During the February week off, some Erasmus friends and I went on a day trip to Martigues. We took the 39 bus from the main bus station in Aix to the end of the line where it finished in Martigues – using the same resident card as the bus to Marseille for a 4 euro …
Author Archives: ziwillis
Half way!
Being now halfway through my year abroad with just four months left to go, it’s an appropriate time to make an update of the best and worst of going on an Erasmus exchange. I’m at Aix-Marseille University in the beautiful town of Aix-en-Provence right in the heart of the south of France. I must confess …
Assessment System
The assessment system at Aix-Marseille can sometimes be a mystery, other times not – depending on how organised the class is and how much the teacher communicates with you. This here is an overview of how I was assessed for the modules I took for the first semester. Français langue étrangère C1 Unlike the B1 …
Monaco
I walked into a lecture and realised after 5 minutes that it was on every other week, beginning next week rather than this one. Rather than getting up with great embarrassment and leaving, I used the two hours to write another – if rather belated – blog post. Before Christmas, my dance partner Denis and …
Montpellier
The journey from Aix to Montpellier is approximately three hours long and includes a comfort break in Nimes. When getting Flixbus to Montpellier, the coach stop is quite far out of town at Parking de Sabines, but we were able to get a tram directly to the centre on ligne 2 with a return ticket …
Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël
During the October holiday I travelled to Fréjus by Flixbus to visit my friend Anne-Marie. Flixbus is a coach company that offers very good prices for travelling around Europe, which I knew about from when my friends and I travelled around Central-Eastern Europe in 2018. Anne-Marie is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the history of …
Encounter with Gilets Jaunes
On Saturday 16th November, the French protest movement gilets jaunes celebrated one year of protests. Ever since the first demonstration in November 2018, protestors have been demonstrating outside symbolic governmental sites in both major and minor cities, notably in Paris. It began in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed reforms which would cut taxes …
Bookshelf Picks
What literature student would I be if I didn’t share some books I’ve had the pleasure of reading since I’ve been in France? The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell A historical thriller set in early 19th century Nagasaki, this novel not only looks at the relationship between the Dutch East India …
La Route des Crêtes and Cassis
A Sunday afternoon at the end of October, Grace and I had the opportunity to join Dénis and a couple of his friends visiting on a trip to Cassis. To show off the stunning scenery of Provence to us non-locals, he took us on a drive from La Ciotat to Cassis along the Route des …
Two Afternoons in Marseille
The best piece of information you’ll ever discover as a resident of Aix under 25 years old is that with the free special card, the bus to Marseille is only €2. One Friday I took my first ever trip into Marseille, as my lessons are over by midday on Fridays – the perfect start to …
An Aixpat-en-Provence 