My first impressions of Paris were from the train ride in from the airport - a lot of graffiti by the train tracks and some ordinary looking suburbs - a bit like Sydney! Of course though, the centre of Paris is completely different. I spent a few hours there, waiting for a train, in which time I stumbled upon the Bastille, and then found my way to Notre Dame de Paris. Given that I'd just been travelling for over 24 hours, and was merely 'waiting for a train', it really wasn't enough time to even get an impression of Paris. I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time there further down the track (when it's warmer).
I was welcomed to Dijon by some family of a friend, and it was great to come into a 'homely' atmosphere. Naturally, lunch followed - local pinot noir, cheese, bread, salad (dressed in dijon mustard), roast pork (marinated in dijon mustartd!) and plenty of other goodies. I had come to Dijon to pick up a car, so after lunch I drove it into town under the supervision of Christine and Phillipe - definitely a little strange driving on the right (wrong, that is) side of the road.
Dijon is a beautiful little city. It just has a vibe about it that made me feel very comfortable and enormously happy to finally be here, on the other side of the World. It's difficult to explain I guess - not only the old buildings but also the social atmosphere combine to create something that I've never experienced in Australia.
The drive down to Marseille on Sunday went better than anticipated. The highways (autoroutes) here are excellent, although it did come to around 34E in tolls (AU$50 or so?). In Marseille I got to Nik's place without too much trouble, and we got to sitting down with a bottle of red and some cheese and a baguette. It was good to be here!
So this is where I've been for the past week. Nik is living in a flat near the centre of Marseille, with two flat mates. He's still working during the week, so I've just been slowly adapting. It's been a little difficult. Not being able to speak French (which is really just a string of sounds ending in uh, put together) I guess is the biggest hindrance. Even though I'm ecstatic to be here, there have been a few times when I just haven't wanted to leave the flat. I mostly am just whinging though - I'm so lucky to be in the situation that I am. Compared to say, Nik, who had to sort himself out when he arrived a year ago. And I do recall a show on the ABC not long before I left about a 17 year old girl going to Calcutta to partake in voluntary aid work, and how difficult she found it when she got here - it really takes an amazing person to do that, and in comparison coming to Europe is an absolute breeze.
Marseille? A certain travel guide calls it 'Seething, Sultry Marseille' which I think is pretty apt. It's a world apart from Dijon, and I found that a negative thing at first. After spending more time here though, and walking around all different parts of the city, the more I soak in, the more I like it. It's not somewhere I'd want to live, but it has a soul. The harbour has been used as a major port since 600BC. The French national anthem originates from a chant the Marseilles sang in the 18th century on the way to Paris to support the Revolution (no I don't know anything about history, that's straight out of a book...). People from Marseille don't call themselves French - they're Marseilles.
I've been out climbing a few times now. On Marseille's doorstep lie 'Les Calanque', one of the best climbing destinations in Europe. My first climb, on unfamiliar limestone and after not having climbed for a month, was a 4 pitch route above Morgiou (or, 'Paradise' as someone I climbed with called it). It was a beautiful route but I still felt I needed to get used to the rock. Two days later I headed out with someone else, and did a couple of one pitch routes right near Morgiou. They were excellent - but a very strong wind (Le Mistral) was coming in so we called it quits.
Over the Easter weekend (3 days here), Nik, Michael, and I headed out to the En Vau area of Les Calanques. On Saturday we climbed a brilliant route that involved 3 great pitches onto the top of a detached pinnacle, before downclimbing and stepping across a gut wrenching (in a good way) void to finish up the main cliff. After descending we retreated to a little hut perched above the ocean, to a dinner of cous cous and canned Cassoulet (duck, goose, and pork sausage stew). On Sunday the weather was still very windy, so we headed back down to the protected En Vau and climbed a few single pitches. I'm yet to climb a long route directly above the ocean, but there are plenty of them here and I plan on doing so before I leave.
