"Auberge Espangole"

So after many refusals on my part, my lovely friends finally forced me to watch "Auberge Espagnole" (for some reason I had it in my head that I wouldn't like it, I honestly don't even know why.) For those of you who don't know it, it's basically about a French guy who goes to Barcelona for his ERASMUS (which, fun fact, stands for European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students - I never knew what it stood for until I just googled it.) I imagine I would have liked it even if I wasn't currently doing an exchange, but the fact that I was made it much soo much funnier and that much more relate-able. So many parts just had us nodding our heads going 'yep, that's what being on ERASMUS is like.' Anyways, although I loved the movie, when the guy's year finally comes to an end, it made me think of the fact that in 5 days, MY ERASMUS year will essentially be over (OK, I still have a month of travel, but still) and the past year as I have known it (the people, school, way of life) will come to a close. There was also one quote from it that I particularly like:

'Quand on arrive dans une ville, on voit des rues en perspective. Des suites de bâtiments vides de sens. Tout est inconnu, vierge. Voilà, plus tard on aura marché dans ces rues, on aura été au bout des perspectives, on aura connu ces bâtiments, on aura vécu des histoires avec des gens. Quand on aura vécu dans cette ville, cette rue on l’aura prise dix, vingt, mille fois. Au bout d’un temps cela vous appartient parce qu’on y a vécu.'

The rough English translation for this quote is:

'When you first arrive in a new city, nothing makes sense. Everythings unknown, virgin... After you've lived here, walked these streets, you'll know them inside out. You'll know these people. Once you've lived here, crossed this street 10, 20, 1000 times... it'll belong to you because you've lived there.'

To me that quote perfectly describes my time living in Aix. Anyways, it was just the perfect movie to watch with my friends at the end of such an amazing year and it already made me incredibly nostalgic!

Aix-ellent.

Although life in Aix-en-Provence can be frustrating at times (although to be honest it’s probably got more to do with the fact that I basically live in a student ghett… residence, and that my university is probably the most unorganized institution EVER) it is really quite a beautiful town and there are many things I love about living here. Since I will soon be leaving (destination: reality) I thought it might be a good idea to jot down some things I’m going to miss about “la vie aixoise.”

I will miss: the numerous boulangeries (“bakeries”) filled with things like baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolats and crème brûlée tartelettes; hearing French being spoken on a daily basis; SPEAKING French on a daily basis; being able to get everywhere in town by foot and thus basically never having to bother with any form of public transportation; having unlimited café choices (all with lovely terraces); going to Orienthé, our FAVOURITE tea house; seeing fountains every 5 minutes; the old-but-OH-so-charming-architecture; the façade of my school, and the fact that is in front of a gorgeous cathedral; the fact that even though Aix is a relatively small town there are at least 4 big cathedrals; seeing the extremely adorable 70-something Frenchman who sits outside my school most days selling paintings; the fact that said Frenchman eats the Frenchest lunch you can imagine (wine, bread and cheese) while sitting at his little booth; being able to buy 2 euro crêpes basically anywhere; 3 euro bottles of wine (that you can buy at the grocery store); never getting ID’d when I go out to the bar; passing the outdoor market in Place Richelme on my way to school; running into at least 4 people I know each time I go into town; basically never having to pay cover to get into a bar/club; spending sunny afternoons in Parc Jourdan, the beautiful student-infested park right in front of my residence; getting a pizza at the student cafeteria for 2.90 euro; the Place d’Albertas (amazing little square with a beautiful fountain, one of my favorite spots in Aix) AND the Sunday flea market.

So, even though living in Aix CAN be frustrating and even though there are several things I will not miss at ALL (shops being closed on Sundays; shops being closed from 12-2 every day of the week; trying not to step in the messes caused by people not picking up after their dogs…) there are definitely more things I will miss than not about living in the amazing city that is Aix-en-Provence.