tout est bien qui finit bien

So. The Luberon. Pretty freaking beautiful. The title of this post is probably pretty easy to figure out, but it's All's Well That Ends Well in French. Which is appropriate, because I WAS FREAKING IN ROUSSILLON AND SHAKESPEARE NERD-ING OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE.

The first town was Lourmarin, which was tiny and had a gorgeous chateau and like a billion fountains. Liz and I wandered around before settling at a cafe, she with her Orangina, and I with my noisette (a little coffee with a little bit of milk or something). After taking stalker photos of our waiter and his man-pris, I bought some pretty jewelry (including Le Coeur de la Mer...seriously...kind of) and we got some little quiches and various lunch items. We then got back on the bus and headed to Bonnieux, which is literally on the top of a mountain. The ride there was slightly--understatement--terrifying, as the little mountain roads of Provence were not created for coach buses. Yeah. Not so pleasant. We made it there alive, and it was totally worth it. This town has a view of what seems like the entire of Provence--including the chateau of the Marquis de Sade. Craaazy--and I took like a million pictures (which I will upload eventually, I promise...yargh). We picnicked in the park of the church at the very very top of the mountain--gorgeous.

Last and certainly not even close to least was Roussillon. Roussillon is most famous for its ochre quarry-ish thing. It was unbelievable. Brilliant orange rocks set against the green of the trees and the perfect blue sky--also, I was wearing mostly blue so those colors looked great in contrast, too. Literally, I felt like I was in the Grand Canyon. Granted, I've never actually been to the Grand Canyon, but I imagine it's a lot like that. We hiked around the quarry for a while--it was really, really cool. After, I got some lavender ice cream--bizarre, because it literally tasted like I was eating the smell of lavender...does that make sense? But it was in no way unpleasant--and wandered aimlessly around the center of town. These little villages are so unbelievably perfect; I kept thinking I was in Chocolat and I could turn a corner and find Johnny Depp coming up the docks (sadly, this did not happen. Though he DOES live in France, so it's more possible...maybe...).

We got back to Aix at around 6:30. I then changed, ate dinner and went to the exhibition Picasso-Cezanne at the Musee Granet with my host sister, Alix. I already talked some about it, but I'll say a little more. This exhibit was incredible. First of all, it was free for us (ballin'!). The Musee Granet always has tons of Cezanne (because he lived a while in Aix), but I guess this year is some sort of anniversary of Picasso's time in Aix, so there have been events all year long. What I really loved was that the museum didn't only show the abstract, "usual" Picasso. We also saw some magnificent paintings by Picasso that at first glance, and in comparison to the rest of the exhibit, seemed to be by Cezanne, just by their delicacy and accuracy. Very cool. Also, we got there just before 9pm, when it was supposed to offically start, and when we left at a little after 10pm, the line outside was absolutely absurd. Probably helped that it was the very last night of the exhibit, but whatever.

Sunday was yet another "Aix, why do you rock so much?" day. There was a random big like garage sale on Cours Sextius, where it seemed like everyone from Aix just brought out all the random stuff they had lying around and sold it at ridiculously awesome prices (e.g. I bought 2 necklaces and a ring, all really beautiful, for 4 euros. What!?!). Liz, Emily and I hung around there for a while, then went a little cafe-hopping. At the first one, in Place Richelme, the son of the waiter was like helping him, and it was probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. This little boy was wearing almost Harry Potter-like glasses but the frames were red instead and he was super eager and ahhhh soo mignon.

At around 6, I met up with Martin (!!!) so he could, as he put it, "make me a visit of Aix." I already knew a lot about the city, but I pretty much just wanted to see where he would take me. He showed me to the south of Cours Mirabeau--where I like never go--and various other random places. He is like really smart. He knew all these random facts about the city and was telling them all to me in slightly broken but surprisingly good English. He's such a sweetheart. We also discovered that his parent's house isn't at all far from where I live. Kill me. He had to go back to Marseille and is having his housewarming party tomorrow (Friday) night, and I can't go because I have a stupid trip with my Architecture class (okay, I know it won't be stupid, I'm just bitter) and I am very sad. Oh well. When we parted, he was like, "okay, not this weekend, but next weekend! And the one after that!" I almost died. And I made him hug me. I was like, "Americans hug." :-D

Teehee.