22/03
Saint-Tropez, Port Grimaud, Le Dramont, Corniche de l’esterel/d’or
Today we went on the cuefle trip to Saint-Tropez. It was with other people who take classes at the cuefle and only cost 5 euro. Down side – we had to wake up at 6 something to be at the fac at 7:30 am to leave. When we arrived I expected to see some 20-something person who would be leading us, but no, instead I find 4 really old French women and one middle-aged French guy who are in charge. The women are so funny, counting us every time we get on and off the bus and giving us snacks throughout the day. The guy on the other hand, was so annoying. He said he was a volunteer, which was nice, and was clearly passionate about what he was doing, but he narrated and commented on every single thing we saw or came across the entire day!! I was thinking that on the 3 hour bus ride to Saint-Tropez we’d be able to sleep, but no, he took that time to explain everything we saw out the window or anything about the town we were going to over the microphone in a loud voice! Needless to say, I just tuned him out and listened to my I-pod. After he said we were going to be arriving soon about a million times, we actually arrived, and got off the bus near the water in Saint-Tropez. When I thought of Saint-Tropez I thought of exclusive beautiful sandy beaches where all the celebs go. However we didn’t see any of that. Turns out the beaches are on the outskirts of the city, not really within walking distance of downtown Saint-Tropez, and we weren’t even going to see them. In addition, Saint-Tropez is really touristy, except only in the summer, so it was basically a ghost town. We started our tour at a museum called l’Annociade which was an old chapel turned into an art museum. It was pretty small so we were done in there pretty quickly. Afterwards we had something like 3 hours just to walk around on our own, eat lunch, and make our way up to the citadelle. So we walked around, saw the port filled with yachts, saw some high end designer stores (all closed) and found a market. Then we at lunch on a bench, went to a gelato shop, and walked through the little streets up to the citadelle. Then we still had like an hour, so we just sat on a bench, trying to keep warm, since it was an overcast windy day. That is when we noticed one of the peacocks that lives at the citadelle. Peacocks, by the way, make the weirdest noise. Finally it was time to start our guided tour of the citadelle. The guy knew that we were all foreign students so he decided to speak really slowly, which I thought was funny. After the citadelle it was back to the bus to our next stop, Port Grimaud, which is also called Petite Venise. I can understand why the call it that (all the houses are on the water, lots of bridges, everyone has boats) but Venice was way, way cooler, for the record. This town was so small, also touristy, but also only in the summer, so we just walked around, went in the church, and then waited until we could get on our boat tour. The boat tour took us around the “city” but it was so much colder on the boat because it was so much windier! So it wasn’t so much fun. After Port Grimaud we headed to Le Dramont, one of the places where the allied forces landed on August 15th 1944 under the American General A. Patch. There was a big boat (?) type thing when we got there that said us on it with a plaque next to it, and then we walked down to the actual beach where the rocks were supposedly blue. I guess they were a little blue tinted, but really they still looked grey to me. After a history lesson from our favorite guide, it was back on the bus, with two stops still to go. We stopped on the corniche twice to see different (slash really the same) views of the rocks, water and trees. The second time I didn’t even bother getting out, I was so tired and it was so cold and we were running so behind schedule. Then it was back to Nice, and I thought we were safe from the narrated bus ride back, but no there’s apparently always something to say. Finally, we make it back, around 7:30 pm at the fac.
31 March 2009
Viterbo e Roma!!!!!
