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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!