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.
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)
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!
We started our morning with a 5-hour train ride from Naples to Florence. The ride was enjoyable; I caught up on some reading and enjoyed the view of the gorgeous Italian countryside as it passed by. Finally after the long trip we arrived in Florence, or so we thought. Somehow I managed to get us tickets to a stop in Florence, but not the correct Florence stop. Staying calm we figured out that the stop we wanted was just the next stop along the line, so we quickly purchased a ticket and were there in no time.
Once we got to Florence, for real, we checked into our amazing hostel, Plus Florence. I wouldn’t even call it a hostel, because it was huge and had amenities like a restaurant, bar, indoor pool and sauna. It was insane! The only thing that resembled a hostel was that we stayed in a room with 6 other people.
To keep with a day of rest we put off sightseeing and just browsed a great Italian leather market. (I was good and didn’t spend any money on myself.) That and dinner completed our day.
2 April 2010: Day 7
Day 7 of our trip and the exhaustion from our travels really started to set in. Plus it didn’t really help that one of the boys in our hostel snored like a wild boar. So we took it easy like the day before.
We began our morning by visiting Duomo Santa Maria Fiore. This one was different than many cathedrals we’ve seen because the outside instead of being a white/grey stone wash, it was decorative and green. In contrast the inside was very simple, but still very beautiful. It had a wonderful long nave, one of the 3 largest in the world.
After visiting the Duomo we went to see the baptistery right across from it. It was in this baptistery that Dante was baptized in. Unlike the church the inside was very decorative and had an amazing gold ceiling. On the outside one could find Ghiberti’s Gate’s of Paradise, which inspired Dante’s Inferno. Next we explored the Piazza a little, walking the outside of the Duomo and seeing Giotto’s bell tower.
Gates of Paradise
2 April 2010: Day 7
Day 7 of our trip and the exhaustion from our travels really started to set in. Plus it didn’t really help that one of the boys in our hostel snored like a wild boar. So we took it easy like the day before.
We began our morning by visiting Duomo Santa Maria Fiore. This one was different than many cathedrals we’ve seen because the outside instead of being a white/grey stone wash, it was decorative and green. In contrast the inside was very simple, but still very beautiful. It had a wonderful long nave, one of the 3 largest in the world.
After visiting the Duomo we went to see the baptistery right across from it. It was in this baptistery that Dante was baptized in. Unlike the church the inside was very decorative and had an amazing gold ceiling. On the outside one could find Ghiberti’s Gate’s of Paradise, which inspired Dante’s Inferno. Next we explored the Piazza a little, walking the outside of the Duomo and seeing Giotto’s bell tower.
Taking our time we made our way to the Church of Santa Croce. In this church many famous luminaries are buried including: Galileo Michelangelo, and Machiavelli...etc. The church was very quaint and had this pretty ceiling made of these wonderful wooden beams. We spent our visit in the church seeking out the final resting places of the people we knew of.
Following our morning activities we had a quaint Italian lunch and then visited some old friends...Ben and Jerry. Full of comfort food we enjoyed a restful afternoon nap and awaited our evening activities.
That evening we went to Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. The bridge was lined with little specialty shops...all too expensive for my budget but fun to window shop. Our next move was to go to Piazzale Michelangelo, an open area on top of a hill where one can get the best view of the city. As suggested by our guidebook we went up to watch the sunset. Many others had the same idea, so we all waited patiently in the brisk spring night for sunset. The sunset was lovely and concluded a very nice day in Florence.
View from Piazzale Michelangelo
3 April 2010: Day 8
If we were exhausted the day before, there are no words to describe what we were feeling on Saturday.
Once again being smart travelers we made reservations for the two museums we were to see on Saturday, so as to avoid the lines. This was great planning on our part but also meant we would have to be at the Uffizi Gallery, our first museum, at 8:15AM. So at 7AM when our alarm went off we rolled out of bed in complete agony to start our day. I don’t know how people backpack for weeks around Europe, because I was feeling wiped out from traveling and site seeing after 8 days.
