Week-End en PROVENCE

Here's what the sched looked like:

Friday:

8:30am - meet at the Gare de Lyon train station

11:50am - arrive in Avignon

take shuttle to city center

drop off bags at Hôtel du Palais des Papes

free time for lunch

visit of Palais de Papes

Free Night!

Saturday:

8:00-9:00am - breakfast at hotel

9:00am - meet in hotel lobby with bags

leave by bus for Pont du Gard

10:00am - arrive in Pont du Gard, visit

12:00pm - leave Pont du Gard

1:00pm - arrive in Arles

free time for lunch

visit des Arènes

2:45pm - leave for Baux-de-Provence

3:45pm - arrive in Baux-de-Provence, visit

5:45pm - leave Baux-de-Provence

7:00pm - arrive in Aix-en-Provence

Hôtel de France, drop off bags, free time until dinner

8:00pm - meet in hotel lobby to walk to dinner

dinner at Bastide du Cours

Sunday:

8:30-9:30am - breakfast at the hotel

9:30am - meet in hotel lobby with bags

visit of Aix-en-Provence

free time for lunch

2:30pm - meet in hotel lobby with bags

take shuttle to train station

7:20pm - arrive in Paris, Gare de Lyon

E-mail Post Plz

I'm in-between class right now and feeling the weight of guilt for having not blogged in over four days! Early Friday morning the USC Abroad Program (all 14 of us) took the TGV at 9:15am to Avignon in the south of France. We spent a packed and super busy weekend in Provence, seeing Avignon (le Palais de Papes), Arles, le Pont du Gare, Baux-de-Provence and Aix-en-Provence. Each small city was separate and different from the other, a sensory invasion of the highest degree. Le Pont du Gare was a giant Roman aquaduct that we hiked up and around and through! If you asked me right now what my favorite visit was, I couldn't tell you because I would probably have a different reply depending on which memories were currently floating at the surface of my memory. Sylvie and Mirec are the two USC administrators and they were the only adults on the trip. They organized the whole thing from the fabulous hotels to the drool-inducing restuarants where we ate to max capacity. My stomach still aches from the rude offense of over-eating during the entire trip, but I had to! Each visit was punctuated by a tour of the important features from Mirec and then free time for a meal and meandering with the instruction to meet back at the bus by such-and-such a time. Baux-de-Provence was a Middle Ages Fair! Think Renaissance Fairs but ten-thousand times more awesome! It was a well-preserved Middle Age village and castle with shops, cafes, and an open area where there were so many open stalls of armous, vintage weaponry, local cuisines (breads, nougat, wines), clothes, and all sorts of things. At first I was very skeptical and cirtical of the whole thing...seeing as grown men and women were decked out in Middle Age wear and gear, even pot bellies and chest hair for all to see! But after ten minutes of marveling at the whole production of it, it was magical! It was inviting in its air of unpretentious realness. Before long, I myself was pulled back in time. I found myself marveling along with everyone else at the lavender nougat, spiced, mulled wines and pottery.

I'll add more later along with the photos and videos! I'm going to run down the street to an Oriental/Middle Eastern shop that has dried nuts by the bag! I finally found almonds, cashews, walnuts galore! And the big bag of almonds was only 3.50 EU!

AM Tea Party

After some AM yoga, had a viddychat tea bonanza avec Taylor!

Awed by a new iphone app Taylor convinced me to buy.

de Pimodan Dinner Party

o boy o boy o boy.

Gastronomic Shopping Heaven

Welcome to Le Madeleine of Paris. A boutique culinary haven for foodies, curious tourists, and great appreciators of the absolute BEST.

Specialty store of mustard and vinegar! And that's it!

Aha, yes, me.

I felt realllly awk taking photos inside because it looks like a museum.

gorg

That's Zack, he ran into to me near the Bastille metro stop. When I told him of my solo adventure to check out the Madeleine, he eagerly asked to join me on this adventure.

I didn't buy anything at Maille this time around, but you can be sure I'll be back for gifts! And now... onto FAUCHON:

Breathtakingly beautiful. Patisseries, boulangerie, cafe in one.

SEAN! Bacon quiche in the window!

So many macaroons... Like little jewels.

