Chez Les Provençaux

Final Post

Thu, 31 May 2012 16:05:22 +0200

Well, seeing as I’m finally home from my European adventures, I guess I can’t really put off this final blog post anymore…

My time in Provence can be summed up in the following words (sorry, they’re in French) that will stay with me for the rest of my life:

famille d’accueil: Though at times it was difficult, I’m so glad I chose a program that required a homestay. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to interact with more French people. Plus I got to see what living in a real apartment in France is really like!

les baguettes: I’ve never eaten so much bread in my life. But really, baguettes are a staple in Provence and basically all of France… the stereotype is definitely true. I’m prepared for weird looks as I carry one around campus this year.

le vin: Do I even have to say it? Wine is basically water to the French. And I’m pretty proud to say that I’ve totally adopted their ways. I also achieved my goal of learning to like red wine and now have an official certificate proving that I’m a wine snob! I’d say it was a successful semester.

les amis (français et américains): My experience in France would not have been the same without the people with whom I shared so many memories. My American friends from my program were a great support system when life abroad got a little too foreign or when speaking French all the time seemed impossible. I’m also lucky to have made a few French friends who were kind enough to show some Americans the ins and outs of Aix nightlife.

le café: The coffee in France was a little bit of a paradox. While all of our host families drank instant coffee in the mornings at home, the streets are lined with sidewalk cafés offering some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. I also drank the best cappuccino of my life in Italy. I don’t know if anything will ever live up to that!

le fromage: I will miss my 1euro round of brie from Monoprix more than you will ever know. My lunches were never complete without a little fromage!

le soleil: I have never experienced the sun like I did in Provence. It is strong and it is almost always out. The sunburns were definitely worth it and they turned into a tan eventually anyways!

les parcs/jardins: Living in host families and not having an actual place to have your friends over or hang out, we usually resorted to parks and gardens for hanging out, picnicking, and of course drinking wine. Some of our best memories are from those parks and gardens and when we traveled to a new city, we always made it a priority to find the nearest one!

le bus: I took the bus to school everyday. Though it was often the bane of my existence, it definitely taught this little suburban girl a little more about how to take public transportation and get myself around town. It was a good stepping stone from little Granville, OH to an actual city.

les marchés: Definitely my favorite part of life in Aix. Any day of the week you could find a beautiful market filled with fresh fruits and veggies, cheeses, olives, and the friendliest people on Earth! It will take some time getting used to living without those fresh markets at my disposal all the time!

After quite possibly the best semester of college yet and a whirlwind Eurotrip through Paris, Dublin, and London with Denison friends, I’m so happy to return home to my family and friends and am ready for a relaxing and fun summer. Aix will be in my heart forever but I know that I’ll be back assez bientôt so no worries! Thanks for following along with my adventures! I’m so happy to have this blog as a souvenir of my time in France!

Gros bisous pour la dernière fois,

Grace

Pictures from my “tour” of Italy!

Sun, 06 May 2012 20:51:00 +0200

Pictures from my “tour” of Italy!

Italia!

Sun, 06 May 2012 20:16:51 +0200

My trip to Italy really opened my eyes to my interest in new cultures. Though I may be a bit obsessed with French culture, I truly loved my stay in Italy mostly due to the amazing Italian culture that I encountered. I loved the warmness of the people, the easy-going style of life, and of course the food and prosecco. While I was there, I definitely reflected multiple times on the fact that I could see myself living there one day. My friend and I even joked about the idea of each buying summer homes in different regions of Italy and then trading so we could take advantage of the different areas. At this point I think I’m planning for about 10 summer houses all around Europe! If only…

