Un matin comme j'ai jamais vu

I had an awesome morning.

It started when I woke up at 5:20 am.

That may have sounded sarcastic, I am not being sarcastic.

I woke up at 5:20 am, took a shower and then had tea with my host mom, Dominique. We then went to get her car from the parking garage nearby. It was still dark out, and we were greeted with the smells of baked goods being blown about by the early morning breeze. I commented on the smell and Dominique decided that we must get croissants. When we got them, she took them out of the bag and said with disgust "C'est pas cuit! C'est con, ça!" Basically, the pains au chocolat that we bought were undercooked and she was not pleased. I ate the chocolate out of them anyway.

By 6:10 we were in the car, Dominique, me, and the dog.

We drove out of town, one of the less than 5 times I've been in a car since getting to Europe in January. Cars make me carsick now, more than they used to, but that didn't matter because I was watching the French countryside fly by, gawking at all the rivers and castles and mountains that Dominique pointed out. Not that I would have been able to miss them.

We drove for about an hour before turning off the highway onto a tiny one lane, two way road. Dominique let the dog out of the car and she started running beside the car, Dominique driving slowly behind her as the road led up upward, up the hill to a small town ahead of us. I could see a castle and as we got closer, Dominique began to tell me about how the Marquis de Sade used to live here and about the shul of hart and design américain (ou peut-être anglais) that had a campus here.

Dominique stopped the car, let the dog back in, and then we continued, into town, turned around, parked. I got out, looked around, there were three people talking in the parking lot, but no one else in sight on this crisp Tuesday morning.

Dominique handed me the car keys. "Tu peux promener le chien. Si tu veux.*" The French put a weird emphasis on sentences, my friend Alaska says it's like they're constantly announcing, but this time it felt more like I shouldn't feel pressured to do anything I don't want. This was a morning for peace, traquility, a morning for a stroll.

We had arrived in Lacoste. No, not that Lacoste, this is the village of Lacoste, France in the Vaucluse département. This is a medieval village that was left to ruin at the beginning of the 20th century, and was then rediscovered by Pierre Cardin, who threw immense amounts of money into restoring it and the castle of the Marquis de Sade that is surrounds.

The shul of hart and design américain is the Savannah School of Art and Design and it's buildings are scattered around town. Dominique left me to fend for myself for an hour while she got a massage, and I took the time to walk around town, looking at the buildings where students and professors live, imagining how marvelous it must be to study art in such a small, picturesque town where there are so few distractions from your work.

I should mention that the entire village is build on a hillside (well, compared to the Alpilles around it, it was a hill) and all the streets are tiny ruelles that you feel like you could get lost in, but really the town is a five to ten minute walk across, so you really can't. I should also mention that, despite the fact that it was restored recently, there are no modern buildings to speak of. It is a town of less than 500 people, and every building is built in a traditional provençal style, each building melding into the next as you climb up to the castle. The mairie (mayor's office) was smaller than most of the houses there. Their hours when they are open to the public are from 13h00 to 17h00 (1pm to 5pm).

I should also mention that, to this beautiful, pictuesque town, I did not bring my camera. but I did that on purpose.

I know, I'm nuts.

But here's why:

Because, as I walked through this town, stopping to pet the occasional cat (one was bobtailed!), I saw everything. I saw shots I wanted to capture with my camera, but instead of snapping a picture and moving on, I stood, and stared. I stared for minutes, taking in the incredible view of the misty valley below and the rising sun above the mountains. As I continued further up the hillside I saw a man with a big, bushy, black beard, carrying boots on his back filled with flowers, leaning on his hiking staff as he decended. I felt as if I had flashed back into the 19th century. That man, i swear it, was an impressionist painter for sure. The thing is, if I had been with camera, I probably would have missed that moment, or wanted to take a picture, but instead I just passed quietly, taking in the beauty of the moment, turning back, smiling.

Smiling all the way up the hillside, into the empty moat of the castle. It was a little too creepy up there for me though, so I turned around, back down the hillside, taking a tiny path lined with wild plants. I had to go to the bathroom and considered going in the brush because there was literally no one around, but I felt like that might be disrespectful. Instead I had a wonderful adventure involving free public toilets that are, in all honesty, a hole in the ground that you can flush. That was an interesting experience.

After that lovely time, I took my final 20 minutes in Lacoste to tour the park a bit, take in the view some more, and walk back to meet Dominique. I was so at ease, so at peace after all of it that I didnt even flinch when I helped a big, black beetle who was spinning about on his back, desperately trying to survive. Turning it over with a small branch, I suddenly felt this immense calm and happiness. I felt in touch with the world, knowing that, on this morning, I had known it before most people in this tiny village.