12/3-15/3
This weekend I got to go back to one of my favorite places ever, Viterbo! The weekend was amazing, even if it didn’t start out so great. We bought all our tickets online, thinking that would save us time, and it ended up being the biggest cause of our problems. Our trains were as follows: Nice – Ventimiglia, Ventimiglia – Genova, Genova – Rome (overnight). We went to the nice train station to pick up the first batch of tickets and found out that even though we paid with an international credit card online, we couldn’t use this credit card in the machine to pick it up (no does it say that, all it says is that the card can not be read, so we just figured there was a problem with the magnetic strip). There were only one or two people working in the ticket line so we tried any way to get the tickets out of the machine or buy new ones, but those machines also only accepted French credit cards or coins (we didn’t have 7 euro each in coins). Finally we decide to stand in the line since we clearly have no other option and end up missing our train and the next one won’t get us into Ventimiglia with enough time to make the Genova connection. The woman at the window isn’t exactly helpful either.. apparently we needed some reservation booking number that we didn’t have. Why can’t they just look it up on the credit card? We finally got the tickets, but we knew we wouldn’t make the connection so we tried to convince the train people to call Ventimiglia and hold the train for 5 minutes. They said no, that they didn’t really want to call Italy and that they would only do it if there were lots of people on the connection. We said maybe they were, and they said that all those passengers would need to go up and inform them of that then. They also said that there were no more connections to Genova that night, so basically we would be stuck in Ventimiglia, but that we might as well try it because Italian trains usually run late (you’re telling me) so maybe we had a chance. So we tried to think positively, got on the next train (that was conveniently 10 minutes en retard.. really?!) We took the train, got to Ventimiglia and there were no trains in sight. Ughhh. We were only 5 minutes late! Looking at the departure bored there were no trains to any city in Italy until the next morning, our only option was to take one back to nice. So about 3 hours later we end up back in our apartment, after having been to 3 countries (France, Monaco, Italy)! We decided to take the next train to Rome leaving at 6:30 from Ventimiglia so we had to take a 5:15 train from Nice and decided to get there plenty in advance in order to not miss anything. So we got up around 3:45 and got on our train from Nice to Ventimiglia, then our straight train from Ventimiglia to Rome (6:30-2pm) where we had the 6 person car all to ourselves up until the last 30 minutes when some guys came on and offered us part of their lunch.. We finally made it to Rome at 2 then had to wait for our Viterbo train which left at 2:50 and got in at 4:45. Peter was supposed to meet us at the train station.. but thought that the train would be late so we ended up calling and he rushed over then walked us to Aaron’s. After we got to Aaron’s we walked around Viterbo (passegiata time!) and then came back and Aaron invited all the old usac-ers over (minus Hana who was in Rome) and they all made dinner for us. We didn’t lift a finger the whole weekend, Aaron was the best host! Anytime we tried to help with cooking or dishes Aaron was all like no, you are a guest. After dinner we went to Katie’s to hang out. So we hung out for a bit, and then went to Shu, where they had a really loud live band, which was not what we wanted. So we headed to the piazza della morte, where a bunch of the former and new dorm kids were hanging out. Then it was off to Try. We walked around a bit looking for people and made our way outside where I met some more American kids (they are like all from umd this semester!). The next morning we got up went to the market, and just chilled around Viterbo. I went to the pasticceria and got an amazing cappuccino (the one that gives you the perugina choclate) and it was the nice guy working this time! He was so excited to use his one English phrase, “yes we can!” Then we just walked around a bit but it was already pausa time so everything was closed and we just ended up sitting outside on the steps of Aarons apartment for awhile, waiting for him to come back so we could leave for the hot springs. So we went to the terme later, which smell like rotting eggs, are much smaller than I thought (the free ones anyways), were only luke warm that day, and were filled with creepy old, speedo wearing and topless Italian people. It was basically one big joke. But we stayed for like 2 hrs because that’s how often the bus came. Then we had to ride the bus back all smelly and wet which sucked. But then we got home all took showers and went out to ninja pizza for dinner. It was crowded so we decided to take it to the pope’s palace and eat outside. So we had some wine then played quarters aka 20 centesimi. Then we played f the dealer (again) and then his roommate came home and spent like 45 minutes talking about how women were stupid. After heading back to Aarons and staying up even later to sit around and chat we finally go to bed. The next morning we awake to peter and Aaron making us breakfast! I love them, they are awesome. After the amazing breakfast we only had a little bit of time and then it was off to the train station! :( So we were running a little late and the train was there all ready to leave so we get to the train, say thanks to Peter and Aaron, big hugs and baci all around. So sad to leave (it doesn’t get easier the second time around, I guess); I had such a good time! I love Viterbo and had the best time last semester; I really hope we can make a reunion happen in the future, especially if it’s in Viterbo!
