Jour 53- Day 2 in Provence!

In the morning, we woke up at 9 a.m. to get ready and eat breakfast downstairs. Thank god for contintental breakfasts. I pretty much fill my body up with as much as I can so that i don't have to spend any money later on food!

We had a tour planned with Anne-Marie at 10 a.m. to go to the Grand Marches (big markets) that are held every Saturday. It was either that, or go with Pascal on a tour of Cezanne's house. Let's be honest, food interest me more, so at 10 we walked down the nearby road into this big square. The flower and food markets were held in Place de Verdun and Place de Precheurs. First, we passed by the massive flower market. I had never seen so many different flowers! I can imagine just waking up in the morning, and walking down the street to grab some fresh flowers for mi casa!

After, we went to another huge square where there was all the fresh food you could ever buy! There were fresh fruit, vegetables, herbes, breads, cheeses, eggs, jams, produce, seafood etc! I was in food heaven! I bought some herbe de provence for my momma and Jacob the Canadaian because he begged me to get some for him. The herbes of provence are very important to this region especially those such as: rosemary, thym, basil, bay leaves, sage, and others. They also had three random hens for sale that disturbed me. Where they were eating for for their eggs? We'll never know! We walked down other streets where they were selling clothes and jewelry for cheap! I bought two silver rings for 5 euro! You can't beat that!

Around 2, we went back to the hotel to get on the bus which was headed to Cassis. It was only a 30 minute bus ride. Cassis is situated behind Marseille. It is a little beach town with a quaint little port. It reminded me of Portofino in Italy. It's a city built into the cliffside and you can walk on the rocky beaches. Also, it is known for the Calanques which are a bunch of cliffs that stand in the water not far from the port, and inside you can find crystal clear waters. You can take boat rides there and spend the day inside.

When we got there, we had 4 hours to do whatever we wanted, so Jor and I grabbed a baguette to eat and then a bunch of us walked along the beach. It was cold out, so we didn't stay there long. After, it started raining, and we went with Anne-Marie to this parfumerie that has been around since 1851. It as called L'eau de Cassis and the lady gave us a tour about how her uncle was the first person to start the business and it has been run by his granddaughter and cousin since. I fell in love with this parfum d'abiance called Coeur de Cassis (heart of Cassis) and I had to buy it. Everyone who came also got a free bar of soap. It was an awesome tour!

After, it was still raining, so Kelly B, Lib, Jour and I got dinner at this restaurant right before we had to leave. The trip was very cool.

When we returned, Jor and I just hung out in the room all night. Kelly B decided to go clubbin, but my body wasn't allowing it. I was full, had mad gas, and felt lazy haha. Jor and I laid in bed and watched CNN where we discovered that the world was coming to an end. ARMAGADDEN! There was a massive 8.8 earthquake in the Pacific (the largest one ever recorded) and it struck right near Chile. Chile was greatly affected, and the earthquake caused tsunami-like waves to reach as far as Taiwan, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii. We listened for a good hour CNN report on Hawaii and how people were being evacuated in case large tsunami waves struck.

The funniest thing happened. So the camera is situated looking at one of the beaches in Waikiki. The reporter is talking about how people have been evacuating the area.. "So as you can see, normally the beaches are full of tons of people, but most of the people have now retreated to the third floor of local hotels.. (pause) Oh wait a second, I believe there is a man walking on the beach in the lower right hand of the screen. Now, either he doesn't have a radio or a television or he is simply lacking common sense. I'm sorry but this is the most idiotic thing I've ever seen!"

Jordan and I were peeing our pants. The reporter couldn't have said it any better. We were literally laughing out loud in the room by ourselves.

The night was pretty much slowed from there. Aside from Jordan complained about how hungry she was, and how she just wanted to go to Le Must, we passed out around midnight. Kelly B, that little partyer, didn't come home until 3:30 a.m. and we had to wake up at 7:30 to head towards Marseilles. Ouch, at least Jor and I had good laughs and fell asleep early!