Day 22:
Saturday, April 11, 2009: Today was our first excursion as a group. We went to Les Baux de Provence. The excursion was really cool but they basically tell us nothing of where we are going. We just get on a bus and we go.
We met our charter bus by the university gates at 9am. It was like an hour drive out into the paysage (countryside). We finally get there and it is an overcast day. Not too cold but when the winds licked up it was not fun. The Baux de Provence is these really old city ruins from like the first century AD. And the ruins are atop this huge mountain so they were protected. This was a catholic community so there were the ruins of a church and all these houses that were built into the side of the mountain – it reminded me of Mesa Verde in Colorado.
We explored for an hour and then they had a catapult demonstration for us. There were three replicas of catapults that were used to defend the town. I volunteered to help out so I could get a firsthand look at how it really worked. Not like the mini catapults we built in physics class senior year at all. Look for the pictures on Facebook and I will try to post some here or on my flickr account. So we catapulted huge water balloons. They demonstrated each catapult one time.
After that, we watched a short video of the sites and villages of Provence. We then had time for lunch and to explore the town that was there now – more for tourists than actually living in. I had pizza with ham. After lunch, it started raining. Our next attraction was the Cathedral des Images. Once again we had no idea what was here and why we were walking in the rain to get there. It was only a short walk away. They gave us tickets and pushed us in; still completely not knowing what to expect.
The Cathedral des Images is an old stone quarry in the side of a mountain. They cleared out all the stone and now it is like a huge cave with white walls and 50 foot ceilings. Well you walk into the darkness and find that it is a Picasso exhibit. They have created a show set to music and they project all his paintings 30 feet high on the walls. It was really cool but a little cold. It could have also made a really good night club with a laser show and strobe lights.
So after visiting there, we boarded the bus and our next stop was the little town of St-Remy-de-Provence. It was really cool and I wish we had more time there but people were complaining that they were cold and tired and wet. We did get to go to a chocolatier that is world famous? His name is Joel Durant or something like that… I met him too. After looking at hundreds of dollars worth of chocolate, I wanted to go look at $150 swim trunks at Villbrequin – I can look right?
So then we boarded the bus and headed home. We had to make a stop at the hospital because Christophe’s squeeze and assistant Katy sliced her hand and needed stitches. Her parents flew in today from Michigan and they were not with us.
I finally got back to my house and ate dinner by myself because the Zemmits went to Paris for a long Paques (Easter) weekend with their son, his fiancé, and their granddaughter. John went with some people that no one knew to Arles for the Le Ferida (bullfight). But it was cancelled because of the rain so they drank in the streets and came home later that night. Lance, Melissa, and Shawna came over and we tried to play French Scrabble but that didn’t work out too well so we just went to the discotheque instead.
(Google a bunch of these places – they are cool)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Day 20 & Day 21
Day 20 & Day 21
Thursday, April 9, 2009 & Friday, April 10, 2009: Since Thursday and Friday were basically insignificant, I decided to include them into one day.
Thursday, I needed to go to school early to print out my writing assignment. Well the students decided to strike again and so it was closed. Good thing I was not the only on that didn’t have it. I really like the writing class. Today we read a poem about people’s rights – fun things like the right to sleep late; it a creative writing class. And then we wrote our own.
I met with Katy and talked about my journal and then had four hours to kill. Zoe and I walked around the school a little and then we just sat in the courtyard on our computers – a sign we are not French. So then I had my oral grammar class. We learned all kinds of French slang and when and when not to use it. Really interesting, but she sped through it.
Thursday night, we went out. Melissa and I went to Lance’s then we went to the bar. We are trying to spend as little money at the bar as possible because we frequent it so often. We go to the grocery store after class and buy the 2E bottle of wine. Students have to economize.
So then we had early class on Friday morning. It was really boring – history. We watched another movie and he stopped it every five seconds and that’s when he lost me. The movie was black and white and silent as well. So then we listened to a song, which he kept stopping too. He handed out the lyrics and we went through it line by line. Really boring.