The rest of our last day in Italy we spent in Rome. We went to St. Peter’s and climbed up the crazy amounts of stars at the cupola! There are 320 stairs from the roof of the basilica.. so all in all like 500 total or something? I have no idea; it seemed like a ton, especially with our huge backpacks with everything we were carrying that weekend. The view from the top was luckily well worth the tiny slant-y, vertigo inducing walk (work out) up. After doing that and walking around the basilica, we made our way to the metro, got some gelato, then metro to the train station, trained it to the airport, checked in, went through security, got some food, and got on our 50 minute flight back to Nice!
This weekend I got to go back to one of my favorite places ever, Viterbo! The weekend was amazing, even if it didn’t start out so great. We bought all our tickets online, thinking that would save us time, and it ended up being the biggest cause of our problems. Our trains were as follows: Nice – Ventimiglia, Ventimiglia – Genova, Genova – Rome (overnight). We went to the nice train station to pick up the first batch of tickets and found out that even though we paid with an international credit card online, we couldn’t use this credit card in the machine to pick it up (no does it say that, all it says is that the card can not be read, so we just figured there was a problem with the magnetic strip). There were only one or two people working in the ticket line so we tried any way to get the tickets out of the machine or buy new ones, but those machines also only accepted French credit cards or coins (we didn’t have 7 euro each in coins). Finally we decide to stand in the line since we clearly have no other option and end up missing our train and the next one won’t get us into Ventimiglia with enough time to make the Genova connection. The woman at the window isn’t exactly helpful either.. apparently we needed some reservation booking number that we didn’t have. Why can’t they just look it up on the credit card? We finally got the tickets, but we knew we wouldn’t make the connection so we tried to convince the train people to call Ventimiglia and hold the train for 5 minutes. They said no, that they didn’t really want to call Italy and that they would only do it if there were lots of people on the connection. We said maybe they were, and they said that all those passengers would need to go up and inform them of that then. They also said that there were no more connections to Genova that night, so basically we would be stuck in Ventimiglia, but that we might as well try it because Italian trains usually run late (you’re telling me) so maybe we had a chance. So we tried to think positively, got on the next train (that was conveniently 10 minutes en retard.. really?!) We took the train, got to Ventimiglia and there were no trains in sight. Ughhh. We were only 5 minutes late! Looking at the departure bored there were no trains to any city in Italy until the next morning, our only option was to take one back to nice. So about 3 hours later we end up back in our apartment, after having been to 3 countries (France, Monaco, Italy)! We decided to take the next train to Rome leaving at 6:30 from Ventimiglia so we had to take a 5:15 train from Nice and decided to get there plenty in advance in order to not miss anything. So we got up around 3:45 and got on our train from Nice to Ventimiglia, then our straight train from Ventimiglia to Rome (6:30-2pm) where we had the 6 person car all to ourselves up until the last 30 minutes when some guys came on and offered us part of their lunch.. We finally made it to Rome at 2 then had to wait for our Viterbo train which left at 2:50 and got in at 4:45. Peter was supposed to meet us at the train station.. but thought that the train would be late so we ended up calling and he rushed over then walked us to Aaron’s. After we got to Aaron’s we walked around Viterbo (passegiata time!) and then came back and Aaron invited all the old usac-ers over (minus Hana who was in Rome) and they all made dinner for us. We didn’t lift a finger the whole weekend, Aaron was the best host! Anytime we tried to help with cooking or dishes Aaron was all like no, you are a guest. After dinner we went to Katie’s to hang out. So we hung out for a bit, and then went to Shu, where they had a really loud live band, which was not what we wanted. So we headed to the piazza della morte, where a bunch of the former and new dorm kids were hanging out. Then it was off to Try. We walked around a bit looking for people and made our way outside where I met some