JE SUIS ICI, FOLKS!!! (I’m here!) There are so many things that have happened, so please forgive me if I flit around from topic to topic.
The First Looooooong Day(s):
International travel is definitely not for the weak at heart. Especially when doing it alone.
My travels were long but thankfully uneventful and I made it to Aix safely picking up friends along the way! Some highlights:
-The flight attendant on my first flight had the best announcer voice I’ve ever heard! He sounded like a smooth jazz radio host mixed with a beat poet. Awesome.
-At one point my iPod played Tangerine Speedo and I made a mental note to tell Rachel that the French girls say Zut no no no, Zut no no no, No no! Bahaha ☺
-Flying into Chicago, the city was surrounded by clouds and looked like it was a floating in the air… but still surrounded by water. I know that doesn’t make sense but follow me here… The whole skyline was backlit and I followed the sun and the city’s silhouette/reflection across the water as we flew into town. WOW!
-While grabbing lunch in Chicago I broke open Claire’s binder. It felt like she was there with me “shootin’ the shit” and I felt much better about being on my lonesome. ☺ Thanks for doing that Claire!
-I watched Up! dubbed in French on the plane to Bruxelles and understood pretty well!
-We were welcomed into Europe with a BEAUTIFUL Technicolor sunrise…. That’s the only way I can think to describe it. I couldn’t believe the colors; the clouds must have decided to have 80’s night at the disco-tech. (I later discovered that dance clubs here prefer 80’s/90’s American music, so perhaps this is not far off!) They were electrically bright and fabulous fabulous. This must’ve been a last offering of color since I wasn’t going to be seeing any colorful clothing for a while…lol ☺ Europeans are VERY into dark colors right now.
***Interesting side note: In American fashion we have to choose one dark color to center our outfit around. For example, one should not wear a black pant with navy socks and brown shoes. Faux Pas! Here in France however, the current trend is to make outfits combining every one of the darker colors. Blue, black, gray, and sometimes navy are mixed and matched to cover the whole body it strange proportion. The very occasional white undershirt, patterned boot, or red lipstick are acceptable but otherwise, it’s all drab.
***Oh! I’ve forgotten an important exception! If you are older than the age of 40 it is also acceptable to have either orange (not red… orange) or purple hair. ☺ You may also wear leather pants and shop in the same stores as young women. There isn’t really an age gap in the fashions btw 20 and 50 year olds besides the hair color and expensive jewelry.
-Bruxelles was terrifying! I think I felt this way due to a mix of jetlag, hunger, sleepiness, and being tired of being alone. Everything was in Dutch, which is indeed “freeky deeky,” there is no such thing as personal space, I was lost, and there weren’t even any sprouts… I was starting to get really tired and lonely but then I found some friends from my program and we were all headed towards the same flight to Marseille. Yay!
I made a journal entry saying something to the effect of “I’m feeling a bit discouraged but I know that is the nerves talking… I’m reading for Adventure to come along and kick Loneliness in the butt.” It did!
-All my flights were smooth as could have been asked for, and even our crazy bus driver from Marseille to Aix provided some comic relief! He fought with the woman who picked us up over directions for the entire trip into Aix, which luckily wasn’t too far. But, being that he was very French and very animated, we had a good time listening in. Zut Alors!
-The apartment I’m staying in is adorable and we are situated just down the street from the daily market and another 5 minutes from school. Everything is very chic and very French and I love it! We have a big 10-foot long Cezanne poster hanging that adds a nice splash of color to the otherwise very modern look. We have a nice little seating area and breakfast nook. The kitchen is open and has a bar attached to the sitting room. It’s been newly renovated so everything is nice and we are probably more comfortable than any starving college student should expect to be. ☺ Out our window we can watch the people pass by as they shop and I have admittedly been creeping on the neighbors in the building across from us trying to figure out the stories of their lives. So far I’ve got nothing other that knowing the inhabitants of some of the windowsills. Like for instance, the porcelain chicken that lives up to the right; I’m often jealous of her because she gets to see the sun rise.
First Full Day in Aix, Get ready for a History Lesson:
(btw’s, Aix is pronounced “ex” like the letter.)
Today started out in a rush. Becaaaaaaause, true to form, my alarm didn’t go off so roommate and I (her name is Allison and we’re getting on very well already!) woke up about 20 minutes AFTER we were supposed to have been at our CEA orientation. Shucks. (Accompanied by diagonally sweeping snap of the fingers) We rushed around flinging things out of our still unpacked “valises” (suitcases) and arrived at the office flustered but in enough time to participate. Phew. (Wipe metaphorical sweat from forehead) As orientations go it was very pleasant and kept our attention, but there was SO much information that I’ll have to go back and do some studying.
