Spring Vacation

After my voyages to Paris, Dublin, and London in March, my sejour in Toulouse calmed down quite a bit and my schedule went back to normal. I went to class, helped out with the debate club at the engineering school in Toulouse, and continued to get to know the city. In the middle of March, my grandparents Ellie and Walt came and visited. We went to several churches, took a day trip to the cathedral in Albi, and ate well. After that, my girlfriend Rachel visited from Malaga, Spain, where she is studying for a semester with Dickinson. It was fantastic to see her, as it had been by far the longest time apart for the two of us since we began dating nearly three years ago. Life in Toulouse was fairly quiet for the first half of April, as well. All three of my Dickinson classes ended on April 17, which freed up my schedule considerably. On April 19, my seventeen-day spring break began, which was an extremely eventful two weeks and which included some of my favorite moments while being abroad.

On April 19, my Dickinson group headed on a four-day group excursion to Marseille and two small villages in the surrounding area, Rousillon and Cassis. We visited several interesting sites in Marseille, including an old soap factory, the port, and Notre Dame de la Garde (a church). Marseille is the 2013 European Capital of Culture (the EU chooses one city each year) and so we went to the city’s visitor’s center and browsed an exhibit on the history of Marseille since its founding as a Roman fishing port.

Me, at the top of Notre Dame de la Garde,
overlooking Marseille and the sea

The next day, we visited perhaps one of the most beautiful natural landscapes I have ever seen in my life: les calanques. The Calanques Park is a nationally protected park about a half hour from Marseille, and it is right on the Mediterranean Ocean. The word calanques means “inlets” in the ancient regional dialect Occitan. There is a series of trails that run along the cliffs and the sea, dipping in and out of small coves and beaches, and some of them head deep into an inland pine forest. We were lead by our guide, Stefan, on a four-hour hike to a small hidden beach on the far side of the park, where we ate lunch. The bravest of our group (myself included) dove into the Mediterranean, which turned out to be quite frigid despite its tropical reputation. That day was one of my favorites since being abroad, and the hike remains one of the best I’ve done in my life!

The entrance to the Calanques park

One of the calanques

And the magnificent view of the Mediterranean from the trail 

The next day, we took another day trip to the small village of Rousillon. On the far edge of Rousillon is another protected park called the Sentier des Ocres. This park was laced with hiking trails as well, but its appearance was much more bizarre. Behind you was a small French valley village, and in front of you was a pine forest with tall columns of ochre rock and sand jutting out indiscriminately. The scene seemed fit for California or Arizona. For many years, the village of Rousillon would gather the sand from the park and sift out the grains of ochre dust, using it to color paints and dyes, which would then be sold across the south of France.

The village of Rousillon...

... and the park right behind me. Jurassic Park, more like...

After returning from Marseille, I had a few days to relax in Toulouse before I met my dad in Brussels, Belgium. I flew into Brussels and took a short train to the center of the city, and then walked a short distance to the hotel, where I met my dad. We spent one night there before hopping the train to Louven, a small city to the east of Brussels. There we checked into a fantastic hotel that used to be a monastery – and then promptly took the bus to Zythos, our beer festival destination. For those who enjoy quality beers, this was the place to be. Located in a large expo hall, Zythos is a collection of over 100 breweries and over 400 beers, all under one roof. Attendees paid for tokens (€1.40 each) and a tasting glass, and one token got you one 5 ounce serving of beer. It lasted until midnight, and then began again the next day at 10 a.m. We drank our fill, talked to the brewers, met some friends from Canada, and then headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we enjoyed a large breakfast in the hotel, and then took our time getting back to the festival. We went back for only a few hours the second day, but it was certainly worth the trip. Overall it was a great way to spend a few days, talking about and drinking beer with my dad and not having many worries.

After Brussels, I returned to Toulouse and almost immediately left for Bologna, Italy, where I went to visit some of my Dickinson friends who are studying there. My friend Joe lives in an apartment there, and so I stayed with him for a few days and saw the city. We visited a church on top of a mountain (we hiked up), we ate lots of pizza and pasta, and we spent a considerable amount of time in Bologna’s new craft beer bar. One of the most disappointing aspects of studying in France is that the country lacks a craft brewery culture. The microbrew culture has started to emerge in Italy in the past five to ten years, and so this beer bar is a big deal. If you’re ever in Bologna, visit the Green River Bar.

To finish out my vacation, my mom came and visited me in Toulouse, which was a really nice time. We saw a few of the churches in the city, but mostly just walked or biked around, or ate many a fine meal. My mom rented an apartment in the city that overlooked a plaza, and we decided that was a much better option than a hotel. The next day we took a day trip to Carcassonne, which is a small town to the north west of Toulouse. A castle still stands there -- moat, wall, and all -- from the 13th or 14th century. It's really something to see. One evening, my host family invited my mom to come to an aperitif, which is a small get together before dinner time that includes salty snacks and wine or champagne. We had an interesting conversation about cultural differences and the perception of America oversees. It’s always nice to have family members come and see where you study and to meet your host family.

Since the first week of May I have finished my final exams at Sciences-Po and visited Rachel in Malaga. However, that is for another blog post.