A la plage!

A friend and I took the train to the lovely Sète, a fishing town nearby. Today was a bank holiday, so we were free of classes and desperate to see the Mediterranean. 

We began our journey by heading to the top of the mountain to see the view. Here is a wonderful (shady) park we passed on our way up.

We had already thought we were half way up when we saw the stairs. Or rather we were hoping we were halfway up. It was a steep climb, resulting in much sweat and need of shade and water. The roads were dangerously steep. We joked that a biker would need an anchor, otherwise he would not be able to stop.

At last we gained our view. A gorgeous panorama of blue, sunny skies and the big blue sea.

Plus there was a breeze at the top, so that was a definite bonus.

The town erected this giant cross to lure more people to the top of their hill. Or in honor of all the bicyclists without anchors. I'm not sure which.

This is photographic proof that I was there. 

 On our way down we passed some very pretty houses and lots of beautiful flowers. The south of France has a rather Spanish feel to it. This is because nearby royalty married a Spanish princess, who had a great influence on the area.

Here is a cactus growing in France. For some reason I didn't think cacti grew in Europe. I'm not sure why I thought this. I suppose I always associated them with Mexico. But they exist in Europe, and my friend said you can eat the pods when they're ripe (apparently they turn orange).

This was an enchanting fence we passes. Trés charmant.  

After the long trek up and down the mountain we made it to the beach. That, my friends, is the luscious blue waters of the Mediterranean.  It was more brisk than I was expecting, but wonderfully refreshing. All the warnings had me worried, but there were only a handful of topless women. Though, the speedos were out in force, especially in the older generation.

 More photographic evidence that I'm not lying. You may notice something different about this picture. Well that would be:

This lovely towel I bought. Tis true, it's a towel that folds up inside itself and it even has straps. I thought it very necessary to my summer adventures here. 

The bus was too full and couldn't take any more passengers, so we ended up walking back to the train station. The view was pretty though.

I don't know what kind of tree this is but it's beautiful, so you should look at it.  

This is me trying to get into my own picture.  

Here is the center of town. A rather Venice feel to it, very close and fun.  

Probably my favorite boat in existence.  

A little Italian influence in the architecture.  

 This is me just so incredibly excited to be here. 

Another cool thing about this town is that they do boat jousting. Two boats each have a massive lance, then they row towards each other and try to knock each other over, into the water. I may have to come back for that.