Les Calanques

If you guys have never heard of the calanques in the south of France, then you are missing out! I made friends the other night with a guy that works at our hostel who told me that if I wanted to go to a real beach in Marseille, then I had to see these. So we (Michele has come to visit me for a few days, and the two English folks I met) took a bus toward the beach, then hiked down a mountain to this fantastic spot and swam in the mer. This photo is of the calanque we went to, la calanque de sugiton. And you think that the colors in these touristy photos are doctored somehow, but they're totally real. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Tonight Miche and I are going to a french play at a local theatre (apparently the theatre in Marseille is pretty popular); it's a comedie about a common marseillais divorce. I hope I can understand most of it! But I'm getting my bearings in this city more and more every day. I can't get over the fact that I get to stay here!

friends!

I cannot get over where I am...it is positively beautiful here! I met some great people in my hostel from England, Ireland, Sweden, and the US. Today we took a boat out to an island off the coast where we found a small isolated beach and swam in the ocean...I cannot even begin to describe the color of the water. It was completely clear, and bright; almost electric blue. I've seen photos of water like that but never imagined I would be living in a city where I could so easily go swimming in it whenever I liked.

Last night we went to an Irish pub called O'Malley's right off the Vieux Port where we met all kinds of friends...one in particular was an old Belorussian man wearing a fur hat who danced like a crackpot in the street about half the night. Our real mission was to find 6 friends with names beginning with the letters F, R, A, N, C, and E. We only got A and C but still had fun! Then I met a few marseillais who found out where I'll be working and wished me a lot of luck; apparently it's a pretty rough school. So cross your fingers for me!

We're on our way out to dinner in about 20 minutes; I'm just waiting on the rest to shower after our day at the beach. I still can't get over how UNREAL that water was today; and the weather was truly perfect. So come visit me if you want a great beach day!

I made it!

Between 5 cities, 3 planes, a taxi and 4 hours of sleep I MADE IT! I can't check into my hostel yet, so I'm killing time in the common room until 3pm. I feel like I should be exploring the city or something, but I'm so travel-weary that's probably not the best idea...I might walk down to the Vieux Port in a little bit (that's the Old Port in Marseille; it's the port you see in most photos <--- of Marseille with all the sailboats crowding it). I had only seen it in photos before, then my taxi turned a corner and there it was!

It's strange traveling by myself; showing up in another country knowing nobody. At least I'm in a hostel for this first week so I can meet people. Unfortunately, if I don't get rid of this jetlag soon then I'm not going to be much fun. BUT there's no super-exciting stories to tell yet; I just got here...so more to come!