Provence and Biot

I have to apologize because as I write this, I am sick. Which means my brain isn't working correctly, but what else do I have to do other than lie in bed (oh, and procrastinate on my homework), so I am going to catch you up on what I did the last two weekends.

The weekend of the 9 and 10th, we had a CEA excursion to the Provence region. The first town we visted was Arles. The two most important things there were the influences from Van Gogh (he lived here a while, including when he cut his ear), and the Roman Ampitheater.

The next place was Les Baux de Provence. It was a really cool medeival castle/fortress. It also had the most amazing views that I have seen so far in France. Which is sayin a lot, because I have seen some amazing ones. This place was probably the highlight of the weekend.

 

 

Our next stop was Avignon. It was where we stayed the night. We ate at an amazing, cute French restaurant. We had eggplant (I have never liked eggplant until I tasted it here), braised beef with a side of some kind of rice, and then a chocolate and caramel mousse for dinner. The next day, we toured the Pope's Palace. For the most part, it was really bland as there wasn't any of the furniture and most of the paint was long gone. But in the rooms with some of the original paint still remaining, it was really cool. 

Next we went to le Pont du Gard, which is the tallest Roman aqueduct. It was really cool and the water was an amazing, clear blue-green, which wasn't captured in my photos.

 

On the way back to Antibes, we stopped at Chateau Sainte Roseline, a vineyard/winery. We toured the wine cellar and where they make wine. Following that was a wine tasting. Between this and the wine tasting I had a few days prior to it, I think I have finally learned to like wine.

 

Last weekend, I wasn't able to go to Rome like I had been wanting due to a test, but I traveled the local area instead. I started by going to the Picasso Museum here in Antibes. After that, I went to a local town known for its glass blowing factories (Biot). When they say glass blowing, they really aren't kidding as they actually blow through a tube, which expands the glass. The finished product is really cool and is apparent that it is from Biot. They use something (baking soda?) during the making, which creates bubbles in the glass. After I was done at the glass blowing factory, I made the hike up to the town itself. It is a perched village with cute cobblestone streets.

 

Well that is all for now. Only three more days until Luke comes, and four more until the most epic spring break ever!

 

 

 



London

I know, I know, I have been slacking on my blog. A week ago, I was on the plane bound for London. I didn't get there until late, so I didn't get to really see much that night. That was the first experience I had staying in a hostel. I was surprised, it wasn't as bad as I had been expecting it to be. The first floor of our hostel was a bar and everyone was really loud, but I couldn't hear it from my room so I was happy. The first night stunk a lot (it seemed like the more you went up the stairs, the more it smelled), but it was bearable. There were also condom and other related items vending machines everywhere which I thought was weird because its not like you have a private room. Well when me and one other girl from the program got to the room, everyone was asleep. It sucked. Bumping around in the dark trying to find your bed was not fun. But it was clean, the beds weren't too uncomfortable, and ultimately the 4 hours of sleep I got weren't bad ones.

The next morning, I had to get up early to go to the Universal Studios London-The Making of Harry Potter. Best experience I had in London!! It was amazing. Everything they had displayed were the original props they used in the movies. The first step of the tour was a short video clip, then we stood at the entrance doors of the Great Hall. After a dramatic entrance, we entered the most amazing room of Hogwarts. The hall was so big, and the tables were set for dining, there was manequins dressed up in each of the four houses' clothes, and the professors were all standing up in the front. One thing I learned is there is a big crest in the fireplace. However, you never actually see it in the movie because the fire is always going. I am not really sure what the point of it is then, but it was cool.

 

The next part of the tour was all self guided. We got to go through and see about everything imaginable. There was wigs from the cast, sets from important scenes, and full rooms. The rooms were probably my favorite part of this section. There was the Gryffindor common room, the potions room, the Burrow, Umbridge's office, Hagrid's hut, and Dumbledore's office. They were all so amazing! This part is where I spent the majority of my tour as there was an incredible amount to see.

Next was the outside portion of it. There was the night bus, the flying car, Privet drive, and the potter cottage. Also was a place where they were selling butterbeer; it is one of the two places in the world they sell it. It was so delicious!

The last part was more the technical part. First was some of the molds and mast for characters, followed by drawings and mini models. These were really cool, but what followed was breathtaking. It was a huge model of Hogwarts. It was so intricate and large. It is what they use for the flyover scenes in the movie. I had already seen a picture from someone who went the day before, but pictures just don't do justice and I didn't get the real scale from them.

