Rendez-vous a Marseille

I skipped school today! But it was a necessity. Today was my visit at the doctor's office in Marseille for my visa. I slept in a little late, and after my breakfast and morning routine, my host mom and I left. We stopped a little before Toulon at the centre commercial that I visited the other week. This was about the halfway point of our journey. We decided to take advantage of our morning by doing some shopping. I was in desperate need of a heavy coat. I didn't bring too many winter clothing items because they're bulky in a suitcase, and I figured I'd do some shopping once I got here. I'm now happy to say that I have a coat for winter and another lighter jacket, a shirt, a hat, and a scarf. Alors the morning was a success. We grabbed sandwiches at a kiosk in the mall (mine was tomato, mozzarella, and pesto on olive bread... so good!) and then were back on our way.

By a gracious stroke of luck we found the road that the Office of Immigration and Integration is located on. Marseille is a very big city. I didn't get to see too much of it today though. Oh, did I mention it was raining today? That will come into play later...

So we found the office and went up to the counter, checked in.. blah blah blah. I waited and waited. A lot of Americans were there. A group of young adults, I think with a university, were there together. I talked to a guy from Morocco that was coming to a university in France. I had to get a chest x-ray (which I got to keep as a souvenir :D). Then, I had a visit with the doctor and talked to him for a minute. Following was a talk with a nurse who weighed me, took my height, and gave me a little eye exam. A routine check-up. I'm healthy! Thank goodness, or else they would have not let me stayed. We returned to the receptionist to wrap everything up. Unbeknownst to me was the fact that I was supposed to bring a passport photo for my form. My host mom overlooked this too so we had to go to the nearest metro stop to one of the photo booths. This was easier said than done because it was absolutely POURING down rain. It was ridiculously funny how much it was raining. Thankfully the metro stop was just at the end of the street, not too far away. We stepped out into the sheet of rain, and in seconds we were both completely soaked. The wind was hammering the bullets of water into our faces. I gave up on avoiding puddles after my shoes became filled with water. We both just started laughing as it came down harder and harder on us. After asking a few people if we were heading in the right direction, we made it to the shelter of the underground. I took a lovely picture looking like a wet dog, but it was just for my medical paper so I wasn't too concerned. I think I have five more copies of it though. We traversed back to the office, trailing water behind us and finished everything. Back into the rain we went to get to the car. The water was just up to the bottom of the car door when we returned. I quickly hopped in, and my host mom blasted the heat to dry us off and keep us warm. I don't mind being in the rain... what I hate is the feeling of my jeans being soggy and stuck too me. I took my shoes off when I got in the car and poured a little water out of them. The jeans, however, I was stuck in. The traffic was a little heavier on the way back home. We left right around five o'clock and got home at about seven thirty. The sky was gray from the beginning of the trip home and then turned black a little before seven. The rain came and went. Right before coming into Cavalaire from Toulon there is a long stretch of road that winds around the coastline. It is an absolutely beautiful drive with perfect ocean views from the tall cliffs above. It's a bit scary on a bus... it's a little less than terrifying in a car when the visibility is almost zero because of the thunderstorm. I was a bit on edge in the wet darkness, but I made it back in one piece.

Tonight on the news one of the stories was about the terrible rain in the south of France today, particularly Marseille.