Marseille, L'Ile sur la Sorgue, Roussillon, et Gordes

Saturday we went on a little excursion to Marseille. Although it is a place I would never choose to live, it was nice to explore for the day. In the morning we got there early enough to visit the daily fish market happening in the old harbor of the city, so that was a unique experience. The fish had been caught that morning, and there were fishermen who were bringing in their freshly caught fish that were still flopping around! There was even a live octopus up for sale. Later that day we visited (via the local tourist train) Notre Dame de la garde, a beautiful church atop a hill that overlooks all of Marseille. We visited another church as well that was right near the water. We ate at this tasty Lebanese restaurant where I ordered couscous royale… couscous with sausage, lamb, chicken, etc. and if I ever go back to Marseille, I will have to eat there again!
On Sunday I went on another excursion to visit some villes in the Luberon region. Au debut we visited L’Ile sur la Sorgue, a little town known for its canals that encompass the city. Locals call it the Venice of southern France, or something like that. Anyway, it was market day when we went, and it was fun to walk around the city and explore a bit. Our next stop was Roussillon, a ville where I actually went with my mom last year. It is a gorgeous red city, red due to the Ocre present in the earth. When I was there last in the spring, there were a ton of tourists, however, being winter, we were in a seemingly deserted city this time around. Pictures cannot do justice to the red of the earth in this city. It’s really a sight. The last stop on our little daytrip was to Gordes, a picturesque little town, once again, atop a hill, constructed solely of stone. There was a fantastic view of the Luberon countryside from the outskirts of the city.
School started today, and I went to 2 classes – theatre and ‘Français des Affaires’ which is basically a general class in business and economy, which will be perfect for my majors =) Classes went really well… I understood nearly everything, although there was some vocabulary that I had to look up from my business course. Tomorrow I get to sleep in – no class until 12h, and those classes will be écritures brèves and cours de langue française. I got placed into level 2c, although depending on my language course tomorrow, I might have to move up. I don’t want to be taking grammar and phonetics courses that are too easy.
Oh, almost forgot to mention – I moved into my apartment on Saturday night, and it is this amazing flat located right in centre ville, next to la mairie and above one of the greatest boulangeries around Paul’s! However, this is a bit dangerous… I definitely polished off 2 baguettes all by myself over the course of the day! It is also only 2 or 3 minutes walking distance from my school. My roommates Lola and Cassidy are great! I share a loft with Cassidy, and I’m really happy I got placed in an apartment with them. We should be having some good times this semester. We are having a crémaillère which is basically a housewarming party, this Saturday, so that will be fun. Also on Saturday, I plan to go to La Tour d’Aigues to celebrate Armand’s 6th birthday! It’ll be great to see les 3 petits hommes again!
Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now… I’ll upload some more pics of my 2 excursions, and then off to bed! Bonne nuit à tous!