Avignon: Some Pictures

Detail Palais des Papes

view from Palais des Papes

Square in front of Palais des Papes

Pont d'Avignon

Le Rhône

Palais des Papes seen from Pont d'Avignon

Pont d'Avignon

Marseille: Some Pictures

view from Notre-Dame de la Garde

Ile d'If / Archipel du Frioul seen from Notre-Dame de la Garde

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Port

Happy Easter

Back Home

I am back home! My mind is still digesting all my impressions of this short trip (and my body doesn't like it one bit that it's so cold up north - I was getting used to warm spring weather :-)).
This short trip has been a very nice surprise. And just to let you know up front: I will have to go back! Why, do you wonder? Well, due to the Mistral (a rather nasty wind) there were no boats going to the Ile d'If and the Calanques. And I want to see these places as well. I have been told that the best time to visit is June/July.
Maybe next year in June?

Anyway. I am still going through all the pictures I have taken. I will share some with you.
See ya!

Avignon

Doing a day trip to another place within the same trip is pretty cool! A trip within a trip! That was my going to Avignon today by train.

Cute little town.

Imposing Palais des Papes.

And finally the Pont d'Avignon. Remember the song? 

Sur le pont d'Avignon l'on y danse, l'on y danse... Tralala and so on. One of my first  French songs a learned while studying French! I had to see the real thing for myself...

Marseille: first impression

I didn't know what to expect. Would I like it or rather not?

Well, after this first day spent walking around the old part of the city and doing a short city tour I have to admit it: I love it. Obviously, there are parts that are trashy but I don't mind trashy. Some other parts though have been modernized before Marseille became European Capital of Culture back in 2013.

What do you think?

Ps: Having lunch sitting outside, smelling the sea and enjoying the warm sunshine certainly helped strengthen my good impression!

Marseille

I woke up to the sounds of sea gulls! And this is the view from my hotel room! 

Spring? This Time for Real?

Last week it snowed (Imagine!! argh!). And the temperatures were not springlike at all. AT ALL. Yesterday though brought a change. It's getting warmer. The sun is out. It feels like spring.
Feels good.
Feels even better because on Sunday I am leaving for Marseille in the South of France and I am looking forward to even warmer temperatures!
Going through my closet, deciding on what I need to pack, I realized (again!) that I am sick and tired of my winter clothes. Sick and tired.
If it weren't for my upcoming trip, I would spend my Saturday shopping. Shopping for spring clothes! I will have to be patient though. Tomorrow I will clean my appartment (I try to always clean my appartment before leaving for a trip - I like coming home to clean rooms!), pack my bag and getting ready to leave.
On my return there won't be any shopping either, a) because it's the long Easter weekend (closed shops!) and b) I will be dog sitting my sister-in-law's dog (no shopping with a Jack Russel in tow).
But then, I swear, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will hold me back from spending some money on new spring outfits :-)

I Needed a Reminder

Connecting the Dots

Steve Jobs said it well:
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

For the last couple of years now I have been trying (unsuccessfully sigh and mostly unconsciously deeper sigh) to somehow connect the dots WHILE going forward. I had this weird idea in my head that (because I am in my forties now) I somehow had to act differently, more mature, more foresighted, more ... whatever. A life that made sense. Not a succession of loose ideas.
I had written about it in my blog a couple of weeks ago (see post "Serendipity").
I am glad to be back to where I used to be before these weird ideas got me all confused. I am glad for this confusing period though. It made me more conscious. More conscious about who I am, what I want.
Nonetheless, I am happy that it's over now - I am ready to focus on new times!

My intuition suggests the next "dots". I won't be mentioning the new places I want to travel to (hahaha, you know me!). There is this dream about living a few weeks in Venice though. Suddenly I thought of a way to make it come true. I will tell you about it - I have to think it through yet.
Then there are various classes I want to attend. New stuff I want to learn.
The first being a class in Numerology.
Are you surprised? Don't be. I came across numerology back when I lived in Paris. Ever since I had somehow wanted to attend a class and get to learn more but it never happened. Until recently that is. Yesterday I attended my first class!
I love numbers, I just love them. I had forgotten how much. And I love to learn about myself. We are surrounded by numbers and they have much to tell!
I am totally excited about this class and I will tell you more about it (yesterday was just an introduction).

Yeah! I am back to loose ideas that make no sense right now but I am sure one day they will :-)

End of the Week

Marseille

The Dalai Lama said it, right? And who am I to not listen to what such a wise and intelligent man says?? yeah right. So, here I am, ready to be off to a place where I have never been before: Marseille. Today in two weeks I will already have spent one night there :-)

This destination has been funny so far. Well, more like my friend's reactions to my mentioning that I will be going to Marseille have been funny, to be exact.
Most of them just looked at me funny and said: Marseille? Why Marseille? (their voice saying more like: why the hell would you go to Marseille???)
Some of them said: Marseille? Oh my, I hope that you're gonna like it. I didn't.
Others went more like: Marseille? Oh please be careful. No going out in the evening, take care of your bag when you walk the city otherwise you'll be robbed!!

Honestly? Up to now I have never had such strong reactions when telling people my next destination. Don't you think it's funny? I do think it's funny.
Not that their opinions change my travel plans. No way!
Over the years I have learned not to listen too much to what people tell me about a destination. The good and the bad. I find that I have to make up my mind by myself about a place by actually going there! I listen to people when they are telling me about their stay. Obviously. I love listening to travel stories! But that's what they are. Stories. And I do love to tell my own stories!
To cut a long story short: Marseille, j'arrive!

It's snowing again...