Provence: Arles & Aix-en-Provence

Today was our second day bouncing around Provence.  Read all about it from the guest bloggers!

Lindsey W.:

Today we had a more relaxing day because there was a lot of driving. We first drove to Arles were we saw the cafe that Van Gogh based his painting of the yellow cafe after and learned that the cafe wasn't originally yellow. We also had an opportunity to go inside and see a Roman Amphitheater. There was a small tower that we could go up and see a nice view of the city. We then hopped back on the bus to drive to Aix. In Aix we had about 3 hours to have lunch and explore the city. In both cities we had a lot of opportunities to shop for our families and friends. The shops had a lot of soaps and lavender so there were a lot of gifts bought for our female family and friends. 

Mallory K.:

After waking up to my roommates blaring alarm of Amigas Cheetahs at 5:30 p, my four roommates and I rushed to get ready for our busy day ahead. We ate a modest breakfast of croissants, and cereal, we headed out for the hour long bus ride to Arles. Surprisingly, I slept peacefully the entire ride. Arles was beautiful. We were able to explore an ancient Roman amphitheater that was once used for gladiator fights and is still used today for bull fights. Afterwords, we got to explore the winding streets, do some shopping, and see Van Gouges famous yellow cafe. Afterwords, I napped on another one hour bus trip while we headed to Aix. Aix was another beautiful French city filled with tons of options for shopping, eating, and exploring. While some fellow travelers decided to go to a local impressionist museum, my friend and I explored the city and bought things. Although the skill level of my French is still dismally low, I have mastered the basics for shopping, as well as looking like I understand what some locals say to me. On our three hour bus ride home we stopped to pick up dinner, and later ate it at the hotel, which is on a beautiful hilltop that overlooks Niece. We ended the night playing a trivia game that my team unfortunately lost, but was still fun. I can't believe that we only have a couple days left here and I'm looking forward to taking in every moment we have left. See everyone soon! Love you mom and dad!

Ben L.:

I woke up from a great night's rest to prepare for a long day of driving and exciting adventure.  Driving wasn't ever longer than three hours, but we made multiple embarkments.  My favorite stop was the free time for almost three hours in a cute little shopping city called Aix.  My lunch was easily the best meal of the trip, with the best desert as well; tiramisu.  After, we made the drive over to a super market where I bought kinder eggs!!!!!!

Alex B.:

We woke up in Orange, where we had a French breakfast of croissants and coffee, and drove an hour to Arles. In Arles, we toured a Roman amphitheater, getting a beautiful view of the quaint city. The city contained Van Gogh's yellow cafe and several wonderful shoppes, in which I acquired a stuffed lavender bear and a lavender tart. Once again we got on the bus and drove to Aix, where we took a long break and split up into little groups. My group got a bite to eat while a man played his violin, and roamed around the small town acquiring fruit and delicious smelling lavender and rose tea, later meeting up with the larger group and driving for another three hours. We got down to a supermarket, where everyone else bought dinner, but where I bought 30 kinder eggs, and walked to a nearby McDonald's, buying the infamous 'Royale Cheese'. We arrived at the hotel in Nice, but not before driving up a mountain and glancing at the beautiful town. And after playing a trivia game, which my group unfortunately lost, we are sitting in the hotel blogging, reminiscing about the wonderful day.

Provence: Avignon, Pont du Gard, & Orange

Today we arrived in the south of France, and it was a magnificent day...

Emmie H.:

I woke up this morning in a deep melancholy for I knew I was saying Au' voir Paris, but boy was I in for a treat. We took a train to the beautiful medieval city of Avignon where we spent lunch. We were taken back in time as we wandered around the streets of this stone fortress.  But once again we said goodbye to a fabulous city and were on to another. Point tu Gard is a magical place that must be something out of a dream, a river with a Roman aqueduct. As in the Romans, like ancient Romans, built the aqueduct. As I swam through the deep river with my friends and looked up at the ancient stones that were forged into a structure by  pure brilliance and man power, I realized how small I was in this world. But, at the same time it seems as all my insignificant problems were washed away in the river as my mind focused in on older, more meaningful things. After we drove to our hotel in Orange and had a nice dinner and then walked to another astounding Ancient Roman accomplishment. A Roman amphitheater in the middle of this quaint French town. We ended the night swaying to a Jazz concert in the middle of the streets, mesmerized by the universal language of rhythm and sound. The older things get around you, the smaller your problems seem. 

