My Latest Adventure

Sadly, summer has come and gone much too quickly!
     I hope everyone has had an amazing summer full of memories and typical fun summer things.
Summer is not complete for my family without elaborate traveling, usually to see my family in Lebanon, with a few stops on the way to and from.
This year was especially special, as we were lucky enough to visit three amazing countries: France, Lebanon, and Italy!

Mandatory stop in the Paris airport, macarons from Laduree!!!

In this post I'll share my travels in France! Even though we spent almost 2 weeks in France last summer also, I'll never get tired of the lovely sights and smells of the south of France.  

Our first stop was in Paris, which was just to change flights and go south into Marseille to visit my aunt who recently moved there. Upon arrival, we went straight from the airport to downtown Marseille to walk around in the basking summer heat and explore the delightful urban port city. 

The streets of downtown Marseille

Marseille has a certain feel to it, very European and chic yet not as uptight as Paris. I guess the southerners are a lot more laid-back and like to enjoy the small things in life. 

The vieux-port

The unique thing about the Vieux-Port downtown area is that there's an urban and fancy area, surrounded with towering mountains and the glistening blue ocean and those yachts and sailboats roaming through. At the same time there is a citadel and some other awesome ancient architecture looking over the city. They literally have it all-in-one. 

Later that day, my aunt's family took us back to their amazingly quaint village home in the outskirt city of Aubagne, outside of Marseille by about 15 minutes. This village was just so small, with those winding small roads that can barely hold a smart-car. The houses are very Provencal, those bright window shutters and fruit trees, a very nice place to spend a hot french summer. We gathered up our picnic things and headed out to one of my favorite Cote-Azure cities: Cassis!

I went to Cassis last summer also, and ever since then that place has been burned into my memory . The crystal blue water with those bright but painful to walk on beach stones instead of sand. 

Cassis at the sunset

Cassis also has a marina and is very lively after dark. Sidewalk cafes, gelato shops, and artisan soap shops fill the streets, along with the olive trees lining the pathway and an ancient citadel towering over. 

We had an awesome beach picnic right there on those pebbles. My uncle grilled some Algerian sausage called merguez, with marinated grilled chicken drumsticks and thighs which i have to say were pretty dang juicy. A side salad of shaved carrots and thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with a bright lemon dressing to brighten up the grilled meats. Of course, we couldn't forget the fresh and flavorful baguette from the local boulangerie with an assortment of stinky and very french cheeses. For dessert was a decadent and super chocolatey chocolate tarte, which was almost too much chocolate for me! Unfortunately all of our delicious picnic was gone before i could get the chance to photograph it, but to say the least I was sitting criss-cross applesauce on those painful beach pebbles eating my heart out, especially after spending the morning eating horrible airplane food!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and that included our day in France, we went to sleep in my aunt's mini studio guesthouse listening to the french frogs, crickets, and cicadas making noises all night long as we got some rest in preparation for our next stop: Lebanon! 

In my next post  I will be sharing about my three weeks in Lebanon! 

a hilarious attempted panorama in which everyone in it looks like an alien