On y Danse On y Danse...

Last weekend NYU was kind enough to fund a weekend trip to beautiful Avignon in Provence. The weather was absolutely incredible, cloudless skies and 60 degrees, and we all had an amazing time taking in the great views. Here's a little run down of our Itinerary:

Boat Tour on the Seine: We soaked up some sun and had an extremely high-volume loudspeaker shout us fun facts about Avignon in French. From here we saw the "Pont d'Avignon" where that lovely song originated (if you don't know what I'm talking about, please don't look it up. It's one of the more unpleasant songs to get stuck in your head).

Palais des Papes: In case you forgot, there was a point in time where where the Pope moved to live in Avignon in the 14th century. Later, of course, the Vatican decredited all popes who lived there, but they did leave a rather nice palace full of medieval and gothic architecture. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking and the sky was the most perfect shade of blue.

Liqueur Tasting: While Provence is known well for its vineyards, the distillery we visited was known for its quality liqueurs made from lavender, violet, and thymes. Theire "vineyard" was a field of pear trees and we learned all the facts about making a liqueur from pears (apparently it is first made from pear wine, something I've never tried but sounds delicious).

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence: This is the area where Van Gough lived and painted some of his most notable works. They displayed pictures of his favorite paintings right in the areas that inspired him most, so I would look at a picture of his olive trees, look up, and there they were! We also saw the bedroom that he painted in his studio and his garden. I think my parents would very much enjoy this area, I hope I can take them there when they come to visit in April!

Pont du Gard Roman Aqueduct: Beautiful, ancient bridge with a very interesting museum that has given me more information about Aqueducts and Rome than I'd ever expected to learn in my lifetime. Again, the view from the bridge was incredible, and we walked down the fields to the river which was about as close to la plage as we were going to get.

We then all hurried home to spend a full Sunday studying for midterms. Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, and also my last day of midterms, and I can only hope that I'll be able to soak up an authentic French Mardi Gras during my stay. Other than that, I've been cramming my brain full of paintings, artists, dates, and techniques for the midterm that I completed today. You may notice but my English is starting to fall apart, which hopefully is an indication that my french is improving tremendously (although I just get the feeling that I'm just no longer able to communicate in any language). I am now going have a nice relaxing night, drinking Orangina and studying for my Fashion and Media midterms tomorrow. À Bientot!