Yesterday was my 21st birthday. This means I can buy and drink alcohol legally in the United States, but I get to celebrate in France. My friends and I want to two bars and I got a little tipsy. I enjoyed myself. I dance and sang (it was a karaoke bar) and got sung to by my friends over the microphone. I made sure someone walked me home, so I got home and went to bed safely. Celebrating is fun, but just make sure you have someone to take care of you if you go to far. I had around 10 people watching over me.
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We were suppose to go on another hike after the Fountain Vancluse, but it started raining pretty good, so we had a change of plans. Instead, we went to a lavender museum (not kidding, they have a museum for this). It smelled amazing the moment we entered the building. They taught us the difference between Lavender and Lavendine: lavender grows in the mountains only and the other can grow everywhere below the mountain elevation. Lavendine is found in larger quantities and has a stronger scent, so it is put in detergents and other strong smelly stuff like soap. They showed us a video of how the scent from the lavender is extracted. Large bails of lavender is placed in this giant metal boiler and steam goes through it and a connecting pipe that condenses the steam back to water and the natural oils from the lavender is separated from the steam. The lady took us on a history lesson about the beginning of the lavender extraction: the progression of the boilers they used and the clothes that were worn and how the whole family would help pick the lavender. After the tour of the museum, we were in a boutique and can buy any of the lavender infused items is we wanted to. There was a %25 discount for us. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the museum (the French love to refuse pictures in museum-like places), so I don't have any for the blog. After the museum, we went home to Antibes and that was our trip through Provence.
After the Pope's Palace, we went to this famous spring called the Fountain Vancluse. It was a bit of a hike (Mom, remind you of anything?) but the view was amazing. One boy almost fell in and another one decided he wanted to go for a swim. We took a lot of pictures of the water from the spring and the river it created flowing right in the middle of the city.
The next morning, we went to the Pope's Palace. It was where the Pope stayed when he visited or when the papacy had the Great Schism. We were told about the architecture and the history of the palace, but we were not allow to take pictures of the frescos. They wanted to preserve that for only the Pope's Palace and no place else can have it. The guide told us all the stories and the history, but we found other things more fascinating sometimes than the story. I liked how some of the statues were headless (picture to the bottom left) and that only one part of the courtroom was painted. After the tour, there was a boutique and I have created a habit of buying figurines. They will decorate the entertainment system back home, and later, my desk.
After the castle, we went on a hike to see the Pont du Gard, a 2000 year old aqueduct that stays on place thanks to gravity. The Romans didn't have mortar. That was a sight you have to be there to see. You can see it in a picture, but you have to see it in person if you ever go to the Provence region. After this, we went to eat in Avignon. It was delicious but everyone was so sleepy. The coordinator thought we might go out to a bar, but no one could stay awake for much longer. We had double rooms, so with slept in the same room as our roommates. What was strange was that a lot a people thought my roommate and I had the nicer room; I though the queen size bed was in everyone's rooms.
After the Arles visit, we went to this castle on a hill called Les Baux de Provence. The Castle had this explanation gizmo that tells you all about the castle and the different areas in the castle. I ignored it and just looked around. The view: TO DIE FOR! The stairs: KILLING ME! We saw vineyards and olive orchards, and the coordinator learned to never be surprised by Dylan, who does really crazy, dangerous stuff, like climb a wall of the Amphitheatre and sit on a ledge that had a killer drop. I bought a book, written in French, about women in the Middle Ages and some candy, which is starting to become a bad habit.
We had to leave the bus stop at 7:30. We were on time, but dead tired. Two hours into the trip, we stopped at a rest stop for coffee and to use the restrooms. I had an apple tart; it was delicious. One hour later, we arrived at Arles in time for the big Saturday market. First we went to a near-by theatre and coliseum that were built in the Roman Era. Took a ton of pictures and made note of the location in reference to the positioning of the sun. After the walk, we went shopping at the market; I got a new shirt and some "nougatier" (nougat). On the bus we go and off to the next location.
We had a CEA excursion this past week-end. We had so much to do that we stayed overnight at this one hotel. For this blog, I will be doing multiple posts, one per place we were at with the corresponding pictures.
For those of you who have never been on a train, think of it this way. It's like a plane, only no seatbelts and no ladies telling you where the emergency exits are. There is also no lady coming down the aisle offering a beverage. I took a night train to Paris and here is what I documented.
October 1, 2015 8:27 pm I’m on a train. I can’t believe I’m on a train. I’ve never been on a train before, or at least not one I can remember. I’m on a train going to Paris; however, I’m taking the overnight train. A regular train will take only five hours to get from Antibes, where I’m staying, to Paris, where I want to go. I didn’t get to sit in the seat assigned to me because a lady with a lot of stuff and a dog took that seat and I’m not going to fight her for it. From the looks of it, people just choose their own seats instead of going for their assigned one. That works for me, but I don’t know if that is okay. I’m scared because of that; I don’t want to get in trouble. The way they number the seats confuse me. The train made a quick stop in Cannes. I wonder how many more stops are along the way. I hope not too much; the constant stop and go feeling will keep me up all night and I need my energy for my day in Paris. October 2, 2015 5:55 pm The train ride was interesting. They didn’t care where you sat, only the other riders cared, and they only checked to make sure you have a ticket for that train ride. The ride was dark and cold, which made me wish I had brought my sweater or a jacket. I tossed and turned a bit, going in and out of consciousness until dawn. I had enough rest to go through the day. I arrived at the station in Paris, walked across the Seine River to another station that had the metro. Bought a booklet of tickets and hopped on. I got off at a place called Les Halles. Turned out that it was an underground mall. Off course I was there too early since it was about 9:15 and the stores didn’t open until 10, so I went to the surface and walked a few blocks down to Le Louvre. I realized that my laptop case, which I brought to hold my laptop and a few extra things, was too big to allow me access to the museums, so I just walked around the exterior, which is art in itself. I walked along the courtyard and saw a lot of statues and another museum. I tried to go through the Place de la Concorde, but a job fair was going on, so I had to walk around it. Found Champs D’Élysées, and I walked down it. The first half looked like a park, but the second half had all the shops. I found this tourist shop and bought two items; one of which was a miniaturized Eiffel Tower, which I have yet to see, and a key chain of the Eiffel Tower. I got tired of all the walking around, so I found the metro again and went back to Les Halles. Did some shopping. New items are a $100 coat and a $12 top. Don’t I have expensive taste? Then I just went back to the train station. I do have A LOT of time to kill before my 9:22 pm train, but I am just too tired from all the walking around to do anything else just yet. I plan to come back again next month and hopefully there won’t be so much construction going on like it is now. All the building had construction going on. The underground mall has it bad. Next time, I’ll check out all the museums and walk inside the Notre Dame and try to walk up the Eiffel Tower. Wish me luck on that one. I ate at a little café at the train station about an hour and a half ago. The Panini was great (chicken and bacon, yum), the café au lait was delicious, and the tiramisu was divine. Now to charge my computer and my phone. October 3, 2015 9:00 am Seating doesn't matter. I got on the night train back to Antibes around 9:10 pm last night and there was a guy that was assigned to sit next to me. I found some open seats, open as in there were rows of two seats that didn't have anyone sitting in that particular space, so I moved into a seat with no neighbor. No one check or cared, so I sat there for the entire night. The way home was the same as the way to Paris. Lights off and everyone snores. By the way, someone explain this seating arrangement to me. Both numbers are in the exact same row of two seats right next to each other. |
Nicole JohnsonI am a college student studying abroad in France. This is my journal of all that I see and experience on my journey. Archives
December 2015
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