(I saw on facebook that Venita had commented on my status asking if I’d slept through my alarm first day like I did on the Eastern Europe trip in high school… Yes Venita, I sure did! Haha ☺ Always late, but always there.)
For Mom: Iwanted to let you know that we were lectured on appropriate behavior for going out and especially safety for when walking home. Vivienne (our trusty on-site director) went on for a good ten minutes talking to the girls and then to address the men in the room said only two words about French girls, “Good Luck.” Bahaha! That tickled me. French women are masters of ignoring men and apparently do only one thing when addressed, they dramatically flip their hair and look the other direction.
After orientation we had some free time and a group of us went to the Cours Maribau, its the main drag here (comparable to the Champs Elysees in Paris, Lindsey in Norman, North College in FoCo...) only cooler because its in France and more epic! We learned on a walking tour this afternoon that it’s built on a “4 x 4 x 4” plan, meaning that the whole rue is mathematically laid out in patterns of 4. There are 4 rows of 44 plane trees each 10 feet apart, making the trees within 40 feet of each other. Its 4 times as long as it is wide and the height of buildings reflect the width of the street. There are 4 fountains in the center (creating traffic circles) each 110 feet away from the next making the length of Cours Maribau 440 feet. You get the picture… neat, huh!?!
There are tons of cafes, banks, and shops lining the Cours Maribau. (I don’t recommend going to any of them because they are twice as expensive and the service is ½ as good. Bad in fact.) Most of the larger ones are in buildings that previously housed aristocrats, then later bankers and lawyers, and even Cezanne himself grew up here! The Rotonde, the largest of the 4 fountains, is at the East end and is very beautiful… also very inaccessible for taking pictures. Unless you want to get swiftly run over or cause every nearby Aixois to hate you, I’d advise taking a picture from the sidewalk across the car traffic. The fountain has statues representing Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, and the Arts. There is also an assortment of animals and some angels riding disgruntled looking swans. ☺
We’d heard in orientation about a well-liked creperie in a tunnel near le Rotonde called Crepes a GoGo and decided to check it out for lunch. All the choices, savory and sweet, were reasonably priced between 3.5-4 Euro so I got one with “champingon, oefs, et fromage.” (Mushrooms, eggs, and cheese) It was interesting to watch because everything going into the crepes was fresh and cooked right in front of you, nous sommes en France! Interestingly, the eggs are cracked on top of the already grilling crepe and scrambled and cooked right there! That struck me as strange, but it all worked out! These women were MASTERS of crepe making… If one of Cezanne’s paintings of Mt. St. Victoire was edible and I ate it, that’s how beautiful these things were. They were also huge enough to take home for another meal. Always good.
At the other end of Cours Maribeau stands the good Roi Rene. He was apparently the last king of Provence back in the day when it was still a country of its own. He’s holding a bunch of muscat grapes, a type that he introduced to Provence to encourage wine making in the region. We learned on the tour that the red and yellow striped flag that hangs everywhere that represents Provence was originally Catalonian. King Rene’s family was from Catalonia and after his death the flag continued to represent the region he ruled over.
I remember reading before coming here that one mustn’t be embarrassed to use their bad French because it only makes you better and the very act of being bad is part of playing the role of the amusing foreigner. That has become a personal montra to help me overcome feeling bad for butchering the French language, “I’m the musing foreigner, it’s all part of the experience, allllll part of the experience!!!!” I accept that its part of the experience, but I think I met a state-side week’s worth of awkward in just this one day here! The very simplest of things here are difficult such as asking the time, saying excuse me (That one I picked up quickly), let alone ordering food or checking out at the grocery. Eek! We bought milk today. In a non-refrigerated section. Weird. More to come later on first milk tasting experience… I also bought a cell phone today. I really tried to speak to him in French and he graciously tried to speak so I could understand buuuut we had to resort to some creative Frenglish. He did know some English so thank god for that, but it was difficult and I felt small and ignorant. “Je suis desole pour mon francais. C’est mal, je le sais. Pardon!”
I can’t text internationally but I can receive calls, so if anyone feels like paying international long distance give me a call!!!! Haha, I have no expectations of this, but really…. xoxo
On the walking tour we took this afternoon we went into the Cathedral St. Saveur. It’s a mash up of different styles that range from 4th to 17th century. I walked from the 4th to the 17th century in ~5 minutes. Can you belieeeeeve that? Wow. I tried to take pictures but, like it says in Ysabel, the light is really bad. I saw the chapel with the original columns built over the Roman forums(Where the man emerges from a grate) and the excavated site that shows the Roman road running underneath the church. The various other chapels and naves are impressive but because it is so dim the huge Renaissance paintings were difficult to appreciate.