I felt the same when I got to school that morning at 9:30. I looked around the room at my classmates who had rolled out of bed and immediatly come to school and I knew that this morning was truly special, an experience that one does not get every day, or even every year. I had seen the sunrise, felt the air warm with its rays, I had walked the town of Lacoste, tip to tail, exploring every passage I saw along the way and I had done it all alone, in peace, not lonely, and it was magnificent.

When I met Dominique just before we left, she was at the bakery, the only bakery in town. She pulled a pain au chcolat out of a small bag.

"Oui! Ce sont cuits. C'est mieux comme ça, non?**"

Oui. C'est mieux comme ça.

*You can walk the dog...if you like.

**Yes! These are fully baked. It's better this way, right?

Ma première semaine à Avignon

Ugh, I have been failing at updating, so here's a run down of what's been going on in Avignon:

Last week I started classes on Tuesday and I have been having a great time so far. All of my professors are very nice and very good at speaking slowly. My French History professor is a little disorganized in his notes though, it's actually kind of funny. Aside from French History, I am taking Art History, the Philosophy of Aesthetics, French Cinema, and a translation course that is taught by a francophone professor on Tuesdays and an Anglophone professor on Fridays. My Art History professor doesn't speak a word of English, but she's the easiest to understand. My Cinema professor is crazy, but very fun. My Aesthetics professor is gorgeous...I find this endlessly amusing.

Last Wednesday night I went to a free concert with my host sister at a local pub called Red Sky. The band was French, but they wok in England since there aren't many gigs in French bars. They sang lots of music in English (Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Bowie...) and a few French songs as well. It was a good time. Red Sky is where most of the Erasmus kids go for drinks, so it's quite the melting pot, as my host sister called it.

Friday afternoon I went to the Pont St. Bénezet (le Pont d'Avignon from the song) with some friends and then my friend Dan and I walked to meet some other students from our program and a French university student named Magali. We went out for drinks with Magali's friends at a bar on Place Pie (the square where Red Sky is, very close to my apartment) and then we went to an Italian restaurant called O Solé Mio and then Magali & Co. went back to our first bar, some of the kids in our program went home, and Dan and I met up with some other kids from our program at Red Sky. At our table there was a Swede, two Germans, two Frenchmen, a Columbian, a kid from China, and roughly ten Americans, if not more. It was a great night.

Saturday, I got myself lunch and wandered to a tiny square where I ate and then some French kids came and stared at me. They were very young, it was cute. If they had been teenagers, I probably would have punched them. Children: getting away with stalking since forever.

Saturday evening I went out for dinner with a few kids from my program. We got Chinese food. Hint: When in France, don't get Chinese food. It wasn't all that good and I would have probably enjoyed a French or Italian meal much better. Lots of Italian food here, by the way. It's very delicious. Also: I am not yet tired of French food, it's amazing.

After dinner on Saturday, we went to a different restaurant for dessert and coffee and then we met up with Magali & Co. again to go to a jazz club called Delirium. They were having a party for the Russian New Year, so there were mandatory vodka shots and pickles at the door. It was good stuff. The music was, of course, Russian and there was lots of dancing, of which I only partook a little, I was too busy talking to Magali's friends to actually want to dance.

Saturday, I got myself lunch and wandered to a tiny square where I ate and then some French kids came and stared at me. They were very young, it was cute. If they had been teenagers, I probably would have punched them. Children: getting away with stalking since forever.

Saturday evening I went out for dinner with a few kids from my program. We got Chinese food. Hint: When in France, don't get Chinese food. It wasn't all that good and I would have probably enjoyed a French or Italian meal much better. Lots of Italian food here, by the way. It's very delicious. Also: I am not yet tired of French food, it's amazing.

On Sunday I met some folks for lunch and then we hopped from café to café drinking coffee and finding the best pain au chocolat. I'm a fan of it at the boulangerie across the street from McDonald's on Rue de la République.

Yesterday and today were filled with classes and not much to speak of in terms of excitement. My workload seems to be pretty manageable, nothing honors courses at PSU haven't thrown at me, except for the all in French bit. Either way, my French is improving greatly, especially on the weekends when we go out with the French students. This Saturday is my program's day trip to Aix-en-Provence, so get excited for some stories and some pictures either on Sunday or Monday!

Love each and every one of you, unless I don't.
In which case, I miss you, unless I don't.
But those two exceptions really only apply to people I don't know, and if I don't know you, why the hell do you care what I'm doing in Avignon?
Creepers.

à bientôt!
Abbey

P.S. Map of Avignon coming soon!

P.P.S. The snow and ice have mostly been cleared out! I could not be happier about this occurrence.

Je suis en France!

Greetings from beautiful Avignon!

It's snowy here, which is not a very typical occurrence. The roads are almost completely snowed over, with very few being cleared. Even the main road is a one and a half lane situation.

