Right after my parents left, I headed back to Freiburg for a few hours so I could unpack then repack and then catch a train to head to Aix-en-Provence to visit my friend Katie. Well as soon as I got back I repacked and then called Mitch and Jon. They both came over and Jon brought one of his roommates. We all decided to go on a walk up to the Schlossturm even though I had all of my things and we were going to be walking up a huge hill. I really don't know why I agreed to this, but I did and I managed to get myself to the top. It was quite the strenuous walk and I was extremely hot afterwards. When we headed back down we had to high tail it to the train station so I could make my train. I was able to barely make it on the train and I had a lovely fairwell from Jon, Mitch, and Jon's roommate Julianna.
I took the train to Offenberg and from there I was supposed to go to Strasbourg. Well due to the NATO meetings and subsequent protests in Strasbourg that weekend there weren't any trains going into France. I didn't know the full extent of this so I thought, "I'll just take the train to Kehl and try to go from there." That was a horrible idea. I had to talk to the guy at the train station, who proceeded to get mad at me because he thought I wasn't understanding him when he said no trains were running into France. I kept asking whether it would be easier to go back to Freiburg and try the next morning and after he switched to English and I continued in German and ennunciated every word coming out of my mouth, he realized what I was saying, refunded me my money and helped me figure out how to get back to Freiburg. Once I got back to Freiburg and realized I had wasted about three to four hours, I bought another ticket for the next day and then hung out with the guys for the rest of the night.
The next morning I got up early, got on a train, and set off for France again. This time I was taken mainly through Switzerland and had about four different changes. Luckily I didn't have any problems and I arrived in Aix around 3pm that afternoon. It was so warm and beautiful there! It was extremely different from Germany and Freiburg and it seemed more exotic. I immediately was thrilled to have come and it was amazing to see a different side of France. Paris was one thing, but southern France is very different. The atmosphere is different and the people seem different as well. Once I found the bus, I rode into the city and met up with Katie.
That night we went to a rooftop barbeque with her church friends and it was lots of fun. Everyone I met was really nice and even though we weren't able to get the grill to work, the food still turned out amazingly and was delicious. The worst thing about the party, but the greatest thing at the same time, was being on the roof and being exposed to all the pigeons. Shortly after we got there I felt something hit my hair and I looked around, but couldn't possibly imagine what would have been thrown at me. I felt my hair and then noticed something on my hand. I asked Katie if I had bird poop in my hair and she proceeded to laugh and then say she couldn't see anything because my hair was so dark. I went downstairs and ran into the bathroom where I then discovered a big thing of bird poop in my hair. All I can say is that I was mortified. It was so gross and I had to wash it out as best as possible. When I returned to the roof, the first thing I said to Katie was "I definitely had poop in my hair." That was the low point of the trip.
The next day I got to sleep in a bit, then wander around town. While Katie was in class I just wandered and did get slightly lost, but managed to make my way back. Then we went shopping, which is always a good time. That night when Katie had a meeting for her trip to Uganda, the other people in the group with friends visiting sent us out together to go watch the football/soccer game at the local Irish pub. We watched the game of Manchester United against Porto and it was a great game. I had fun and I met some great people. There was one guy who was from England, but studying in Brussels, and he was just amazed that we liked football. He said most British girls don't like it at all.
For my last day in Aix, a group of us went to Cassis to see the Mediterranean. It was so pretty!! We took a bus to Marseilles and then a train from Marseilles. We then had to walk a bit to find the beach, but we eventually found it. We purchased from bread and strawberries and had a nice little picnic. Once we finished eating we decided to put our feet in the water, but it was the most difficult thing ever because the beach was covered in rocks, not sand. I don't think my feet have ever hurt so much. I then had the bright idea to take a few jumping pictures and most of them just turned out pretty poorly and we all had looks of pain on our faces. It was fun though and while we sat there James, the guy visiting from Brussels, created a game called Rock Jenga. You had to move a rock from the side of the hole he dug, but you couldn't make any other rock move. I sucked...I never once was able to do it, but it did pass the time. Then we searched for green glass, but that became pretty violent as we struggled and fought with each other to steal each other's glass.
We then left and I stayed in Marseilles with James and his friend Adam. There really isn't much to see in Marseilles and honestly it's a pretty unsavory town. I felt a little unsafe and I was just glad I was there with two guys. Katie said that someone usually gets pickpocketed there and it honestly wasn't the best place I've been while in Europe. It was different and nice to see, but I would never take time to just go there. That night once I got back I went and watched another soccer game. This one was Bayern Munich against Barcelona I think. Bayern was killed and it was a sad game to see. It was fun though and I had a great time in Aix. It was so great to see Katie and to take it easy. Plus I got to put my feet in the Mediterranean!
Thanks Katie for the great time! It was nice to meet new people and I would love to come back!
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