We started our little tour of Italy in the Cinque Terre which is an area on the coast of the Italian Riviera and is composed of 5 tiny and beautiful towns that are all connected by hiking trails that take you right along the ocean. Unfortunately, there was a really bad flood this past October so some of the paths between towns are still being restored. We were only able to do 2 of the 4 paths (including the most difficult of all of them which we hiked 3 times…) but it was still amazingly beautiful and so worth it! Though some of the paths are closed, there’s a train that runs between all 5 towns so you’re still able to visit each. Unfortunately, during the weekend we were there, there was a train strike (I thought I was in Italy, not France…) so we spent one of our days hiking between Vernazza (where we stayed) and Monterosso which happens to be the hardest of the 4 paths! It was definitely challenging with all of the stairs (literally never ends!) but we got through it so many times due to the beautiful views that you see throughout the entire hike. Literally you’re just on this cliff next to the most beautiful ocean ever. That’s my kind of hike! Once the strike was over, we visited the other towns and hiked the other path that was open which happens to be the complete opposite of the other one we did…it’s even wheelchair accessible! All of the towns are so picturesque and adorable! It was great just walking around and exploring. We had our first Italian cappuccino in Manarola and it might have been the best thing I’ve ever tasted. And I thought coffee was good in France.

Our next stop was Cortona, a small village in Tuscany which just happens to be the place that the book/movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” is based on! We had a short stay in the one and only hostel there but it was so great to see a bit of the Tuscan region before hitting the big touristy cities. The views from the city where amazing since it sits on a hill-you could literally see the countryside for miles! This was a very relaxing stop on our journey since there wasn’t all that much to do in the town and so we had a lot of time to just sit and enjoy the Italian countryside. We had a picnic with one of the most beautiful views one night and got to look out at the countryside with our dinner of focaccia, mozzarella, tomatoes, and wine! It was a great idea to make a stop in Tuscany and the first half of our trip, being so relaxing, prepared us for the craziness of Venice and Rome!

After Tuscany we took the train north and arrived on the island of Venice! This was unlike any city I have ever seen and I was immediately attracted to it because of the canals (I love water). Though we didn’t have too much time to spend in Venice, I still feel like we saw the big highlights and got a good idea of the city in a short stay of just around 24 hours! The views of the canals from any of the little bridges you find are fantastic and the Rialto bridge at night is spectacular! We splurged here and decided to finally treat ourselves to a dinner out (we cooked or picnicked for all other meals during the entire trip!) so we looked to Rick Steves for a good recommendation. Thanks to his lovely Best of Europe guide, we found a really cool tapas-like bar which had the best prosecco for only 2euros a glass! It was a cute little place that was a little tucked away so it was a nice escape from all of the tourists! I also had my first real Italian gelato in Venice and it didn’t disappoint!

We headed to Rome for the last weekend of our vacation and it just so happened to be a 4-day weekend for like all of Europe. Needless to say, it was crazy!! Since there is so much to see at Rome, we packed our days with sight-seeing and it seemed like we walked about 20 miles a day! The first day we hit all the Roman ruin sites.. Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and of course the Colosseum. After our morning in the ruins we headed to Piazza Navona (such a great atmosphere!) and had a lovely picnic lunch complete with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, focaccia, and red wine! We even got to hear some great street music while we ate! It was literally perfect and so Italian. We finished our first day in Italy with the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain (possibly my favorite place in Italy!), and the Spanish Steps. We couldn’t finish our day without trying the “granita di caffe,” or coffee slush, that Rick Steves suggests in his Rome section. It was delicious! We spent a good chunk of our second day in Rome trying to fix our lodging situation due to a little incident at our original hostel but we did manage to see the Pope speak at noon in St. Peter’s Square… can’t really complain! In the evening we headed back to the Piazza Navona/Pantheon area to enjoy the sights at night and to hear all the great street music that comes out. Seeing the Trevi Fountain at night was one of my favorite parts of the trip and I made sure to throw a few coins in so hopefully I’ll be back! Our last day in Rome was the day for the Vatican! After waiting in line for 2 hours, we got in just before it closed but unfortunately faced more and more lines even after we were in the Vatican museum. We heard a few people saying that it was more crowded this day than it was on Easter weekend! Just our luck! It was a little hard to focus on all of the amazing things in the museum due to all of the crowds but once we got to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, I was definitely only thinking about the amazing art I was seeing.

