Hello again,
I’m in an airport, except this time I’m not going to France, or even the US. I’m sitting in the Aix-Marseille international terminal (MP2) waiting to board my flight to Fez, Morocco. When I originally came to France I had decided that I wasn’t going to leave the country. It is expensive and I came to France to experience France, not to hope around. My thinking has obviously changed, however, as I realized that I could book a round trip with a stay at a nice hostel for 4 days at just less than 230 euro. That’s not cheap but compared to how much it would cost to Morocco from the US it is quite the bargain. It made enough sense (no pun intended) for me to do it, especially since I’ve wanted to see Africa for a long time. When I was growing up I was fascinated by Egypt and I was actually looking for flights to Alexandria as well (those were about 600 euros). Anyways, I obviously decided to money binge on the trip and I’m pretty damn excited.
As of right now I have nothing to report besides a tiny and overpriced airport, which there are plenty of in the US, so for this entry I will instead be talking about my excursions with IAU to Le Luberon and Marseille.
I’m in an airport, except this time I’m not going to France, or even the US. I’m sitting in the Aix-Marseille international terminal (MP2) waiting to board my flight to Fez, Morocco. When I originally came to France I had decided that I wasn’t going to leave the country. It is expensive and I came to France to experience France, not to hope around. My thinking has obviously changed, however, as I realized that I could book a round trip with a stay at a nice hostel for 4 days at just less than 230 euro. That’s not cheap but compared to how much it would cost to Morocco from the US it is quite the bargain. It made enough sense (no pun intended) for me to do it, especially since I’ve wanted to see Africa for a long time. When I was growing up I was fascinated by Egypt and I was actually looking for flights to Alexandria as well (those were about 600 euros). Anyways, I obviously decided to money binge on the trip and I’m pretty damn excited.
As of right now I have nothing to report besides a tiny and overpriced airport, which there are plenty of in the US, so for this entry I will instead be talking about my excursions with IAU to Le Luberon and Marseille.
The excursion to the Luberon region took us to some of your typically tiny yet tremendously beautiful French towns. As you can see from the pictures there is no shortage of scenery and I would love to get lost wandering the back alleys and hiking trails that cover the region.
Our first stop was to a small village (whose name I forget) to buy food for lunch. The plan was to explore the local market and get picnic supplies for the second part of our excursion. As with the beautiful scenery, there was certainly no shortage of wonderful food either. In my half hour of meandering through the market, I found multiple vendors of fromage, some bakeries, multiple olive and tapenade sellers, as well as more fresh, locally picked fruit and vegetables than I had ever scene before. If you like to geek out about food, you have to check out these markets. Throughout my wandering, I managed to buy some tomatoes, apples, cheese, a salmon and broccoli quiche, some chicken liver pate, and a pistachio macaroon, this was all about fifteen euro which, for how much I bought, ain’t bad.
Our first stop was to a small village (whose name I forget) to buy food for lunch. The plan was to explore the local market and get picnic supplies for the second part of our excursion. As with the beautiful scenery, there was certainly no shortage of wonderful food either. In my half hour of meandering through the market, I found multiple vendors of fromage, some bakeries, multiple olive and tapenade sellers, as well as more fresh, locally picked fruit and vegetables than I had ever scene before. If you like to geek out about food, you have to check out these markets. Throughout my wandering, I managed to buy some tomatoes, apples, cheese, a salmon and broccoli quiche, some chicken liver pate, and a pistachio macaroon, this was all about fifteen euro which, for how much I bought, ain’t bad.
The village from afar, notice the gorgeous scenery
We left our visit to the market very hungry but with food in hand. Our bus took us to a castle from the Roman era. It was constructed during one of the massive Roman conquests on top of the biggest hill in the region and it thus had a spectacular view of the area, one that I’m sure was very strategic at the time. We inhaled our lunches, each trying what others had bought, and I found myself being more and more satisfied with each bite, there honestly wasn’t anything that I didn’t really like. If I were to change one thing about America, forget human rights, equality, health care or public safety, I would swap out every subway in the country and replace it with a miniature version of the Provence markets- that’s my dream of a better tomorrow.
Anyway, we finished off our day with a hike through some red canyons (again, beautiful) then made our way back to Aix, returning just in time for dinner, although I honestly wasn’t too hungry.