Then we had literature class. We talked about Marseille again. We decided not to go out because we had to get up early Saturday morning for our first excursion. I went to Lance’s to chill and was home and in bed by 11:30p.m. I’ve been in France for three weeks! Time really flies!
(Use “the Google”)
Thursday, April 9, 2009 & Friday, April 10, 2009: Since Thursday and Friday were basically insignificant, I decided to include them into one day.
Thursday, I needed to go to school early to print out my writing assignment. Well the students decided to strike again and so it was closed. Good thing I was not the only on that didn’t have it. I really like the writing class. Today we read a poem about people’s rights – fun things like the right to sleep late; it a creative writing class. And then we wrote our own.
I met with Katy and talked about my journal and then had four hours to kill. Zoe and I walked around the school a little and then we just sat in the courtyard on our computers – a sign we are not French. So then I had my oral grammar class. We learned all kinds of French slang and when and when not to use it. Really interesting, but she sped through it.
Thursday night, we went out. Melissa and I went to Lance’s then we went to the bar. We are trying to spend as little money at the bar as possible because we frequent it so often. We go to the grocery store after class and buy the 2E bottle of wine. Students have to economize.
So then we had early class on Friday morning. It was really boring – history. We watched another movie and he stopped it every five seconds and that’s when he lost me. The movie was black and white and silent as well. So then we listened to a song, which he kept stopping too. He handed out the lyrics and we went through it line by line. Really boring.
Then we had literature class. We talked about Marseille again. We decided not to go out because we had to get up early Saturday morning for our first excursion. I went to Lance’s to chill and was home and in bed by 11:30p.m. I’ve been in France for three weeks! Time really flies!
(Use “the Google”)
Day 19
Day 19:
Wednesday, April 8, 2009: Today was really fun! Shawna, Lance, Melissa, and I decided to go to Nimes for the day because there are no classes on Wednesdays. French students often have Wednesdays off but are required to go to school Saturday mornings – this might only be for grade school students. They also get a two-hour lunch break everyday because lunch is a huge custom in French culture.
And so we decided to meet at the train station for the 10:30am train. It was too early. We were all not ready to go by then and ended up missing the train. The next one didn’t come until noon so we had plenty of time to kill. Nimes is only a half hour from Avignon. The tickets were 8E per person roundtrip – the same as to Arles.
So once we got to Nimes, we decided to buy the city pass for tourists. Nimes is considered to be home to the largest collection of Roman ruins outside of Italy. It was founded as a retirement destination for Roman soldiers in 31 B.C. The pass cost us 7.50E and allowed us to see the three main sights in Nimes.
We began with the Maison Carree which looks like a Pantheon. There was a 3D movie about Nimes history so we did that. Afterwards, we decided to walk to the gardens and see the Tour Magnan: a lookout tower built by the Romans to keep watch for intruders. The gardens are on a hillside and really big. We spent a lot of time wandering around here before finally finding the tower. We climbed to the top for an excellent view of the city.
Fun fact: Nimes is known the world over for its production of jeans; thus came the name ‘denim’ literally meaning ‘from Nimes’.
We then found a place to eat before heading to the Arena. Our choice: McDonald’s! It sounded so good at the time but I think that, having only been out of the country for not even three weeks yet, I should have waited longer. It was 7E for the meal – almost double what it would be at home. It didn’t matter because it was well worth it. The McDonald’s was in a mall so after eating, we looked around for awhile.
We headed back to the center of town to spend time at the Arena. It was really cool. We climbed all the way to the top to get another great view of the city. We just sat here and walked around for a long time. Our train home did not leave until 8:30p.m.
We stayed at the Arena until it closed at 6:30p.m., then we wandered the city some more. The worst part about any city in France is that everything but restaurants and bars close at 7p.m. We found ourselves in the park with not much else to do but wait for out train home. Nevertheless, it was a great day.
(Google Nimes to discover more).