Matt G.:

Leaving Paris today on the TGV in the morning had made me sad because of what we were leaving behind. However what was to come had made me even more excited because we were going to Avignon. Once we had arrived, we went to the markets in Avignon to grab some lunch(Which in reality was just chocolate ice cream for me). While we were there we also went to see the palace of the popes which was very big in order to show the popes might in the area. Then a short drive out of Avignon, we arrived at the Roman aqueducts. Since the aqueducts went over a river, we were able to swim under them to see some pretty interesting sights.these aqueducts stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, which makes you wonder, how did the Romans build these?. There were also some rocks around the aqueducts,which to me was the perfect opportunity to jump off of into the river below. After swimming we went to our hotel to eat and have desert, however we decided it would be best to go out and get gelato to eat instead. Walking back we encountered a French jazz band that I had no idea what they were saying when singing but I really didn't care it was good music. Now we retreated back to our hotel to be prepared for another busy but fun day in Provence. 

Alyssa P.:

We woke up early today in Paris to get onto a train to Avignon. Once in Avignon we visited The Palace of the Popes where we spent about two hours just walking around the little squares, shops, and cafes. While these were really cute and much different from those in which you would ever see in the U.S., I personally enjoyed Point tu Gard with the Roman aqueduct the most. We drove through more of a hilly countryside with little grape plants dotting the sides of the roads until we finally arrived. I am not exactly sure how to describe the aqueduct, but it is almost as though you are walking through a simple forest and randomly come across the Golden Gate bridge or something. My reaction must have been something similar to the way that novelist Henry James describes how one stands gazing at the aqueduct with the simple, "feel that it is noble and perfect, that it has the quality of greatness..." The whole thing sort of glows in the sunlight as if there is a spotlight always on it, drawing your attention and demanding to be admired. I know that we have seen Versailles, the Louvre, Westminster Abbey, and countless other pieces of perfection, but none of them quite caught me like the aqueduct did. Later, when a group of us were swimming, it was amazing to look up to actually see this structure that the Romans had built hundreds and hundreds of years before any of us were alive. At home our roads barely last a few years in the snow before getting cracked and patched back up, but this is still standing.

Alana L.:

This morning we woke up and sadly left Paris but went to beautiful Avignon. Once we arrived and got off the train we were able to have free time for lunch. There were immediate differences between the busy streets in Paris to the quiet streets in Avignon. There were many shops and cafés to go to but first I went into the palace of the popes and saw where they stayed during the great schism which was very interesting. After having lunch and waking through the many shops we left to go to the Roman aqueduct. This was my favorite part of the day and it was so amazing to be able to walk across and swim under the the huge display of Roman achievement. Many people swam, explored, and tanned by the river underneath for hours. The weather was great and it was so nice to relax and cool off in the river. Finally we walked around the small city, got ice cream, and watched a jazz performance before returning to the hotel. It was a great way to end our first day in Provence.

Last Day in Paris (updated)

Today was our last day in Paris, and we are sad to go.  But many adventures await in the south!  Read about our last day below (still one more about this day to come!):

Anastasia G.:

