So lots of awesome things have happened since the last time I posted, I'll try to recount them in chronological order, as best I can!
Let's see, the weekend of October 24 was the start of Toussaint holiday for the French. They have so many holidays, it's ridiculous! I was kinda jealous, because everybody but the CUEF (where I go to school) was on vacation. So anyways, at least our program did get to take an excursion that weekend. We left early Saturday morning for Provence, and after a week of miserable rain and cold, I finally got some good weather! We went first to Aix en Provence, and it was so incredibly charming there! The buildings were all made from this gorgeous yellowy golden stone that comes from a nearby quarry, and the color contrasted perfectly with the beautiful blue sky. Listen to me, I'm going all poetic on you, just thinking about it!
We took a tour of Aix, and then went to Cezanne's studio (actually quite boring- they don't have any of his actual artwork on display) and then we had the afternoon and evening free. At first, we were sooooo tired, so we went back to the hotel with the intentions of taking a quick nap. But then when we got there, we discovered a tv, so we watched French game shows for an hour or so! They are so funny! It just cracked me up how each time a new player would come on the show, or each time somebody would win, they would "faire la bise" with everybody.
After resting a bit, we went out to get dinner. We walked all over town, looking for a place to eat, and in the meantime, got another view of the city at night. Aix is very much a college town, and you can tell! There were tons of bars and pubs, and tons of students dressed up in Halloween costumes! We could never decide if the french just don't understand the concept of Halloween (they were a week too early) or if they just really like dressing up. I still don't know the answer to that one :)
The next morning, we went off to Avignon. It was only about an hour drive away, and I spent the whole time looking out the window of the bus at the beautiful provençal countryside. I can definitely better understand all of the impressionist paintings I've seen of it now. It had this magical quality about it.
In Avignon, we only had about half a day, but we did a complete tour of the Papal Palace, and then walked around a bunch, picking up food to go from street vendors. The Palais des Papes was super cool. Most people don't know this, but back in the 14th century, the Pope no longer felt safe in Rome (civil war was going on there) so for a little over a hundred years, the whole Pope entourage picked up and moved to Avignon. Even after the Pope moved back to Rome, there were still 4 (I think) Anti Popes who ruled from Avignon.
It was really cool though, because it's the largest Gothic palace in the world, and I love Gothic architecture! It also had the benefit of being almost completely devoid of furniture. I know for some people, that might be boring, but for me, it was a better chance to check out the structure! (I know, go ahead and say it- I'm a nerd!)
After walking around and then getting lunch, we all got back on the bus to go to a wine tasting. We drove another half hour or so, and then got to one of the vineyards for Chateauneuf du Pape. We got a tour of the vineyards, of the caves where they store the wine as it is being made, and then got to taste the wine. We tried 3 different types: A white and a red of Chateauneuf du Pape, and a red Cotes du Rhone. The white one was my favorite, but I really enjoyed the whole event. I learned how to look at wines, smell them, taste them, guess how long they will be good for, and so many other things! It was really cool to see the whole process of the wine making too.
Okay, so the next week, my host family was out of town for the Toussaint week, so I was by myself for a few days. It was kind of nice though, because I was starting to get a little homesick, and one night I invited a few friends over for "America Night". We made pancakes, scrambled eggs, popcorn, and then ate ice cream while watching a movie. I'm still craving Chipotle though! We also decreed that we would only speak english. It was so nice to speak in a language that you don't have to think about!
The night before Halloween, my friend from my class, Carla, was hosting a Mexican Halloween party (she's from Mexico). It was so much fun! There were fajitas and guacamole and Salsa dancing. Almost everyone from my class was there, and then Carla had invited a ton of people too, so we all just ate and talked and danced- oh yeah, and there was a piñata!
The next week was my birthday week, and it rocked. It was probably one of the best birthdays I've had! Tuesday night, I went dancing like normal, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and then Wednesday night my host family made me a special dinner of raclette, and it was so good! I just love my family, they rock. They're super nice and thoughtful, and just lots of fun to be with. Thursday night I went out with friends to celebrate, and so I ended up having 3 nights of birthday awesomeness!
This past weekend was a weekend retreat with FEU. We went to this place called Camp des Cimes, it's near the Ecrins mountains, near the ski resorts of Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes (two of the biggest resorts in the area). We played a lot of games, sang praise songs, and had bible study together. I had so much fun, and I feel like my french improved so much. I also really got to know a lot of the people a lot better, and just had an all around good time.
Today is Armistice Day, yet another vacation day for the French! Luckily, I don't have school either, so I'm just having a nice slow day, and later on for lunch, I'm going with my host family to a Thanksgiving meal at another american family's house. It's about 2 weeks early, but I think they're doing it today because it's a day off. I'm super excited about sweet potatoes and turkey and hopefully pumpkin and pecan pies!
To those of you who made it to the end of the post- sorry it was so long! I'm going to try to post more often. Here are some pictures to entertain you :)
It's snowing in the mountains now! (this is the view from my bedroom window)
in the wine cellar....no I didn't drink all of that!
The provençal countryside-just gorgeous!
sur le pont d'Avignon, on y danse tout en rond!
The Palais des Papes- don't even ask how many pictures I took of the architecture!
