A mini-Weekend in Provence

The weekend of April 24 marked that last overnight excursion through my AIFS program. This final trip was to explore the region of Provence. Cannes is located in the Provence-Alps-Côte d’Azur region but is more characterized as the Côte d’Azur; Provence is our neighbor. So Saturday morning we began our trip by heading to the Gallo-Roman city of Arles.

Arles is a comparable city to Nîmes, which I visited with my cousins. In Arles I also visited an arena, though the one in Nîmes was a bit bigger and much better preserved. However, the one in Arles still hosts bull fights, where unfortunately the bulls are killed for sport. (So sad) Also in Arles is an all night café that Van Gogh frequented and painted a few times. Arles was only one of many on our list of stops that day, so after a quick visit we were on our way to the Pont du Gard.

All Night Café in Arles

The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct that was built around 19BC that transported water to Nîmes. The aqueduct is about 31 miles long and remains in pretty good condition. At the aqueduct we were under time restraints so we had just enough time to take it in and gawk at boys jumping from cliffs into the water below. We were all very excited for our next stop Châteauneuf du Pape, a vineyard, for a little wine tasting...or so that’s what we thought. Unfortunately, our bus driver, Teddy, was very young and quite inexperienced and got us lost at least twice that day, which prevented us from getting to the vineyard in time for our appointment. Teddy would also go on to come extremely close to getting stuck under an arch way and rough up the bus quite a bit...oh Teddy. So with time not being on our side we headed to our hotel in Avignon a little early.

Pont du Gard

Avignon is a gorgeous medieval city boarding the Rhône River. We were all in awe as we drove nearer to the city, which is enclosed by these wonderful stonewalls. I immediately fell in love with the city, which just kept getting better as we came up to our hotel that was located across from the Palais des Papes, a magnificent gothic palace that served as the seat of the Papacy during the 14th Century. With our arrival we settled in and had a lovely aperitif (to make up for missing the wine tasting), which was followed by nice dinner as a group.

Wall surrounding Avignon

The next morning we started our day by touring the Palais des Papes. The palace was huge, but besides the gorgeous architecture and view from the top, it wasn’t very exciting. After quickly finishing the palace we explored the city a little. During our exploration we found the Pont d’Avignon, which is a well-known bridge. One reason being that half the bridge was washed away by a flood, and the second reason being that there is a cute little folk song about it. For those who are interested the song goes like this:

Sur le pont d’Avignon
(On the Avignon bridge)
L’on y danse, l’on y danse
(One dances there, one dances there)
Sur le pont d’Avignon
(On the Avignon bridge)
L’on y danse tous en rond
(One dances there all around)

For whatever reason you had to pay to actually go on the bridge so instead we danced beside it.

Dancing by the Pont d'Avignon

Palais des Papes

After concluding our morning in Avignon we said farewell and made our way to the Cathédrale d’Images. This was not so much a cathedral but an art exhibit in a former quarry. Inside the pitch black quarry images created by a featured artist are projected on the wall. During the time we visited the title was Australia and we briefly got to experience life down under. It was a cool exhibit; I thought the concept was very original.

Our last stop then was Les Baux de Provence. This is a tiny medieval village located on a rock plateau. In the village we visited the ruins of a medieval castle and got to witness a sword fight demonstration and launching of a catapult. It was a great way to end our trip to Provence, which in turn was a great, simple overnight trip to end on with AIFS.

Castle ruins at Les Baux de Provence

Hein...Un volcan éclaté en Islande !

Written on 15 April 2010:

What is big, covered in ice, has a name that is hard to pronounce and stops all plane travel leaving people stranded all over Europe?

Oh yea the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.

If Iceland is known for anything it is that time its volcano erupted interrupting everyone’s travel plans in Europe. The weekend it decided to erupt was the weekend I was supposed to go to Amsterdam. Unluckily and luckily for me my flights got canceled and I could not go. This was disappointing because I was looking forward to my trip, but at the same time I ended up having a lovely weekend in Cannes and did not end up getting stuck anywhere...like some people I know. For example my roommate Steph’s friend was visiting Cannes from Rome. To everyone’s surprise the volcano was affecting air travel as far south as Cannes and Rome preventing her from getting back. Now many would just suggest she take a train back to Rome, it’s long but at least she will get back. That would have be a good idea, had the trains in France not been on strike! Yes of course the trains had to be on strike and given France’s central location in Western Europe this prevented a lot of people from using alternative methods to getting home. Fortunately, for Steph’s friend she had a place to stay and the use of our advisor’s to help her get back, unlike a group of girls from our program who were stranded in Barcelona, hopping from one hostel to the other. So needless to say despite the disappointment of missing my trip and the inconvenience of trying to get a refund from AirFrance, I am happy to have been stuck in Cannes.

Cool Pictures of the Volcano! (Thank G-mom for the link)

Cannes Has a Makeover

I apologize for not updating the blog recently. Life in Cannes has gotten much busier since my return from Spring Break. This is what I have been up to....

Written on 11 April 2010:

Tourists have invaded Cannes!

April marked the start of tourist season in Cannes. After returning from Spring Break it was as if our quiet little city had a makeover and now had this youthful, confident kick in its step. Though from this transformation came both pros and cons.

Pros: With the coming of the tourists, the city finally has some life in it. During the off-season Cannes and most of the Cote d’Azur serves as a warm place to retire (Florida but for Europeans). So the first few months we were here that’s exactly what the city felt like...a retirement home. The students of the collège were the only youth in Cannes. Now, every restaurant and shop that Cannes has to offer is open; the bars have people in them...including young people; the beaches are full; and the sun is always shining! It’s amazing what can happen in a week away.

Cons: Though with tourists come annoyances to locals (or in my case students living in Cannes for an extended period of time). No longer are our leisurely walks into to town to browse leisurely at all, but spent combating people in the crowded streets. At the more popular bars it is almost impossible to get a drink and clubs now charge covers to get in. Thankfully, because we Americans typically eat dinner earlier then Europeans we can still get a table at our favorite restaurants, but the prices have undergone a nice little increase. With the nicer weather more people have been making it to the beach, which has been great because I am getting tan and keeping active by swimming, but European beaches are a lot less modest than American ones. Oh yes...the topless sunbathers are out in full form in Cannes and no they are not young girls, but women 45+...now there is an image for you. But despite that I have a lot of respect for their confidence and indifference to the rest of the world (plus their tans are flawless) but the men I could really do without. As the collège security guard once told us “beware of the sharks, they are not in the water”. In the bars and on the street le dragueur (flirt) are uninhibited, have a lack of boundaries and can smell an American girl from over a kilometer away. On the beach they are they are the same way, but in short little trunks, Speedos and the occasional man thong...its hard to erase the image of a man in a thong laying down next to you out of your head.

Since the start of tourist season, life in Cannes has been very different, but it’s the time of our lives and we sure are living it!