This morning we took the coach bus to Giverny, which is where Monet lived and painted his famous water lily paintings. We visited the gardens outside Monet's house, which were filled with bamboo and colorful flowers. We also stood on a very famous bridge in one of the many famous paintings Monet is known for. After we visited the gardens we went inside Monet's house where we saw his kitchen, his art studio, and some bedrooms. After we went through Monet's house and gardens, we drove back to Paris on the coach bus. Once we got to Paris, we ate lunch rue montorgueil, a beautiful street filled with many shops and markets. After lunch, the group split up into three groups and went on separate activities. I went to musée d'orsay. This museum was filled with impressionist painting and post impressionist painting such as Monet and Van Gogh. We saw the original painting of Monet in the museum that we saw at Giverny. The musée d'orsay showed is the process of how modern art was found through transitioning through classicism to Impressionism to post-Impressionism. Afterwards, we headed to diner and ate Alscacien pizza. After dinner we visited Montmarte where we went all the way up the hill that has the Sacre Couer, a big and beautiful church. There was an amazing view from the top. Behind the church there were many shops and artists painting and drawing in the street. I watched my two friends get their portraits done by some local artists while I ate a delicious Nutella and banana crêpe. On our way back to the hotel from the Sacre Couer, we stopped at a little store to get snacks for the train tomorrow to Avignon, southern France. 

Zanub H.:

Today we began our morning in Giverny. Monet's Gardens were beautiful and had many different species of flowers. I preferred his gardens over his house. During my time at the gardens I took so many pictures that I ran out of room which was sad. For lunch, my group of friends and I had lunch in a sit in cafe. The creme brûlée I had was the best and the employees there were really nice. After that I went to Saint Chapel which had the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen. It doesn't look like much when you walk in but, when you walk upstairs, you can tell why it's stained glass is famous. The lines were too long to climb the bell towers of Notre Dame so instead we went souvenir shopping and to Ponte Neuf. The river and the breeze there were wonderful. It truly was a beautiful historic site of the original Paris despite being such a small stretch of land. I wish we could have stayed there longer but we had to meet the other groups who went to the military or art museums. During dinner we had so much pizza and it kept being dished out to us. I ate two whole veggie pizzas by myself. It was delicious. I preferred the actual pizza over the dessert pizza though. At the end of the day we went to Monmartre and the view from the church steps were truly a sight to behold. We were allowed some free time and I was able to successfully bargain a purse and some magnets with the shop owner so that was fun. This was an amazing day and incredible experience in Paris.

Hilary S.:

Today we started our day off with a tour of Monet's Garden in Giverny. Giverny was quite the contrast to the bustling streets of Paris. The area was surrounded by farm fields and plenty of cows. Our tour guide, Juan, described how Monet had plants from all around the world planted in his gardens which were influenced by the Japanese gardens. We saw bamboo, waterlilies, and plenty of colorful flowers in the gardens. It's amazing to think that Monet not only managed to make beautiful art, but a beautiful garden as well. Afterwards, we toured his house which housed many Japanese prints and artwork. Each room had a different color hue: blue for the kitchen, yellow for the dining room, and pastel green for one of the bedrooms. Juan commented that Monet liked to paint his rooms in vivid colors and painted his works in the instant, depending on the light. We then headed off to the Paris markets, where there was plenty of sit-in cafes, cheese stores, bakeries, and fruit stores. We had some time to roam around and explore the mart. Afterwords, I headed off with one of the groups to view Monet's, Van Gogh's, and Dega's works. I particularly enjoyed Dega's works of the ballerinas. Unfortunately, we had limited time in the museum and didn't get to explore many works of art. We met up as a group in the center of the Louvre and headed off for dinner: pizza in France. We then headed to Montmarte, an art market and spent some time enjoying desserts and admiring the scenery and artwork. It was a nice end to the day, and a great end of our time in Paris. 

Brandon Y.:

On our last day in Paris I'm sure all of us feel a little sadness  about leaving this wonderful city but we can still remain excited for the continuation of our journey to Southern France and Florence. Today began with a scenic walk around Monet's gardens, which he created specifically for his many paintings. next I was able to feel absolutely clueless as I tried to shop in a Parisian market. And for some of us, what a contrast from the simple gardens of Monet to the extravagant tomb of Napoleon. Despite my personal dislike of him I must admit he knows how to leave an impression. Finally, an end to our stay in Paris at the Montmartre and a stunning view of the city. Au revoir Paris, Bonjour Avignon.