After that was Diagon Alley. That part was amazing! I felt just like I was in the movie. After that was the inside of Olivander's wand shop. Every box was named after a person who helped in the movie. It was really cool.

That concluded my trip at Universal Studios, and next was some siteseeing. I went to my hostel just to drop off some stuff, and headed straight out. I went to Big Ben/House of Parliament first. The Eye was also right across from that and I got some pictures. Next I went to Westminster Abbey. It was too late in the day to go in, but I did get some souveniers in their little shop for the first time since I have been here. Then I made my way over to Buckingham Palace. I was amazed at the size of it. After that I went over to the Arch, then took a train back towards the hostel. I stopped at a Turkish Cuisine restaurant. It was really good (also insanely expensive after taking into account the exchange rate, which killed me all weekend). I went to the hostel after that and finally found some people I knew. We went to a pub/restaurant where I got a coconut beer which I really liked. I also tasted Juli's beer and really liked it as well (I usually hate beer). It sucks, I think I am finally going to find beer over here that I like but not be able to drink it back home.

After that, we went and got a few drinks at a grocery store. I finally got carded for the first and only time since I have been here! The German girls thought it was so weird when they got carded. We went back to the hostel and hung out and drank what we had. Then most everyone had to go to the concert, but me and a few others didn't go. We went up to our room and played cards for a while. There was one guy from Michigan that is studying in Germany that was on my top bunk that played as well.

That was it for London, I didn't really have a lot of time. Honestly, it wasn't quite as cool as I had been expecting it to be and I am not dying to go back. It was also insanely expensive, and I wonder if all parts of England are like that.

We have our Spring break booked; Leave Saturday for Berlin, go to a concentration camp Sunday, and leave Monday for Ireland. Then, we are renting a car and driving the countryside, not even booking hotels since we don't know where we will be any given night. We will leave Ireland Friday, and stay in Antibes for the rest until Luke has to fly back Sunday morning.

Tomorrow I am going to Provence for a CEA excursion, and won't get back until Sunday night. Hopefully it won't take me a week to post about it, but no promises!

Culture

As I was making my gnocchi and mashed potatoes, I was think about how different cultures are. Here I am, cooking two foods made out of the same ingredient (potatoes) yet are both very country specific. While my potatoes were boiling, Francoise asked me what they are. If you saw someone boiling potatoes in the US, you would probably assume the person is making mashed potatoes. But I am not sure if Francoise had even seen mashed potatoes before. And last night after I finished making my gnocchi with pesto, tomatoes, and goat cheese (which I found I strangley love even though I am not a cheese person!), I told my mom about it and she asked, "What is gnocchi?" You would think coming from the Potato State, we would have a grocery store shelf dedicated to the stuff. Yet I had to come to France to eat this dumpling-like pasta that is made from the ingredient our state is known for. I have learned that while France and the US have many similar ingredients, their purpose varies widely.

 On the note of ingredients, that has been one difficult thing about here. Their grocery stores are much more limited in variety. On the other hand, France tend to care more about fresh ingredients. There are many fruit/vegetable only stores, markets on any day of the week, and I have yet to find a frozen chicken breast. There are also boulangeries filled with delicious chocolate filled croissants, fresh baguettes, eclairs, torts, etc, watever your heart desires, on every single block. Yet it is the US that is fat. You just don't find fat French people. I am pretty sure they don't exist. Part of this is due to the lack of fast food restaurants. Sure, they have McDonalds and a few other places, but you can drive for more than two minutes through a city and not see a fast food place. I also think they are better at limiting their portions, and they truly love their food. They do not starve themselves, and excercising is not something that is in their everyday routine. But they don't really need to, because they walk everywhere rather than getting in their car to drive two blocks to get more food. It is rare to find them sitting around watching tv (which they don't do because apparently French tv flat out sucks).

Another thing that is strange is how much the French smoke. Every break at school, all the French students conjugate outside. It is not because they think it is warm. It is because they need to smoke. As soon as you open the door, a cloud of smoke rolls in.

Well that is all for now, I am going to go outside to the beach to enjoy the amazing weather that we are having today that is supposed to reach 67. Then I am off to London tonight!!!!