Anyway, we finished off our day with a hike through some red canyons (again, beautiful) then made our way back to Aix, returning just in time for dinner, although I honestly wasn’t too hungry.
Here is the left side of the Castle, still going strong since the 13th century
From the Hike in the red canyons
A week later we got to experience a very cool cultural event, le Transhumance in Marseille. Transhumance is an annual occurrence in which local townspeople reenact an ancient tradition in which sheep and goat herders would lead their flocks up into the Swiss Mountains for the summer. They often came from North Africa, Spain, and southern France (fact check this before you quote me) where the climate in the summer time wasn’t terribly hospitable and often caused a shortage of food for their animals. Thus this annual migration was quite essential for the herders and they couldn’t have survived without it. Because of its importance, the tradition found its way into popular culture and is now celebrated annually.
By some stroke of luck, I got to see it this year. A few friends and I left for Marseille early Saturday morning. It was first exciting as none of us had ever been to Marseille, so we were in fact traveling to a foreign city speaking a second language all on our own. For some this may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but we all felt relatively adult at the time. We arrived in Marseille and eventually found our way to the port where the Transhumance was set to begin. While walking the streets I noticed a very familiar feel to the city. If there weren’t French signs everywhere I could have mistaken the city for a more ethnic part of San Francisco or Boston. They all have a similar port town feel, one that I guess jumps cultural borders and perhaps that’s why there is often such a strong bond between sailors. Or perhaps it’s because they are locked on a box surrounded by blue for months at a time but whatever; I’ll go with the port culture theory.
By some stroke of luck, I got to see it this year. A few friends and I left for Marseille early Saturday morning. It was first exciting as none of us had ever been to Marseille, so we were in fact traveling to a foreign city speaking a second language all on our own. For some this may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but we all felt relatively adult at the time. We arrived in Marseille and eventually found our way to the port where the Transhumance was set to begin. While walking the streets I noticed a very familiar feel to the city. If there weren’t French signs everywhere I could have mistaken the city for a more ethnic part of San Francisco or Boston. They all have a similar port town feel, one that I guess jumps cultural borders and perhaps that’s why there is often such a strong bond between sailors. Or perhaps it’s because they are locked on a box surrounded by blue for months at a time but whatever; I’ll go with the port culture theory.
There is some definite port town vibe here
Anyway, we found ourselves at the port, staring at literally thousands of goats and sheep. It easily surpassed all the sheep and goats I had ever seen, though to be honest I hadn’t really seen that many. We stopped to admire the port, the sea and the animals but soon came to the conclusion that it smelled too much like a farm. We decided to go find a café for some coffee and to wait for the festival to begin. After about an hour of sipping coffee and talking it was finally time. We heard cowbells, stood up and looked into the street. There we saw the leader of the Transhumance, the Centaur. This is the lady who stands on top of three horses and commands the movement. I honestly don’t know if this actually happened, or was since adopted more as a tourist attraction than as an actual historical fact. In either case it was very impressive. She seemed in complete control of it all and moved gracefully with the animals as if they were truly one, truly like a centaur. After her we met the thousands of goats and sheep’s again, this time they looked panicked and were running for their lives. It dawned on me that this must suck for them; do they have any idea of what’s going on? Either way it was fun to watch. After somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes of watching terrified farm animals being chassed by border collies and Berbers it all seemed to be over. The only thing that remained was a lot of poop, again bringing back the air of the farm.
The Centaur lady in all her glory
The slightly less glorious but still awesome pack of sheep
It was certainly a spectacle. I enjoyed watching the Transhumance if only for one reason; this would never happen in the US. With it, I got to see the manifestation of another people’s culture and history play out in front of my eyes. The fact that they have continued to do this for thousands of years boggles my mind. In the US I’ve never lived in a house more than 50 years old. Ancient history (at least ancient white people history) of Seattle dates back the 1800’s, which would be the last 30 minutes in the 24 hour-day of the history of southern France. I have never been in a place so old and so steeped in tradition. Experiencing this difference in history has, to my surprise, been the most fascinating and nourishing experience of my trip so far. The food is great (read: wonderful), but I can get good food in the US but I can’t get a Roman castle; at least not an authentic one.