Aix-en-Provence, c’est la France! This town really is very charming, and feels almost exactly as you’d expect a small-ish southern French town to feel. We spent all morning browsing the street markets. Lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and handmade soaps, jewelry, and clothes for sale. We picked out some cherries and strawberries to go with our assorted breakfast pastries, which we ate on the steps of Palais du Justice.

In a search for genuine savon de Marseille (soap), we walked all through and around the old city and its narrow, winding roads. Sadly, it’s not an entirely pedestrian zone, so we had to look out for cars every now and again. Even for a Monday morning, everything seemed quite bustling, at least until lunchtime when everything temporarily closed down (except restaurants, bien sur). After 15 minutes of sniffing, Katelyn finally managed to choose and buy some (well, a lot of) soap from one of the market vendors. Smells like a souvenir to me!

The five of us stopped for Geraldine’s birthday lunch at a cozy café, where we partook in the three course menu du jour. Very tasty, especially dessert—there was no hesitation when Jen asked for help finishing her chocolate mousse. After lunch, Greg went back to Marseille to get tomorrow’s bus tickets (the office was closed yesterday), while we hit up the Monoprix with Geraldine to help her choose booze for the big party later.

Shortly after 21:00, Geraldine’s friends started arriving (fashionably late, of course) to help her celebrate the big 21. About half were fellow exchange students (Americans), and the rest clearly spoke English as a second or third language (by this point, Greg and Nick’s French skillz became decreasingly impressive, borderline embarrassing). Overall, there was much merriment and Geraldine’s fancy hors d’œurves went over well.