We have had a wonderful week with Erica and Cliff visiting us. They return to northern Virginia on Sunday--flying from Marseilles to Frankfort, Germany and then on to Washington DC.
Good times enjoying the sights and scents of Aix ... relaxing at our cheerful, third story flat (four skylights in the living area (kitchen, dining and living room) ... and playing some fun doubles on two occasions at some of the city courts about a ten minute walk from here.
One of the highlights was a to
ur on Thursda
y (offered by the owner of our flat) of Marseilles, the neighboring sea side town of Cassis, and a local vineyard. Marseilles has a rich history going back centuries BCE (before the common era). In our modern era, it is a destination for many Africans, seeking a better life in the European Union.
We saw the breathtaking view from Le Cathedrale de Notre Dame, a magnifent Cathedral with exquisite architecture and art work ... high atop a hill over-looking Marseilles, looking out to the sea--an abaolutely stunning sight to behold. One can only imagine the years of labor that went into the construction effort, transporting all the materials up the hillside.
We then visited nearby Cassis, a quaint and gorgeous sea-side town where we lunched down on the port, choosing from among three or four city blocks of restaurants and cafes. I enjoyed my first taste of mussels, a popular crustacean delicacy where you have to extract the mussels from the shell. Along with the french fries and sauce, it made for a most tasty lunch experience.
Later, we toured the nearby Calanques, elegant seaways where fiords, over the years, have carved away the rock. Below, in the sea water that flows out to the Mediterranean, boats harbor or sail in and out of the Calanques. A hill top view of the area capped off a wonderful experience of Cassis.
Yvette and I finally met some local tennis players at one of the tennis clubs supervised by the city. To join the municipal club, you have to have a medical certificate signed by a local doctor, along with a couple
of photos attached to the application. Not a simple process, yet the people asssure us ce n'est pas dificile. In he week ahead, we already have four conversation sessions lined up. These sessions where we speak English and French to each other (the French locals, to improve their English; and we, of course, to work on our French) generally last between two and three hours. Suffice it to say, our minds are very tired at the end.
The days are beautiful here in late May and we are delighting in our time of respite and learning.
A bientot,
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