Let me begin with: It is absolutely gorgeous here. Absolutely. Gorgeous. The Christmas lights are still up because they haven't been able to take them down with the weather. The lights here are intense, my friends. I'll see if I can get some pictures before they take them down.

My trip to get here was pretty crazy, so I will recount a bit of it for you. Though I will keep it brief, since I'm trying to keep the English at a minimum.

I arrived in Paris the morning of the 8th. Customs took no time, I only had to get my passport stamped, and then I got my bags off the carousel, which also took no time. I suppose it would have been longer without waiting in line for customs.

I checked into my hotel around noon and I was incredibly tired, so I opted not to venture into Paris.I felt sort of lame for it, but I was totally beat and I didn't think that venturing into Paris on my own and having to return after dark would be the best idea. You know I love me a good adventure, but I also love me some safety.

I tried and failed to make a phone call to my family, so I just used the hotel's computer to email a few people and make sure everyone who would be worrying knew I was safe. I then went to a store in the terminal for lunch (my hotel was in Terminal 2 where trains go out, planes depart from Terminals 1 and 3). From there I went back to my room, ate my lunch, then promptly decided that a nap was in order.

Nap time was awesome and I really didn't want to wake up, but I really did want to be able to fall asleep that night, so I woke up, did some computer stuff in the lobby, then went in search of dinner. Sadly, everything closed at 8pm, and it was 8pm by this point, so I had to eat diner in the hotel with was hella expensive. We don't need to talk about it.

After dinner I Skyped with the ever-lovely Amanda Burns for an hour or so (if you want to Skype with me, my handle is "abfark" and I'll be posting my schedule for you guys either tomorrow or Tuesday, if you don't have Skype, go to www.skype.com and follow the directions). I got back to my room around midnight, did some mad journaling and went to sleep around 3am, feeling a tad lonely without people to talk to.

The loneliness was done away with completely on Saturday (yesterday), however. I was supposed to meet up with a girl named Lauren Way at the McDonald's in Terminal 1 at 11h30. Instead, I met up with Lauren Way and four other kids on our program who she had met along her journey to Paris. It was so great to have people to talk to and goof off with.

Our journey to Avignon was a doozy. You see, not only in Avignon under-prepared for snow, so is a good portion of France. That meant that our train that was supposed to arrive at 17h48 arrived at 21h00. It was fairly fantastic. First we were running an hour late because the train had to run at a slower speed due to the snow and ice. THEN, we were further delayed because of black ice on the tracks or an equipment failure or a switch failure, depending on which French person we asked. That was an inclusive 'or,' it could have easily been all three. Basically, we sat in one spot about 20 minutes out of Lyon for about 2 hours. Lauren and I were sitting together, and slowly we found the others on the train and had them come join us. It was a good time and Lauren, Dan, and Matt brought snacks, so we all partook in that awesome-sauce.

Once we arrived in Avignon, we met Sylvie Rockmore, the school director. She is this lovely little French woman who I just want to give a big ol' hug, though that may be inappropriate.

Sylvie took the lot of us into the city on the Navette (the bus), minus Dan and Matt, who live in the suburbs. the first time I saw the main gate of the city, I thought that I would fall over. Luckily I was sitting down. This place is just so majestic, but what medieval city isn't?

My hosts came to pick me up on foot and I dragged my suitcases along in the snow to their apartment, which is in a fantastic location. We are very close to the Pope's Palace and the main drag and only 6 or 7 blocks from the school.

Last night was a bit difficult, mainly because I was so tired and trying to speak French as best I could. I was very grateful to go to bed.

Today I woke up around 11h00, ate breakfast, then got showered. When I got out, Anne-Sophie (my host sister) was home and she showed me a map of the city and where all of the cool stuff is. I was about to leave for a walk, when Dominique (my host mom) and Gérard (my host dad) came home. They invited me to stay for lunch and so I did. We had roast beef and pasta with bread and a dish involving fish. I actually ate fish, that happened! I still don't like it though, I was just trying to be polite. It happens. One of their friends came over before dessert, her name is Chantal, I believe. I'll remember it next time, I'm sure.

After lunch (Dessert was amazing! Gérard is a baker by profession), I went for a walk around the city for about 2 hours. I sort of wandered the tiny medieval streets up to the Pope's Palace and then down to my school. Only a handful of shops were open because it's Sunday, but I got a pretty good idea of what's here. Tomorrow, I plan on buying a few necessities. I'll be posting pictures soon enough, I'll put up a link when I do.

That gets you guys up to speed, so I'm going to quit it with the English now.

I miss all of you, especially you...you know who you are. (Oooo...cryptic)

Love,
Abbey
(They call me Abbé, c'est fantastique!)

P.S. My definition of brief is a VERY loose definition.