Wednesday, April 8, 2009: Today was really fun! Shawna, Lance, Melissa, and I decided to go to Nimes for the day because there are no classes on Wednesdays. French students often have Wednesdays off but are required to go to school Saturday mornings – this might only be for grade school students. They also get a two-hour lunch break everyday because lunch is a huge custom in French culture.
And so we decided to meet at the train station for the 10:30am train. It was too early. We were all not ready to go by then and ended up missing the train. The next one didn’t come until noon so we had plenty of time to kill. Nimes is only a half hour from Avignon. The tickets were 8E per person roundtrip – the same as to Arles.
So once we got to Nimes, we decided to buy the city pass for tourists. Nimes is considered to be home to the largest collection of Roman ruins outside of Italy. It was founded as a retirement destination for Roman soldiers in 31 B.C. The pass cost us 7.50E and allowed us to see the three main sights in Nimes.
We began with the Maison Carree which looks like a Pantheon. There was a 3D movie about Nimes history so we did that. Afterwards, we decided to walk to the gardens and see the Tour Magnan: a lookout tower built by the Romans to keep watch for intruders. The gardens are on a hillside and really big. We spent a lot of time wandering around here before finally finding the tower. We climbed to the top for an excellent view of the city.
Fun fact: Nimes is known the world over for its production of jeans; thus came the name ‘denim’ literally meaning ‘from Nimes’.
We then found a place to eat before heading to the Arena. Our choice: McDonald’s! It sounded so good at the time but I think that, having only been out of the country for not even three weeks yet, I should have waited longer. It was 7E for the meal – almost double what it would be at home. It didn’t matter because it was well worth it. The McDonald’s was in a mall so after eating, we looked around for awhile.
We headed back to the center of town to spend time at the Arena. It was really cool. We climbed all the way to the top to get another great view of the city. We just sat here and walked around for a long time. Our train home did not leave until 8:30p.m.
We stayed at the Arena until it closed at 6:30p.m., then we wandered the city some more. The worst part about any city in France is that everything but restaurants and bars close at 7p.m. We found ourselves in the park with not much else to do but wait for out train home. Nevertheless, it was a great day.
(Google Nimes to discover more).
Day 17 & Day 18
Day 17 & Day 18:
Monday, April 6, 2009 & Tuesday, April 7, 2009: Because Monday was so insignificant, I included it in Tuesday. Yesterday, the only cool thing that I did was go to the Rhone after class to work on a paper. I went with Lance, Zoe, Melissa, and Shawna. I discovered that there was wireless access there so naturally, little work actually got done. I went home and wrote the paper and did my homework after dinner. Also important to note, today marked the end of the students’ greve (strike).
Today (Tuesday) was pretty insignificant as well. The only interesting thing today was that after I returned home from 6 hours of classes, Jacqueline and Bernard had a friend and her daughter over for an aperitif. It was the daughter’s 5th birthday. The mother (I wish I could remember her name) lived in England for nine years and married an Englishman; the girl’s father. She could speak both English and French but was too shy for either.
We talked about American and French politics and when she had to go, she invited John and me over for an aperitif another time so that we could meet her husband. In France, it is a huge deal to be invited over to someone’s home.
Tuesday night, Lance and I went to the bar to meet Melissa’s correspondent. She was born in England to English artists who moved to the South of France to work and raise their daughter. She is 25 and bilingual. She wants to work as a translator or books after she graduates. She also has an American boyfriend and wants to move to the U.S. to live with him.
She was rather boring and not very social. So Lance and I kept drinking until the rest of our friends arrived later. We stayed at this bar for a while before moving to the Pub on Rue de la Republique – our usual watering hole. We decided not to stay out too late because we had plans for tomorrow.
(Use Google.)
Monday, April 6, 2009 & Tuesday, April 7, 2009: Because Monday was so insignificant, I included it in Tuesday. Yesterday, the only cool thing that I did was go to the Rhone after class to work on a paper. I went with Lance, Zoe, Melissa, and Shawna. I discovered that there was wireless access there so naturally, little work actually got done. I went home and wrote the paper and did my homework after dinner. Also important to note, today marked the end of the students’ greve (strike).