Today I'll be driving up to the Vaucluse region, where I plan on spending a few days with a friend of a friend in a remote cottage they have there, maybe climbing (the weather is still looking fairly average - there's been snow over a lot of France), maybe painting, I will see.
I was welcomed to Dijon by some family of a friend, and it was great to come into a 'homely' atmosphere. Naturally, lunch followed - local pinot noir, cheese, bread, salad (dressed in dijon mustard), roast pork (marinated in dijon mustartd!) and plenty of other goodies. I had come to Dijon to pick up a car, so after lunch I drove it into town under the supervision of Christine and Phillipe - definitely a little strange driving on the right (wrong, that is) side of the road.
Dijon is a beautiful little city. It just has a vibe about it that made me feel very comfortable and enormously happy to finally be here, on the other side of the World. It's difficult to explain I guess - not only the old buildings but also the social atmosphere combine to create something that I've never experienced in Australia.
The drive down to Marseille on Sunday went better than anticipated. The highways (autoroutes) here are excellent, although it did come to around 34E in tolls (AU$50 or so?). In Marseille I got to Nik's place without too much trouble, and we got to sitting down with a bottle of red and some cheese and a baguette. It was good to be here!
So this is where I've been for the past week. Nik is living in a flat near the centre of Marseille, with two flat mates. He's still working during the week, so I've just been slowly adapting. It's been a little difficult. Not being able to speak French (which is really just a string of sounds ending in uh, put together) I guess is the biggest hindrance. Even though I'm ecstatic to be here, there have been a few times when I just haven't wanted to leave the flat. I mostly am just whinging though - I'm so lucky to be in the situation that I am. Compared to say, Nik, who had to sort himself out when he arrived a year ago. And I do recall a show on the ABC not long before I left about a 17 year old girl going to Calcutta to partake in voluntary aid work, and how difficult she found it when she got here - it really takes an amazing person to do that, and in comparison coming to Europe is an absolute breeze.
Marseille? A certain travel guide calls it 'Seething, Sultry Marseille' which I think is pretty apt. It's a world apart from Dijon, and I found that a negative thing at first. After spending more time here though, and walking around all different parts of the city, the more I soak in, the more I like it. It's not somewhere I'd want to live, but it has a soul. The harbour has been used as a major port since 600BC. The French national anthem originates from a chant the Marseilles sang in the 18th century on the way to Paris to support the Revolution (no I don't know anything about history, that's straight out of a book...). People from Marseille don't call themselves French - they're Marseilles.
I've been out climbing a few times now. On Marseille's doorstep lie 'Les Calanque', one of the best climbing destinations in Europe. My first climb, on unfamiliar limestone and after not having climbed for a month, was a 4 pitch route above Morgiou (or, 'Paradise' as someone I climbed with called it). It was a beautiful route but I still felt I needed to get used to the rock. Two days later I headed out with someone else, and did a couple of one pitch routes right near Morgiou. They were excellent - but a very strong wind (Le Mistral) was coming in so we called it quits.
Over the Easter weekend (3 days here), Nik, Michael, and I headed out to the En Vau area of Les Calanques. On Saturday we climbed a brilliant route that involved 3 great pitches onto the top of a detached pinnacle, before downclimbing and stepping across a gut wrenching (in a good way) void to finish up the main cliff. After descending we retreated to a little hut perched above the ocean, to a dinner of cous cous and canned Cassoulet (duck, goose, and pork sausage stew). On Sunday the weather was still very windy, so we headed back down to the protected En Vau and climbed a few single pitches. I'm yet to climb a long route directly above the ocean, but there are plenty of them here and I plan on doing so before I leave.
Today I'll be driving up to the Vaucluse region, where I plan on spending a few days with a friend of a friend in a remote cottage they have there, maybe climbing (the weather is still looking fairly average - there's been snow over a lot of France), maybe painting, I will see.
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