At the Uffizi Gallery we would see well-known works of art such as: Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, Raphael’s “Madonna and child and young St. John” and Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”. It was a highlight for me to see Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” because this particular nude served as an inspiration for Manet’s “Olympia” and Mragritte’s “Olympia”, two paintings I chose to do a project on for my art history class. By seeing it in person I hope I gained a little inspiration myself for my project.
Since our trip consisted largely of visiting churches we decided to mix it up a little, so after the Uffizi we sought out a gorgeous synagogue. Unlike many of the synagogues in Italy, this one was a stand-alone structure. Unfortunately we could not explore the inside, but nonetheless it added some diversity to our trip.
Synagogue
At the Uffizi Gallery we would see well-known works of art such as: Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, Raphael’s “Madonna and child and young St. John” and Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”. It was a highlight for me to see Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” because this particular nude served as an inspiration for Manet’s “Olympia” and Mragritte’s “Olympia”, two paintings I chose to do a project on for my art history class. By seeing it in person I hope I gained a little inspiration myself for my project.
Since our trip consisted largely of visiting churches we decided to mix it up a little, so after the Uffizi we sought out a gorgeous synagogue. Unlike many of the synagogues in Italy, this one was a stand-alone structure. Unfortunately we could not explore the inside, but nonetheless it added some diversity to our trip.
Speaking of diversity the previous night tired of heavy Italian dishes (though I love them) we found a great sushi place for dinner. This gave us inspiration to seek out other cultural cuisines, so for lunch that day we would have Chinese food and then Mexican for Dinner.
After lunch we had a reservation to visit the Accademia Gallery. Here one can find the real Michelangelo’s “David” (there are a few fakes around Florence). I know I usually say a certain work was smaller than I expected, but the statute of David was a lot bigger than I expected and all carved from a single block of marble. It was a true work of genius!
Given it took all the energy we had to visit the museums, after the Accademia we called it quits on Florence.
David
4 April 2010: Day 9
Happy Easter!
We made sure we found some Easter candy to snack on as we made our way to Pisa and then back to Cannes.
Knowing we needed our rest for the long day of traveling ahead of us, we slept in giving ourselves enough time to check out and catch our train to Pisa. Our trek to Pisa was probably the least planned out of all our stops, having no map and no idea which of the two Pisa stops we needed to get off at to see the tower. All we knew was later that evening we were catching a train from Pisa Central back to the French/Italian boarder so we had 7hours to figure it out.
Combining our ease dropping skills along with our natural instincts we found the tower with mild confusion. The tower was exactly how I expected it...leaning, and we spent our time taking the typical silly Leaning Tower of Pisa pictures. With silly pictures completed, I would call the day a success.
Pisa
The rest of the day would be spent either waiting for or on trains making our way back to Cannes. (We did have a little obstacle when our one train was late and we at first got off at the wrong stop, but all was solved and we made it back to Cannes in one piece)
By the end of our trip, Stephanie and I were ready to go back to Cannes and get back into our routine. We missed the life we had made for ourselves at the college, our friends, speaking French and being in a country where we speak the language, even though it is our second language. In Italy I had no problems communicating because I learned and picked up on a few words and phrases to get by, plus many people spoke English, and I understood a lot just out of context and by using comprehension skills I gained from being a French language student. What was hard about not knowing the language was this constant feeling of being rude and out of place. In France at least I know enough to try and communicate and I like to think that many of the locals appreciate my efforts, but in Italy I didn’t know enough even to create an effort and for that I feel like I was being disrespectful. But I put in what efforts I could scrape together and I will continue to try in any other countries I travel to in the future.
Putting the language barrier aside, my spring break in Italy was the best vacation I have ever taken. I saw and experienced more history and culture in one week than I probably ever have in my life thus far. The money, exhaustion and any stress that I may have undergone was completely worth what I gained from this trip. I feel like a more complete person as a result of it.
All Night Café in Arles
Wall surrounding Avignon
Palais des Papes
Palais des Papes
Castle ruins at Les Baux de Provence