Our little tour of Italy was great overall! I definitely already miss the cappuccinos and prosecco! I guess croissants and French coffee will have to do for the next couple of weeks!

Well, I’m entering into my final exams week and it’s so unreal! I have exactly one week left in Aix and a little over 2 weeks in France before I make a quick detour to Ireland and England before heading back to Boston! It’s been a great trip and I have a lot of reflections on the experience that I’ll be summarizing in another post before I leave Aix!

Bisous et à bientôt,

Grace

Quick stop in beautiful Monaco during our stay in Nice!

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:29:10 +0200

Quick stop in beautiful Monaco during our stay in Nice!

Prague at sunset

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:26:32 +0200

Prague at sunset

the perfect beach in Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer, Camargue

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:23:02 +0200

the perfect beach in Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer, Camargue

Long overdue...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:01:06 +0200

Well, it’s officially been more than a month since I’ve had the chance to write a new blog post… where has the time gone? April was a crazy month with lots of travel and studies here in Aix and I have just returned from my spring break in Italy! It was a much-needed break (ironically, mostly from my other travels) and now it’s back to classes for three days before a week of final exams. I seriously cannot believe that my program is ending so soon and even more that I have to leave France soon. Recently, I’ve felt that I’ve finally found my place in Aix and within the French culture. Though I’ve always been happy to be here and that I chose this program, there is now no doubt in my mind that I love it here. I think I will be ready to head back to the states in a few weeks, though, especially after seeing my parents a few weeks ago! The came to Aix for a week to visit me and now I think they understand why I’m having such an amazing experience here. They absolutely loved Aix- the size, the atmosphere, and most importantly the coffee and pastries! All of their ooh-ing and ahh-ing made me realize how lucky I am to be able to study here for an entire semester. It also made me realize how perfect Aix is. Even when we went to Nice for the weekend (which is obviously incredibly beautiful), I couldn’t stop comparing it to Aix and thinking how much I prefer the size and ambiance of “my” city.

I’ll post a blog about my trip to Italy a little later in the week but first I have some catching up to do!

The end of March came fast and we had our final “sortie” with my program to the region of Camargue which is only about 1.5 hours from Aix and is actually a National Park area and is absolutely incredible. We started our day off with a trolley ride through nature and continued with a little walk during which we saw pink flamingos, bulls, and horses! We went to the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer for lunch-time which is a touristy yet beautiful town on the Mediterranean. It weirdly reminded me of a typical American beach town except for the fact that the water is 10x more beautiful than in the US. Overall, it was a great day and I think it was the favorite excursion for the majority of the students.

The first week of April my host mom went to take care of her grand-kids in the west so I was left with the apartment to myself for the week! Since it was my friend Sarah’s 21st birthday, I had a “petite soirée chez moi,” with plenty of wine, nutella, and laughter! It was really fun and we were all glad to finally have a space where we could just hang out without going to a restaurant.

For Easter, we got our first 3-day weekend so we took full advantage and planned a trip to Prague. Best idea ever! We had a lot of fun since it was just a small group of three and got to see amazing things! Although it was a bit chilly most of the weekend (and even snowed a bit on Easter!) the city was beautiful and so different from anything I’ve ever seen. The large river makes the views of the bridges and the huge castle absolutely breathtaking (especially at sunset) and the old village is so adorable with a market of traditional foods and desserts. This part reminded me a lot of Germany because of all of the sausages and beer. Since my last vacation to Spain/Portugal was a little hectic with 5 people, it was really nice to have a more relaxing trip with only 3. We managed to speak French the entire weekend and had some really great conversations. All in all, it was a great trip and well-worth facing the cold to explore!

Literally the day I returned from Prague my parents arrived in Aix so it’s been quite the whirlwind since then, especially since I had/have a lot of work for the end of the semester. Well, that’s about it for now. I will try to write about my Italian adventure soon and definitely will post pictures!

