Lourmarin
Can you believe these are only €1?
On Friday, everyone from IAU went on a school-sponsored trip around the region of Luberon. First we stopped at a market in Lourmarin to stock up on fresh food for our picnic later. My sweet host mom had packed me a small lunch of tabouli (she is actually the best!), so I only bought a few smaller things (like olives) to share with everyone else. My friends got freshly baked bread, multiples types of cheese, and bright red strawberries. Later on, we would end up spreading everything out for our small group to share.
Tucked away at the back of the market, we found a man selling bite-sized desserts for only €1 each. With prices like that I wasn't able to help myself; and instead of choosing between the two chocolates I was eyeing I just bought both. It was definitely a good decision! I also bought some lavender soap carved in the shape of a cicada (turns out the cicada is the symbol of Provence, which I was all too happy to learn). After wondering around for a little longer we headed back to the bus and onwards to our next destination.
Tucked away at the back of the market, we found a man selling bite-sized desserts for only €1 each. With prices like that I wasn't able to help myself; and instead of choosing between the two chocolates I was eyeing I just bought both. It was definitely a good decision! I also bought some lavender soap carved in the shape of a cicada (turns out the cicada is the symbol of Provence, which I was all too happy to learn). After wondering around for a little longer we headed back to the bus and onwards to our next destination.
While on the bus, the French teacher leading the trip talked about the history of Luberon and some of the places we would be visiting. Unlike the first school trip we took (to Nice and Monaco), this lecture was entirely in French. It took some concentration to understand what he was saying, but the great thing is I did understand! After weeks of feeling like I had hit a brick wall with the French language and stopped improving, here I was understand en entire lecture spoken in French. How exciting!
When I got off the bus, I even made an effort to speak in French with my advisor Dr. Leigh Smith. He then taught me a neat trick regarding the names of all the different fruit trees we were coming across. For any type of fruit, all you must do is add "ier" to the end of the fruit to get the name of the tree. For example: for apple tree, you take the word "pomme" and end up with "pommier", for cherry tree "cerise" becomes "cerisier". We continued to walk along the road lined with cerisiers and olive fields until we came to the cemetery where Albert Camus, a famous French writer, is buried. We had a few minutes to explore the cemetery and take photos before we were ushered back onto the bus so we could head to our picnic location.
When I got off the bus, I even made an effort to speak in French with my advisor Dr. Leigh Smith. He then taught me a neat trick regarding the names of all the different fruit trees we were coming across. For any type of fruit, all you must do is add "ier" to the end of the fruit to get the name of the tree. For example: for apple tree, you take the word "pomme" and end up with "pommier", for cherry tree "cerise" becomes "cerisier". We continued to walk along the road lined with cerisiers and olive fields until we came to the cemetery where Albert Camus, a famous French writer, is buried. We had a few minutes to explore the cemetery and take photos before we were ushered back onto the bus so we could head to our picnic location.
Lacoste
Lacoste is a medieval village built on a small mountain. It is also the location of the SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) France campus. Because of this I was hoping to meet some fellow artists that were studying abroad, but the day we arrived the entire village was deserted. Perhaps, like us, they too were on a school-sponsered trip to other villages.
The trek up the to the top was tiring for many, though I found it to be quite fun. We twisted our way through empty cobblestone streets that became increasingly more vertical. It was worth the hike. At the top of the city was a wide open space where the ruins of the ancient Château de Lacoste hung to the side of the mountain. And a few strange large-scale modern metal sculptures adorned the space. My favorite feature of the area was the beautiful cherry blossom tree that stood directly in the center of the bright green clearing.
I've always been a bit of a monkey. Luckily I've made friends here that are too, and after we finished lunch we all rushed to the tree and climbed it together.
The trek up the to the top was tiring for many, though I found it to be quite fun. We twisted our way through empty cobblestone streets that became increasingly more vertical. It was worth the hike. At the top of the city was a wide open space where the ruins of the ancient Château de Lacoste hung to the side of the mountain. And a few strange large-scale modern metal sculptures adorned the space. My favorite feature of the area was the beautiful cherry blossom tree that stood directly in the center of the bright green clearing.
I've always been a bit of a monkey. Luckily I've made friends here that are too, and after we finished lunch we all rushed to the tree and climbed it together.
Roussillon
Myself and Adelaide
Roussillon was the final stop on our trip and it was amazing. It is a place that is best known for its bright red, yellow, and orange dirt. Seeing all of these shades of ochre was especially fascinating for me because they are used to make the different shades of ochre paints, which are used in oil painting.
I didn't even know that dirt could naturally come in such bright colors. And seeing the vibrant orange hues against the bright blue of the sky and the green of the trees was beautiful. I easily could have stayed there and painted the landscape, and if possible I would love to go back and do just that. Besides orange/blue and red/green are compliments (thanks art school!), so I know it would be lovely to paint. For now though at least I have plenty of reference pictures - I took a ton while I was there.
I didn't even know that dirt could naturally come in such bright colors. And seeing the vibrant orange hues against the bright blue of the sky and the green of the trees was beautiful. I easily could have stayed there and painted the landscape, and if possible I would love to go back and do just that. Besides orange/blue and red/green are compliments (thanks art school!), so I know it would be lovely to paint. For now though at least I have plenty of reference pictures - I took a ton while I was there.