more American kids (they are like all from umd this semester!). The next morning we got up went to the market, and just chilled around Viterbo. I went to the pasticceria and got an amazing cappuccino (the one that gives you the perugina choclate) and it was the nice guy working this time! He was so excited to use his one English phrase, “yes we can!” Then we just walked around a bit but it was already pausa time so everything was closed and we just ended up sitting outside on the steps of Aarons apartment for awhile, waiting for him to come back so we could leave for the hot springs. So we went to the terme later, which smell like rotting eggs, are much smaller than I thought (the free ones anyways), were only luke warm that day, and were filled with creepy old, speedo wearing and topless Italian people. It was basically one big joke. But we stayed for like 2 hrs because that’s how often the bus came. Then we had to ride the bus back all smelly and wet which sucked. But then we got home all took showers and went out to ninja pizza for dinner. It was crowded so we decided to take it to the pope’s palace and eat outside. So we had some wine then played quarters aka 20 centesimi. Then we played f the dealer (again) and then his roommate came home and spent like 45 minutes talking about how women were stupid. After heading back to Aarons and staying up even later to sit around and chat we finally go to bed. The next morning we awake to peter and Aaron making us breakfast! I love them, they are awesome. After the amazing breakfast we only had a little bit of time and then it was off to the train station! :( So we were running a little late and the train was there all ready to leave so we get to the train, say thanks to Peter and Aaron, big hugs and baci all around. So sad to leave (it doesn’t get easier the second time around, I guess); I had such a good time! I love Viterbo and had the best time last semester; I really hope we can make a reunion happen in the future, especially if it’s in Viterbo!
The rest of our last day in Italy we spent in Rome. We went to St. Peter’s and climbed up the crazy amounts of stars at the cupola! There are 320 stairs from the roof of the basilica.. so all in all like 500 total or something? I have no idea; it seemed like a ton, especially with our huge backpacks with everything we were carrying that weekend. The view from the top was luckily well worth the tiny slant-y, vertigo inducing walk (work out) up. After doing that and walking around the basilica, we made our way to the metro, got some gelato, then metro to the train station, trained it to the airport, checked in, went through security, got some food, and got on our 50 minute flight back to Nice!
17 March 2009
Genova & XXmiglia
7/3-8/3
This weekend we decided to go on a random italia trip! final plans were made Wednesday night (or maybe even Thursday) to leave Saturday morning for Genova, stay Saturday night there, and then head back Sunday and spend some time in Ventimiglia before heading back to nice. This was my first trip back to Italy since December when I left, and in a way it felt like I was going home. After all my traveling last semester I felt like I could live in a number of different countries and cities, however I did feel like I could rule Italy out of the running. France, for instance, is still the number one choice and I‘ve always felt like I can identify the most with their culture of all the European ones. While I love Italy, I’m definitely not the loud, social extrovert and I need a little more time structure (though I’m sure I would just get used to nothing being on time ever.. I mean I kind of all ready did). But upon returning to Italy this weekend it made me so happy! It felt like going home. Because even if it was hard to get used to in the beginning, I adapted to the Italian way of life and Italy was my home for that period of time. And now, even if I’m clearly not Italian and am not trying to be, I have a sense of belonging in this culture. I have an understanding of it. And I have stories about it that make me feel like I fit in. I loved seeing little things that reminded me of my stay in Italy. All of these things reminded me of good times I had last semester. This was also sad, because all these good times were shared with amazing people that are now located all over the world. It’s so hard to go from seeing someone everyday, to never seeing them! And it’s not the same to go back and experience those things that you loved together, by yourself. This is what makes me a little apprehensive about my viterbo trip. I miss viterbo