For the past week I have been extremely busy with life in Aix and traveling around France, so I apologize for not updating my blog recently. Anyways, last week was relatively uneventful. I started my internship at the Anthropology Department of l'Université de Provence on Tuesday, and it has been such a fantastic experience so far. I began at the bottom, typing in bibliographies of the articles my mentor has read/needs to read/needs to organize for her research. I learned a lot of new French animal and anthropological vocab, such as: cerf, gravettien, paléolithique-supérieur, boviné, equidé, etc etc. Thursday was so much fun. I worked on bibliographies for a little bit, but then my mentor brought me to a different room/lab, and I got to clean 25,000 year-old animal bones and teeth!! It was so nerve-racking, because I was so afraid I was going to break something (which I did, but no big deal, because they can glue the pieces back together...) or lose something (which I did not). To clean the bones, I took a wet toothbrush, and very very very gently brushed the bone, and voila! Underneath the mud/grit/dirt/25,000-years of everything were some amazing things! Aside from doing that, though, the rest of the week was relatively uneventful. Walked around Aix, suffered from the Mistral, etc. Also have been sick with an awful cold for the past week, so that's been just lovely. Thank goodness for French pharmacies.
Friday night was a lot of fun. A bunch of different apartments, including ours, decided to participate in a Tour du Monde. Each apartment picked a different country to represent, and then had drinks and/or food that corresponded with that country (or empire, or continent). We were Africa. Don't ask. I didn't choose it. All I know is that we made some 'Jungle Juice' and played Lion King songs. We started off at Auberge Hugo, which was Ancient Rome. Then we went off to Manuel, which was America. We were next. After us was Mexico at Epinaux, but I stayed in and went to bed instead, because it was already midnight by the time everyone wandered off to the next auberge. Definitely a fun night, but for the next one, we will definitely have to do a lot more planning.
I went to bed early Friday night because....
Saturday I traveled to the city of Avignon with Eszter! We started off our early morning by running to catch the 8:10 Navette to the Aix TGV Station. We barely made it. I literally had to wave the bus down lol. But hey, it worked! So we got to the TGV station, took the TGV to Avignon, and took another little bus to the city center. Avignon is beautiful, BUT, a) it is colder than Aix, and b) le Mistral is much, much, much worse. We arrived in Avignon, and immediately found our way to the nearest café for some hot drinks, and just heat in general. Afterward, we walked to Les Halles, which is an indoor market that is supposed to have random meats, like rabbits, hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately, we did not see any of that. But there were a lot of people, and a lot to see. But no rabbits hanging from the ceiling. Eszter was thoroughly depressed.
After Les Halles we walked through the biggest square in Avignon, and then went to the Palais des Papes. The Palais was phenomenal. A definite must-see! Just make sure you go on a warmer day than we did and wear a lot of layers, because unfortunately stone buildings do not retain heat very well, and the buildings aren't heated, either. You have been warned. There was a lot to see at the palace, so I can't really go into detail. See pictures below. For some history, the pope was in Avignon for a while due to political issues. Thus, a grand palace was built. With a jardin, and other little chapels/cathedrals around it.
Ensuite, we walked around Avignon some more, had lunch at a little café that was run by a South African guy. We decided to walk around le Rhône (the river) to find a boat to take, but, well considering that it was January, the boats weren't running. But we did take pictures with the Le Pont D'Avignon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQXkNSB9KlY). We also went to le Petit Palais, which contained a vast amount of medieval art. Basically, it was about a hundred repetitions of 'Madonna and Child,' but there were some other neat ones thrown in there. There was even a painting by Boticelli! So beautiful. I am pretty sure it was the pride and joy of the museum. Another thing I loved about the art there was that each one had gold leaf, and they were all illuminated. Afterward we went to the Museum of Natural History, which was tiny, but free. They had a real T-Rex skull, and real eggs (bird, I think) from the Pliocene era, so they were about 3 million years old!
For dinner we searched all around, but Avignon did not seem to have such a good selection of restaurants like Aix. So we wandered around for a long time until we found 'La Cantina.' It was an upscale-pizza restaurant (think a mod, art-deco Mafioza's) that had the interior decoration of a modern, fusion-type restaurant. Very interesting, but at least the food was delicious. Even had a raspberry kir! I love France.
After dinner we stopped by the Old Avignon synagogue, and then headed back to the Avignon TGV station to return home to Aix. Almost didn't make it back, because we almost took the wrong Navette when we got to Aix. Whoops! But hey, after a long day of shopping, eating, and sight-seeing, it was good to be back inside the auberge, away from the cold of Le Mistral.
Over the weekend, Le Mistral has come back, and apparently wants revenge. Oh man was it so bitterly bone-cold this weekend and today! Whew. I had to cave in and buy a hat today at H&M. Well, OK, I bought 2 hats. But they were only 3 euros each. Tomorrow is the last day of major sales here in Aix, so I only have so much more time to take advantage of them. Bought a beautiful dress in Avignon. Will have to post a picture later if I decide to wear it here. Classes today were good, I got an A on my 'Reflections' for La France Contemporaire, which was exciting! We learned more French expressions today, and also learned about Le Mistral in Provence class. Oh Le Mistral. Until you have been here, you can't understand. The thermometer says 1 degree Celsius, but I swear, Le Mistral makes it feel like -10 Celsius. Kind of regretting not bringing more warm layers. Hopefully it will get warmer here soon!
Have a lot of homework to do this week, and will be going to Barcelona this upcoming weekend, so my week is going to be very busy! If something interesting happens I will try to make another blog post, but no promises.
À bientôt!
le Palais des Papes
J'aime le Pont d'Avignon!
T-Rex!
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