Today (Tuesday) was pretty insignificant as well. The only interesting thing today was that after I returned home from 6 hours of classes, Jacqueline and Bernard had a friend and her daughter over for an aperitif. It was the daughter’s 5th birthday. The mother (I wish I could remember her name) lived in England for nine years and married an Englishman; the girl’s father. She could speak both English and French but was too shy for either.
We talked about American and French politics and when she had to go, she invited John and me over for an aperitif another time so that we could meet her husband. In France, it is a huge deal to be invited over to someone’s home.
Tuesday night, Lance and I went to the bar to meet Melissa’s correspondent. She was born in England to English artists who moved to the South of France to work and raise their daughter. She is 25 and bilingual. She wants to work as a translator or books after she graduates. She also has an American boyfriend and wants to move to the U.S. to live with him.
She was rather boring and not very social. So Lance and I kept drinking until the rest of our friends arrived later. We stayed at this bar for a while before moving to the Pub on Rue de la Republique – our usual watering hole. We decided not to stay out too late because we had plans for tomorrow.
(Use Google.)
Day 16
Day 16:
Sunday, April 5, 2009: Today was excellent! I did nothing! I woke up and showered and had coffee and decided that since it was such a nice day, I was going to do my homework and read on the terrace.
I did grammar and Jacqueline came out joined me for lunch. I wanted to make up for missing dinner the night before so I made no plans for the day. We had a huge salad and pasta. The weather was so nice! She joined me on the terrace after lunch to lie out.
I read Marius by Marcel Pagnol for class and sunned myself. At one point during the day, it was 30°C! (84°F!) Melissa came over later for a while and we attempted to do homework but it was her first time meeting my host parents and we ended up talking most of the time and she got little done.
After she left, I read some more and then it was time for dinner. It was just Bernard, Jacqueline, and I because John was still in the Alps skiing. After dinner, I realized that I was sun burnt! Surprise surprise! I wrote in my journal after watching the news and called it an early night.
(Google.)
Sunday, April 5, 2009: Today was excellent! I did nothing! I woke up and showered and had coffee and decided that since it was such a nice day, I was going to do my homework and read on the terrace.
I did grammar and Jacqueline came out joined me for lunch. I wanted to make up for missing dinner the night before so I made no plans for the day. We had a huge salad and pasta. The weather was so nice! She joined me on the terrace after lunch to lie out.
I read Marius by Marcel Pagnol for class and sunned myself. At one point during the day, it was 30°C! (84°F!) Melissa came over later for a while and we attempted to do homework but it was her first time meeting my host parents and we ended up talking most of the time and she got little done.
After she left, I read some more and then it was time for dinner. It was just Bernard, Jacqueline, and I because John was still in the Alps skiing. After dinner, I realized that I was sun burnt! Surprise surprise! I wrote in my journal after watching the news and called it an early night.
(Google.)
Day 15
Day 15:
Saturday, April 4, 2009: Today, nine of us went to Arles! It is a small town on the Rhone about a 20-minute train ride from Avignon.
Originally, I had planned to go skiing in the Alps my first free weekend, but I did not feel like spending 12 hours round-trip on a train. There was also the money factor; I had the money but after spending quite a bit in Paris for spring break, I decided to take a break – something my Dad will like to read.
So seven in our group decided that they would be going to Arles for the day and Lance and I decided the night before that we would join them. Van Gogh lived and worked in Arles for 15 months, creating many of his most famous paintings.
I met Lance at the train station at 11:45am and we bought tickets for the 12:20pm train at 8E apiece. We found the train and were the only ones on it. Granted, we were early and it was Saturday, but where was everyone else? We stood around on the platform before boarding. Right before the train left, the girls got on at the last minute.
It was a gorgeous day; the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. When we arrived in Arles, we walked from the train station to the center of town. Arles is much smaller than Avignon but I think I preferred it. The day would show that it was friendlier and more fun than its neighbor. In a way, Arles felt a little like Athens (Ohio).
