Blogs from Aix-en-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe - page 6

Bonjour ca fait longtemps que jai donne signe de vie. Les ordis ont ete peu accessibles. Voila 25 juillet (mon anniversaire), journee de train infernale, cumulant retard par dessus retard. Les trains etaient Vraiment mais vraiment remplis. Heureusement on a pu sasseoir. Pour prendre notre connection, a cause du retard on a eu droit a un billet en premiere... Alors premier appercu de la France.... Ensuite on commence notre periple a Aix en Provence. Decu que la Mer ne soit pas plus proche. Pour tout dire la ville est plus tranquille que prevu et la mer peu accessible. Heureusement, il y avait des kiosques de vins et dart de la region. Decidement pas ma destination favorite, mais qui nous a permis de relaxer un peu depuis ce mois et plus de voyage.... read more

Salut Mes Amis! Now that I'm back in France, I figure I'll resort back to French greetings...anyway, I realized that I haven't done a blog yet alerting you all to the wonders of the place I'm calling home at the moment: Aix-en-Provence. Aix (for short) is a small, I guess what you could call, college town. Right now I'm asking myself if I ever left Harrisonburg! But surely I did, because Harrisonburg doesn't contain beaucoups of fountains, have cobblestone streets, or local boulangeries (bread/sandwich shops). Also missing would be the English language, where as here, I must order a sandwich and ask for different size shoes when shopping, in French. Similarities aside, Aix is fabulous. A typical day in the life of a student in Aix would first include waking up to sunshine. Seriously, the sun ... read more

On our first Saturday here, unwilling to waste the day, I suggested to Ben and six other of our new friends that we go for a hike on Mount St. Victoire. The mountain is about a thirty minute bus ride from the city. Although we wanted to go to the North side, our lack of abilities in French landed us on the South side. The North side would have given us a 360 degree view, but we found the south side to be beautiful as well. We began to hike the red trail (middle difficulty) and it didn't take us long to get tired, or to reach what we thought was the top. We ended up at a little chapel situated almost into the mountain. A little bell that each of us rang marked the top ... read more

Hey Everyone! I hope this works! Arriving here in Aix-en-Provence was/still is incredible. The town is beautiful with bunches of cobblestone winding streets that I will probably never figure out. There are so many amazing fountains, bread shops, and of course places to grab a café or a thé. My school is situated in a historical chapel. From the outside you can't tell, but from the inside, the vaulted ceilings and the intricate designs on the walls make it obvious. Classes are held in that building, as well as one up the road in a small square and around the corner in an amazing courtyard. Lunch is available at many a fine boulangerie, or maybe a patisserie? (bread and pastry shops) Of course today I went to neither of those places and opted for the pick ... read more

The latest lecture in my social issues in france culture class was on the government funding of arts in France. Overall I was impressed with their system - it seems to work really well to make the arts affordable and available to everyone who wants to see them. I am personally a fan of the arts (studio art, dance, theatre, opera, orchestra, music, visual arts, etc) so I really envy French people who have a system that makes it very easy and cheap for them to see all of this. I think that art gives you so much more than just pretty things (especially if you participate in some form of creation of art) and so it is really a shame that so few people in America get to experience art on a regular and ... read more