IBIZA

We spent the next 2 days in sunny Ibiza, Spain to finish off our week-long trip. As soon as we got off the plane, we went to our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and got ready to head to the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect. The beach, the atmosphere, the people were simply amazing. We first trekked across the beach to a day club to begin our trip off right. After, we headed to dinner, and then to Space at night. Over the course of the trip, we met a lot of people from the UK which was cool. Some we met at our hotel, others on the beach.

The next day, we just went to the beach to relax before our flight back to Paris. I did not want to leave! By the time we arrived back to Paris, I still had sand on my legs from the beach in Ibiza. A little souvenir, perhaps?  I definitely wish we stayed a few more days in Ibiza; it was the best time! 

Les Calanques avec Jean-Marc

Day 5: Marseille

To begin our 2nd day in Marseille, we woke up bright and early to go on our 3 hour hike in the Calanques. We grabbed some breakfast (croissants and baguettes again), then took the metro over and met our guide, Jean-Marc, where we then drove to the mountains. It was cold and windy, and we did not bring warm enough clothes on our trip, so we ended up layering 5 different shirts/cardigans over another to keep warm. We started off slow and began climbing some serious rocks to get to the top of the Calanques. The views at the top were breathtaking! I brought my baguette with me on the hike just in case I got hungry, but it just ended up getting hard and difficult to eat because of the strong winds. During our hike, Jean-Marc told us about the history of Marseille and the Calanques and about various islands near the mountains. There was even a story about Antoine de Saint-Exupery (author of The Little Prince) and how his plane crashed near them. Jean-Marc was very knowledgeable about everything, and really has a passion for what he does. I would definitely recommend choosing him if you plan to take a hike through Les Calanques! He can be found through the Marseille Tourism website.

Cameras cannot capture the beauty of it all!

Casually holding onto my baguette

Don't judge our outfits...

After we conquered the mountains, we got back into the car and drove to a small village in the Calanques, named Morgiou. There we met a fisherman, and learned that his son had a guest who was from Canada as well. We were going to go meet him but it turned out that he wasn't home at the time. Jean-Marc then suggested that we try a restaurant with really good pizza, where they squirt octopus ink onto the pizza. As cool as that sounded, we kindly passed. Octopus ink? Gross!

The dog that greeted us at the end of the road and followed us in

Marjiou

After we finished with Les Calanques, we said goodbye to Jean-Marc, grabbed lunch at a restaurant, and then took a bus to go see Notre Dame de la Garde, the cathedral at the highest point of Marseille. Since it was so high up, it was even more windy, and we were literally being blown off our feet. Our hair was crazy and got all tangled but we had the best time with it.

Side view of Notre Dame de la Garde

Inside the cathedral

View from the top

We also wanted to see le Château d'If, the fortress/prison that Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte-Cristo was based off of, but it was too windy for any ferries to head out so we couldn't go. In the end, we decided to do some shopping and also stopped for a while in a bookstore to watch The Avengers (in French) for a good hour. 

Le Vieux Port & Bouillabaisse

Day 4: Marseille

In the morning, we packed up all our stuff, grabbed some croissants/baguettes and our 1.5L bottles of water and left for the train station to our next stop: Marseille.

We arrived at the train station only to find that our train had been delayed so we had to wait over an hour for the next train. It took us 2 hours to train all the way to Marseille, and when we arrived, we found our hotel, settled down for a bit by watching Friends With Benefits (in French, bien sûr), and then walked over to the Vieux Port to grab some dinner. The weather wasn't too amazing in Marseille, it was cold, gloomy and rained for a short while earlier in the day. One of our main goals in Marseille was to try the infamous "bouillabaisse", which is a soup with many different types of fish, and usually goes for around 30-45€. I learned about the soup in my 2nd year French class back at school, so I was excited to actually give it a try despite my dislike for fish/seafood. Much to my surprise, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I really liked the soup base, and it was delicious when soaked in baguette. However, I didn't really touch the fish... I had a few mussels but that was about as far as I was willing to go. We didn't end up finishing the dish, and I'm pretty sure the waiter probably thought we were crazy for ordering it if we didn't even plan on eating the fish, and especially since we also ordered pasta to go with the soup.

A cathedral near our hotel

Bouillabaisse, gnocchi, & carbonara

Bouillabaisse

After dinner, we just went back to the hotel and it was very dark and cold, much different than Nice and Monaco were. We didn't really do much for the rest of the night except watch some more French TV.

Cannes you get more boring?

Day 3: Nice/Cannes

Before making the trip to Cannes, we headed over to the Marché de Fleurs, a farmer's market in Nice, to pick up some breakfast and browse the rows and rows of different produce/meats/bread/flowers. We waited an hour in line to try a peppery egg crepe-like dish called "socca". In the end, although the crepe did have a unique and interesting flavour, I would say it did not live up to the hype. I then decided to pick up a pain au chocolate (best things ever) and baguette for the road.