Van Gogh had a house on the road from the train station into town, but the Nazis bombed it during World War II and there is nothing to see. We arrived with no plans of what we were going to do but it was really nice to not feel pressured into running all over the city. We were able to take it all in slowly and at our own pace.
Because the group was so large, it was naturally going to split. There was no way that everyone was going to be happy as such a large group. I ended up being with Lance, Zoe, and Melissa. We found a spot overlooking the town where we took some pictures before leaving the city walls and exploring an old cemetery. Afterwards, we wandered around some more. There is a big open air market every Saturday on the main road but it was over at noon and we only got to see the cleanup.
We found the public gardens that Van Gogh loved and walked through town some more, making our way towards the Rhone. We stopped at a little Moroccan store filled with authentic gifts. We tried on shoes and looked around and kept walking. We found the Rhone and sat beside it to rest. We decided to wander back to the center of town and eat a late lunch. I knew that I would have dinner waiting for me when I returned home so we only needed something to hold us over until then. And so we had paninis in the street as we walked back to the center of town to the Roman Arena and met up with everyone else.
We hung out for a long time on the steps of the Arena before splitting again. The other group decided that they wanted to find a place for dinner; we chose to find a grocery store at which we would buy wine and drink in the public gardens like Van Gogh once had.
We relaxed in the gardens for about an hour and a half until they closed then we headed back to meet up with everyone else. Tonight was the first night of a carnival alongside the Rhone and as the sun went down, we decided to play there to kill time before our train home.
But the carnival was closed. So we loitered and made our way to the train station. After we arrived home, Melissa and I went to Lance’s for some drinks before returning home for the night.
(Google.)
Saturday, April 4, 2009: Today, nine of us went to Arles! It is a small town on the Rhone about a 20-minute train ride from Avignon.
Originally, I had planned to go skiing in the Alps my first free weekend, but I did not feel like spending 12 hours round-trip on a train. There was also the money factor; I had the money but after spending quite a bit in Paris for spring break, I decided to take a break – something my Dad will like to read.
So seven in our group decided that they would be going to Arles for the day and Lance and I decided the night before that we would join them. Van Gogh lived and worked in Arles for 15 months, creating many of his most famous paintings.
I met Lance at the train station at 11:45am and we bought tickets for the 12:20pm train at 8E apiece. We found the train and were the only ones on it. Granted, we were early and it was Saturday, but where was everyone else? We stood around on the platform before boarding. Right before the train left, the girls got on at the last minute.
It was a gorgeous day; the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. When we arrived in Arles, we walked from the train station to the center of town. Arles is much smaller than Avignon but I think I preferred it. The day would show that it was friendlier and more fun than its neighbor. In a way, Arles felt a little like Athens (Ohio).
Van Gogh had a house on the road from the train station into town, but the Nazis bombed it during World War II and there is nothing to see. We arrived with no plans of what we were going to do but it was really nice to not feel pressured into running all over the city. We were able to take it all in slowly and at our own pace.
Because the group was so large, it was naturally going to split. There was no way that everyone was going to be happy as such a large group. I ended up being with Lance, Zoe, and Melissa. We found a spot overlooking the town where we took some pictures before leaving the city walls and exploring an old cemetery. Afterwards, we wandered around some more. There is a big open air market every Saturday on the main road but it was over at noon and we only got to see the cleanup.
We found the public gardens that Van Gogh loved and walked through town some more, making our way towards the Rhone. We stopped at a little Moroccan store filled with authentic gifts. We tried on shoes and looked around and kept walking. We found the Rhone and sat beside it to rest. We decided to wander back to the center of town and eat a late lunch. I knew that I would have dinner waiting for me when I returned home so we only needed something to hold us over until then. And so we had paninis in the street as we walked back to the center of town to the Roman Arena and met up with everyone else.
We hung out for a long time on the steps of the Arena before splitting again. The other group decided that they wanted to find a place for dinner; we chose to find a grocery store at which we would buy wine and drink in the public gardens like Van Gogh once had.
