Sunshine, the Mediterranean, and other stuff.

Yesterday I went down to the small city of La Ciotat on the Mediterranean, nd I have to say it was really awesome. The part of Provence between La Ciotat and Cassis is known for it's cool looking rock formations and hills, as well as the "calanques" which are little valleys and bays within the rock formations that often have beaches. There are two of said "Calanques" in La Ciotat and I went to both of them. Each offered excellent vues of the Sea and of the awesome rock formations and vegitation. La Ciotat also claims to be the birthplace of cinema, as it was here that the Lumiere brothers shot the first motion picture in 1895, the movie was unimaginatively called "Entree du train dans le gare de La Ciotat" and it is a movie of exactly that, a train entering the station. The town seemed to have a lively character, it is a port town so it had all of the things associated with ports, but it was not huge, smelly, and full of dubious characters the way that Marseille is. Speaking of Marseille, I went there on friday to see a few more things. Went and saw the Palais de Longchamps, which is a huge palace built by Napoleon III in the 1860's as a reminder to people that Marseille is indeed French, and this palace is not the only such construction in Marseille. After tht I went for a walk in the markets looking for a particulr candy shop that is apparantly owned by a Quebecois who gives discounts to other Quebecois, but I never found it, although I got a good feel for the city of Marseille. Other than that I have been hanging out here in Aix. Went out Friday night and discovered that there are a remarkable number of "Irish Pubs" for a city that is decidedly French................