Fête du Citron

A couple years ago, I stumbled across a picture on the internet of some crazy sculptures created with lemons and oranges. It seemed weird but fun. I thought about this picture for a couple years, thinking it would be fun to check it out but never having the opportunity since it was a festival in a little town in the south of France on the French Riviera. Forward to this year, and I finally made it!

What I'm describing to you is the Fête du Citron (Citrus Festival) that is held in Menton, France each year around the time of Carnaval. The small city is known for its micro-climate in which citrus fruits grow at an alarming pace. What does the city do with the extra lemons and oranges? Well they put on a festival with enormous citrus sculptures and a parade.

Every year, the festival has a different theme. This year, for their 85th anniversary, the theme was Bollywood! Sculptures had themes related to Bollywood such as elephants, Indian dancers and a Buddha. The parade performers all had elaborate costumes and floats covered in citrus fruits as well.

Confetti galore!

While the event goes on for two weeks and the sculptures can been seen at any time, the parade only occurs on Sundays. Other special events also go on other days and times. The entire festival also coincides with Carnaval, which can be experienced in nearby Nice and other surrounding villages.

My advice for a nice visit to the Fête du Citron, arrive mid-morning on a Sunday to see the sculptures in the morning. Grab a bite to eat (like some lemon and ricotta ravioli - to die for!), and stay for the parade (called Corsos des Fruits d'Or) that starts at 2:30 pm. It goes on for about an hour and a half, so it'll be time for happy hour on the beach when it's done. Enjoy!

Menton has a beautiful beach on the French Riviera

Arles and the Camargue

Back in July before leaving for a month in the U.S., I went on a great camping trip with friends outside of a city in the south of France called Martigues.  Our camping spot was right along the Mediterranean in the path of the hot, summer sun and strong Mistral wind.  After the holiday weekend, everyone was planning to return to Grenoble, but since I was on summer break, I decided to continue travelling so I found myself in Arles for a few days on my way back. With 3 days/ nights in Arles, I discovered that there was really a lot to see and do.  I really enjoyed my time there...  Let me tell you about some of the highlights.

Ancient Roman Theatre in Arles

The Monuments and Museums

Arles is home to a plethora of Roman monuments including an arena, ancient theatre, forum and more.  Our tickets included a free tour of the arena, and this was my favorite stop.  I learned that the arena was home to gladiators and the such, but was also filled with houses at one point before being restored to the arena you see today.  The monuments and museums are really the big TO DO of Arles, as there is so much to see.  I'd suggest buying the tourist pass which lets you into a selection of historical places.

Le Cloître St Trophime

Bull Race/ Run (La Course Camarguaise)

It is tradition in Arles to show off the strength and intelligence of the local bulls.  Bulls are raised on farms and in the wild in the Camargue, a natural park.  On the evening that I arrived, there was a Course Camarguaise which the tourism office suggested I see since it is known as the local sport.  The race begins with the "runners" entering the arena dressed in all white.  Soon a bull is let in with them.  The goal is for the runners to take a trinket from between the bulls horns.  Sometimes they run towards the bull, and there is a lot of jumping out of the arena as the angry bull charges.  The bulls are not harmed physically in any way, though I was a bit uncomfortable to see how frustrated they became.  One bull kept jumping out of the center arena into the surrounding circle to escape the center area. Despite this, the spectators (a significant number of locals and what seemed to be family members of the runners) were enjoying themselves and kept ooh-ing and ah-ing as the performance went on.  An interesting fact is that for each bull race, one local farmer is selected to bring his bulls for the night's festivities.

City of the Camargue

Arles sits at the very northern tip of the Camargue, which is a park which is a UNESCO designated natural reserve.  It is famous for its wild white horses, bulls, and pink flamingoes.  With an hour bus ride, you can go to Saintes Marie de la Mer, a tourist village along the Med coast with nice beaches and opportunities for horse riding.  I spent a day here, and while it was very touristy, enjoyed myself and the beautiful scenery.

Van Gogh

After getting burnt out in Paris, Vincent Van Gogh came to the south of France to recover.  Although he ended up admitting himself to a psych hospital, he spent part of his southern journey in Arles where he painted many of his famous works.  It is considered one of his most productive periods.  One work called "Night Café" shows a café in Arles lit up in the evening. There is a small museum and walk you can do to discover more about Van Gogh's relationship with Arles, but I thought it was simply cool to have the understanding that I was walking in the footsteps of a great artist whose works inspire me.

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Eat: Jardin des Arts - There were many delicious restaurants in Arles, but this was my favorite with it's homemade ravioli filled with two kinds of fish, wrapped in squid ink pasta dough, and covered in a salmon and tomato sauce.  They didn't have any starters, which was a bit odd, but there main dishes and desserts were all that much better.