Ciao + Bisoux,

Grace

J'adore le printemps à Aix.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:29:38 +0200

Well, it’s finally springtime here in Aix and I’m absolutely loving it so far! Despite a few abnormally cloudy days in the past two weeks, it’s been sunny and high 60’s everyday! Flowers and trees are starting to bloom and the sky is rarely anything but perfectly blue and wonderful. I can’t even imagine what the weather will be like come May! It’s getting to that point in the semester when people start counting down the amount of weeks, days, weekends, and classes we have left. Not because we’re anxious to go home but because we’re shocked how our experience in France could possibly be ending soon. Though I thought March might go by a little slowly since I wasn’t going on any big trips, it has flown by incredibly fast! I cannot believe that in just one week it’ll be April! Then the time here is really going to fly, between my trip to Prague for Easter weekend, my parents’ visit, and then my 11-day spring break in Italy!

The past two weeks have been filled with a lot of interesting experiences and fun times! First, there was our soirée à la américain where we went to one of our French friend’s apartment to eat pizza and play beer pong. That was definitely an interesting cultural experience and it was funny to watch the French try and play (as you might have guessed, they don’t really do that much here..) Before that I went to my first Tango class with some friends. Since I’m probably one of the worst/most awkward dancers in the world, I was pretty nervous to try it out. It ended up being a really good time, though, since it was pretty much just us, my friend’s host mom, and the teacher. I wouldn’t say I was good at it but at least I didn’t make a complete fool of myself! (I can only hope) We also had our third wine tasting course that week which was probably one of my favorites so far. We learned about wines from the Bourgogne region of France which has some really nice vineyards and supposedly the best white wines in the world! Needless to say, after that class SommerAnn and I decided what we’ll be doing at the end of the semester for the 5 free days we have before heading to Paris to meet Meghan. I loved all the wines from this class and will be purchasing 2 of them from the teacher this week (plus one other from a previous class).

Last weekend I spent a lovely day in Avignon with my program. This city was a lot bigger than I expected and was so beautiful. We visited the Château des Papes as well as the famous Pont d’Avignon (“sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse, tous en rond…”). We spent a lot of the day visiting the Château and the museum next to it which had a ton of historical information. My favorite part of the trip, though, was visiting the pont. It was so beautiful, especially because we visited it right around the beginning of the sunset. Check out my pictures below of Avignon!

Last weekend, for St. Patrick’s Day, we went to the St. Patrick’s ball at the Arts et Métiers university (the school for engineers) which was quite an experience! Apparently this school throws multiple huge “balls” every year with different themes. This one was obviously St. Patrick’s Day themed so there were tons of people dressed in green costumes. I even saw multiple Celtics jerseys that night! Who knew the French knew about Boston sports? It was really fun, even though I was pretty much dressed for a funeral (all black) since I apparently don’t own one item of clothing that’s green. I even tried Guinness for the first time - not bad!

Yesterday, SommerAnn and I ventured to Nîmes to visit a Kappa sister who’s currently teaching English there as well as another sister who was visiting. It was definitely an adventure since we decided to try out the website “covoiturage” (basically a carpooling system) which connects you with other people who have cars and who are heading in your direction. It’s a less expensive way to travel and we really lucked out because we found a really nice woman who was heading directly to Nîmes for an animal rights protest. We got to meet up with our friends and picnic in the beautiful Nîmes gardens as well as walk around the city a little before catching a train back to Aix.

I almost forgot the best part of my weekend.. I saw the Hunger Games movie… completely in French! No subtitles, completely dubbed, 2 1/2 hours. As you can tell, I’m very proud of myself for understanding the majority of the movie! It was so cool to see a movie in French and hearing the French pronounce “Hunger Games” with their silent H was definitely hilarious. Now I’m going to have to see it in English so I can compare!

That’s all for now! Looking forward to a beautiful week in Aix before the craziness of April begins!

