Marseille

Oh, la belle France!

We went to Marseille on Saturday as part of our program, so the only thing I paid for all day was lunch--thank goodness because I have been spending money left and right lately! It was really beautiful, of course, because this is the south of France we're talking about right now, but it was also really cool.

The first thing we did once we got to Marseille was visit the Chateau d'If. If you don't know what that is exactly, but it sounds familiar, think The Count of Monte Cristo or The Man in the Iron Mask, both of which took place (at least partially) at Chateau d'If. So we got to go in and take a look around all of the cells, which really weren't half bad. I mean, if I had to be stuck in a room for the rest of my life, they at least would give me a chimney for the middle of winter, and most of the rooms had some sunlight filtering in somewhere.

After Chateau d'If, we went and had lunch during the typical French two-hour lunch break. On the way to Marseille, I kept telling everyone to remind me at lunch to find Bouillabaisse, which is the Marseille specialty, and I really, really wanted to have some. Well, wouldn't you know it, everyone forgot, but I ended up having something adventurous anyway. It was seafood, but as it turns out, it was Belgian and not the Marseillais I was going for. Oh, well. At least now I can say I've eaten moules-frites (mussels and fries), and it wasn't half bad!

We went to a museum next, and it was really neat. Ever since I took an awesome class last semester that was a combination of history, literature, and art, I've really come to appreciate paintings, especially French and Italian paintings. This museum featured Italian paintings, and it also had an Egyptian mummy exhibit. I didn't realize at the time that there were real mummies there, so I spent almost my entire time in the painting and sculpture exhibits. Oh, well. I probably would have gotten a little freaked out by the mummies anyway.

My favorite part: but then we went up to the top of this huge hill to Notre Dame de la Garde. So cool! Not only was the view from the top breathtaking, but the basilica was amazing, too. I mean, it wasn't Lyon's basilica, but it was still really cool. I walked in on the second half of Mass, so I stayed for that and asked the priest where I could find a copy of the Mass written in French. He walked me to the bookstore and told me what book to ask for. So now I'm set! At least for the month of September.

Last night I went to Mass at my church here in Aix, and some of my friends came with me. I had met the priest earlier that day because I asked him what time Mass was for sure last night, and then he asked me a little bit about myself and I said I was a new student from America. So he featured me during the homily last night, telling everyone how "I don't know a single person in Aix." It sounded a little pathetic, but then he encouraged everyone to befriend me. So it was alright in the end! I really love my church because it's the "student parish" of the diocese, and I signed up for the church choir, and everyone seems really, really awesome, especially because they don't speak very much English!