No Profanity, Less Negativity

Cold weather and clouds make beautiful pictures!

I have neglected posting about my trip to the south because I haven’t really had many good things to say about France in the last week. However, before the guy on the metro attacked me, I had just gotten back from two weeks in Provence, on the coast around Bormes Les Mimosas, Le Lavandou and Toulon. It was great because I got to play in the water a lot and it was relatively inexpensive (stayed at a friend’s grandparents). However, the weather was not fantastic and the water was extremely cold, between 62-68 everyday. I don’t know if any of you have ever swam in water this cold, but let me tell you, it is really painful. And while there are no sharks (really, there are no sharks), there are a ton of jellyfish. None of this stopped me much; I got in the water everyday and enjoyed every minute of it.
View from the top of the old town of Bormes Les Mimosas.

I also got to experience nude beaches. I have been to topless beaches before, but never to nude beaches. It was quite….entertaining. I met a lot of people for the first time while they were naked. It is very weird meeting people and being introduced when they are naked. I was never naked so I always felt a little out of place shaking or kissing random nude men. One of the nude beaches, or rocks, we visited often was a gay beach and I felt like an anthropologist studying the gay man in his natural habitat. At first, it was a little awkward, but nobody ever really paid attention to me because I am a girl; in the end it was just another place to swim.


The views are fantastic in the south. There are lots of cliffs and bluffs and the water is amazingly clear. Besides a ton of jellyfish, I saw a squid, countless types of fish (even anchovies), and a lot of gold sand. I was literally a gold dust woman most of the time there.

The food was also amazing! My friend’s parents and grandparents fed me a ton (not exactly a good thing when bathing suits are involved), but we also ate mussels two nights. I love mussels, and these were fabulous. An old lady who calls herself “Grandma Mussels” cooks them in a roadside stand; you just take your pot to her and she fills it up.

I always love trips to the beach because I love the water. If I could pick anywhere to live in the world, I am pretty sure it would involve a beach. This trip was really special because I got to spend two weeks just going to the beach and hang out with my friends.

I will have to post more pictures in my next entry because blogger won't let me put anymore in this one.