens, yellows, browns, and blues! The farming, rivers, mountains, little gothic towns, farm animals, were so unrealistic and refreshing! I could have sat on that train listening to TV on the Radio for hours! 

Our first day in Marseille, we immediately got lost. Woopdeedoo! We couldn’t find our hostel (when it was right in front of our faces titled “Vertigo”), and we walked through a work mans town where there were all dark men and NO LADIES! I have never been so aware of my blonde hair and my sexuality before! Hell I tell you! The hostel was cute and cozy, but we needed to venture. We bailed and got lost again, but this time on a beautiful hill with chickens. Kind of odd, but there were mountains surrounding me, so I was happy to ignore the bird poop. Getting back to the metro that only has 2 metro stops and 2 trams, we made it to the port! Finally! Pretty much the next 5 days consisted of 5 star restaurants, sea food, shopping, and venturing out into this amazing town! I bought a beautiful antique ring, jean got rid of his bag from middle school and got a nice new “man bag” (he tossed his old bag into the heaps of garbage which were still all over the city), and my favorite part, we explored! 

My favorite events in the South:

1. The boat ride to see the Calanques: The tiny inlets of beaches within the mountains where people hike and rock climb. The Ocean is see through and sapphire blue, which turns into this aqua sea foam, and finally to white before hitting the shore. I swear you can see all the rocks and sea creatures in the water!! SO much fun! The trees grew sideways on the mountains towards the sun, like in the Lion King. :) OH funniest part: Jean gets motions sickness, and our boat was booking it on the way back! 

2. The boat ride to the island where Jean and myself hiked up a mountain/Calanque to see the old remains of the town, and to wander on the deserted beach there! The sand was literally millions of little pebbles instead of the mulchy salt sand that you see in the states! Each fist full of sand contained tons of tiny tiny sea shells barely noticeable! 

3. Viewing the amazing Notre Dame and all the other chuches and old parts of the town! Getting lost in the winding streets is the best part of having a long vacation. You have the time to live, and not rush to do just the touristy things! 

4. Finally, I loved sharing Jean’s 21st birthday there and eating like billionaires! He is my life partner…I gay man, straight girl terms. :)

Getting back to the dorm, very late at night, I went right to sleep, that is after I unpacked. Being brought up by a navy seal and having slight ocd/cleaning probs still comes before sleep. ha, aren’t I lucky? You would think after a week of relaxation and total zen moments I would want to keep things cool and calm for a while, but hunnies the next day, it was time for Halloween bitches!