Gros bisous,

Grace

Pictures from Avignon

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:30:00 +0200

Pictures from Avignon

8 days. 4 cities. 2 countries.

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:41:00 +0100

Sorry it’s been such a long time since I last posted something but it’s been a crazy few weeks! This past week was mid-terms at school so needless to say I spent most of it studying for the 5 exams I had to take. It was unfortunate that my birthday was this past Monday so I couldn’t exactly celebrate as much as I would have liked but being in France is probably the best 21st birthday gift I could ask for anyways!

The week before was our winter vacation so I headed south with 4 other friends to explore Spain and Portugal during a whirlwind week where we visited 4 cities in 8 days! Obviously we didn’t have much time in each city but we definitely enjoyed ourselves and got to see some pretty cool things! I just have one piece of advice before I explain our trip: don’t try to bring jars of peanut butter on a flight (thinking you are being smart and will be able to save money on food while traveling). They will take it away from you and leave you peanut butter-less in Spain. Yes, this is exactly what happened to me and 2 other friends at the Marseille airport. Though it was a little sad to watch the (4 euros each) jars be taken from my backpack, we all had a good laugh about us trying to smuggle peanut butter on board and knew that this would be a perfect anecdote for all of our blogs. Although, I was very bitter when I found out that my friend had gotten a razor through security while they immediately noticed our peanut butter. Seriously? I’m pretty sure you can do much more damage with a razor than with a jar of skippy peanut butter…

Anyways, we started our journey in Madrid, where our trip started off on a sad note. Within 10 minutes of being outside of the Madrid airport and in the metro, my friend’s wallet was stolen. Luckily she didn’t have much cash in it and her passport was somewhere else so she still had that. Definitely not the worst situation but it was still a rocky start to our first real European adventure since arriving in France. My friend dealt with the situation very well and we all managed to lift our spirits the next day while exploring wonderful Madrid. We visited the Royal Palace first where we got to walk around many different rooms that were beautifully furnished and in-tact from history. It was really cool stuff to see and we all remarked how nothing like this exists in the U.S. After a nice pick-nick lunch in a plaza (complete with bread, fruit and PEANUT BUTTER- yes, we managed to find some!), we discovered this really beautiful and huge park where we relaxed for a while and enjoyed the warmth and sun! That night, we spontaneously went out to a club called Kapital with a friend of one of the girls that I traveled with. It was seriously the most unreal club ever, with many different floors and a huge dancing section. It was such a typical European club experience and it made all of us realize how small Aix really is- we have nothing like that! We stayed out really late and so got a late start the next morning. After checking out the big markets that only happen on Sundays, me and 2 others headed to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. This was a really cool museum just across the street from El Prado Museum that had some nice pieces. We all really liked the French impressionism stuff and it was really cool to see some paintings of places in France that we have learned about or visited this semester. The late afternoon was spent in the park once again since we were all still pretty tired from our wild night. We tried to visit the Prado museum but it was closed! That night we went out for a perfect meal of authentic tapas and sangria. It was very satisfying and a great way to end our visit to Madrid!

We flew to Lisbon really early the next morning so once we arrived at our very adorable hostel (after hiking up many hills!), we headed straight for the free breakfast and then to our room to nap. Once we were a bit more energized we headed to the beach! It took us a while to get there since we had to take multiple modes of transportation and only one of us spoke a little Portuguese. The long journey was definitely worth it when we saw the beach. Though the water and the air were a bit too cold for swimming, we had a great time sitting on the beach and taking in Portugal- obviously while sipping on piña coladas! That night we went out to a restaurant that served typical Portuguese cuisine. Because the the majority of Portuguese cuisine is based on codfish, we stuck to the more familiar items on the menu- salmon and veggies for me! The next day we woke up early to do the free walking tour of the city that was organized by the hostel. This was a really good choice for us because we were able to see a lot of the city in just a couple of hours. We also learned a lot about Portuguese history and I realized that I basically knew nothing about Portugal before coming here. After lunch we headed to Belém, a cool little area of Lisbon that was just a short tram ride away. There we tried the famous pastries called Pasteis de Nata which were made of some sort of egg custard and served with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Our walking tour guide suggested that we try them and they were definitely delicious! In Belém there were also a lot of cool sites to see like a huge monastery, beautiful gardens, and a really amazing look-out tower right next to the ocean. Unfortunately we couldn’t enter the tower because it was closed but the view around it was still spectacular! For me, Lisbon wasn’t my favorite city that we visited but I am definitely really glad we went. I never really had a desire to go to Portugal but it was an amazing experience and I’m glad I got to see it once, even if I don’t end up going back.

