Provence

Sorry for the delay between posts, the study part of studying abroad caught me with a few mid-terms and a presentation. All went well :)

This past weekend was pre-planned by my study abroad program and spent in the lovely and scenic Provence area. We were on the bus by 7:30 am to go to Arles, famous for the painting Cafe Terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh and for the remains of a Roman amphitheater and theater.

The Roman Amphitheater and Theater were also very interesting. Apparently, the amphitheater was designed so that different social classes would never have to mix on the way to their seats, as the entrances all lead to different expense levels of seating.

Theater and Amphitheater respectively.




We then visited a medieval castle stronghold in Les Baux de Provence. The view from the top of the 245 m high plateau was truly fantastic.

From Les Baux de Provence we traveled to the beautiful walled city of Avignon, home of the Pope's Palace. There is a Pope's Palace in Avignon because of some conflict between French royalty and Roman Pope Boniface VIII. The full story is quite interesting. I found that Wikipedia summed up our tour guide's explanation nicely, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy.
The Pope's Palace was still quite a sight despite the many fires, destruction attempts, and prison usage it has endured.

Also, it is apparently possible to hold large-scale  receptions within the palace as we observed a large queue of nicely-dressed people walk into the front doors of the palace ushered in by a band and fire performer. Just in case you really need a venue for something...

After Avignon we went to visit the Pont du Guard, a Roman aqueduct built over 2000 years ago. The Aqueduct was originally 31 miles long and was still water tight up until about 900 years ago. Once again, we had beautiful weather. 

Last but not least on our excursion we had wine tasting at a vineyard in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. (Yes, another location associated with French popes. The first vines there were planed in the 13th century by some wine-loving popes). We enjoyed the finer points of two glasses of red, and one glass of white wine. 

Starting this Saturday the 25th is my Spring Break! Stories and pictures to come in early March. I'll be visiting Paris, Edinburgh, London, and Amsterdam!

 

The Italian Alps Adventure

The past weekend was one of the most spectacular and surprising couple of days that I have had yet. I was invited by my new friend, Gloria to go to her beautiful weekend-home in Limone, Italy on last Thursday evening. Five other friends and I left at 11:00 am on Friday and after a series of trains, busses, and a car ride, arrived in a beautiful little town covered in blankets of snow.

Gloria gave us a tour of the house. The outside looked just as nice as the interior.

This was the bedroom I used for Friday and Saturday night. It was definitely hard to come back to the bunk-bed in my apartment in Antibes. 

The view from the living room was quite spectacular.

Some of the group went skiing on Saturday to the advanced part of the mountain. The bunny-hill was not really an option this time, so I went on a self guided tour of the little town with another girl who also decided her skiing-skills were sub par. We still had a lot of fun exploring, and I made a snowman!

Gloria, her brother and father were great hosts to us. I had excellent meals, wine, and conversation. I feel truly grateful for their generosity and willingness to open their home to a group of six Americans. 

Snow Day

Today marked the second snow day here in the south of France. Tuesday's forecast threatened to dump a whopping two inches in usually-sunny Antibes. Well, that was enough for the public bus system to cancel all bus routes for Tuesday and Wednesday until 8 am, and then for my university to cancel all classes for both days.
Tuesday passed rainy and cold but with no snow in sight, and today was bright and sunny.
Here is the view from my apartment documenting snow day number two.

To be fair, my university is located in Sophia-Antipolise, not Antibes, and apparently they did actually manage to accumulate about an inch of snow and ice. 

Maybe living in the midwest has simply toughened me up against conditions such as these :)