The pictures tell all.

After a day at the beach today and a day hiking and visiting in some local villages, I don't think there's any better way to demonstrate the beauty and variety of the South of France than some of the pictures I was able to snap this weekend.

Many of the villages are constructed like the one below, the first one we visited yesterday, as the close proximity and enclosure aided themselves in defending their villages during war.

Below, atraditional dessert from the first village we visited in Lubéron (and a brioche chocolat just to top it off). It was perfect to share among 5 of us and was the perfect balance of sugar and smooth dough. We also each pitched in to get a piece of our "pic-nic" lunch (shout out to Audrey for the act of "faire le pic-nic!")

The second village we visited, where we "avons fait le pic-nic," had an incredible view that reminded me of Galena, the prettiest place in Illinois, outside of Chicago.

Colleen, Dana (a Kappa! we just met yesterday but I already love her like a sister!), Audrey and myself, taking a break from the "Rocky"-like hike we took to go to our "place pour le pic-nic." We had our Rocky arms & the tune going to motivate us to hike, hike, hike!

Lunchtime!

The colors here simply took your breath away; it was amazing to see such rich reds, yellows, and oranges in an area surrounded by green-covered hills and mountains.

As cute as Brouillon is, imagine driving a "DC Trip" bus through the especially-tiny European streets...takes driving in Europe to a whole new level.

Back in Aix, Laura, Ali, and myself out after an always interesting night with our language partners.

Today, we went to Marseille for the beach because in the South of France, when school starts, you can still act like it's summer.

The backdrop behind today's beach. I was simply taken aback by the drastic different architecture in Marseille and Aix, who are almost sister cities because of their proximity and fluidity with each other.

"Pourquoi pas?,"or as Kelly might say, "seize the day!"