sooooo much. but I don’t know if it’s the town I miss or the people, or both (I think its both). Because the town without the people is empty and sad, but the people in any other place just doesn’t even seem right. How I wish we could have a reunion soon! It also doesn’t help to relate personal anecdotes to everyone about how this sign in Italy reminds you of this other time you lived in Italy and had a great time when they weren’t there. I am sure I am boring people with all my stories, which to me seem funny and nice, but to them mean nothing, sorry! Anyways in Genova we walked and walked and walked. We must have gone down every street at least 3 times. We started the trip off right with some gelato and foccacia from a foccaciaeria! It was probably the best foccacia I have ever had. Then we did little pieces of some walking tour on the back of our map and then decided to head up to the hostel to drop off our stuff. The hostel looked far away on the map but we assumed it was just the map that made it seem that way. Well it actually was incredibly far away, and thank god we took the bus. It was on the top of some mountain, completely set off from the city center. It would have been an impossible walk. The hostel looked like an old mental hospital, very stark and white, but at least the rooms were big and clean. It isn’t well marked though, because we missed it on the bus up and had to wait for the bus to turn around and then take it back down. After dropping our stuff off we got back on the bus and went back to the city, to walk round and look at the water, the centro storico, the old palazzos and Christopher Columbus’ house. There was even an ice skating rink right next to Europe’s 2nd biggest aquarium! Then we decided to get dinner at a pizzeria and then went on a search for gelato all around the city, only to find that everything was closed. It was probably for the best, since we had just eaten a ton of food anyway. Then we took the bus up the mountain again, but it was a night bus that took a slightly different route, so we got off too soon and ended up having to walk up the last stretch of the hill only to see the bus meet us there later. When we got in we quickly got ready for bed because someone in our room was already asleep and we were also tired. The next morning we got up early and went back down to the train station to get on our train to Ventimiglia. On the way I had an amazing Italian cappuccino, oh how I missed those! After the 3 hour train ride along the Ligurian coast (Italian Rivera) we arrived in Ventimiglia and spent a couple of hours walking around the new part of town near the beach, getting massive gelatos and then walking around the older hilly section which, although small, contained at least 4 churches. Ventimiglia is really cool because it’s right on the beach like Nice, but you can see the snow capped alps right behind it! And it’s so Italian, despite the fact that you can see French towns from the coast. Well it was a nice weather weekend and I got to practice my Italian so all and all a good trip!
This weekend we decided to go on a random italia trip! final plans were made Wednesday night (or maybe even Thursday) to leave Saturday morning for Genova, stay Saturday night there, and then head back Sunday and spend some time in Ventimiglia before heading back to nice. This was my first trip back to Italy since December when I left, and in a way it felt like I was going home. After all my traveling last semester I felt like I could live in a number of different countries and cities, however I did feel like I could rule Italy out of the running. France, for instance, is still the number one choice and I‘ve always felt like I can identify the most with their culture of all the European ones. While I love Italy, I’m definitely not the loud, social extrovert and I need a little more time structure (though I’m sure I would just get used to nothing being on time ever.. I mean I kind of all ready did). But upon returning to Italy this weekend it made me so happy! It felt like going home. Because even if it was hard to get used to in the beginning, I adapted to the Italian way of life and Italy was my home for that period of time. And now, even if I’m clearly not Italian and am not trying to be, I have a sense of belonging in this culture. I have an understanding of it. And I have stories about it that make me feel like I fit in. I loved seeing little things that reminded me of my stay in Italy. All of these things reminded me of good times I had last semester. This was also sad, because all these good times were