Wet weekend, sunny Monday

We should've known better. The weather forecast for this weekend was rain, but I was skeptical: Friday's forecast called for rain, but there was none, so I hoped the weekend's forecast would be equally inaccurate.

Let's start at the beginning. Remember when I went to Arles and saw the bullfighting arena? Easter weekend was supposed to be a big celebration with numerous bullfights in Arles, so a few other students and I decided to go and watch. As with the trip to Marseille, we could use our Cartreize on the bus, meaning getting to Arles cost just €1 each way.

When I went before, it was a sleepy town of which I saw some ruins and the restaurant where I had lunch; our tour didn't allow enough time to see much else. On Saturday, however, Arles was transformed into a heaving city. Marching bands trumpeted in the little side streets, which were already packed with tourists from all parts of the world. Outside the arena were throngs of people standing in line to buy tickets and, eventually, watch the toreadors battle bulls. But, as you can see in the picture, the expectant crowds carried umbrellas; it was pouring with rain, just as the weathermen had forecasted. As such, la corrida that we had tickets for was postponed until Sunday at noon. Soaked and cold, we went back to Aix, hoping to return Sunday and finally see the taureaus.

I was quite optimistic when we got back to Arles and it was barely raining. Unfortunately, the event organizers decided the ground was too wet for a corrida and canceled it. Being Sunday in France, there wasn't another bus back to Aix until 5 p.m., so we saw some more of Arles and ate before returning from our wet weekend in Arles.

Monday, however, was a beautiful sunny day. To take advantage, we took the bus to Marseille—again, just €1. The beach was pretty far from where the bus from Aix dropped us off, so we then took a Marseille city bus from the Vieux Port all the way out to the Plages du Prado. The bus cost €1.70, but I noticed hardly anyone bought tickets; someone later told me not to bother because "they don't care" in Marseille. Not sure whether I'm brave enough to try that.

Either way, the beach was big and busy. It borders the Mediterranean Sea, and even though I didn't have a swimsuit, I waded in far enough to realize the sea is still freezing in April.

The beach is actually composed of tiny little pebbles instead of sand, but was still pretty comfortable. By the end of the afternoon it was absolutely packed with people swimming and sunbathing, and with due cause: it was warm! We had clear, blue skies and temperatures close to 70º.

We took the Metro back to the Vieux Port, rather than the bus, but ended getting there a little later than we meant to. As the next bus back to Aix didn't leave for another hour, we had ice cream by the bustling Vieux Port. All in all, not a bad way to spend Easter Monday.