Marseille, Lyon, the last days in Paris and new opportunities

Well, it's been a long time since my last post! Things have definitely busy so there is a lot to recount since my last post!

First, December 3, one of my roommates from last summer, Jake, came for a visit from Edinburgh! It was so nice to see a friendly WashU face and I had a really great time meeting up with him and his friend Lauren for some sightseeing and drinks.

The next day, I departed for an adventure in the south of France. Lauren (a friend from my program, NOT the Lauren who came with Jake) and I spent 2 days in Marseille and one in Lyon. It was cool to experience other parts of the country besides Paris. France varies greatly between regions and cities, and Marseille especially has a culture unto itself.

Our train pulled in at around 11 in the morning. Getting off the train, I was first struck by the gale-force winds. Little did we know that winter in Marseilles is dominated by the mistrals, HUGELY powerful winds that come off the Mediterranean and threaten to blow you all the way back to Paris. But despite the weather, we wasted no time dropping our things off at the hostel before heading out to explore the city.

My first impressions were definitely mixed. We made our way from the hostel (near the train station) through some of the more residential areas towards the touristy area around the old part. These real Marseillais neighborhoods were definitely different from anything I had seen in Paris. First of all, despite the flowery late-nineteenth century architecture and lovely Mediterranean colors, the streets were covered in trash. And when I say covered, I mean that cars were parked on a solid layer of collapsed cardboard boxes.

What was most shocking, however, was the lack of women in the streets. It's such an odd thing to remark upon. Walking down the street in Paris, or St. Louis, or Waconia, not once do I think about the proportion of men to women on any given stretch of sidewalk. But, here, it was really strange. I felt very out of place and I couldn't quite place why until I realized that Lauren and I were the only two women in the street. The only explanation that I can come up with is that Marseilles has an extremely large population of immigrants from the Maghreb, and, on many levels, functions like a North African city. Walk into any boulangerie in Marseilles and the standard selection is likely to be quite different from that in Paris. In addition to the standard baguettes, croissants and pains au chocolat, you have baklava, almond cakes, and an amazing selection of Middle-Eastern and North African sweets. Sure, you can find these things in Paris, but in Marseilles this is truly standard. The fact that we, as women, felt out of place wandering the streets unaccompanied by a man, even in broad daylight, is perhaps another manifestation of that cultural influence.

All in all, it was a really eye-opening experience. I feel like I left with a much better understanding of the tension between French and North African cultures. It was really enlightening to see a city like Marseilles, where the culture really is, predominately Maghrebien, and to contrast it with Paris, and even Tours, where many still hold strong to traditional "French" culture. It's so interesting to be in France at another so formidable time in the search for their national identity. Integrating Islam is a huge point of tension across Europe, as evidenced by Switzerland's recent decision to ban all further construction of minarets. And, although I live in one of the most diverse cities in Europe, until my trip to Marseilles I didn't really comprehend the profundity of those cultural differences and the real problems they pose.

After two days in Marseilles, we hopped a train for Lyon to celebrate the Fête de Lumieres. As much as I appreciated the things I learned in Marseilles, Lyon was much more my kind of city. Italian immigrants came to the city during the Renaissance to work in the silk industry, and their influence shows in the architecture, which is a very Florentine, with lingering hints of the gothic flamboyant style that was still dominating France. The buildings the beautiful oranges, yellows, and pinks of Tuscany and feature quite courtyards and traboules, enclosed walkways linking one building to the next. We took a historical tour of these traboules and courtyards, saw the Roman ampitheatre, and just enjoyed walking around the beautiful city.

At nightfall, we really stepped up our sightseeing game. The Fête de Lumieres started about 10 years ago, but the tradition that inspired it dates back to the 17th century when Lyon was hit by the plague. Townspeople vowed to honor the Mary if the town was spared. Ever since, for this celebration, people light candles in their windows and make their way to the Basilica of Fourvière to pay tribute to the Virgin. The tradition developed into a large festival with artists installing illuminated works throughout the city. We had a wonderful time watching the fireworks, running around the city to see as many installations as possible, and of course, enjoying street food.

Since I've been back, time has been flying by. I still can't believe that I leave Paris next Thursday. Luckily, Phoebe came to visit just as the semester wraps up. It was so nice to see her again, and I shamelessly exploited her visit for the opportunity to check some things off this semester's Paris to-do list. We went to the Institut du Monde Arabe and had tea in the Mosque de Paris. We saw the Venetien Masters exhibit at the Louvre, and generally had an amazing time. The highlight of her trip though was thanks to my host family--they threw me a surprise birthday party complete with two chocolate mousse cakes and a card that almost made me cry! It was extremely nice of them.

All in all, these last few weeks have made me realize what a wonderful opportunity this has really been. I got the chance to see new places and new cultures, to appreciate the diversity of this country and experience first hand the cultural tensions that exist within it. I got to live with an amazingly kind, caring, and fun host family that I am going to miss dearly. And I even had time to study a bit! Not to mention the fact that my French has improved dramatically--I've come so far I can hardly even remember what level I started at! In the beginning, adjusting to life in a foreign country was difficult. It was hard living in a new place. Honestly, I wasn't expecting there to be as many cultural differences as there were; I wasn't expecting to have to make so many adjustments. And, although I chose to concentrate on my accomplishments with the French language, there were definitely times when I found myself wanting to function in English for a change. At the end of the day I was mentally exhausted from functioning in a different language and according to different rules. Now it feels like I've finally gotten the hang of things and it's already time to leave. I'm done with my Sorbonne classes, my last two Sweet Briar finals are this week, then it's off to England and Scotland for some traveling before heading back to the states.

However, I go with the hope that I will return soon. I was lucky enough to have been awarded an internship at the US Embassy in Paris next summer! With any luck, the details will all work out and je reviendrai à Paris l'été prochain!

Bisous à tous!