Last Days in Aix-en-Provence

Cours Mirabeau at Christmastime 

I have spent the past three and a half months living in Europe. Leaving for the Marseille/Provence airport in less than five hours, I cannot help but be nostalgic. My two large "rolly" bags are packed to the brim, and my carry on is filled with all the gifts I bought for family and friends from my travels. Kathleen and I had our last and final dinner with Danielle. She made us a simple salad to start and a potato tart and a rotisserie for our main meal. It was cute, she said how much she is going to miss us and how fast the time has gone by. We walked David to the Gare Routiere (bus station) tonight after dinner. David's host family loves him. His host father even said David was the reason he was beginning to like Americans (haha). Just this past Tuesday, his family invited us over to their home for David's "Good-Bye Dinner." Kathleen and I walked down the street to their house, and their home was very similar to Danielle's. Set back from the street, the home was stood two stories tall, and had a nice yard in the front. Their family was different than any other I had met in France. They were lively and it was obvious they have held onto their strong Moroccan traditions. The two parents, daughter and cousin greeted us at the door and invited us upstairs for a lovely dinner. The table was set and they served us the biggest serving of cous-cous and lamb I have ever seen. Laughing and telling stories, it was obvious that David had created such a strong bond with the family. It made me wish that Kathleen and I had the chance to interact with more French people our age. The two girls helped us with our French, and told us stories from their colleges in France. David's host-father, Abdu, is a well-known calligraphy artists here in Aix. After dinner, he took us down to his studio and showed us some of his works. He even did calligraphy drawings of our names in Arabic.  It is so colorful, I am so excited to hang it up in my room at home. The dinner with David's host family is probably one of my fondest memories in Aix.

There are a lot of things I am going to miss about my semester spent in Aix-en-Provence.
Kathleen and I decided to collaborate on this list:

• My host-mother, Danielle and her lovely home.
• Our balcony
• Opening the bay windows in the morning
• Sketching on the balcony when the weather was still nice
• Traveling all over Europe
• We visited
• Cannes, France
• Nice, France 
• Eze, France 
• Monte Carlo, France
• Paris, France 
• Brussels, Belgium 
• Rome, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Venice, Italy
• Barcelona, Spain
• Paris (again)
• Cassis, France
• Vaucluse villages, France
• Nimes, France
• Orange, France
• Book and Bar, the local English bookstore where we would get coffee and do our homework
• Paul, the Sandwich chain in France.... best grilled chicken sandwich in France
• The little Tabac coffee store next to the Cathedral, where we would get coffee before European History class
• People-watching on Cours Mirabeau
• Subway was our way of escaping France for a few moments and transporting to America for a sandwich.
• Topkapi, David's favorite Kebab place
• The central market in Aix
• Sitting by the Rotunda at the end of Cours Mirabeau at night
• Crépes-A-Go-Go, the little Creperie located under Cours Mirabeau where the three of us would order "la foriestiere" a crepe with mushrooms, cheese and ham. mmm....
• Café au Lait, in general
• Painting in the country for our Art Class
• Mad Men marathons
• "manderines" in the morning 
• Brunch at Le Pain Quotodien -- there are more than 5 in the world. 
• Mailing over 30 post cards
• American movies with French subtitles at Le Renior
• Master Crumble every morning. 
• Tutoring with my teacher, Margaux
• Danielle's grandkids, GABIN and LOUIS
• The grey Camoflage bedding
• Getting Holiday cards from mom
• Hanging out in the Vanderbilt apartment
• Singing Alicia Keys in front of O'Shannon's with Robert.
• David, the baby whisperer.
• Vin Chaud
• Our Theater teacher, Madame Cros
• Seeing French babies in fuzzy bear costumes. 
• Giraffes at O'Shannon's
• Walking to school every morning
• The French cooking class where we learned how to make Bouche du Noel
• Dinner at David's homestay
• The Lebanese restaurant
• The 6 locks we had to lock/unlock to get into our house (haha)
• The crazy cat that would snarl randomly.... that sounded like it was from the movies
• Keeping up with this blog
• Skyping with friends and family 
• Registration for classes at 4am in the Paris Hostel
• Starbucks in the Louvre
• Cafe times with Robert and Allie
• The hope of returning another day. 

Danielle's Front Gate

I am sad to say goodbye to Aix-en-Provence. This trip has changed me forever, and I hope I can come back again another day.

I would not change it for the world.

Au Revoir, Aix-en-Provence!
xo Molly