Family Time

I decided to take a break from Italy to show you some more recent pictures from my life. My family came to visit me a couple weeks ago during my sister’s spring break. I loved showing them around Aix and introducing them to my French family. I played tour guide and translator as I introduced them to the markets and to a more in depth version of French culture. Well, I introduced my parents to a more in depth version of French culture. My sister is a French major so she didn’t need introduced to anything. My family explored Aix and some surrounding towns while I was in class Monday-Thursday and then we went on some adventures Friday and Saturday. It was such a blessing to have them visit and I missed them terribly when they left. I don’t think I would mind as terribly moving somewhere far away if I could move my mom, dad, and sister someplace nearby.

: Artsy picture out to dinner in Aix

: I played tour guide and took my family to the Saint Saveur Cathedral. Here’s the cloister.

: Next stop on the tour – the markets of Aix. It took them a few minutes, but once they started to figure out how the markets worked, they loved it. These are the grocery shopping baskets of Aix. You’ll see men and women with these on their arms in the mornings going shopping. I want one but I’m not sure it’ll fit on the plane…

: chocolate mousse – I just felt the need to share

: The cafe is such an important part of France so we of course had to experience the cafe culture!

: My favorite cafe in Aix so far.

: There’s a gelato place here in Aix that makes your gelato in the shape of a flower. It’s not quite as tasty as Italian gelato but the flower is really cool

: On Friday we ventured out to Salon de Provence, another little Provencal town. It was incredibly windy but we managed to not get blown away long enough to see a castle that now serves as a French military history museum. It has an enormous collection of French uniforms and weapons throughout French military history.

: Monty Python anyone?

: Amy has a new hat.

: As a (temporarily retired) fencer, I always get really excited about sword and other such shiny, sharp weapons. These are epees because they have straight blades.

: Check the plume on this hat.

: More swords!! See the curve in the blades? That’s one way you can tell these are sabers.

: The clock tower of Salon de Provence, a decently famous site

: Saturday, my family’s last day here, we went skiing in the Alps, at Pra Loup. It was a three hour bus ride but it was worth it.

: On the way…

: After my first view of the very bottom of the mountain, I decided that Ohio skiing doesn’t actually exist.

: We took a speedy gondola (French people call them eggs) about 5-10 minutes up, went down for about 15 minutes or so….

: …and then took a speedy chair lift like 10 minutes more up the mountain. We thought we were at the very top of the mountain but we were only 2/3 of the way up. It took us a solid 30-45 minutes to get all the way down. In Ohio, it takes me 2 minutes to come down. Mind blown.