Fresh produce at le Marché de Fleurs

Socca

We had a few hours before our train, so we decided to chill along the beach at the Promenade des Anglais and soak up some rays. It was so relaxing to just do absolutely nothing. After an hour or two, we headed over to the train station to make our way to Cannes. However, continuing with the trend of transportation hating us, our train was cancelled, and we had to get off the train and wait another hour for the next train.

 Trying to get rid of my horrible sandal tan!

When we finally got to Cannes, we discovered that there was really nothing special about it... We picked up some macarons from Jean Luc Pelé, and started walking to the beach just in time to see the sunset and snap some gorgeous pictures,  then went to see the Film Festival Centre, and after that had dinner at a cafe. Other than that, there really was nothing to do. We wandered the streets for a bit after dinner but ultimately headed back to our hotel quite early. We then ended up watching Vampire Diaries (quel surprise!) in French because it happened to be on TV.

60% cocoa & fine champagne macarons

Sunset

The currently not-so-glamorous looking Film Festival Centre

Best salmon!

Hello Grimaldis!

Day 2: Monaco

We woke up nice and early to make a day trip to Monaco. We took a bus through the mountains into Monaco, so it provided us with a "free" scenic tour of more of Southern France. Once we got off the bus, we headed to Monaco-Ville. We first passed by the Musée Océanographique de Monaco, which had a large statue of a baby in front of it... It was quite amusing. We then headed over to see la Cathédral de Monaco, and later explore the streets of Monaco-Ville.

Tiny streets in Monaco

Metro station. Artsy.

Musée Océanographique's big baby

Cathédral de Monaco

Along the way we got to see breathtaking views over Monaco -- the buildings, the port, and the mountains (I loove mountains!). We ended up at le Palais Princier de Monaco, the current home of the Prince of Monaco. We got to visit parts of the palace and were given audiophones which explained the history of all the pieces in each room. I have learned that I find the history of royal families very interesting so getting to learn all about the Princes' Palace was very enriching!

Port Hercules

In front of the Princes' Palace

After a quick late lunch break, we headed over to Monte Carlo. We went to see the Hotel de Paris, and then went to the Casino de Monte Carlo where we spent a good few hours. We didn't gamble, but we watched other people's games. There was an old man there who just dropped 500€ bills like it was no big deal. It was very fun to watch! After the casino, we headed to Le Cafe de Paris for dinner where we ordered salads and a small bottle of wine.

Monte Carlo casino, complete with luxury vehicles lining the front

Hotel de Paris in the evening

Salade Parisienne at Cafe de Paris

After dinner, we started to make our way home by looking for the bus. Now this is where it gets a little crazy. It turns out we missed the last bus, so we decided to take the train back to Nice instead. Upon arrival to the train station, we discovered the last train got cancelled. At this point we were freaking out a little but we met a young English couple and a German family who were also in the same boat so we just worked together to figure out what to do. They eventually ended up sending a bus to take the place of the cancelled train. However, since it was the last bus back to Nice for the night, it was absolute nightmare to board the bus. People were literally pushing and shoving to get onto the bus, and once on the bus, people were cramming multiple people into one seat in order to try to fit as many people on the bus as possible. There was yelling and crying and the exchange of multiple languages at once... it was chaotic, to say the least. After waiting 2 hours, the bus finally leaves and heads back to Nice. A nice man ends up helping us find our way back to our street, and during the walk, he and I had a very broken French conversation. He understood/spoke very little English, so I once again, used my amateur French skills and hand motions to try to keep a conversation. Eventually we found our way back to our hotel and passed out for the night.

I Cannes now say that I've been to some pretty Nice places, including Monaco, Marseille, and Ibiza...

..what, too much? Sorry, I just love lame puns. Although that was just... pretty terrible...

Anyway! I know this is a suuuperrrr late post but I've just been so busy!

Last week I spent 5 days in the French Riviera and 2 in Ibiza. It was the most amazing time! The weather was beyond hot (a little tooo hot sometimes...) and the views were spectacular.

Day 1: Nice

Our flight was at 7am so we had to get up around 4am and that was brutal. Overall we had about 2.5 hours of sleep so I was dying the whole day. Once we landed we were starving so we went to get food. It was around 10:30am there so while people were having breakfasts of croissants and coffee, we ordered pizzas and sandwiches.. Typical.

Breakfast of champions

After we went to check in our hotel which was surprisingly much nicer than we expected! We then went to explore Nice. We walked along the Promenade des Anglais, and also climbed up the 200-something steps of Castle Hill to get a better view over the city.

Promenade des Anglais

View from Castle Hill

After we had salty crêpes for dinner, and headed back over to the Promenade to see Nice at night. I only brought my little point-and-shoot on this trip and not my J1, so none of the pictures I took really captured the beauty of the beach and boardwalk. Before heading back to the hotel, I bought myself a cornet a la rose, which is ice cream in the shape of a flower! It was so cute and only 3€ so I had to give it a try.