We took an overnight bus to Seville and arrived there very early in the morning. Luckily, our hostel was very nice and allowed us to sleep in the living room area for a few hours before breakfast opened. We took the free walking tour that morning and as soon as we felt the warm Seville sun on our backs, we forgot about how tired we were. For me, as soon as we started walking around the city I fell in love with it. Between all of the beautiful buildings and architecture and the beautiful weather and atmosphere (orange and palm trees everywhere!), I immediately regretted the fact that we only had about 36 hours to spend there. The walking tour was a really good choice because we got to see a lot and our guide was really informative and funny. The coolest part of the tour was seeing the Plaza de España which is one of the largest and most unique plazas in the world! It was truly breathtaking- because of the beauty but also because of the heat! The plaza attracts more sun than any part of the city so the temperature rises a lot when your walking around there. Though our tour was definitely worth it, it lasted around 3 and a half hours in total so by the end of it we were all ready for some lunch and a nap. After lunch we were a bit more energized so we headed to the cathedral that we had seen on our tour and climbed to the top for an amazing view of the city! That night we profited from the free sangria hour at our hostel and also the paella night that they were having. It was a great experience, especially for my friends who had never tasted paella before. It definitely didn’t hold a candle to Murphy’s paella but it was still very satisfying and a fun way to meet some other people who were staying at the hostel. That night we tried to do the pub crawl that our hostel organized but since it was a Wednesday night, it was sort of a fail. We ended up being the only 5 people on the pub crawl so only went to 2 of the bars. At the first one we saw a short flamenco show that was absolutely amazing! I was really glad we got to see a little bit of flamenco since we didn’t have time to go to a real show. The next day we didn’t have much time before we needed to be at the airport for our flight to Barcelona but we got to explore the city a little more and ate some ice cream in the sun! Needless to say, Seville was my favorite city of the whole trip and I definitely want to return there along with Grenada, Cadiz and more of the south of Spain!

We got to Barcelona around 9pm Thursday night so we headed straight to our hostel since we knew we wanted to try to go out. The hostel here was probably the most fancy out of all of the ones we stayed in but it was also the most expensive and unfriendly. You had to pay for your top sheet and blanket so most of us just used our coats and other clothes for covers to avoid the unnecessary charges. I contacted my cousin, Zach, who is studying abroad in Barcelona right now and we met up with him at his apartment right near the Sagrada Familia! He took us to a huge bar that used to be a warehouse and then to a club which was supposed to have 5 different floors. For some reason all of the floors except for 1 were closed and that floor happened to be where all the hippie stoners were jamming out to reggae music. It was definitely an experience to say the least. We didn’t stay too long but he tried to walk us home and ended up getting us pretty lost. We didn’t mind though because it was very warm out and it was cool to walk around the city at night and explore a bit. The next day we headed to the Sagrada Familia. It was so beautiful and I noticed that it has changed so much from when I first saw it 5 years ago. When I first visited, there was so much construction going on in the interior that you could barely walk around in there. Now it’s almost completely finished inside and it is seriously amazing! Afterwards, we walked around Las Ramblas for a little bit before heading to Parc Guëll. That was a great place to visit and everyone was definitely in awe of how unique Gaudi’s style was. I really love all the mosaic work that he does! That night we went to a great Mexican restaurant called Rosa Negra that my sister had recommended. It was really great food and a great atmosphere! Plus we got margaritas!