Do: Go to the tourist office and buy a tourist pass to visit the monuments and museums.  You can visit up to 5 places and save lots of money compared to individual tickets. I ended up only visiting 4 places because I ran out of time, but it was still very worth it.

Tourist Trinkets: Salt from the Camargue, Lavender products, Soap from Marseille

Séjour in Sète

After the Perpignan wedding, I wasn't in any hurry to return to Grenoble as I don't have much work at this point in the year, so I decided to spend a couple nights somewhere new.  After consulting a map, I randomly chose the city of  Sète.  This turned out to be a wonderful choice. While I didn't know much about Sète before going, it's quite well known for a few things.  

Canals

Sète is sort of a Venice of France.  There are canals throughout this port city.  It's very pretty to walk along the canals and see the boats.  I spent both nights having dinner at restaurants along the canals.  Being along the coast, seafood was the perfect choice and during my two days in Sète, I ate fish soup, stuffed mussels (a specialty of the city), little fried fishes, seafood pasta, and moules-frites.  There were some very affordable restaurants with three course menus for about 16 euros.

Beaches

A short bus ride away from the port and town center are some really excellent beaches.  I tried two.  I think I had perfect timing before tourist season really picked up and I found the beaches to be not too crazy.  I also really liked that the sandy beaches had a gentle incline into the water.  I went quite far in, all the while being able to touch the bottom.

Oysters

Sète has an interesting location.  The city is a major port and is on the Mediterranean.  However, a short stretch of land separates the Mediterranean and a very large lagoon (L'etang de Thau).  It is in this lagoon where fishermen farm oysters, and it is very important for the economy of the region.

Those are the oyster beds you see in the distance.  This pic was taken from a hill overlooking Sète.

Jousting

Yep, I said jousting.  This is a local tradition that takes place during the weekends throughout the summer and culminates in a six day festival in August.  Participants are on two boats and wearing all white.  There are ten people rowing, two musicians, one guide, and about five jousters per boat.  The boats row toward each other and the jousters try to knock each other off into the water with their lance.  They also carry heavy wooden shields to protect themselves. Each festival day ends in a victor who hopes to later win the ultimate St Louis Festival in August.

The fishermen row the boats parallel to each other and the musicians play a type of flute and drums.

The jousters face off.

The loser  gets knocked into the water!

Mesa Verde and Canyons of the Ancients

Hello kind readers!

As you may have noticed, I'm catching up on a few blog posts.  I recently took almost a year's worth of pictures off my camera and found some gems hidden in the more than 1,000 unseen pictures.  There are a few events and places I'd like to share with you even though it was a while ago now, so let's continue! Next up is southwestern Colorado.

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During the winter, I took the long journey home, traveling more than 24 hours from Grenoble to Denver to go home for the holidays.  I've been realizing more and more how much I love being home with family during this time of year.  It is truly a special time.

After the festivities of Christmas, and before welcoming in the New Year, my family and I drove to southwestern Colorado for an adventurous getaway.  Our main destinations: Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Wolf Creek Ski Resort.

Mesa Verde is best-known for its cliff dwellings where the Ancestral Pueblo people built villages into the sides of steep cliffs.  These people called this area home between AD 600 to 1300, and then seemed to disappear, leaving little to no clue where an entire people could have gone.  The national park protects and continues to study these cliff dwellings and various archeological sites.

I found this area to be very interesting, marveling at the thought of climbing a cliff to go home.  With the help of the archeologists and the park, the cliff dwellings are kept in quite good conditions.  While not able to enter the cliff dwellings in winter, we saw them from afar and even had a hike along a snowy road where we saw wild horses and observed the aftermath of a forest fire.

Next up was Canyons of the Ancients National Monument where we went for a muddy day hike.  The area is protected by the Bureau of Land Management and includes hiking trails and one of the highest concentrations of archeological sites in the U.S.  We took a long hiking loop across red rocks, through muddy pits, and with incredible views of rock formations and reaching landscapes.

Coming to the end of our getaway, we brought in the New Year with some powder at Wolf Creek, a nice little ski resort that wasn't too crowded and quite affordable, and a few hours of hot springs on our way home.  

It was a fun adventure to an area I had never been.  I learned more about the history of my home state and continue to be fascinated by its beauty, history, and culture.  I would absolutely recommend this area to any visitors wanted to know more about southwestern Colorado.

Mesa Verde Cliff Palace

A view into the dwellings

Wild horses in Mesa Verde

Hiking in Canyons of the Ancients

Rock formations in Canyons of the Ancients

Yes it was winter, as you can see in this shot taken on the drive home.