shared with amazing people that are now located all over the world. It’s so hard to go from seeing someone everyday, to never seeing them! And it’s not the same to go back and experience those things that you loved together, by yourself. This is what makes me a little apprehensive about my viterbo trip. I miss viterbo sooooo much. but I don’t know if it’s the town I miss or the people, or both (I think its both). Because the town without the people is empty and sad, but the people in any other place just doesn’t even seem right. How I wish we could have a reunion soon! It also doesn’t help to relate personal anecdotes to everyone about how this sign in Italy reminds you of this other time you lived in Italy and had a great time when they weren’t there. I am sure I am boring people with all my stories, which to me seem funny and nice, but to them mean nothing, sorry! Anyways in Genova we walked and walked and walked. We must have gone down every street at least 3 times. We started the trip off right with some gelato and foccacia from a foccaciaeria! It was probably the best foccacia I have ever had. Then we did little pieces of some walking tour on the back of our map and then decided to head up to the hostel to drop off our stuff. The hostel looked far away on the map but we assumed it was just the map that made it seem that way. Well it actually was incredibly far away, and thank god we took the bus. It was on the top of some mountain, completely set off from the city center. It would have been an impossible walk. The hostel looked like an old mental hospital, very stark and white, but at least the rooms were big and clean. It isn’t well marked though, because we missed it on the bus up and had to wait for the bus to turn around and then take it back down. After dropping our stuff off we got back on the bus and went back to the city, to walk round and look at the water, the centro storico, the old palazzos and Christopher Columbus’ house. There was even an ice skating rink right next to Europe’s 2nd biggest aquarium! Then we decided to get dinner at a pizzeria and then went on a search for gelato all around the city, only to find that everything was closed. It was probably for the best, since we had just eaten a ton of food anyway. Then we took the bus up the mountain again, but it was a night bus that took a slightly different route, so we got off too soon and ended up having to walk up the last stretch of the hill only to see the bus meet us there later. When we got in we quickly got ready for bed because someone in our room was already asleep and we were also tired. The next morning we got up early and went back down to the train station to get on our train to Ventimiglia. On the way I had an amazing Italian cappuccino, oh how I missed those! After the 3 hour train ride along the Ligurian coast (Italian Rivera) we arrived in Ventimiglia and spent a couple of hours walking around the new part of town near the beach, getting massive gelatos and then walking around the older hilly section which, although small, contained at least 4 churches. Ventimiglia is really cool because it’s right on the beach like Nice, but you can see the snow capped alps right behind it! And it’s so Italian, despite the fact that you can see French towns from the coast. Well it was a nice weather weekend and I got to practice my Italian so all and all a good trip!
arles
27/2-1/3
This weekend we had a trip with our entire Maryland group, all paid for and everything! We even had “permission” (meaning Mme Letzter just told us to skip) to miss our Friday class. So we met Friday morning at the gare and took a train to Arles, which took about 3-4 hours. When we arrived in Arles, we walked to the hotel and got to put our stuff in our room. It was a cute little hotel, with a courtyard and a castle-like tower. We had what was dubbed a “secret room” because there were these little stairs that lead up to it. Really, it was just a normal room, though, but we had our own beds (rare) and a flat screen TV with French, German and Italian channels! I took advantage of that later to watch Italian game shows (for some reason we have just about every channel but an Italian channel in Nice). After a break for lunch we left to meet at the office de tourisme to start our guided tour. On the map it looked really far away; in fact it was on the other side of the town. So we left adequate time, but ended getting there way early. Arles, it turns out, is way small. So while we were used to seeing things on a map of nice and knowing that it’s far, in Arles, the farthest thing was like 15 