Arles

Last weekend, we were supposed to have an excursion to Marseille with the program, but it got pushed back a week. So Claudia, Victor and I decided to go to Arles on Sunday. We bought our Cartreize cards for people under 26 that allow you to take the buses in the department Bouches-du-Rhône for 2€ during a 24-hour period (no matter how many rides you take!). The Bouches-du-Rhône department includes Aix, Marseille, and Arles, and is one of 6 departments in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur (PACA).

Regions of France (PACA=bottom right)

 

PACA departments (BdR=bottom left)

Van Gogh garden

It started out horribly because it was raining and cold in Aix, and by the time we got to the bus station we were soaked and freezing. The bus ride took about an hour and 20 minutes, but luckily when we got to Arles the rain had stopped! Unfortunately, many places were closed because it was Sunday. We stopped at the Office of Tourism and got a map and info about seeing the ruins that Arles is known for.  

We ate lunch at a little café and headed off to sightsee! We saw a garden that Van Gogh painted, and I believe the building around it used to be a hospital and was where he went when the ear thing happened. Then we saw a cloister, which was pretty neat but they were under construction so a lot of our photos have that beautiful sight in them.. 

Cloister

View from above the cloister

 












Because of Marseille-Provence European cultural capital 2013 (MP13), there are extra exhibits everywhere, and we saw a really neat art exhibit that contained a ton of chairs and giant wooden stamps around a room. There were two giant chairs with stamps and bundles of material, and a giant pile of the bundles. There were also posters with the stamps stamped on them. It was one of the coolest exhibits I have seen, and the little artist explanation was really neat.

 

Amphitheater

Theater

Next we went to an ancient theater, where they still hold concerts today, and then the amphitheater. They were beautiful and it was so nice that there weren’t a lot of people around. We climbed one of the towers in the amphitheater, where they have bullfights, and the view of Arles was just incredible. The last stop was a crypt, which was really creepy because it was extremely dark and no one else was there. Before we caught the bus back, we stopped in a café and met an English guy. It’s funny, we have already met 3 British people in France because when they hear someone speaking English they want to talk to you! It ended up being a really great trip and I will definitely return to visit beautiful Arles!

Beautiful views from the amphitheater tower

Having fun in Arles!

Week 1

Week 1 is over, and I cannot believe it has just been a week…it feels like we have been here for a month! We had a ton of things to do this week like buying phones, setting up bank accounts, getting tours of Aix and of the university (la Fac), and going to an intensive course for four hours every day (soo long!). Aix is absolutely beautiful and I already love it here! La Fac is not the best looking building, but it suffices. Apparently people who went to school there 20 years ago say it still looks the same. There is graffiti everywhere which really helps as a benchmark of where you are, because everywhere you go it looks the same and it is very easy to get lost. I have seen tags that say Eliot and ER everywhere (my brother’s initials and name with the same spelling) and it looks just like his writing, it is so weird!

 

La Rotonde

The weather in Aix has been wonderful, getting up to the 50s and always sunny. The past few days have been colder, and today is the first non-sunny and rainy day. Aix is called the city of a thousand fountains, so as you could imagine, there are many fountains. La Rotonde is the large fountain in sort of the “downtown” area, and one of the streets coming off of the circle is Cours Mirabeau, which is the main street. When we first arrived, people were decorating the trees along the Cours Mirabeau as an art exhibit for the cultural events this year. Marseille is the European cultural capital in 2013, and Aix, along with Arles, are grouped with Marseille. This weekend was the opening weekend of the events, and in Aix, there are various art exhibits (like the trees) and other events going on. Yesterday, a few planes flew over while letting out streaks of red white and blue behind them to leave the colors of the French flag in the sky.

Cours Mirabeau

La Rotonde

 

Some things I have found so far to miss about the US are public restrooms, free water, and drying machines for laundry. I also miss bagels, but the food here is delicious. Typically for breakfast we have tea, coffee, or juice, and options of pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), small bread that has a buttery taste, fruit, and yogurt. For lunch we get something at a café or food stand, typically sandwiches or pizza. The other day I ate a tasty omelet and fries sandwich. The boulangeries and patisseries are very beautiful and tempting. Whenever you walk past one, you can smell the breads and pastries and it smells so good! One of the best things I’ve had so far is a beignet I got at a food stand on La Rotonde. It was filled with chocolate and was delicious! There is also a coffee/chocolate café where the petit chocolat (basically warm pure chocolate) is very good! For dinner, we eat some type of salad (so far we have had lettuce, tomato, and beet salads), then the main dish (some things we have had are omelets, cordon bleu, turkey, mashed potatoes and chicken), then cheese or yogurt, followed by dessert (flan, brownies, packaged chocolate mousse). Our host grandma or the cook who comes 3 days a week always offer more food, even when we have told them many times that we are full!

 

petit chocolat

Today Claudia and I saw a movie about Renoir at the Renoir theater on Cours Mirabeau. It was very good, and also interesting to see what a French cinema was like. The main difference was that there were only 3 theaters and you had to enter through the door that your movie would be in, so the lines for the other movies starting later were outside and not in the way of people seeing the first movie. It has been a great first week, and I have loved meeting everyone in the program. My host grandma and her daughter are very nice and I enjoy talking and listening to them. It is les soldes (sales) right now, so this week I will be shopping and finishing the intensive course, as well as planning my courses for the semester! And next weekend, we go to Marseille!

