This past week I went to Aix-en-Provence with a quarter of the students on my program for our scheduled home-stay trip in a different part of France. It was great to get out of the city for a while and get to know a different area. The painter Cézanne is from Aix, and it's amazing how much you can see the inspiration for his paintings.
The first day, we went to an incredible bastide (kind of between a chateau and a villa) for
a cooking class with a really famous chef, whose name I'm now of course forgetting. He made poisson à la marseillaise, poulet au vin, and a tarte aux poires right in front of us. Then we got to walk around his massive home and gardens, complete with a pigeon aviary, exotic bird pen, 4 pointers and 6 pugs, donkeys, and god knows wha
t else. Then we sat down to our delicious catered meal - the chateau life is definitely on
e I could get used to.In the afternoon, we drove to the chateau at the Beaux-de-Provence, about a half hour away. The chateau is at the top of this giant hill. Back in the day, there was a Roman village there, and you can still see the ruins from the kitchens.
The next day we were left with our families in Aix, and I went to the outdoor market in the morning. Everything was delicious, I thought, except
for a pastry that the region is famous for called calissons - not necessarily my taste. 
The outdoor market, however, definitely was.The next day, our families got together for what we were told was a walk on the beach. Apparently a walk on the beach in Aix means a hike through the cliffs and mountains that happen to look out at the ocean. After being made fun of for not wearing proper shoes, we did a two hour trek to find a perfect rock to sit on on the shores between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.
The weather was beautiful though, and it's always amazing to see the ocean. All of the pictures can be found at the following link: |
| Aix en Provence, Marseille, Sainte Victoire |
On Monday, our group went on a guided tour to Marseille.
We took a boat to the the frioule 
island off the coast and embarked on what we were again told was a walk on the beach. This time, it was a steep rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. We stopped and had a picnic by the water before going bac
k into Marseille, where we went to the top of the city to visit the Notre Dame cathedral there.On Tuesday, we went on what we were actually warned was a hike - a three and a half hour trek up the Mont Sainte Victoire near Aix. Our guide was Provençal to a tee - instead of "ma
nger" he said "mangier" and "pain" became "paigne." The hike was definitely hard, but it was amazing when we came down to see how high we actually went. We hiked all the way up to the cross at the top of the mountain and then did a detour on the way down towards a lake. Cezanne painted lots of landscapes of Sainte Victoire, and I'll think of the hike every time I see one from now on.I'm back in Paris for just a night before going to London for the weekend, so I'll post after my trip!
xo
Stephanie
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