Crêpes

Nice at night

Mint chocolate & Bueno ice cream rose

Post script; in Nice there was a RIDICULOUS amount of dogs. I eventually started a dog counter, and I counted that I saw 29 dogs in one day. Insane!

Originally I was going to post my whole French Riviera trip as one big post but it's proving to be wayyy too much info for one post, so I will just post the rest of my trip as separate posts in quick succession.

Last Minute Things

Since I didn't have the time to blog at the end of last last week, this will be a quick catch up post without any pictures before my post about my French Riviera/Ibiza trip!

At the end of last last week, I finally moved into my studio! It is tiny but will suffice. It's completely brand new so that is a bonus. There are a few things I would definitely change if I could though... Number one being the shower. It is an Italian-style shower, so the shower is in the middle of my bathroom, basically between my sink and toilet, with no basin. The water just splashes directly onto my bathroom floor, with nothing but a retractable shower curtain blocking the spray of the water. Needless to say, my bathroom gets pretty much flooded every time I take a shower. My dad was smart and decided to buy me a small mop which I have to use to mop up any remaining water. I've started to get the hang of it though, but it is still a pain in the behind. Next, my walls are made of some sort of prickly stucco coating. Being the clumsy person I am, I always manage to hurt/scratch myself on it. Not cool! Lastly, my kitchen is right next to my bed so every time I cook, my whole room smells of whatever I just made. It's not like I can open my windows either, because if I do, all the bugs from outside will fly in as there is no screen to separate the window and outside. Oh, and I forgot to add. My building is set up so that you must walk outside to access the other buildings and each building is separated by various doors. Well I live right next to a door that leads to outside so every time I come home/open the door, I have to make sure none of the 10 billion bugs that are hanging around in the hallway enter my room. It is such a hassle! I really should go buy some bug repellent and spray it all around my door. 

Last last week we also went to buy any last minute items for our rooms such as food (I have a whole shelf of instant noodles. Can you say Asian?), dish detergent, and duvet covers. Trying to figure out what a duvet cover was in French had to be the biggest feat of that day for me. I ended up asking a nearby security guard for help, but he spoke absolutely no English, so I had to try to use my broken French and hand motions to show him what I was looking for. In the end I did manage to buy the right thing so I guess it worked out.

On my last day in Paris with my dad, we went to pick up some last minute souvenirs for my sister/family and we went to Champs Elysées as well as the area near the Louvre with a whole street of souvenir shops. After we headed back to the Latin Quarter (our fave place!) for some dinner and picked up some chocolates from Maison Georges Larnicol which were deeelicious. 

The next day, I dropped my dad off at the airport and that's when it really hit me that I won't be seeing my family for 4 months (unless my mom decides to come visit!), and that I'm actually in Paris on my own (along with a few of my friends who are also here of course). It has been amazing thus far!

Fit for a king

On the itinerary for today was the Château de Versailles. We made the hour long trip to Versailles to see the gorgeous palace. We only bought a ticket to see only the palace and not the gardens, but we plan to return later in our four months here to see it via renting a golf cart (yes you can do that!). The outside of the palace was extraordinary, especially the gold trimming on the buildings and intricate detailing in the stone. There were also many little statues of heads and people along the palace exterior.  

Inside, we ventured through all the rooms in the palace, including Marie Antoinette's bedroom and the Chapel of Versailles. All of the rooms had detailed murals on the ceilings and long floor-to-ceiling windows. 

Inside Marie Antoinette's chambers

Marie Antoinette's helicopter..?

After seeing everything inside the palace, we headed back outside to take a break on the steps and take a few more photos. 

So tiny compared to the massive palace

Next, we took the train back to central Paris and stopped for a bit to peruse at a mall, and then decided to practice our future daily walk to school. I think we've gotten a pretty solid route down, but I'm not too excited to walk 20 minutes to school everyday. The longest I've spent walking to school was 8 minutes from my apartment to campus in second year, so I'm definitely not going to be used to a walk that is double that amount. I know I shouldn't be complaining because most students at other universities usually have a 15-20 minute walk to school, but still... I'm lazy! 

For dinner we headed to a place called Buffalo Grill in the 17th arrondissement. It is an American saloon themed restaurant which gave us a little taste of home. It was different from all the French meals we've been having and gave me a break from the culture shock that I've been experiencing. Paris is amazing and all, but being thrust into a city where everything is in French and I barely understand anything, with buildings that are all old looking (but gorgeous), where meals involve 3 courses, and taxis are Mercedes and Audis (still blows my mind), it is a little confusing and at times I find myself missing the comfort of all the English at home and the people there. 

Typical assortment of baked goods at McDonald's

Coke in a glass bottle

Overall today was a pretty chill day compared to our other daily trips here, but there was still a ton of walking and I am completely exhausted!

I've noticed I've been using "gorgeous" and "amazing" way too much in my posts, but to be honest, I don't know what else to use. Everything I've seen in the past week has been exactly that.