Ah yes... Forced to withdraw cash moneys in order to enjoy the fruits of our discoveries.

OMG it's like a dream full of dancing eclairs!

We each paid for one 6 Euro pastry and split 'em both!

Some sort of chocolate mousse cake on a cookie covered in perfect unmarred chocolate, and the "Millefeuille" pastry that I grabbed, a light-tasting layered cream-filled taste of clouds.

Zack's first bite. Poor little mousse didn't stand a chance.

For some reason, looking particularly nappy, but happy to be eating sweets!

Annihilation.

Kablooey!

Just around the corner was another part of Fauchon that was even bigger and more beautiful. Chocolaterie, coffee, tea, wine bar downstairs, another cafe upstairs, cans, tins and walls of foie gras...

An entire area just for candied fruits.

Candy.

Asian tourists.

SEAN look! A wall of Foie Gras!!!

So 'spensive.

Tada! I randomly spotted this store: Pierre Oteiza, Salaisons artisanales du pays Basque! Hanging salamis, meats and specialty cheeses. Cans and cans of foie gras, encore!

Tried some of the taster salami they had out, delish, and took a card because I'll definitely be back. Living in Paris is all about popping into random stores and discovering newfound gems by accident.

The front of: La Maison Du Miel

A random side street of food boutiques, what a find!

wee!

Excellent, just excellent.

The 500g jar of honey I bought! 6 euros and totally worth it.

Yes, free tastings! But only four max...

The lady got really into it and started pulling down honeys for us to try!

Euros spent today:

3.4 - sandwich

6 - Fauchon pastry

6 - Miel de Thym

5.5 - Monoprix groceries (croissants, tea, bananas, apples)

Things I Eat Too Much Of...

1. Chocolate

2. Bread

3. Nutella

4. Cheese (which I shouldn't be eating anyway)

5. Bread (it's unavoidable!!!)

6. Honey

7. Jam

8. Any of the above in tandem...

9. Dried apricots + golden raisins

10. Oatmeal (I don't know if I can ever eat too much though)

Bar Hopping Paris-style (Thursday Night)

After the Montparnasse WWII excursion with Prof Habibi and the IR-European Union class, I headed back to Neuilly for a few hours before dinnertime. I left a note for my Madame that I wouldn't be taking dinner with them that night, and then headed out to St-Germain-des-Prés to meet up with Samira and her mom on Rue de Seine. We walked around the surrounding area and ended up settling on this restaurant, one of their recent favorites, for our trio dinner!

A blurry photo of the restaurant we had dinner at!

St-Germain-des-Prés!

We ended up sitting right after the standing sign.

The Spread.

Is it? Yes it is! Eggplant lasagna...

Jambon charcuterie plate.

Samira's savory quiche dish - ham and other delicious mysteries.

The board of the night's specials, where I found my eggplant lasagna!

Killed it.

Samira and her lovely mom!

Vixen pose. Diva.

Outdoor dining.

Polished the dinner off with some sort of hot, caramel, apple tart thing.

Arrival at Professor Boïcus' art gallery in the 4th. Probably the most hipster place yet...

Looking for the professor.

Looking at his interns' art along the way.

Fail: Prof had already turned in for a nightcap, so we left the gallery to go hit up some bars back in St-Germain.

The one photo of us both that night! We're sweating bullets, but thankfully it doesn't show too much in the photo. How wonderfully deceiving.

Very Jew-y, very French down here.

Literally in an underground wine cave of sorts. So hot down there thought I might keel over and go unnoticed amidst the drunken dancing, clapping and singing to Jewish folk/jazz music.

***

-After this bar we randomly met a bunch of Parisians who took us to another, seemingly more exclusive and secret bar. It was super chic, super expensive, but the guys paid for all our drinks (one of em was pretty into Samira) and I met SO MANY amazing French people who loaded me up with Café, restaurant and bar recommendations!- Note: No more photos of the night bc I was a little too drunk at this point.

***

Didn't sleep a wink. Bed at 4am, woke up around 830am. Paris waits for no one.

Ah yes, hungover and in need of croissants.

Inside the Parisian chain, PAUL. Wish I'd taken more photos... I'll take more next time. If you ever want a super Parisian sit-down breakfast, hit up the nearest PAUL!