All in all, I had a fantastic winter vacation! I really loved seeing Spain and Portugal but I was also really happy to get back to Aix! It’s finally starting to feel like home here and it’s crazy to think that it’s already half-way through the semester!

Check out the photos I posted below of the trip!

Bises et à tout,

Grace

Pictures from Barcelona (a.k.a pictures of Gaudi stuff)

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:48:00 +0100

Pictures from Barcelona (a.k.a pictures of Gaudi stuff)

Pictures from Seville- my favorite!!

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:02:00 +0100

Pictures from Seville- my favorite!!

Pictures from Lisbon!

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:49:00 +0100

Pictures from Lisbon!

Pictures from Madrid!

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:32:00 +0100

Pictures from Madrid!

Fine dining in the streets of Aix

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:36:00 +0100

It’s finally warm again here! I think our unusual cold spell has ended for now and that we’ll be enjoying an early spring here pretty soon! Definitely excited for that! Looking forward to even more sun and warmth along with some tapas and sangria next week as I’m heading south to explore Espagne/Portugal! Don’t worry, I’ll send you all postcards for sure!

This weekend we went to Arles/St. Rémy to explore “les pas de Van Gogh.” Van Gogh lived in Arles and St. Rémy for 2 years so we were able to see some of the sites that inspired his paintings. It was really fascinating and definitely beautiful! We tried to go to the hospital were Van Gogh stayed during his time in St. Rémy but the museum part was closed. It was really interesting to see the area and images that he captured in some of his most famous paintings. Check out some pictures from my trip below this post.

I had my second wine tasting class this week and it was just as great as the first! We tried 4 wines- the first three were all Bordeaux (1 white, 2 reds) and the last was called Savennieres Roche aux Moines, a white wine that was absolutely delicious and sweet! I’m really excited because think that I’m actually starting to like red wine-that was definitely one of my goals for coming to France! This afternoon my host mom had her family over for lunch and we had a red Bordeaux with the meal. I actually enjoyed it- something that didn’t really happen in the past. It probably also has to do with the quality of the wine- I’m sure I’ll be very spoiled when I come back to the US!

I’m so excited to be in France and am really having an amazing experience but I can’t lie, I have been having a little bit of “mal du pays” lately. This expression, “mal du pays”, means homesick in the general sense but the literal translation means more like homesick for a country. This is exactly what I’m feeling. Of course I miss my family and friends a ton but lately I’ve just been missing the US in general. This is a very strange sensation for me as I’ve never been particularly attached to America- in fact, I’m usually admiring other cultures and wondering why we’re not more like them. So it’s very strange when I find myself wanting to listen to country music all day and watch “Friday Night Lights” at any chance I get! Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely in love with French culture but I think the initial wow factor has worn off and now I’m really realizing how different the culture is from what I’ve known my whole life.

This weekend I wasn’t only feeling a little homesick but also a little homeless……

As students wanting to save the majority of our money for traveling and wine, my friends and I here have been looking for ways to save money everywhere we can. This weekend we wanted to cook dinner one night at someone’s apartment and then eat out the other night so we weren’t spending too much money. Our plan fell through when we realized that we don’t actually have places we can cook/do whatever we want here. No matter how much we are “part of the family” at this point in our homestays, we still are (and will pretty much always be) guests. This means that it’s pretty impossible to have a friend over to cook dinner or just eat-in on the weekends. Because of this little dilemma, my friends and I found another way to save money and eat together on Saturday night… we had dinner in the street. Ok, we were at a fountain but you get the point. We brought some bread, cheese, and apples that we had left over from our pick-nick lunch during the day and also bought some smoked salmon to go along with it. We even brought some wine in our water bottles! We got some weird looks as we chowed down but it certainly was an experience and probably something that will happen a few more times throughout the semester!

