This past week has been absolutely insane, but it has also been absolutely fantastic. July 4th was the day that the 100th Tour de France passed through Aix. I was told that I should be standing along the route around 11h30, so I was, and the cyclists finally came around 1:30 pm… it was pretty exhilarating. Everyone in the crowd was super hyped and excited though, so it’ll be interesting to see the Bastille Day festivities when there are actually things going on!
After the Tour de France on Thursday, I hung out with some new French friends that I’ve made and then headed off to class. Because of everything in town being so disrupted by the Tour de France, Margaux decided that we would spend time speaking with local Aixoise and other international students, and what better way to do this than play a rousing game of Pétanque (or boules). The game is similar to bocci (kind of), and we played in a park against each other at first and then against a whole bunch of people from around the world who are also here to learn French. It was really nice to learn a local game, though, and it was nice to be able to freely converse in French, I think I’m actually getting better!
On Friday, IAU College had an excursion that went to Moustiers and the Gorges du Verdon. Both were absolutely incredible, I’m so happy that I was given the opportunity to go to these places. Moustiers is a little village which is hundreds and hundreds of years old. We were there on market day, so we strolled around the market and then hiked up to the cathedral which sits at the top of a mountain. The hike was a little more than I expected or was prepared for, but it was so worth it; the views from the top were absolutely spectacular. Next, we headed to the Gorges du Verdon, which is a man-made lake near Moustiers. The lake is used to provide water to the nearby villages, but also for watersports and swimming. The water is turquoise because of the local algae, so it was truly beautiful. The surrounding cliffs and such only added to how magnificent this place was. Mike, Amber and I rented a canoe, and we canoed around the lake for a while before laying out on the beach to relax. On our way home back to Aix, we also stopped at the most beautiful lavender field. I’m SO happy that I finally got a chance to see the lavender in bloom, it was just as spectacular as I thought it would be. The bees roaming all over the field weren’t ideal, but besides that, I was in Provençal heaven!
On Saturday night, I went to a really cool music festival in Marseille. I've also been spending a lot of time with a group of local French students which has been kind of amazing- I've really improved my comprehension skills and and working on conversing more with them casually. It's great to be spending time with French students because I feel so much more immersed in the culture and language. Today I went to Cassis with four other IAU students, and it was nice to just be able to relax on the beach for the afternoon, I love that I have places and opportunities like that so close to me!
I’m so sad that I’m already at a week from my departure, but I’m trying my best not to think about it. I truly consider this city to be my second home, and I’m going to miss it. Aix-en-Provence has a spirit about it that is completely indescribable and is something that you can only feel by being within it. It’s really hard to explain. I just feel more alive when I’m here, and it’ll be sad to leave it behind. I have some really amazing adventures coming up for me in the future though (read I’M MOVING TO EUROPE IN 2 MONTHS, WHATTT??), and I know that I’ll be able to come back and visit. That’s been one of the great things about this trip, almost everything is exactly where I left it, and that leads me to believe it’ll be here whenever I want to visit it again in the future.
After the Tour de France on Thursday, I hung out with some new French friends that I’ve made and then headed off to class. Because of everything in town being so disrupted by the Tour de France, Margaux decided that we would spend time speaking with local Aixoise and other international students, and what better way to do this than play a rousing game of Pétanque (or boules). The game is similar to bocci (kind of), and we played in a park against each other at first and then against a whole bunch of people from around the world who are also here to learn French. It was really nice to learn a local game, though, and it was nice to be able to freely converse in French, I think I’m actually getting better!
On Friday, IAU College had an excursion that went to Moustiers and the Gorges du Verdon. Both were absolutely incredible, I’m so happy that I was given the opportunity to go to these places. Moustiers is a little village which is hundreds and hundreds of years old. We were there on market day, so we strolled around the market and then hiked up to the cathedral which sits at the top of a mountain. The hike was a little more than I expected or was prepared for, but it was so worth it; the views from the top were absolutely spectacular. Next, we headed to the Gorges du Verdon, which is a man-made lake near Moustiers. The lake is used to provide water to the nearby villages, but also for watersports and swimming. The water is turquoise because of the local algae, so it was truly beautiful. The surrounding cliffs and such only added to how magnificent this place was. Mike, Amber and I rented a canoe, and we canoed around the lake for a while before laying out on the beach to relax. On our way home back to Aix, we also stopped at the most beautiful lavender field. I’m SO happy that I finally got a chance to see the lavender in bloom, it was just as spectacular as I thought it would be. The bees roaming all over the field weren’t ideal, but besides that, I was in Provençal heaven!
On Saturday night, I went to a really cool music festival in Marseille. I've also been spending a lot of time with a group of local French students which has been kind of amazing- I've really improved my comprehension skills and and working on conversing more with them casually. It's great to be spending time with French students because I feel so much more immersed in the culture and language. Today I went to Cassis with four other IAU students, and it was nice to just be able to relax on the beach for the afternoon, I love that I have places and opportunities like that so close to me!
I’m so sad that I’m already at a week from my departure, but I’m trying my best not to think about it. I truly consider this city to be my second home, and I’m going to miss it. Aix-en-Provence has a spirit about it that is completely indescribable and is something that you can only feel by being within it. It’s really hard to explain. I just feel more alive when I’m here, and it’ll be sad to leave it behind. I have some really amazing adventures coming up for me in the future though (read I’M MOVING TO EUROPE IN 2 MONTHS, WHATTT??), and I know that I’ll be able to come back and visit. That’s been one of the great things about this trip, almost everything is exactly where I left it, and that leads me to believe it’ll be here whenever I want to visit it again in the future.