Calanque Attaque!

These pics are from March 22nd, when my neighbor Elina and her friend Virginie took Steven and I to see the calanques in and around Cassis (just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Marseille). A "calanque" (pronounced ka-LONK, fun to say) is a little inlet along the rocky cliffs that meet the Mediterranean around these parts. We spent the day hiking and admiring the view. The trail is rocky and I've still got a couple of bruises from a little stumble. Oops! It's amazing that the calanques are so close to us. The U.S. has got some great geographical diversity, but sometimes I feel like France has just as much but in a much smaller area--not to mention the vast architectural differences. There's a reason why France is the most tourist-visited country in the world.

Short nap in the sun here

Elina admiring the view

In the grand tradition of putting up pictures of good picnic spots

The water is extremely clear and blue.

And now for a story! Anybody remember the fiasco of me missing a final exam? Here is a quick recap and conclusion to the saga:

I had a really nice professor last semester who taught History of Music in the Middle Ages. I was rather quiet in that class, and the professor always made a special effort to ask me if I had any questions or needed any help. I'd usually respond with something along the lines of, "Oh yeah. I'm getting everything," despite the fact that he spoke at lightning speed, and it all went through one ear and out the other without the slightest intention of being retained. Final exam time rolls around. The final exam is the only grade for the entire semester. There is no way I was going to pass it. Naturally, one of the many things I misinterpret during class is the date and time of the exam. The final exam is the only grade, I repeat, and I completely miss it. I frantically e-mail the professor to ask if I could turn in a paper or something make it up, and he replies, saying that he cannot accept outside work to replace the exam and will get back to me about what can be done. I did not hear back from him, and I "tried" my best to just ignore the situation until last week, at which point I reminded my program director about it, and she tells me that she will contact the professor to solve this snafu. She does, and notices that he is coughing a lot.  She asks him if he is sick. He says yes, and on top of that, he just broke his leg, and his fiancée just left him. The poor man! As for my problem, he says that I was a good student; I always came to class, and I seemed serious about my studies. He says it's not worth the trouble of me turning anything in or taking the exam. He'll just give me a 14. Out of 20. For a French grade, that's decent, and IU transfers it as an A. (In all three of my other classes, I received an 11, which transfers as a B+. Eh, could be better, could be worse.) That was seriously the most difficult material I have ever encountered in a class, I turned in absolutely nothing, took no exams, and just because the professor was a thirtysomething year-old softie who was impressed that take music classes at IU, I got an A. I am still celebrating this victory.