17 May 2018

Fire Ants In My Pants- Paris & Marseille & Lyon & Les Cevennes France

May 12 I flew to France to see Xavier. When I arrived I was very sick from Uganda still, but he took care of me and made me a lovely dinner. 

We spent the next day with his family (and made sushi!) in Paris before hopping on a train back to Marseille.
His family's cat, Goose, looking interested in the sushi...
I hadn’t been in Marseille since I met Xavier there, so it was really special to go back and spend time in his apartment and in all the places that are special to us from the start of this relationship.
Other trips that I’ve seen him we’ve spent most of our time staying with his family/friends in Paris,  we’ve been on our trip to Prague, or Xavier has visited me in America.
I went to Xavier’s workplace to have lunch and to meet his coworkers. He showed me his laser setup for his PhD.
We enjoyed being able to cook dinner together after his work, and I enjoyed having his amazing french cooking and the joys of non-african cuisine and french bread.
 
I went for a run in the morning one day and ran into the fans of the marseille soccer league having a rally to get excited for the upcoming match that evening.
The next day while Xavier was at work I explored one of my favorite areas, Cours Julien, and went in the vintage clothing shops and bookstores.
I finished journaling about my time in Africa while sitting by the central fountain and enjoying a Monaco. Xavier came to join me earlier than we’d planned and 'played hooky' :)

We stopped by the local spice shops and markets to get olives, wine, and other appetizers. We then went to the coast of the Mediterranean to watch the sunset.
This spot next to Vallon des Auffes is the place where we went on our first night together when we first met.

Thursday morning Xavier took me to Le Panier to explore more of our favorite areas and then we met some members of his extended family who were in town for the day so that I could meet them.
"they lived like children and lived happily ever after"
so ready to meet all the relatives!
   
After our lunch, we went to the train station to meet with Hadrien and Celia for our long weekend of camping in Les Cevennes. We drove several hours to the national park and found a beautiful area by the river to camp out for the night. Within the first five minutes we were there, I was stung multiple times by a fire ant up my leg!
he's taken, ladies


Our Twingo car for the trip- we could hardly fit ! 4 people + food for the weekend + camping gear + climbing gear
It just so happened that we were camping on top of wild mint.
We had dinner next to the river

The next morning we drove to Gorges du Tarn to do some climbing!


We were doing lead climbing, or “à tête,” which means that you carry the rope with you as you ascend.
You attach your carabiners/quickdraws to bolts on the face of the cliff as you go. It is less restrictive than top-rope because you “make” the rope attachments to catch you as you go.  This is also more dangerous because, if you fall, you fall the distance of  2x however far you are past the last time you attached to the cliff below you.
In other words, there is no anchor point above you while climbing.
 
 
Xavier taught me how to “clean,” which means that at the end of a climbing route I have to switch the rope from belaying me to allowing me to rappel down safely.
You have to anchor yourself to the two carabiners at the top of the cliff with a short tie to make sure something’s secure, then take the rope you used to climb up the cliff and pull it through a new stronghold and tie it back to yourself.
It’s an important process, and you can’t make a mistake. Talk about building trust!
Résultats de recherche d'images pour « Petzl  method climbing »Image associée 
  That night we camped in a great spot we found near Les Vignes with a view of the valley as the sunset. We drank pastis, an anise liquor of Marseille, and played card games. 
the view from our tent
The next day we hiked From the area near Rieisse down to the town of La Malène and back up the mountain again.
The views were incredible. On our hike down we played memory games in french as a group. Once we reached La Malène, it began to storm and we stopped inside a little shop for a drink. After the storm passed, we hiked back up the mountain to find a campsite for the night. 
spot the  "gargoyles"
That night our campsite was in a field we found, which actually turned out to be someone’s property. Luckily, the owner let us stay since we had already pitched our tents. We played more card games, Hadrien told scary stories, and we all had more than enough Pastis.
Our last day we drove into the town of La Malène and rented kayaks for the day.
Xavier notified me that there was a group of dogs I should meet… about 10 newfoundlands were at the river docks to have their water rescue training for the day!
The largest one was 170 lbs.
The water was frigid but we had great views of the Gorges and the crystal clear water. There was a troglodyte home on the side of the river and the most beautiful stones homes. There were tiny villages on the side of the river with just a few stone buildings.
 
We stopped for lunch on the side of the river and tried to warm up in the sun.
When we were getting into the shuttle van to return, the newfoundlands had just finished their training for the day and all needed to ride back with us in the van.
One of my favorite events of the day was seeing them all sit obediently in the van like humans.
The weather took a turn for the worst, and would be terrible the next day as well, so we decided to drive back to Marseille for the night. On the way, we stopped in the tiny town of Gignac to explore and for dinner at a restaurant called Manine.
We watched the sunset from a park and explored the cute little town.
A cat on her throne with guard-birds
The next day after returning home, Xavier took me to some of his favorite places in Marseille. We also went for a run which I unfortunately got very sick on (still recovering from Africa). When he had to work Tuesday, I met with our friend Hadrien and went rock climbing. The gym is one large archway with all the routes ending in overhangs.
Hadrien and I had a blast and followed our climb with a drink together.
 
Afterwards, Xavier and I went on a date to a local Brazilian restaurant which was absolutely amazing. Our meal included a “sushi burger” which was a seawed/rice bun over salmon and mango in addition to other traditional brazilian cuisine. We had Caipirinha, the traditional drink of Brazil, which is limes and cachaca (sugar cane rum).
    Wednesday Xavier and I visited the Mucem (museum of civilizations of europe and the mediterranean… but also just a really beautiful patio to have drinks on) and walked around.

We then took the bus to Endoume,  an area of beautiful coastline just South of Marseille. The area was beautiful with colored houses and a little port.
 
    I visited Xavier at work again Thursday and we ran up the mountain area nearby to his lab. It was tough, especially after not being able to workout in Africa!
 It was basically a 10K in which the entire first half was up steep hills. We had a beautiful view of the city behind us.
     Our next adventure was to Lyon! I hadn’t been to Lyon since my study abroad there. First, we met for lunch with Xavier’s best friend Stéphane who happened to be visiting Lyon for a conference.
my old stomping grounds
We met with Celia and Mickael, and Celia toured us around the newer parts of the city I hadn’t seen yet.
There’s a whole area of sustainable and eco-friendly housing, new bike trails that run the entire length of the city along the river and are beautiful, and plenty of new businesses and restaurants.  I really loved all the ways Lyon has changed/improved since I last stayed there. It was also fun to revisit some of the places I love.
We ate dinner with Celia and Mickael next to the river and rode bikes home to their apartment.

The next day we took the train to Paris because Xavier organized a party for me to meet a group of some of his closest friends I had been excited to finally meet.
Afterwards we had dinner with his mom, his younger sister, and his grandma on my last night in town.