Intro to Aix...and Cassis!

Ok, so as of my last post, I had just moved into my apartment here in Aix-en-Provence. Now I've been here for about 3 days, so it's time for me to catch you up on what I've been doing! If you've read the post below, you've seen the basic schedule of what I've been doing, but here are some more details for your reading pleasure.

On Friday night, we all met at the VIF Center at 7pm to go to dinner. This was the first piece of evidence that Kim, PJ, Matt, and I are very lucky to be living at 15 rue Cardinale. Although we live on the very top floor and have to climb up this narrow winding staircase, we also live 2 floors above the VIF Center, so we can literally just run down there right before meeting times. Anyway, we all walked to this restaurant called Jacquou le Croquant, and that's when things got ridiculous. The menu was ridiculously long, and most of us decided to order off of the fixed price menu. When we tried to place our orders, the waitress got confused because our group was so large. We ended up having to write down our orders, but it still took about 2 hours before our salads came. Anyway, it was hilarious--there were so many mishaps, and so it became the perfect first night for all of us to be hanging out and getting to know each other. And 4 hours after we first started out for dinner, we were leaving the restaurant and heading back to our respective apartments.

The next day (Saturday) we got to sleep in because we didn't have to be at the center until 4pm. So we slept in, showered, and grabbed sandwiches at Pain Parasol, this little place a few blocks from where we live. Then we headed back to 15 rue Cardinale and began the walking tour. The first stop ended up being SFR, a French phone company, but I already had the French sim card that my Dad got for me, so I just hung out with some of the people who also already had their phone situation figured out. We were on the Cours Mirabeau (the main street in Aix) and these men and women were doing some sort of traditional French bachelor and bachelorette party. It was really funny. This guy was dressed up as a female nurse and another guy was wearing a diaper. One of the women was dressed as a doll and asking for "bisous" (kisses) because she needed 600 kilos of kisses or something. So the guys from our program kissed her on the cheek and then stepped on the scale--it was definitely something I'd never seen before.

Anyway, the rest of the walking tour is kind of a blur. It was incredibly hot outside and I was kind of just walking around like a zombie. I do remember that they showed us a discount grocery store, and some clubs, restaurants, and markets. Then we had about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet at the center to go to dinner. We went to this restaurant called Le Patacrepe, and we ate crepes! I had one with comte (a kind of cheese) and it was so, so good! I wish I had had room to eat a dessert crepe, but I'll just have to wait until next time. After that, the people who live in the apartment on Rue Victor Hugo invited us to come over. So we went back to our place for a bit, and then went to the Victor Hugo apartment for some wine. Then we went out, and what is said is right: Aix definitely has a vibrant night life. We went to a few bars, but a few of us really wanted to go dancing, so we went looking for a club that was recommended. However, we couldn't get in because the boys were wearing shorts. It was funny because the bouncer told them, "Oh, the beach is that way" and pointed away from the club. So we ended up leaving and a few of us went home and the others went back to the Victor Hugo apartment.

Then this morning (Sunday), we all got up and walked to Hotel Christophe, the meeting point for excursions. Then we got on the bus and headed for Cassis. I took a lot of pictures, which I of course have not put on the internet yet (soon, I promise). Basically, we went on a boat tour and saw Les Calanques and then we went to the beach. And I ate cassis ice cream, bien sur! Then we got on the bus and came back to Aix. Then the usual: shower time, sit around talking, go get dinner. And now I'm writing this!

Tomorrow (Monday) is an all-day orientation and dinner with our professors! And then Tuesday is the first day of classes, which should be interesting. A bientot!