Les Baux

Last Thursday (the 21st), we went to Les Baux en Provence. This is a castle and village on a hill from... a very long time ago. Apparently the Celts built a fort around 200 B.C., but the current ruins are from a much more recent castle.


They also have trebuchets and other siege weapons on display. These were really big. Apparently they demonstrate them everyday from April to September, so we might have to go back. The above picture is a little deceiving; the hill the castle is on is actually much larger. This is taken from on the hill looking up to the top.


This is us on the walls of the castle.

This is the view from the hill. We are really high up actually; I feel like this was hard to capture on camera.


This is a stony vale behind the castle, called the Val-d'Enfer, or Vale of Hell. Supposedly, Dante was inspired by this place when describing Hell in his Inferno.


They also had a pillory.

Walking Tour of Aix

On our first day in Aix, we had a program orientation and then went on a walking tour through the city. Aix is about half an hour north of Marseille, the biggest city in Southern France. About a third of it's population of 150,000 are students, meaning that we are right at home! 

The Cathedral Saint Sauveur, built in the fifth century. It's amazing to go inside and think about how people have been worshipping there for thousands of years! 

In the center of town, there's a monument to the American soldiers who freed Aix from German occupation during World War II. 

A building that Louis XIV, the Sun King, stayed in. There's actually a huge mural painted all over the walls using a technique called trompe l'oeil {or trick the eye}. Doesn't it look so real? 

The town square, where a market selling produce, fish, and other local delicacies is set up every morning. 

Aix means water in Provecal {a local dialect} so there's a lot of beautiful fountains around the city. This is one of my favorites, in a little square right near my apartment. 

The Cours Mirabeau, or the big shopping district in Aix. There's a lot of fancy French stores like Lacoste, Hermes, Petit Bateau, and Longchamp. Also, a few very interesting American stores that I did not expect to see abroad. Like Footlocker. And Claire's?!?

Adam's Apartment

When I arrived in Aix, my apartment wasn't ready yet because the Fall semester hadn't ended yet. Instead, I had to stay in a hotel with my roommate and two other guys from CEA. Unfortunately, our room was tiny and we had to live out of our suitcases, which was a little frustrating. But last Saturday we were finally able to move into our apartments for the rest of the semester.

So here's a picture of my bathroom sink and my kitchen.

Here is a picture of my "dining room." it's sort of a hallway really. Past the shelves is my roommate Clifton's room.

This is my bed. I have a loft room, which is nice. I'm glad that we each have our own room. The other picture is of my shower. It's just a nozzle on a hose, so you have to hold it over your head when showering. Apparently pretty much all French showers are like that. We don't have a bidet though (we did in the hotel, not that I used it.)

Here are pictures of my closet and of my shelves. Very exciting stuff.

And this is my desk, at which I am currently sitting.

Caitlin's Apartment

I am living in a little apartment about ten minutes from school. It's in a really great location - only a block away from the main shopping district, the Cours Mirabeau. The apartment is just one big room with two full-size beds, a table & chairs, and a small kitchen area. We have a separate bathroom and closet space. 

My roommate, Jenny, is really great! She is originally from Washington DC and is a junior at the University of Kentucky.  So, even though I wanted to live in the dorms, I am extremely happy with my living situation!

The Flight Over

So on last Sunday, January 17, we boarded a plane to head to Aix-en-Provence (Hereafter referred to as Aix, pronounced like the letter "x"). We left the Houston airport at 6:55 pm local time and landed in Frankfurt on Monday morning at 11:00 am local time after a ten hour flight. Before we left Houston, we had one last taste of Texas food from Pappas' barbecue. Here I am eating a pulled pork sandwich and drinking sweet tea. Caitlin just stole some of my food.

While on the plane we watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which was actually fantastic. It was one of the most enjoyable movies I have watched for a long time; all of the jokes were really clever. I probably liked it more than Avatar or Invictus. Who cares if it is a kid's movie?

Here we are after a couple hours.

When we got to Frankfurt, we got off the airplane and onto a bus which took us to the terminal. Frankfurt airport was really big! It took us about an hour to walk to our gate. En route we saw this sign:

I feel like they meant to say "Houston, sie haben ein problem." We got to our gate and then we went to buy some German sandwiches (they were pretty mediocre). As we were walking some guy says, "Adam?" to which I replied, "Whuahh?" I was not expecting to meet someone I knew in Frankfurt. It was Clifton, my roommate in Aix. We went and sat down with him and chatted while whiling away the three hours until our flight. Then our plane took us to Marseilles, where we were met by a representative from CEA. Oddly enough, there were no customs to go through in Marseilles. I guess it was because we had our passports stamped in Frankfurt when we came into the EU. Eventually a bus came and we drove into Aix. Woo! Arrived at last.

Travel Plans

We have two breaks built into our program for traveling - a one week winter break in February and a two week spring break in April.

For the break in February, we're planning to tour Italy. A few days in Venice, a day trip to Assisi {where Saint Francis lived} and the rest of the week in Rome. We'll be using a Eurail pass to get around.

For the break in April, we're planning to tour the British Isles. We'll spend about five days in London, head up to Edinburgh for a day or two, or then spend the rest of the time in Ireland. We'll probably use budget airlines for this trip.

We're also going to make a few weekend trips to Geneva, Paris {of course} and possibly somewhere in Germany, either Berlin or Munich.

If all goes as planned, we'll have visited six new countries by May!

We're Going to France!

So this semester, Caitlin and I are heading to Aix-en-Provence, France to study French language and culture. We will be going with Cultural Experiences Abroad (henceforth referred to as CEA) and attending classes at Universite Paul Cezanne. We're going to take all of our classes en Francais! However, we don't know very much French; I've taken three semesters of French, and Caitlin has taken four. I'm sure we are going to improve quickly though.

We depart on Sunday, January 17th. We'll be flying Continental to Frankfurt, where we will connect to a plane to Marseille. At Marseille we will meet our group and travel to Aix by either train or car or bus. After we get to Aix, we will be taking a placement test to determine what level of classes we will be in. Wish us luck!