7 Days in Provence: Part 3

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Hidden Beaches in Calanques National Park

This morning, Ben and I set out for Cassis, a seaside town on the French Riviera. We were excited to get going and were on the road at 8am expecting an easy two-hour drive. But our first mistake was following my maps.me directions rather than Ben’s Google Maps directions. As we learned on the trip, maps.me gave us outdated routes, underestimated arrival times, and generally got us into pickles.

The first leg of the trip went smoothly. Driving through the winding country roads, Ben and I were in high spirits and there was little traffic. But as we approached the coast, we wound through narrow mountainside roads, and while the scenery was beautiful, my stress levels increased. Then the app took us into the heart of downtown Marseilles, which is the second largest city in France! I clutched the steering wheel as I navigated around pedestrians and had to figure out routes bypassing road blocks. 

And when we were finally able to enter Cassis, we found that our route was blocked due to a lack of parking. At that point, I was winding my way through steep streets in a beachside town with tourists, scooters and motorcycles darting in and out of traffic. And I was just done. Pulling off the road, Ben took the wheel and found a parking space. We paid the parking fee and decided to stick to our original plan, which was to go hiking in the nearby national park. And soon enough, once I was out of the car and walking, I felt much better. 

7 Days in Provence: Part 2

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Hiking Sainte-Victorie

This morning, Ben and I struggled to wake up early at 7am so we could go hiking at Sainte-Victorie, a mountain just outside of Aix en Provence about an hour and a half away from Ménerbes. Today I suggested that I take a turn driving, and right from the start I was nervous to be behind the wheel in a foreign country. But it was no problem at all to drive the twisty, turn-y roads and navigate the city traffic with Ben to help guide me.

When we finally arrived at Sainte-Victorie, it was nearly 9:30am, and we immediately took off on a long journey on the Sentier Imoucha trail, which was said to be a four hour round trip and “rather difficult.” When we headed out, we oohed and aah-ed over the bright blue water of the Bimont reservoir. We also got a little bit turned around and had to double back to find the correct entrance for the trail.

Over the course of the long and difficult ascent, I was reminded of my many hikes in Albania because the terrain was very similar. Like the mountains surrounding Permet, Sainte-Victorie was surrounded by a coniferous forest and its peaks were covered in scrubby Mediterranean bushes and pale, slate-like rocks that were slippery underfoot. 

Hiking on Bjelasnica Mountain

Saturday, May 11, 2019, 9:32pm

Meeting the Hiking Group

It’s been another amazing 12-hour day. This morning, Bri and I woke up early and headed out for our Bjelasnica Mountain tour, which took us from the village of Umoljani to the village of Lukomir. Our travel guide for the day was a cheerful and outdoorsy Bosnian man named Saudin. With a tanned face and easy smile, he was a talkative and easygoing guide, happy to share stories about his life in Bosnia, his views on politics, and his crazy friend who biked from Europe all the way to Japan!

Our other tour-mates were an Australian woman and two Americans from D.C. who were foreign service officers in training on a three-week trip to Sarajevo. We began our day with an hour-long ride out to Umoljani. The route wound through the mountains, taking us round hairpin turns and past adorable Bosnian villages. The whole group chatted easily in English the entire way to get to know each other better, only pausing our conversation when we arrived at the starting point of the trail.

But before beginning the hike, we stopped for a coffee (as one does in the Balkans). We parked near a restaurant overlooking the mountain valley and Saudin treated us to Bosnian coffees, which apparently differ from Turkish coffees in their preparation. According to our guide, Bosnians roast their coffee grounds first and then add water to give their coffee extra flavor. But for what it’s worth, it tasted the same to me. Saudin also taught us the proper way to drink Bosnian coffee with sugar cubes by dunking the cube in the coffee, taking a bite, and then taking a sip of the coffee while the sugar is still in your mouth.

Chasing Waterfalls in Plitvice Lakes National Park

Friday, May 3, 2019, 8:21pm

It’s been another beautiful day on the road! This morning, Bri and I woke up bright and early to go on a group tour of Plitvice Lakes National Park. Years before on a television show, I caught a glimpse of the amazing waterfalls of Croatia, and the program sparked an interest in Eastern Europe that took me all the way to Albania. Two years later (in a very roundabout way), I had the opportunity to live my dream and explore the national park!

When I began the morning, though, I wasn’t feeling especially excited or enthused about the trip. I was mostly feeling exhausted. Thankfully, I had a good two hour nap on the bus and was able to catch up on sleep. When I regained consciousness, we were far from the seaside and deep into the Croatian mountains.

The scenery was rocky and sparse due to the harsh winds, but as we neared the park grounds, the landscape became lush and green. Tiny villages dotted the countryside with houses with pitched roofs and farm animals. Croatia reminded me more of Italy than Albania as we drove further and further inland.

City Walls in Dubrovnik

With our Peace Corps service completed, my friend Brianne and I embarked on another volunteer tradition, the post-COS (Close of Service) trip! With plenty of time and enough money from our readjustment allowances to truly explore Eastern Europe, we set out on a whirlwind trip through four Balkan countries, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Serbia, and wrapped everything up in Istanbul, Turkey!

Sort of accidentally, the trip ended up becoming a tour of ex-Yugoslavian countries, and it was absolutely fascinating to learn about the history of war and Communist rule. So without further ado, here is the first leg of our trip, beautiful and scenic Croatia!

Monday, April 29, 2019, 8:43pm

Walking the City Wals

The seaside city walls

Happy first day in Dubrovnik! It’s a lovely Monday, and despite the bleak weather forecast, it hasn’t rained (knock on wood)! When we left for the morning, the city was still wet from the previous night’s rain, and the cobblestone streets were slick with water. The stairs were especially treacherous in our no-grip knock-off Converse shoes.