Sorgue, Vaucluse and Cassis

Notes of Final Excursions while stationed in Aix

Isle sur la Sorgue and the Fontaine de Vaucluse
Our school took an excursion to Isle sur la Sorgue and the Fontaine de Vauclose. It was about an hour bus trip. I always liked those because it was so scenic. Southern France is extremely picturesque and taking a bus ride (as long as its not an 11 hour one to Spain) is never taxing. Ashley and I shared my headphones and soon enough we were there. Isle sur la Sorgue was an adorable French town that has a little river running through it. There are giant watermills turning in the water. We went on a Sunday. Typically Sundays in a French city mean that the town is dead. Everything is closed on Sunday’s except outdoor markets. Isle sur la Sorgue took the Provincial market to a new level- it was jam packed with people and absolutely huge. It was far from the quiet Sundays we had observed in Aix. Everyone split up in the market and we all did our shopping. We walked around for a long time and enjoyed shopping. It was crowded, but not too bad. We bought picnic supplies and after an hour or two met back at the bus.

We then drove close to the Fontaine de Vaucluse, another village. We were not quite in the village yet, but just outside, still by the river. We got off and picnicked under some trees by the water. It was calm and relaxing. Then we walked into town. Fontaine de Vaucluse is known for the source pool in the village. It is fed by an underground river. No one knows exactly how deep the pool is, though scientists have tried for years to discover it. In the 80s they sent a submarine robot down into it 315m but it did not reach the bottom. Because it was a drier season than normal this year, we saw the pool lower than its typical level. We climbed down to see it. We were told that it usually not only covered the rocks that we had to climb down to get to it, but that it actually flowed over them onto other ones behind us. Very impressive.

It was a really fun excursion and enjoyable to soak in more Provincial life. We had beautiful weather and it was great with our friends from school there. Though it was more relaxed than our other excursions, it was one of my favorites.

Cassis
Last week we had Tuesday off because it was a French holiday. It was finals week and Ashley and I wanted to blow off some steam by going to the beach. Our chosen destination? Cassis- a charming seaside town not too far from Aix. I had seen pictures of Cassis in a book on Provence in Peoria before I left and I had really wanted to get there. Because it was a “jour ferrier” (free day) we had trouble getting there. My French brother Guillaume (again our hero) kindly drove us there, insisting we could not leave France without seeing it. It was again a beautiful sunny day, and the drive was only about 30 minutes. We took Guillaume out to eat, and enjoyed a good meal in one of the port side restaurants. He left and we explored the town. Isabelle and Guillaume were right- Cassis was great. Very quaint. Isabelle made us promise her that we would take a boat along the calanques, which are the cliffs that jut out into the water. We took one after lunch. It was fun. We could only go on the 45 min one because there was a lot of wind that day and the sea was choppy further out. Yes it was. Though it was calm between the calanques, I got completely soaked once we were back in the open sea. Huge splashes of water got me and Ash drenched, and we decided to move to the back of the boat. People in the back- completely dry- laughed as they saw us walk back. It was worth it though- the scenery was beautiful, especially a tucked away beach we saw between the calanques. After the boat ride, we layed out on the pebbly sand to dry off. I got in the water after a little bit. Brisk but fun. After a while, we packed up and went to a portside café. Guillaume picked us up and we drove home. We had to leave the vacation-y mentality behind as we were forced to prepare for the finals we had the next day.

It was a wonderful day spent basking in the sun spent with a good, good friend and another example of how wonderful my host family is.