I visited the south of France last week, and it was a great little vacation from Chambery. My polish friend Karolina and I started out in Avignon a cute town in Provence that's surrouned by a medieval wall and of course the Pont d'Avignon (bridge of avignon).
Avignon also has the Pope's Palace that was built in the 1300s when the popes fled Rome. It's gorgeous and enormous, and we arrived just before a rose festival there so it was also yummy
smelling! A couchsurfer took us to the little town across the Rhone River from Avignon called Villeneuve d'Avignon which had adorable provancal houses and a mightly looking castle.After Avignon we headed to Marseille the second biggest city in France. We started out by taking a boat trip to the Island of If where a famous castle sits, the setting of Dumas' book the Count of Monte Cristo.
It was a cute little castle and had amazing views of Marseille. We then wandered around the old town a little, and the old port, before meeting up with our couchsurfer. He was a great guy and was so nice and welcoming to us. He showed us some Marseille night life, and had an adorable little american themed apartment downtown. The second day we headed out to conquer the sites of Marseille and mounted the big church on the hill Notre Dame de la Garde. We were gross, hot and sweaty by the time we got to the top, but it offered amazing views once again. 
We then walked down to the sea, and took a walk along it, cooling off. The third day was probably the best. Our couchsurfer took us to the Calanques which are these beautiful cliffs just an hour bus ride from the center of town, on the Mediterranean. You can hike down the cliffs where there are little inlets to swim, and we took advantage of that even though there were tons of people. I really liked Marseille, it was a fun, active city, and seems like there's always something to do.Right now I'm just chilling out in Chambery, relaxing at the lake, and catching up on reading. I only have about a week left here so I'm getting down to packing and figuring out what to do with all the stuff I've collected this past year. I'm pretty sad to leave, but at the same time really excited to travel with my sister and KC. On the 15th we fly out from Geneva to Amsterdam then it's Berlin, Prague, Munich and back to Geneva to fly home the 2nd of July. It's kinda surreal that I'm gonna be home so soon but i'm sure it'll hit me soon and i'll post another update :).
Hope everyone has a great weekend! Gros Bisous!
-Steph
1 comment:
Wow! We are impressed each time we read your blog. You are definitely getting the most out of your French education! Your trip before heading home sounds amazing as well. So glad you get to tour with your sister.
Allyce is finishing her tour at Glasgow School of Art and is doing a variation of what you have planned. She leaves for Denmark, Norway, and Berlin before returning to Glasgow where she'll meet up with Sarah and Susan. They will tour the Highlands of Scotland along with Glasgow and Edingburgh, then it's off to London. Susan will play there for 4days then she leaves her babies behind and Sarah and Allyce schlep around England for another week. Sarah flies home and Allyce has 3 weeks before she has to return to Paris to fly home.
Back to "reality" is going to be tough on both of you. After the jet lag, you'll need to get used to the "ugly" Americans all around you as well as try to get a job and get yourselves ready for your Senior year. After the time you've had in France, I can only imagine how difficult it is going to be for you to reassimilate.
We're so glad you are doing so well in your studies and are taking advantage of your capacity for travel!
Allyce gets home on the 6th of August, so you'll be rested before she's back in the States.
Caio!
The Woods
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