Kayaking in Cassis

Kayaking in the Calanques!

What's a calanque?
according to wiki, "calanque" is from the corsican word meaning "inlet"; it's a geologic formation in the form of a deep valley with steep sides, typically of limestone, in part submerged by the sea.

Enjoyed by tourists and locals alike, the calanques in Cassis are best explored, according to me, by kayak!
I went 2 years ago (shout out to Mina and Stink)...it was one of the best activities we did on our Europe trip 2008!

Cassis = small vacation/port town outside of Marseille

A few weeks ago, I went to Cassis with a group of English language assistants from the area for a day of kayaking adventure in the calanques!

Tessa, Victoria, Adam, and Nikki on the 40-min train ride there

Quick lunch near the beach before setting off

Gotta fuel up for the trip

We're excited for a little adventure!

So wait...what exactly are we doing?

"A this is how you paddle..." Our rental man gives us the run-down.

I'm so ready! I was made for this!

The plan:
4-hour rental
3 boats with 2 people each
An hour to paddle out to the beach in the inlet, a couple hours to relax, then an hour trip back.

We made it! Darren relaxing in the boat. That was a tiring trip!! Lots of waves and wind

Nikki enjoying the view. Crystal clear aqua colored water...like a swimming pool! But so much better :)

Tessa finding her inner peace on the rocky beach

ONE MONTH!

Today's June 1st, which means...

O N E M O N T H

until I come home!

Mark your calendars for:
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J U L Y F I R S T
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That's right, didn't want to miss out on the
4th of July!
(Even if I am jetlagged.)

I'm definitely still happy to be here, and am planning on making the most of the month of June.
I'm a bit tired of lesson planning, but I (still) love my students! I want to do fun/creative things to finish out the year; I'm trying to finish strong!

As much as I love it here, I'm also really excited to come back to the Pacific Northwest.
I've been brainstorming lots of ideas for fun and adventure this summer!

What a privileged life to lead,
having a heart split between two wonderful places!

Hiking w/ Raymond and Christine*

*If you don't know who Raymond and Christine are yet, just click over to the May blog post entitled "A Lesson in Trusting Strangers."

An Afternoon Stroll by the Sea

Christine and me on the path. (Raymond was the photographer that day so he's not in any photos.)

A couple weeks ago, they took me out to a new area I haven't been to (not a lot of buses in that direction), and we went hiking along the beach! It's really cool, there's a long walking path up and around lots of little beach coves - beautiful views, good mixes of sun/shade, beach/forest, hills/flat bits.

An action shot. Here we are cruisin' along the beach.

Hiking around the cliffs, never far from the Mediterranean Sea

Another action shot. I blinked.

A pretty, but invasive, plant species that grows in the area.

Raymond and Christine know lots about plants, wildlife, and the geography of this area. They taught me the names of several plants typical to the region (in French). We talked about different types of birds, insects, and other wildlife critters in the area (and I told them about what we've got back home too.) In the car on the way, and also when we got to the beach, they let me look at a couple maps to see where we were and where we'd gone.

Christine teaching me about the fauna. Gosh, I look tall.

Relaxing at our destination, one of the nicest beaches in the region (with extremely fine sand).

And the bra in the background reminds me... Wondering about French Riviera "topless" policies (or I should say "social norms")?
It's up to a woman's personal preference. I'd say it's about half and half, maybe 60/40 split (more women favor avoiding the tan lines)

Here's a big tree that got uprooted over the winter. The strong winds that blow through the area are known as the "Mistral." Comparable, I imagine, to the Santa Ana's, but they can come anytime)

Curious about the Mistral wind? This Wiki is pretty interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_wind

Rollin' With The Homies

Hangin' with the Housemates

Rollin' with the Homies

Chillin' with the Crew

Kickin' it with the Flatmates

the family photo
on our street (Rue du Vieux Cimetière)
a true "auberge español" set-up this year:
we all represent different countries! (and, sort-of, different languages)

however you spin it,
there's no use denying it,
the people I live with are a big part of my life.

so this post is dedicated to my homies.
we've made a great group this year
sharing living space isn't always the easiest...
but we've made it through :)
and are actually friends, so that says a lot

the guys by our front door

Who's in da House??
Meet the 2009-2010 residents of 9 Rue du Vieux Cimetière

Tina
Representing: Seattle, United States
Aliases: Teen Wolf, Wolfy, Percy Pig, "Grand-mère"
You'll find her either: Obsessively cleaning the kitchen, sitting on her windowsill, getting into cars with strangers, waking up Dani, at the beach, or dancing...somewhere, anywhere

such a little housewife. sometimes.
one time, we got "attacked" by a burnt cork. random times.

Dani
Better known as: Dani Bear
Representing: Malaga, Spain
You'll find him either: Making fabulous Spanish tortillas, playing online (free) poker, taking a nap, teaching Tina to speak Spanish, riding the bus, or contemplating why the heck he's in France to study English language (in French)

Everybody's favorite Spaniard, sitting on my windowsill

Spanish "tortilla," a thing of beauty...basically a giant fried potato and egg delicious creation

on est où là? HYERES!

brighter flash than expected, apparently. haha

Austin
AKA: Au-steeeeeen!
Representing: London, England
You'll find him either: eating porridge, incorporating tea and/or butter into his day, scheming up a practical joke, dreaming about rugby, calling "safety", or being pensive in a tree

Showing off his mad dancing skills.

Austin dominated at our Spanish New Year party, where we made like the Spaniards and ate 12 grapes at our you-tube-re-created New Year clock-chiming. Our grapes were amazingly enormous, making it all just very hilarious.