Sunny Southern Getaway

On Friday, I had my last departmental meeting at the university.  We gathered to officially approve the final grades for a last test that some students took.  Afterwards, my coworkers and I shared a potluck meal and celebrated the send-off of our director who is moving to another department next year.  It was a fun time, made all that much better knowing that I'll be coming back to continue another year as an English teacher at Université Grenoble-Alpes.  That's right! I just picked up my contract today and am working on my visa renewal to stay another year in Grenoble and in the same job.  It's been a bit of a tough situation for paperwork with my renewal, but I think it's worth it.  I find the job very rewarding and interesting.  I quickly grew to love Grenoble, which I fondly say could be Denver's equivalent in France with interesting and fun places to go in the city, all the while with easy access to the mountains and nature.  I've also made great friends this year, many of whom are returning next school year too.

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With summer on the horizon and a standstill for contract/ visa paperwork (until today), I decided to take a quick getaway starting Saturday.  In 2012, I studied in Aix-en-Provence and I hadn't returned there since.  It seemed like a nice opportunity to revisit the place I had called home for four months.  So, I found a cheap bus ticket and soon found myself in Aix on Saturday afternoon.  I met up with a Grenoble friend for coffee/ tea and wandering the streets.  I quickly saw that some things had changed while much remained the same.  I visited Aix's fountains, the winding streets, and yellow and orange buildings.  I walked past the cathedral sitting directly across from where I went to class and took familiar routes as if I was having déja vu.  

La Rotonde - Aix-en-Provence

Since my getaway was a bit of a last minute decision, I couldn't find too many good available hotels, and decided to try Couchsurfing.  Couchsurfing, if you don't know, is an online community of travelers where like-minded people offer a place to stay, a partner in crime for adventure, and the opportunity to find new connections in different cities.  I was hosted by an American guy living in Aix who is doing an internship to complete his Masters program.  His roommate was away so there was a spare bedroom all for me.  He was very kind and we hung out my first night in town, had dinner on a restaurant terrace, and went for a drink with his friends.

Mont Saint Victoire from the apartment window.

On Sunday, I was in the mood for a hike, and the place to do that in Aix is Mont Saint Victoire, the famous muse of the painter Paul Cezanne.  After a quick stop at the shop (I forgot to pack socks!), I caught a bus to the trailhead.  I took a trail up the back side of St. Victoire that was quite steep and winding.  Every so often, I could see the cross at the top peek between the trees.  It took a bit of effort, but eventually I made it to the top for an incredible view over the Provence countryside and Aix-en-Provence.  Feeling adventurous, I took a different route back that was less steep but definitely hotter with more sun.  This route lead back to an incredible blue lake held back by a large dam.  

Once back in Aix, I was feeling a bit hot and tired, so I rewarded myself with an ice cream and a little meandering before calling it an early night.

Heading down the ridge from St. Victoire

Looking back from the dam.

The next morning, I was continuing my adventure.  Before leaving Aix, I stopped by a crepe shop I had discovered during my studies for a delicious spinach and goat cheese crepe for lunch.  Then, I hopped on a bus and headed to the small coastal village of Cassis. 

Port of Cassis

Cassis was a special destination where I was meeting a couple friends from Grenoble that were cycling there.  But it was early and I had some time to spend.  I checked into my cute hostel by the port and went to explore.  I walked through the little streets, but quickly headed for the boats and beach.  Seeing that the main beach was really busy, I decided to continue on for a nice view up the hill and go to another rockier but more empty beach.  I was sidetrack by a soap shop along the way that gave a free little tour of their production space.  It was interesting learning about the different kinds of soap for the area as well as what goes into them.  I bought myself a little lotion that was promised to help skin conditions for everything from sunburn to acne.  So far, I have to say that it's lived up to its promise!

Beautiful beach stop.

Eventually I made it to the beach where I lounged in the sun for a couple hours.  Unfortunately, the water was much too cold to swim, but I was enjoying my time in the sun a lot.  Around that time, my friend called to say that the two of them would be arriving in the next hour or two.  I lazily packed up my things and headed back to my hostel for a quick shower and then walk along the port at sunset before meeting them for dinner and a football (soccer) match.  English and Iceland were playing in the Eurocup and it was a big game! The tiny country of Iceland won.  

Cassis at sunset.

The next morning I enjoyed breakfast on the terrace of my hostel before packing up my things and joining my friends at a different hostel where we'd be staying the second night.  There wasn't room for us the first night, but one of the friends I was with had worked at this hostel years ago and maintained a good relationship with the owner so we wanted to spend some time there.  I do have to say that this was the best hostel I've ever stayed in hands down.  It's the Cassis Hostel if anyone is wondering... It has a lot of character with books, eclectic decorations and travel ideas as well as a big kitchen and great outdoor patio.  However, the best part was the infinity pool looking over the bay! 

My friends and I decided this was a perfect day for another hike and we headed to the Calanques.  Described to me as somewhat like a fjord, the calanques are a series of inlets with crystal blue and green water surrounded by towering cliffs.  We explored the first three calanques, before giving into the sun and returning to find some water.  It was an absolutely stunning hike and a beautiful part of the world.  