That’s it for now! I probably won’t write another post until I’m back from Spain but definitely look out for a post/pictures from my trip! I’m sure I’ll have some interesting stories…

Bisous xoxo,

Grace

More pictures from Arles/St. Rémy….note the cheese...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:28:35 +0100

More pictures from Arles/St. Rémy….note the cheese pictures!!

Photos from my trip to Arles and St. Rémy this weekend!

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:17:20 +0100

Photos from my trip to Arles and St. Rémy this weekend!

Snow, Crêpes, and Wine!

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:16:00 +0100

Time is seriously flying by here in Aix! I’ve already been here for 3 weeks and in another 3 I’ll be off to Spain/Portugal with 4 other girls from my program for our winter vacation! We’ve already started planning for that and will be visiting Madrid, Lisbon, Seville, and Barcelona! I’m really excited for that but I’m sadly already learning just how expensive living abroad is!

Some things have changed since I last posted on here, number one being the weather. Though my first two weeks here were filled with nothing by sun and high 50s, it snowed two days this past week! It wasn’t that much at all but I definitely wasn’t expecting it and had to trek around in the snow for a day in my TOMs since I didn’t exactly come prepared with the right shoes for this type of weather (despite the fact that I brought 6 pairs…)! I don’t think we’ll be getting more snow anytime soon but it has been excruciatingly cold this week and especially this weekend! I’m really hoping that turns around quickly!

I’m about to start my third week of classes and have to say I can’t complain! I love all of them and am really enjoying the fact that they are all held totally in French! Every assignment, reading, and even movie associated with classes are in French! Not really a surprise since this is a full-immersion French language program, but I am loving it! I really don’t know why but I have this weird fascination with the French language! I love learning new words and that makes it so much easier to get my homework done! I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get back to Denison and have to write papers in English!

My favorite class definitely has to be my wine tasting class! Though I won’t receive actual credit for it, I’ll get a fancy certificate at the end of March that will officially certify me as a wine snob! Can’t wait! We had our first class this past Thursday and it was honestly so much fun! Almost every student in the program is taking it and we got to try 4 different wines while learning the proper way to taste, smell, and choose your wine. Unfortunately, the first bottle we opened was bouchonné or “corked.” We couldn’t taste the wine but it was interesting to learn about how to tell whether a bottle is good or not. If I had opened that bottle by myself I definitely wouldn’t have noticed that it wasn’t good and probably would have drank it! Anyways, the last wine that we tried was definitely my favorite. It was a white wine called Beaumes de Venise that had sort of caramely scent and was absolutely delicious! It was very sweet but our teacher said that it was naturally sweetened by the type of grape used. I’m definitely going to have to find a bottle of that and bring it back to the US with me!

Thursday was also the French celebration of Chandeleur, or the fête des crêpes! I’m definitely a fan of this holiday and will probably be celebrating it every February 2nd for the rest of my life. haha. My host mom made savory crêpes for dinner with cheese and mushrooms and then we had sweet crêpes for dessert with nutella and jam! The best part is that February is the month of crêpes so at gatherings with family and friends all month we’ll be eating crêpes!

I also started my community service this past week. I am working at the Secours Catholique in Aix where I’ll be helping French students (usually middle school age) with their English for two hours every Wednesday afternoon. My first day was a lot of fun and I think I’m going to like working there but I have to admit that it is really hard to try and explain English to someone in French. I think I’ll get better at as time goes on and I think it will really help me in the future if I decide to teach in France or something!

Gros bisous and Happy SuperBowl Sunday to all you Americans! (Go Pats!)

Grace

My visit to Lubéron continued. Pictures from the last two...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:48:34 +0100

My visit to Lubéron continued. Pictures from the last two villages: Roussillon and Gordes. Roussillon was my favorite of all the villages- lots of ochre deposits found there!

Photos from my trip to the Lubéron region this past weekend....

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:33:41 +0100

Photos from my trip to the Lubéron region this past weekend. These were taken at the first two villages that we visited: Lourmarin and Bonnieux