We relaxed in the gardens for about an hour and a half until they closed then we headed back to meet up with everyone else. Tonight was the first night of a carnival alongside the Rhone and as the sun went down, we decided to play there to kill time before our train home.
But the carnival was closed. So we loitered and made our way to the train station. After we arrived home, Melissa and I went to Lance’s for some drinks before returning home for the night.
(Google.)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Day 14
Day 14:
Friday, April 3, 2009: Today we had to get up early for history class. It was fine. We talked about the Hundred Years’ War again. We watched a movie about Joan d’Arc and the prof stopped it every 5 seconds! It was awful!
We had another literature class in which we talked about the founding of the city of Marseilles. The prof had Rachel explain what virginity was… in French! After class, we bought more wine in preparation for the night. There was a rendez-vous with everyone’s French correspondents at a bar at 8pm. A little early.
We had dinner and Shawna and I went to Lance’s for a drink. We got to the bar at about 9pm because none of us had correspondents to meet there. Mine is in Marseilles this semester for an internship.
Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this but the university is on strike. Everything is closed. All the doors are blocked with desks and chairs. Students loiter in protest to new rules about to be imposed by Nicolas Sarkozy increasing the cost of attending university. Currently, it is completely free for anyone to receive a university education all the way up to the doctoral level. Students don’t even have to buy books. But Sarkozy wants to make France more like America and require students to cover part of the cost of their education even though taxes cover everything.
And so we got to the bar and Lance, Shawna, and I sat inside; away from the American. We met a group of French soldiers. They were headed to Afghanistan. They were very diverse. One was from Russia; another from Brazil; another from Estonia; the rest French. They were all about our age too. They bought the three of us drinks and we talked (in French) about the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. They hated George W. Bush and loved Barack Obama – us too. The Russian told me that he loved America because we were rich and Russia was very poor.
As it got later, we were ready to move to another bar… consensus – the discotheque! We drank on the way there and five of us went in. It was cool and they played a lot of hip French techno music. Youtube: Day N Night, Ca m’enerve, One 2.3 Four. We danced all night and headed home around 3am. Good thing I have a door to my room on the outside and I was very quiet coming home. It was a really fun day!
Google; Youtube.
Friday, April 3, 2009: Today we had to get up early for history class. It was fine. We talked about the Hundred Years’ War again. We watched a movie about Joan d’Arc and the prof stopped it every 5 seconds! It was awful!
We had another literature class in which we talked about the founding of the city of Marseilles. The prof had Rachel explain what virginity was… in French! After class, we bought more wine in preparation for the night. There was a rendez-vous with everyone’s French correspondents at a bar at 8pm. A little early.
We had dinner and Shawna and I went to Lance’s for a drink. We got to the bar at about 9pm because none of us had correspondents to meet there. Mine is in Marseilles this semester for an internship.
Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this but the university is on strike. Everything is closed. All the doors are blocked with desks and chairs. Students loiter in protest to new rules about to be imposed by Nicolas Sarkozy increasing the cost of attending university. Currently, it is completely free for anyone to receive a university education all the way up to the doctoral level. Students don’t even have to buy books. But Sarkozy wants to make France more like America and require students to cover part of the cost of their education even though taxes cover everything.
And so we got to the bar and Lance, Shawna, and I sat inside; away from the American. We met a group of French soldiers. They were headed to Afghanistan. They were very diverse. One was from Russia; another from Brazil; another from Estonia; the rest French. They were all about our age too. They bought the three of us drinks and we talked (in French) about the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. They hated George W. Bush and loved Barack Obama – us too. The Russian told me that he loved America because we were rich and Russia was very poor.
As it got later, we were ready to move to another bar… consensus – the discotheque! We drank on the way there and five of us went in. It was cool and they played a lot of hip French techno music. Youtube: Day N Night, Ca m’enerve, One 2.3 Four. We danced all night and headed home around 3am. Good thing I have a door to my room on the outside and I was very quiet coming home. It was a really fun day!
Google; Youtube.
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