The Calanques

Getting back into town, we stopped for ice cream (a scoop of salted caramel and a scoop of Snickers for me), then went to the store and bought the fixings for a delicious Mexican themed dinner that we made at the hostel.  It ended up being a great night with lots of food, delicious drinks (mojitos!), and talking with other travelers staying in the small hostel.  It was a perfect four-night getaway in the sunshine.  I can't wait to go back.

New Year's in Moab

This year, I did something a little different over New Year's... I went to Moab, Utah!  Now I had heard good things about Moab, and it seemed like a fun place to go, but I was also a little hesitant to see what the weather and opportunities would be like in winter.  I have to say that IT WAS PERFECT!

Canyonlands National Park

We took a long, but nice, drive from Denver to Moab in about 6 hours, with a stop for lunch in Glenwood Springs.  The drive was interesting and varied as it went through the Rocky Mountains and winded through canyons before opening up to rocky, weird hills with mountains in the distance in Utah.  Once in Utah, we stayed at a fancy-schmancy condo complete with hot tub and beautiful kitchen found on VRBO (a site similar to AirBnB and the like). 

Canyonlands National Park

The day after our arrival was our first real adventure.  We went into Arches National Park (which is only one of the 4 parks in the area).  We were all excited and impressed by the scenery of red and orange rocks, spires, arches (duh!) and snow-covered mountains in the distance.  My brother was overcome with excitement... Once in the park, we found the first pull-off stop to overlook Arches.  My brother and the rest of us got out of the car and cameras in hand, went to take our first stunning pictures of the trip.  Well it wasn't until we returned to the car that we all realized just how excited my brother was... he had left his car without even thinking to close the driver's door, simply jumping from the car and running to see the view.  Needless to say, we all had a good laugh!

Balancing Rock

Arches is really a magical place.  The sun lit up the rocks with the most beautiful colors.  We enjoyed being tourists and stopping at all the overlooks and main sights, including the 3 Gossips and Balancing Rock, before heading to the start of our hike.  Our hike took us to see 5 or 6 different arches, each unique and awe-inspiring.  There was some snow on the ground, but thankfully we were prepared with extra traction to attach to our shoes.  That allowed us to scramble up some icy bits of rock.  It was the perfect introduction to Arches and Moab.  

Top of the world in Arches National Park

The next day we had met up with some friends and made our way to Canyonlands National Park, also a 15 or so minute drive from Moab.  With the recommendation of the visitor's center, we went to the most incredible overlook hike, where we walked along the cliff edge that overlooked the expansive canyons.  From up high, we could see the layers of rocks that had been formed into canyons and spires in the distance.  After that shorter hike, we had enough time before the sun went down to go to the other end of the park and see a mysterious place, almost like a crater but with piles of different colored rocks from the surrounding area.  The informational signs couldn't give a sure answer, so we're left to wonder how it could have happened. 

Petroglyphs

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park - Can you see who's hiding underneath the rock?

Day 3 (New Year's Eve)'s adventure led us not to a national park, but along the Colorado River.  Driving through the canyon next to the river, our attention was directed to the rock wall where petroglyphs, some as old as 2000 years, were casually placed.  Without the information sign saying "Indian Art," we probably would have missed the experience entirely.  The first petroglyphs were a little hard to spot, but once we saw them, more kept popping out.  They were incredible.  Just think of all that history!  After the petroglyphs, we went to hike to Corona Arch.  This was another beautiful and unique arch with an interesting hike where we had to climb a ladder and walk past hundreds of cairns (rock stacks).  Even after all this excitement, my brother and I were still ready for more, so we separated from the group to go spend the last couple hours of daylight in Arches to see a couple more areas we hadn't previously experienced.

Corona Arch

Adventurous hike to Corona Arch

Turret Arch in Arches National Park

After a game night for New Year's Eve, we celebrated New Year's Day with a delicious brunch and mimosas, complete with champagne brought from France (ok, from the duty free shop in France).  My mom and I decided to take it a little easy and hike at our own pace.  I decided that I really wanted to see Delicate Arch, probably the most famous arch as it's on the Utah license plate.  So, the two of us drove into Arches and took this hike.  I was an interesting hike across large expanses of rock, with interesting people such as the older Asian man with 3-inch cramp-ons.  This hike was the perfect way to end our last day in Moab.  It really brought forth the awe and wonder contained in such a magical place.  I know that someday I'll be back; it gave me such an indescribable feeling of magic that I get when I'm in the heart of nature looking at the world's wonders.

Delicate Arch with mom

 

 I wish everyone a Happy New Year full of adventure, health, happiness, friends and family.

Delicate Arch - the symbol of Utah