Il était une froid dans le Nord

This is now official, I quitted my current job last week at Maya Technologies in Aix-en-Provence for numerous reasons, partly because of the job itself, partly also because of the location. Mainly because I found a better job proposal in Grenoble (Back to the roots ?). At the end, I would have spent only three months down there in Aix. Enough to get a first bite of the place. What I really liked there was the landscape around Aix. Sainte Victoire, Calanques (pictures in a previous post), ... Such a playground! Despite a wet winter, I think I managed to take the best of it!

What I'll be back for sure for (as soon as the really spring will come):

• Climbing in Sainte Victoire or Les Calanques
• Biking around Aix
• Vamos a la playa ? Njää, not really!
• Garlaban, Sainte-Baume, ...

Also, I really enjoy the working place atmosphere between consultant co-workers! We'll keep in touch for sure. Professionally, I learned a lot of this experience (the worst experiences are the ones you learn the most of). I got a taste of the kind of management growing out of big companies. Inefficiency, forth and back changes, parallel work, hierarchical heaviness, ... Not something one would dream off. What's left is to find out a reasonable solution to work out with this as it will surely pop up again in the future! For this time I decided to throw everything away and quit! It will not always work! I definitely miss my old job on that point!

Looking towards the next steps: In the train on my way to Grenoble! Moving on (again ?). Starting next Monday (February 24^th) at EASII IC on radiation tests on electronic parts (cosmic rays, alpha particles, ...). Sounds really promising to mix up electronics with particle physics. Moreover, the company gave me a flat for the first month. Good point. Then I'm sure I'll find something nice (hopefully close to the train station... on the go, as always). Next on the list: An amazing training camp in Fontainebleau with Mulhouse and Stockholm clubs gathered (for the worst and the best :-) )

The nice thing with the south in winter is that you can be outside quite often, visiting, hiking, as I already mentioned it in the last post. Today I went to Les Calanques de Marseille, known place for climbers and nature lovers. I do include myself in the second group.

Today was the day, the perfect day to take the early train to Cassis, with a bottle of water, a sandwich and my running shoes. The plan was to go through the whole natural park from Cassis until Marseille. It's around 30 kilometers. The unexpected part was that it is also over 1000m uphill (and downhill then), even though you're always "close" to the sea (between 0 to 400m). Cassis, Port-pin, Port-Miou, En-vaux, Sugiton, Morgiou, Sormiou... Names I heard a lot of time. Now putting definitely a picture on it! I've been padding down there in the sea 3 years ago (yes, in summer, not in February!). A couple of picture below to give an idea. By 12 O'clock, people noticed it was a nice day to get out there, and it became really challenging to run/slalom between people in the afternoon! But at least it gave me some more strength until the finish line in Marseille (Callelongue) :-).

           

The first picture is the calanques of Port-Miou. On the second picture, Cassis and La Ciotat red cliffs in the background. The third picture shows the entrance to the calanques of Sugiton and Morgiou. And the last one Sugiton Calanque, in the sun, at lunch break!

I also had a couple of picture I wanted to share for a long time of Marseille (from November, ok, ok, ...). I went a couple of time in this city. There are a lot of different culture mixing up, and depending on the neighbourhood, you'll find everything. A nice change from Aix-en-Provence.

           
       

Almost two months I landed in Aix-en-Provence. Complete new town for me. I think I got a first smell of this town's spirit. Maybe not the most delightful (fully personal point of view).

Aix is the rich neighborhood of Marseille, with very high standards, expensive life and shops, and with some people I can't really manage to like yet. The city center is however really nice, with old narrow streets as usual south cities. The winter climate is perfect for outdoor activities, as long as it does not require snow... Biking, hiking, running, climbing all year round are common activities. But as soon as the beginning of summer will show up, this place will be over for me. The summer is reaaally warm there, and it will be the time for me to fly back to somewhere cooler. Who knows where...

Contrasting with Stockholm, it's a must-have-a-car place. Not really my cup of tea... Public transportation will take you towards a lot a places, but it will cost you a lot of time too. Even going to the supermarket is a pain in the *** without a car. So far I managed to survive without. Quite an achievement if you listen to the locals. Typical locals are dynamic/expressive/upset/upsetting/stressed/stressing/selfish people. Driving a car down there is really challenging if you don't keep it cool. The place's motto could be "Me and my car first". Really contrasting with Stockholm. Hopefully, not everybody living there is fitting this negative description. I did find really nice people of course. I'm having great time with my new co-workers and I'm getting contacts with local runners. Running, speaking about it! On the East side of Aix, there's a 20x5x1 km thing called Sainte-Victoire. Paradise of outdoor sports. A really technical terrain for running on the upper part, and nice singles for biking all around. Sun on top of it! My new playground:

           

Not far neither, the Calanques and Marseille (more coming soon). The beginning of 2014 will be devoted to a detailed inspection of the area, with hopefully more regular reports and pictures here.

Last but not least, work! French working habits are not quite the same as the Swedish ones, I got that for sure! I got hired by a company called Maya Technologies, originating from Grenoble, and working for a client in Aix on micro-electronics stuff, at least until end of February. We got quite a lot of animation lately through our window as one of the biggest companies of the area is closing down and firing all the employees. The whole area is blocked (no cars/bus in or out) and strikers (sweet France) are taking care of the grill for lunch, with trees/tables/ papers and tires as combustible.

Bon appétit, bien sûr!