ET, our host cat

Me, Victoria, and Claudia enjoying our cafés and petit chocolats

Le voyage et l'arivée

After a very long journey, I have arrived in Aix! The Indy to Philly flight was fine but I was very nervous. We get on the plane and the captain says it’s not a great day for flying and to expect lots of turbulence…great. But it was fine, and no one sat next to me so I got to sit by the window! It was entertaining when I wasn’t listening to music, as there was a guy with special needs who kept talking the entire time about how Christmas was over, “time to put the Christmas tree and all the Christmas stuff away, and all the Christmas songs are done so it’s back to regular songs now…” Then at the end of the flight the flight attendant said thank you for flying etc. and Happy Holidays! And I hear “Yeah, Happy New Year! Christmas is over now….” And then he started talking about how his dad was sick, and how “one time I had ‘you-monia’ and my voice sounded bad.. I had you-monia once cause my voice sounded real bad…” Entertaining.

The Philly to Munich flight was not so great. It was supposed to leave at 6:35 pm and land at 8:45 am Munich time (6 hours ahead of EST). We boarded the plane by 6 and went through all the safety things they say (on little tvs in front of every seat) and sat there for a while; the ETA was an hour earlier because it would only take 7 hours to get there. Then around 7 the captain says there will be a delay because they were doing some maintenance. At about 8 they said the left engine wasn’t starting and they were going to have to fix it so we all had to get off the plane with all of our things in case we ended up changing planes. There was a rush of people with connecting flights from Munich (including me) to get those flights changed since we would be leaving later; they told us we should be back at the terminal at 9 and should be leaving soon after. I changed my flight from Munich to Marseille from arriving at 12:45 to leaving at 2:45 pm and arriving at 4:20 pm. Then we waited and 9:00 went by, then at about 9:30 they said we were going to take a different plane so we had to move terminals and should be boarding at about 10. At this point, I was really tired but at least my nerves had worn off. The Philly airport was huge and pretty neat with tons of stores, but I ended up being there for 8 hours and was sick of it! We waited another hour while they were cleaning, catering, and checking everything, then finally got to board. The flight didn’t leave until 11:30 pm, and they served dinner at about midnight. It was a long night and very difficult to sleep or be comfortable. I was glad to have an aisle seat though so I could stretch my legs a little. We arrived at 12:45 pm Munich time.

The Munich to Marseille flight was wonderful. I had to wait in a long line to get my new ticket once I got to the airport but luckily it didn’t end up taking too long and I got to the terminal on time. The Munich airport was pretty nice. It was really big and not very crowded at all. At the terminal, the person who checks you in called me to come up to make sure my checked luggage would be sent with the right flight. Then I got called up again and was told they were upgrading me to business! 1A, front of the plane with no one next to me. We took a bus to the plane and walked up the stairs (never did that before) to board. I had lots of leg room and fell asleep right away I was so exhausted. When I woke up, other passengers were eating the “snack” that they served. I wasn’t feeling hungry and told the flight attendant I didn’t want any right away. I enjoyed the beautiful view out the window as we passed over the alps and then started feeling hungry. I got the “snack” which consisted of a roll, a pretzel roll, Bresaola rolls on bell pepper puree with marinated green asparagus, curried chicken salad with crème fraîche, and amarettini delice. The Bresaola roll in the sauce with the asparagus was soooo good. They said it was cow meat and it was wrapped around some sort of cheese and it was just delicious! The chicken curry was tasty as well. I was so happy to have been upgraded and to have that delicious “snack” that was more like a meal! We started getting closer to landing and it was just beautiful. We flew over the coast area and it was sunny and all the houses and buildings were really neat looking. 

After we landed and I got my luggage, I found the taxis and took one to the hotel. The drive was beautiful and I cannot wait to explore the area more! The hotel was nice, they have apartment-type rooms with a ton of space and a little “kitchen” area that would be great for a long stay. I showered and went to bed and slept for 11 solid hours! This morning, I got ready then called my host family to tell them when I would be coming. I arrived just after 11 and met Madame Esslinger! She showed me my room, which is fairly small. The only downside is that there isn’t an empty dresser or someplace to put my clothes, but I will just keep things in my suitcases. There is a little space in the closet where I hung things but there is a bunch of old stuff in there. My room contains a display of 6 stuffed squirrels, a bird, and another animal that I don’t recognize, and some small antlers hanging on the “walls” of the display. The animals are playing musical instruments and the bird appears to be the conductor. I have not yet asked where it came from, but it just reminds me of the mice Steve Carell’s character dresses in Dinner for Schmucks, which I recently watched before I left. I am on the second floor of the house, and more students live on the third floor. I had some tea, bread, and fruit after I got my things sorted. Mme Esslinger (Hélène) told me about some of her past students who keep in touch and showed me some pictures they have sent her. She has been housing students for 34 years! She calls the older female ones her filles (daughters) and recent ones petite-filles (granddaughters). Monsieur Esslinger is at the hospital right now, but I’m not sure what for. Claudia, the other IU student staying here, arrived this afternoon. I’m looking forward to getting to know her and the Esslingers and to meeting the other students when they return from holiday! And I can’t wait to explore Aix tomorrow!