Joyeuse Pâques

For Easter weekend I went to Aix-en-Provence.  Unfortunately the Easter bunny didn't find me there because I woke up without an Easter basket.  Maybe next year.  First of all the trip was ridic.. remind me not to travel on holiday weekends here anymore.  When I got on the train to go there, there was a girl sitting in my seat.  She apparently mixed up the car numbers, so me, being such a nice person, offered to take her seat since she was already settled in.  Well no good deed goes unpunished.  Long story short, I ended up sitting next to a French couple, and the girl was sitting on the guys lap and they were making out for like 2 hours.  Cute.  and not awkward for me or anything.  Then there was a bomb threat on the train line, so we had an hour delay.  Damn you terrorists! 

Once I got to Aix, I met up with my friend Katie, who I was staying with.  We lived in Avignon together and she is doing the assistantship this year too.  We went out to a traditional Provençal dinner and I met all of her friends.  They were all so nice!  That night we went out, and I was amazed at how many young people live there, and Americans too.  In Colmar you don't see people in the streets outside of bars, so this was a very exciting experience for me.    

On Saturday we walked around the town since I haven't been there in a few years.  It was funny to see the places I had been there.. I even remembered the restaurant that I ate at with my Mom, Ernie, Charlie, Matt and Shannon a few years ago.  We went shopping a little bit, walked through the flower markets, and most importantly, she took me to the genuine mexican-american burrito restaurant.  We don't get burritos in Alsace.  After that we went to her friends place who was having a cooking party, and I continued to eat the entire day.  That night we went out again with some of her friends.  

Easter Sunday we had the ultimate French experience : a Marseille soccer game.  Marseille is known for having crazy fans, and their team is really good.  So we went with some of Katie's friends and her roommates to experience it for ourselves.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great, but the game was interesting anyways.  They won against Grenoble 4-1.  The fans were going crazyy.. they have these chants that each side of the stadium do back and forth to each other.  We definitely picked a good game to go to! 

Well I think that's all for now.  One thing I definitely realized during this weekend is that I am so happy I chose to live in the North.  I don't think I could handle the southern way of life!  I definitely prefer the people, the architecture, the climate, the cleanliness, etc., up here better. 

Creepy statue with a lady wearing a building as a hat..

Saturday Flower Markets
During the cooking party.. love the apron haha
Heading into the stadium in Marseille

This guy definitely felt really confident about his outfit.. Do you think it's maybe a little snug?

Pinch me.

Pinch me.  All I have to say about the weekend.  It can't be real!  On Thursday I went to meet up with my grandpa and Heidi in Switzerland for the weekend.  They took a 2 week cruise from Fort Lauderdale to come meet up with me here.  They are now on their way back to the States via the Queen Mary II.  Crazy trip.  

On Thursday night I got into Interlaken later (it's about 2 1/2 hrs from me) so we took some time to catch up.  On Friday Heidi and I got up early and headed to Grindelwald and Männlichen for a day of skiing!  Here is a map of the area so you can get an idea. The nicest ski resorts in Switzerland are only about a half hour away from Interlaken, so we of course had to take advantage.  We got on the slopes around 10:30.  First of all, there was NO ONE there.  We literally had the alps to ourselves.  Second of all, the weather was sooo beautiful.  There was nothing but blue skies and alps in our view!  I took a million pictures but honestly it just doesn't turn out the way that it really looks.  We skied for a few hours, and then took a quick break to shed about 5 of our layers off.  I missed the memo that you can pretty much go skiing in the Spring wearing a t-shirt. I think maybe being naked would have even been more comfortable.  I also missed the memo to wear sunscreen.  Since my pale body hasn't seen sunlight for about 6 months, my face got fried as usual.  It's also super cool because I was wearing a headband on half of my forehead, so I have a really cute line going across it now. It's a good thing I have some bangs that I can cover that up with. 

After an amazing day of skiing, we went back to poor Poppy, who we had left at the hotel all day.  We went out to dinner for our "après-ski" and found a cute authentic Swiss restaurant right next to our hotel.  This is where I discovered "rosti" which is shredded potatoes with bacon and cheese.  It tastes like notso fries from Yours Truly, only 100 times better.  

On Saturday we took a train ride back up the Alps, to two towns called Lauterbrunnen and Mürren. Once again, perfect weather and beautiful scenery!  We took a train to Lauterbrunnen, a gondola up the mountain and then a train across to Mürren.  They are just little ski towns with cute little Swiss chalets!  Looking at these towns I seriously feel like I am at Disney World.. it can't be real!  

Saturday night Megan (friend from Zurich) came and met up with us in Interlaken.  We walked around the town, and had yet another Rosti dinner at the same restaurant.  It was so good I had to go back for more.  We also celebrated my "birthday" on this night (thank you Poppy for being a great liar) and got some free dessert.   

On Sunday, we took a scenic train ride called the "Golden Pass" through Switzerland, heading south towards Geneva.  We spent like 3 hours on a train, went to Lucerne, stayed for an hour, and headed back towards France.  Lots of trains! We were all kinda crabby on this day.  Now, we got back to Colmar, all ready to go home/to their hotel, go our separate ways and have some time to ourselves.  Well we get off the train, and who do we see?  Heidi's uncle and aunt from Germany.  They drove all the way to Colmar and somehow found us at the train station!  We still haven't figured out how they knew where to find us, but it worked out perfectly.  So we went to dinner, I went home, and it was back to work yesterday!  I am exhausted.  Yeah yeah I know, all I do is travel.  But seriously it is exhausting!  Also, yesterday, Poppy and Heidi came to school with me for a little bit.  They met one of my classes, and Poppy obviously explained to my students that he was John Wayne's brother.  Haha.  They were a little confused I think.  

Ok that's all for now!  Next weekend onto Aix-en-Provence for Easter....