I spent last weekend having a smashing time in the nearby city of Marseille with my friend Hanna- Marseille is about 2 hours east of Montpellier by train. It’s known for having a lot of unemployment, immigration, and ugly streets. I felt RIGHT AT HOME!Calanques of Marseille

Having been a large commercial port city, Marseille is extremely diverse and sits right on the sea. The mountains, or “calanques” are pearly white and jet out into crystalline aqua water (cold and clear! like the brita). If you so dare (and we OH SO DARED), you can hike 2 hours or more through the French forest and mountainside, and climb down the stones to swim in the waters below. This definitely wouldn’t be allowed in the US - too many lawsuits waiting to happen, but in France - anything goes! If the old folks climbed down the rocks, so could I!Swimming. This is unreal. No it\'s real. Seriously.
I spent all day Saturday at an African Music Festival. It was held in an abandoned warehouse-turned-art gallery/musical hall/graffitti space/restaurant. I met lots of interesting French people, LOTS of Africans, and ate a lot of food. The music was amazing. The kids were running around crazy. There was an old man giving away free sweet tea.dancing all day long! MarseilleThis woman runs Couleurs Cactus - Citoyennete prise au sens Large. Sounds sweet, huh? Fete de Musique D\'Afrique