Time for the beach, yeah?!

Emmanuelle
Or you can call her: Emma, Ma Petite-Fille
Representing: Marseille, France
You'll find her either: anything as long as it's not doing the dishes (haaahaaa), talking to her cherie, watching downloaded Japanese cartoons, or adding more sugar to her tea

on the dancefloor

at the Saturday market


We've had a good year together. A few hiccups along the way, as always comes with sharing housing, but nothing too major. And now, Austin's officially back to England and we're in another time of transition. With only 4 weeks left (for the remaining 3), we're livin' it up while we're still here! The 4 of us had a "family" beach trip, a Saturday market outing, one final dinner all together, and a send-off French-style breakfast for Austin.


Spanish New Year party way back in January

Classic.

Last weekend's "family outing" to the Saturday market

this is the restaurant right by our house, just walk up 30 seconds

(straight then veer left, where the person is) and you're practically at our front door)

cork attack.

What else can I say? With 4 people from 4 cultures all under one roof, speaking multiple languages, we've all shared and learned lots. awww. Sentimental moment.

A Lesson in Trusting Strangers

Why It Pays to Trust in Humanity
(Generally Speaking)

I made some new friends! Let me tell you about Raymond and Christine. They are super nice. They are an adventurous, fun-loving married couple from the area. They've lived in Hyères since the 70's. They love hiking, snorkling, bird watching, bike riding, and sailing. Needless to say, we've got lots in common. And they've got plenty of time to do what they love, since they're recently (?) retired.

So how'd we meet? Funny story, actually.

One day, I walked to the beach. Now, the main (closest/biggest) beach in my town is 20 mins by bus, which figures to be a good hour (you're walking with a purpose) to hour& 1/2 on foot (either you're enjoying the scenery or you've got flip flops on, or both.) So I'd walked there, enjoyed some time sunning/swimming/watching hot volley-ball players/etc, you know, typical beachy things... and I still had energy (and time on my hands) to have an evening stroll back up to town.

So on my way back, after about a 1/2 hr of walking, a car pulls over and the man asks me if I'd like a ride. (Have I mentioned that hitchhiking is more common/seems less risky here? Well, I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy, but anyway...) I figured it was nice of him to stop (even though I wasn't actually hitch hiking, I was just walking), and I decided to get in the car.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!!! HOLD UP!" Is what you might be thinking about now. "Tina, you got into a strange car with a stranger? Have you not SEEN The Lovely Bones?" And to that, my response is, "Well, he didn't strike me as the killer-type. And, no, I hadn't seen that movie yet at the time."

Ok ok, so I lived to tell the tale, so don't even worry about it! I'm not advising the young (or maybe just young at heart) readers out there to hop into cars with strangers. It just worked out well for me this one time, and I'm just recounting the story.

I explain to Raymond what I'm up to here in Hyères, working at the schools and all, and he tells me about himself and his (so-called) wife. (I mean, at the time, I didn't know...he could've been lying!) Well, he wasn't lying. He said they'd be going out on the boat tomorrow, and if it was alright with Christine, maybe I could come with them; he'd give me a call. Heck! Why not?! (I mean other than the whole "stranger danger" concern...)

And it all worked out great! He swung by the next morning to pick me up, we headed to their house, where I met Christine (yes, his wife really does exist) and the neighbor boy, and we all drove out to the port to the boat!

And what's so cool is I've never been on a sailboat, and it's totally on my list of things I wanna do before I die! Check that baby off the list.

12-yr old at the helm. No worries, he's a natural. They even let ME steer the boat too. :)

We sailed out to Poquerolles, had some lunch on the boat, then walked around the island a bit. It was a delightful afternoon :) Getting home was a bit rocky...ummm...let's just say I'm a nervous sailor when big waves become a part of the picture. haha I was holding on for dear life! I thought we were going to capsize! Meanwhile, as I'm stressing out, the 12 yr old's at the helm and Raymond's kickin' back sippin on a cold one (just to give you a more objective idea of the gravity of the situation...) Obviously, we were not in danger. I'm just not used to being on boats that lean sideways!

Yeah, I live here. Pinch me.

BBQs in France? They DO happen!

*****BBQ in La Londe*****

Despite what you might already know (or think you know) about French cuisine... yes, BBQ's in France DO happen! (Or maybe you already knew.) Well, in any case, they do it a little different over here from how we do back home, but still, who doesn't like gathering together w/ a bunch of friends to have a big meal outside?

Normally, we eat dinner later over here than back in the states. I'm talking 8, 8:30-ish, but often when I'm home w/ my Spanish roomie we don't eat until even later (sometimes 9, 9:30+).

Mergez sausages for dinner, like a spicy hotdog. With baguette chunks used for "buns." Not exactly the burger patty/hot dog combo like often in the US, but delicious just the same :)
And can I just take this opportunity to point out that normal yellow mustard does not exist over here? You don't believe me? It's true! Luckily I have loving parents who send me packages of all the essentials so I've got some at my apt. ;)

Everybody gather 'round the grill! It's where all the action is.

Nikki and I made AWESOME peanut butter jelly cookies to contribute to the festivities and "learn up" these Frenchies on a lil' food culture from our neck of the woods. Most French people haven't learned to appreciate PB like we do back at home.
Too bad for them! More for me!

Party time! For the French, this means sitting around talking. For the anglophones (me, Nikki, and Tessa) this means dancing around like loonies.

Mmmmmmm love me some BBQ!