minutes away. On our walk we passed the Van Gogh café, famous as the subject for one of his paintings, and walked through little squares, narrow alleys, and by some roman baths. The big things in Arles are Van Gogh and roman everything. The town was founded by Romans forever ago, so there’s tons of that stuff everywhere (where weren’t the Romans? Needless to say, after a semester in Italy next to Rome, I’m a little roman’ed out). Van Gogh used to live in Arles and the inspirations for his paintings were everywhere. Little plaques with replica paintings were at the locations so you could see how it compared, however there are no Van Gogh paintings in Arles whatsoever. And I think there is only even like one in France. So our 3 hour Van Gogh-centric walking tour basically just walked us around the city to the little plaques, though we did get to see the arena, like a mini coliseum as well. We walked around, literally the entire city, saw some roman walls that used to surround it, a van Gogh site here and there, including his house location, which is now an ugly BNP (why would they do that?), walked along the Rhone, went into a courtyard that showed that under Arles its basically roman ruins everywhere and then ended in some place called espace van Gogh, where I think they have art classes or events or something like that. Then we had a couple of hours to go back to the hotel and sit (no more walking!) before dinner. We met as a group and left to go to the Italian restaurant for our really good dinner that was all paid for! We got a big pizza all to ourselves, salad, bread, a drink, and a lemon torte desert. And it was good pizza too, just like in Italy. I noticed that the woman taking our order sounded like she was speaking French with an Italian accent, so I mentioned it to Lindsay, and on our way out, we decided to ask if she spoke Italian. Turns out she does, because she was Italian and we had a brief little convo in Italian with her, which was fun! After that we went back to the hotel and then went out and hung out by the water, hoping to see the starry night depicted in the van Gogh painting, with no luck. Instead it was just cold and windy (mistral!). The next day we had the morning free so we just walked around Arles (all the same streets.. again, seriously its not that big), and ended up at the market, which was huge! You could buy anything and everything there; it reminded me of the Viterbo market, except way bigger. I took that opportunity to get a good slice of pizza to eat for lunch later. After a couple of hours we met at the bus and headed out to la Camargue area. We stopped in a place called Pont de Gau, where a bird park was, and spent some (way too much) time there. We all walked around the park, looked at all the birds, and mainly looked at the flamingos. Also on the way there we saw bulls, another native animal to the region (I’m guessing). After the park, we headed to Aigues Mortes, which is an actual city surrounded by a wall, and had actual things to see, except we didn’t have the time to see them since we had spent so much time in the bird park. So we had 20 minutes off the bus there, and just walked to the center of the town, saw some wedding photos being taken (the bride had a green dress) and then went and got gelato. Then it was back on the bus where we drove around the walls of Aigues Mortes and then headed back to Arles. That night we were on our own for dinner, which sucked because even though it was a Saturday night, NOTHING was open. Arles is like a ghost town. I think we ended up just getting snacks from a gas station. The next morning we were up early to check out of the hotel and go to the Arles antique museum. There we had a guided tour with our same guide from before, and she loves to talk. So we had another 3ish hour tour with more roman stuff, statues, artifacts, mosaics all in a very modern building that resembled an Ikea. Then it was off to find lunch/snacks (on a Sunday – and in Arles- this is always a challenge) and then we walked to the train station to wait for our train. The train back had a connection in Marseille, so we left the train station for a minute and went outside to see the view. She said we could walk down the (approximately) million stairs to the bottom of the hill, but then we would have to walk back up and I didn’t want to do that. So we just chilled in the train station then got on the next train and made it back to Nice. That night was the last night of carnaval and we went and watched the parade on the prom and the burning of the king statue followed by fireworks on the beach!
