Blogs from Aix-en-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe - page 10

As predicted, I'm useless at updating this shit as things happen. As a result, I'm going to have to rely solely on my memory to recount the last 4 or 5 days, which have unfortunately been blurred in several places and times due to far too many pre-outing gin and tonics. Anyways here goes: Tuesday 3rd of June was the second day of classes. To be honest, these classes are a little dull and its far too hard to actually concentrate for 4 hours straight, especially when Mme Calvet could probably recite all of Shakespeare's works in one sitting without ever pausing. Obviously if she's talking I get to improve my listening skills but as far as trying to become more lucid orally there hasn't been much opportunity. I actually became a pseudo-hero for the class ... read more

It is amazing that despite France being rather expensive overall, a good bottle of wine could run you no more than 7 Euros, whereas in Hong Kong these cost you an arm and a leg. We’ve spend the last few days at the Chateaux de Bradshaw, located in the quaint town of Fayence (know for its boulangeries back in Medieval times) half an hour outside of Nice in Provence. Picture your quintessential house in the South of France - and this is it. Walls covered with ivy and vines, great big green lawns enclosed in large walls of manicured bushes. Pebbled driveways, hanging flower pots, shuttered windows, bottles and bottles of wine. No internet, no sounds, no nothing besides the voices of your good friends relaxing on more cheeses than any American could handle. After the ... read more

Well we solved the problem with the photos one day and ran into another problem another day; it seems the computer we,re using wont allow us to access the camera; ce,st la vie; Salon is great; we went to Aix this morning and were really disappointed; Yesterday we went to Avignon and had a very enjoyable day; I have had a bit of slight deli belly since Toulouse (touloose??) so since arriving we have steered clear of heavy french food; On monday we ate Italian (excellent ingredients made fresh in the deli which doubles as a restaurant at night) and last night we ate chinese/vietnamese; Again excellent; the last 2 days have been very sunny; in fact today it has hit 20 degrees; we are actually hot; Everyone else still wears coats; We must be the ... read more

This is more of Marseilles and Provence, but since I got my new digital camera (thanks Dad) I wanted to put up some of my less relevant but still interesting pictures. Hope you enjoy!... read more

We went to Aix-en-Provence last Saturday, it took a couple hours to get there by bus but it was really interesting and very pretty! First we walked around the city and were shown the important tourist destinations. This excursion was hard for me because everything was explained in French so I picked up on it a little bit, but I was the only American with some Swiss students and a lot of Japanese students, so nothing was explained in English. There is a huge fountain in the center of town that is really pretty, and trees line streets and Im sure its beautiful when they are blooming! Since it was a Saturday, they had lots of outdoor markets. There were markets for flowers, food, and clothing and they were really big! Later we stopped and had ... read more