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Published: March 31st 2009
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Hello All,
SO...I just spent over an hour typing out a cute little blog for an excursion that was "free" with our astronomical tuition here, and it was deleted! I'm not really sure if there's anything more frustrating. Anyway, I guess I'll just start over, here goes:
A few weeks ago we (lots of students at IAU) went on a little day trip to two towns in Provence, Isle sur la Sorgue, and Fontaine Vaucluse. I was told that Isle sur la Sorgue is considered the Venice of France, but, to be quite honest, that's just plain false. After boarding the bus at 9am on a Sunday morning, we headed off to this little town in order to appreciate it's famous antique market. I must say the town was adorable, but having two river run through the town, and a few bridges does not qualify as Venice. What gave the town it's charm was the street vendors, with smiles on their faces, and the smells of fresh food. Stands from antique furniture, to second hand clothes scattered and crowded the streets of the small city until it became one big maze for visitors to get caught in. My favorite part
Some of the Boys
Peter, Sebastian, Max, and Ben of the markets though, was the food. Around every corner there was another place to get fresh cheese, bread from out of the oven, or home-made jams and cracker spreads. Being with a group of boys, we automatically stopped at the stand where a man was cooking chicken legs and sausages along with roasted potatoes. You could not walk by this stand without stopping and smelling the spices...phenomenal! If I hadn't already bought some fresh chevre (goat cheese) and a wheat baguette for a picnic, I probably would have been one of the many to eat at the chicken/sausage stand. We all roamed around for a while until Kevin (a friend of mine) bought a sports coat (almost) at a second hand clothing stand. Now of course, all the boys had to go back and look, and in the end, most of them bought sweaters that even beggars would refuse. Not having much time, we took some pictures with the water wheels, and headed back on the bus to the next town, Fontaine Vaucluse.
There's a river in the south which is fed by a mysterious source, and naturally, the next place we headed was to that source in the
mountain town of Fontaine Vaucluse. When we reached the source, it looked like nothing more than a pool at the beginning of the river. The color of the water though, a deep crystal clear blue-green (does that make sense?) made the scene beautiful. The shining sun also made the day even better. My friend Rebekah, her boyfriend Joel, and I picnicked next to the source, just enjoying the sun and chatting. I noticed after a while that Ben had gone missing. Not thinking twice, I didn't worry, he had probably just gone back into the little town. Later on, while some of us where enjoying the sun on the bank of the river, Ben and Kevin come walking down the road. They had just climbed the cliffs that surround the area. And when I say climbed, I mean they went in their normal clothes, with normal shoes, and no safety gear. I asked how they got back down, to which they replied, "we slid down the rocks." All I could say was that I was glad they were safe, but if they plan on doing something like that again....DON'T, it's too dangerous! Indiana Jones and his sidekick then headed back
into town for a trip through the museum of the French Resistance for a WWII class. A few of us also headed back into town, but to poke around the shops and explore. The highlight of my trip might have been a purchase I made. I bought hugging salt and pepper shakers for my apartment next year! They're so cute, haha! We eventually made our way into a church from the 12th century located in the center of the small town. The church was bare, and very much reflected the simplicity of the time when it was built.
The church was a quick stop on our way to climb a hill to reach an old medieval chateau. Halfway there I ran into a group of people and stopped to enjoy the view. Deciding that it was getting close to leaving time, Kevin and I headed down the hill to enjoy some ice cream. While eating the perfect end to a gorgeous day, we ran into Ben, and then onto the bus back to Aix. Honestly, the more I see of Provence, the better it gets. I'm not sure if there are many other places like this.
Au Revoir!
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