Vieux Aix is a filled with these old beautiful houses that belonged to Aristocrats and religious leaders. Apparently back in the day if something on your doorstep projected into the public area (i.e. the street) you were of great prominence. Something like the foot of a column, stoop-like steps, or having an ornately carved large wooden door. I’ve seen some really impressive doors here; I can hardly believe how old they are! One place we visited was another aristocratic home where, on one of his tours about the country, King Louis the XIV had stayed. The door had a carved border of what looked to me to be artichokes. For this reason I’ve deemed it le Maison d’Artichokes. Je suis tres tres amusante ☺ The walls inside were painted using the early17th century style of “Trompe d’oeil” meaning “trick of the eye.” The figures are painted so that they look 3D and come out of the wall at you. They’re pretty convincing too. There was one with a little boy peeking out from behind the curtain, but the more impressive one was of a statue in a recess with his arm in a position that stuck out in front of him. The only reason I assumed it was painted was because of the sheen of light reflecting off the paint’s surface. Very nice work!
When Louis entered this place he was so impressed by the artist’s work that he invited him to be a court painter and now his work also resides in Versailles. Nice break for the guy.
We also learned today how to distinguish 17th vs 18th century wrought iron work. Wrought iron was another 17th century symbol of wealth and was all the rage round these parts. The17th century stuff has bands of metal holding together the various parts. Not until later did they figure out the techniques for welding the iron together, so the later 18th century ones don’t have any bands. Cool. That’s one thing I’ll know how to do!
20/1/10
Dear Provencal Food,
Thanks for being so awesome. I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I appreciate how fresh and flavorful you are.
Bisous, ~B
Dear Streets of Aix,
Thanks for having so much foot traffic and giving me a good bit of daily exercise. It helps me not feel bad about loving your French food so much. ☺
Kiss Kiss, ~B
20/1/10
Took our placement exams today… eek! The written section was 24, coutem’ tweeeeeenty-fooooooour, pages long!!! Ouch. There were a few times when I had to convince myself to keep going but we shall see… I feel like it went pretty well but ya never know. Knock on wood! I need to place in at least level 3 for my credits to transfer.
21/1/10
Today we had our first outing together! Everyone in CEA has really come together and we’ve made quick friends :) Gotta love the ones you’re with! Anyhow, today we went to Les Baux de Provence. Apparently this is one of the most visited sites in Provence but since its a weekday and they called a Mistral, we had the place all to ourselves. I’d never heard of it but I’m glad Vivienne had! Les Baux is west of Aix in a region called les Alpilles, they are lower mountains with gorgeous rock formations and throughout their valleys grow groves of olives, vineyards, and all sorts of other produce. We learned today that sadly the classic Provencal Lavander doesn’t come into full bloom until June, sad day. Now wee are all pulling for an early Spring so we might get to see the purple blossoms covering the country side. Is it possible to sell one’s soul to the ground hog?
The Chateau/Fortress at Les Baux is settled into one of the rock formations at the top of one of the bigger hills. While driving up to it you keep looking and looking for something that looks like a house but when you finally see it, you realize that is PART of the rock formation! They call these ‘troglodyte’ constructions because parts of them are literally carved out of the rock and the mountain becomes the chateau. Of course there are additions with dressed stone and all, but it’s all been made to blend in with the rock and the overall affect is breathtaking! Today was also our first experience with the famed Mistral winds. It was a cool experience wondering around a 500-year-old castle with legendary wind whistling through the corridors and silencing everything but the whisper of the past. We climbed up one of the watchtowers, high above the chateau, and the aged steps were what surprised me most. They were the originals, never repaired or altered for tourist use, so each step sagged deep into visible footprints showing it’s use and reminding you of all the people and history this place has seen.
The second part of our excursion was nothing less than a privilege barely experienced by the grace of good timing. In the nearby town of St. Remey lives a lovely old man in his 80’s by the name of Lolo. His house is just up the road from the Maison des Fous (Insane Asylum) where Van Gogh admitted himself after chopping his ear off. What’s really special about Lolo and his house though is that it has been in his family for the past 400 years, the deeds of which hold the Sun Kings seal! WOW! It too a troglodyte home and is thus carved directly into the hillside. In front of Lolo’s house he has a young grove of olives and in the middle is a very tall cut stone stand/platform/spire.... There is no word to describe it, but after asking some questions we learned that the entire area where we stood (quiet, peaceful, filled with lovely smells and carefully tended trees) had been solid stone quarried out by slaves 5-600 years ago. The big stone in the center reflects the level of the original stone and was gradually carved around as the ground deepened. It served as a perch for the slave driver who watched over the laborers. Not exactly a glamorous purpose, but impressive nonetheless! Here also was my first experience with the special provencal lighting. It was mid afternoon and then way the sun hit every leaf and blade of grass seemed to make the colors pop and the edges soften. I can see the inspiration that helped Cezanne and VanGogh come to paint the world as they did.