This weekend we had a trip with our entire Maryland group, all paid for and everything! We even had “permission” (meaning Mme Letzter just told us to skip) to miss our Friday class. So we met Friday morning at the gare and took a train to Arles, which took about 3-4 hours. When we arrived in Arles, we walked to the hotel and got to put our stuff in our room. It was a cute little hotel, with a courtyard and a castle-like tower. We had what was dubbed a “secret room” because there were these little stairs that lead up to it. Really, it was just a normal room, though, but we had our own beds (rare) and a flat screen TV with French, German and Italian channels! I took advantage of that later to watch Italian game shows (for some reason we have just about every channel but an Italian channel in Nice). After a break for lunch we left to meet at the office de tourisme to start our guided tour. On the map it looked really far away; in fact it was on the other side of the town. So we left adequate time, but ended getting there way early. Arles, it turns out, is way small. So while we were used to seeing things on a map of nice and knowing that it’s far, in Arles, the farthest thing was like 15 minutes away. On our walk we passed the Van Gogh café, famous as the subject for one of his paintings, and walked through little squares, narrow alleys, and by some roman baths. The big things in Arles are Van Gogh and roman everything. The town was founded by Romans forever ago, so there’s tons of that stuff everywhere (where weren’t the Romans? Needless to say, after a semester in Italy next to Rome, I’m a little roman’ed out). Van Gogh used to live in Arles and the inspirations for his paintings were everywhere. Little plaques with replica paintings were at the locations so you could see how it compared, however there are no Van Gogh paintings in Arles whatsoever. And I think there is only even like one in France. So our 3 hour Van Gogh-centric walking tour basically just walked us around the city to the little plaques, though we did get to see the arena, like a mini coliseum as well. We walked around, literally the entire city, saw some roman walls that used to surround it, a van Gogh site here and there, including his house location, which is now an ugly BNP (why would they do that?), walked along the Rhone, went into a courtyard that showed that under Arles its basically roman ruins everywhere and then ended in some place called espace van Gogh, where I think they have art classes or events or something like that. Then we had a couple of hours to go back to the hotel and sit (no more walking!) before dinner. We met as a group and left to go to the Italian restaurant for our really good dinner that was all paid for! We got a big pizza all to ourselves, salad, bread, a drink, and a lemon torte desert. And it was good pizza too, just like in Italy. I noticed that the woman taking our order sounded like she was speaking French with an Italian accent, so I mentioned it to Lindsay, and on our way out, we decided to ask if she spoke Italian. Turns out she does, because she was Italian and we had a brief little convo in Italian with her, which was fun! After that we went back to the hotel and then went out and hung out by the water, hoping to see the starry night depicted in the van Gogh painting, with no luck. Instead it was just cold and windy (mistral!). The next day we had the morning free so we just walked around Arles (all the same streets.. again, seriously its not that big), and ended up at the market, which was huge! You could buy anything and everything there; it reminded me of the Viterbo market, except way bigger. I took that opportunity to get a good slice of pizza to eat for lunch later. After a couple of hours we met at the bus and headed out to la Camargue area. We stopped in a place called Pont de Gau, where a bird park was, and spent some (way too much) time there. We all walked around the park, looked at all the birds, and mainly looked at the flamingos. Also on the way there we saw bulls, another native animal to the region (I’m guessing). After the park, we headed to Aigues Mortes, which is an actual city surrounded by a wall, and had actual things to see, except we didn’t have the time to see them since we had spent so much time in the bird park. So we had 20 minutes off the bus there, and just walked to the center of the town, saw some wedding photos being taken (the bride had a green dress) and then went and got gelato. Then it was back on the bus where we drove around the walls of Aigues Mortes and then headed back to Arles. That night we were on our own for dinner, which sucked because even though it was a Saturday night, NOTHING was open. Arles is like a ghost town. I think we ended up just getting snacks from a gas station. The next morning we were up early to check out of the hotel and go to the Arles antique museum. There we had a guided tour with our same guide from before, and she loves to talk. So we had another 3ish hour tour with more roman stuff, statues, artifacts, mosaics all in a very modern building that resembled an Ikea. Then it was off to find lunch/snacks (on a Sunday – and in Arles- this is always a challenge) and then we walked to the train station to wait for our train. The train back had a connection in Marseille, so we left the train station for a minute and went outside to see the view. She said we could walk down the (approximately) million stairs to the bottom of the hill, but then we would have to walk back up and I didn’t want to do that. So we just chilled in the train station then got on the next train and made it back to Nice. That night was the last night of carnaval and we went and watched the parade on the prom and the burning of the king statue followed by fireworks on the beach!
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