Lolo gave us a tour of his home and it looked to be straight out of a storybook! Stone tables and troughs, iron fixings, hand-made everything, quaint decoration, and especially animated old men sitting round in their caps, smoking cigarettes, and of course talking quietly with loud hand gestures. Lolo had a wall of pictures showing all his ancestors who’d lived in this house and also paintings and pictures of the property form over the past 4 centuries. (That still blows my mind…) All the while the property has been farmland so Lolo also has a big carved out garage where he has farm equipment, carriages, cars, and bicycles that cover all the stages of their existence.
After our tour, Lolo took us into a long room with a slanted stone roof that had a table set for 50. We all sat down next to the huge fireplace (that was big enough for multiple people to crawl inside if they were especially cold) and were treated to a long provencal meal prepared by Lolo and his friends. How nice of them, no? The table was set with modest dishes and plastic children’s cups, but also with never ending baskets of fresh bread and bottomless house rosee and red wines. (Which we drank out of our adorable cups! Haha) One of Lolo’s friends was a big ham and kept making funny jokes to pull attention towards himself. At one point he found a sign that said “Defender de Fumer” and posed for pictures while puffing clouds of cigarette smoke out of his mouth. One of the girls became his favorite and he kept coming up behind her and pulling bits of her hair our telling her stories. :)
At one point when he was putting a new bottle of wine down in front of me, I guess I said merci a little too animatedly and he then stopped everything, causing the room to go silent, and made a series of sounds and hand gestures that I’m pretty sure meant he thought I was a drunk… I didn’t really understand, nor was I drunk so I just looked confused and tried to play it off like he was crazy. I tried not show how embarrassed I felt for having all the attention put on me but who knows what was really going on anyway!
The meal was very traditional and took us about 3 hours since everything is served in courses. First we had some assorted pates. I did try them and I didn’t not like it, but its not something I’m dying to have again. After that they brought out what looked like ground beef steaks… wrong! It was an olive and egg omelet! Go figure! The olive is what gave it the grayish color and they had a very strong flavor too. (p.s. did you know that green and black olives aren’t different kinds of olives? They are from the same trees just picked at different times in their development! The green ones earlier and the black one once they’ve ripened!) We then had a vegetable ratatouille and some lamb with green beans. After dinner we went outside into the softening light and had a dessert of fresh tangerines while we walked around the olive grove.
What made this experience so very special is that Lolo is the last of his kind. He never married or had children, so once he dies the history of his family in this place will end. Lolo is a local celebrity in St. Remey and it is said that when he dies, the town will never be the same. Lolo has decided to leave the property to the town of St. Remey and it will likely become a tourist stop. I’m honored to have gotten to experience this while it is still the home of the man and while the spirit of his family is still alive there.
22/1/10
Today was a day for food. Allison had our first experience at the market and it went really well! Can I just say that French food is FANtastic? Every day we walk through the market and see every color of the rainbow, smell marrons gille (roasting chestnuts) and rotisserie chickens, see fresh sea food from Marseille and oh my god it is all soooooo goooooood! All the veggies and things are super cheap too, which makes me happy.
Oh! Oh! We got some cherry tomatoes and they are explosively delicious… I hate to say it, but they were 10 times better then any vine ripe tomato I’ve ever had in Oklahoma. Soooo wonderful. Tangy, Sweet, fresh, crunchy, soft, yuuuuuuuummmmm.
Moving on, we had our orientation scavenger hunt today too which was fun although exhausting. Aix isn’t that big, but we must have covered it on foot back and fort a couple times. Found a cute book store (that also carried groceries…?) and got some postcards on the cheap. Should be sending the first bunch out soon!
When we got back they had posted result from our placement exam! (Nervous nervous nervous, biting of fingernails…) I checked level 3’s list first and didn’t see my name :/ so I checked 2. Nothing, so I checked 1. Oh God… Nothing. Next, I checked 4 and there I was! I placed into level 4CC!!! Whoop whoooop! It’s kind of intimidating because all the people in there have been studying for a much longer time than I have but we’ll see how it goes! Yay!
Alright, there is more and this isn't up to date but i'll post when it's written!
Love everyone and hope you enjoy reading!
Bisous, ~B
