Thanksgiving in France

First off, I have a big, fluffy cat sitting on me while I'm writing this. It makes me happy. But that's not the subject of this post.

The subject is just what one might guess from reading the title: my experience of Thanksgiving in a country that doesn't actually celebrate the holiday.

We decided to have a Thanksgiving party on Friday night, not on the actual day but I really didn't even notice because I was working and there is not Thanksgiving stuff in the stores here, only Christmas decorations.

I did go shopping with my American friend in the Auchan (their version of Wal-Mart) for the supplies for the next day. I didn't buy a lot but I scoped out the things available in preparation for the next day. (It's amazing how many essential Thanksgiving ingredients they don't sell here. Of course, they're probably shocked by the miniscule size of our stores' cheese sections so I can't say too much.) I was off the next morning until 4 so I had plenty of time to run back to the store.

Well, Friday morning came and went while I slept. Then I woke up to the unceasing ringing of the telephone. You know those days when everything seems to go wrong but ultimately ends up ok? That was Friday.

It was Anne trying to get me to answer the phone to let me know there were two cases of swine flu in Marie's school and I needed to go pick her up. Ok, but when was I going to get the shopping done?

I panicked a little but then realized that there is a perfectly decent grocery store right across from the school. So, after I picked Marie up from her masked schoolteacher (it was creepy), we went to the Casino grocery store. Marie was very helpful in attempting to carry the flour for me and we found everything pretty quickly. I was really excited! I had to get creative with a few ingredients but it all worked.

Then we got home, ate lunch, and Marie took a nap. I used this time to cut apples for the Apple Pie Cake and grate a lot of Cheddar cheese. Then I picked up Paul and set to work on the real cooking.

You must keep in mind that this was the first time I had made any of the things I was planning or had even really cooked any real meal at all. I can bake, so I wasn't too worried about the cake, but I was freaking out a bit about the rest.

The putting together of the cake and the macaroni and cheese were much easier than I expected. But I couldn't work the oven. It's complicated and the instructions are in Italian. Why? I have no idea.

So I called Anne. She was supposed to be home at 6:30, an hour before our guests arrived. It was 7:15, I couldn't work the oven, the mac and cheese needed to bake for 45 minutes, and she wasn't there yet. Yikes!

And then company arrived. I had never met them before and I was in a kind of frenzied state of cooking and stressing out. It was slightly awkward but not too bad. Anne and Julien showed up pretty soon after and we got dinner figured out. We spent the evening comparing me to different Desperate Housewives. I started as Susan but I didn't burn the mac and cheese so I ended up being Bree.

We had turkey cutlets with gravy that tasted like brown, wet flour, packaged mashed potatoes, corn, really good green beans that Anne made (I couldn't get ingredients for green bean casserole but it tasted almost the same), my mom's and grandma's recipe for macaroni and cheese, and the cake. I was pretty surprised that it turned out pretty good and there was so much food I was stuffed and we had leftovers.

All in all, it turned out to be a really pleasant evening. I'm also more confident in my ability to grocery shop and to cook, but I still like baking better. You cannot believe how amazing the smell of nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla are after not smelling them for months. The mac and cheese was definitely my favorite and almost tasted like Mama's, but I can not wait until Christmas to eat the real thing with my family!

A Sugar High

Wow, what an amazing day! This was one of the best days of my time in France. It may have something to do with the fact I'm still smiling from last night, or possibly because of the copious amounts of sugar I consumed today, but no matter what the reason, I'm happy to be happy.

We started the day like every other Wednesday with handball for Paul. I already knew something suspiciously good was going on when much of the usual complaining and arguing that usually happens these mornings was nowhere to be found.

Handball went great and lunch went off without a hitch. Then came the project. I told the kids if they were really good, they could help me make an American dessert. My parents had sent a package that finally got here yesterday and it was stuffed with ridiculous amounts of knee socks, candy, and pudding. I must say, I'd like to eat it all myself, but I think that would not be prudent for my sugar levels or my waistline.

So, I'm feeding it to the children as well. This afternoon we made French Vanilla pudding (which I thought appropriate). It was so great! It's so easy that basically the kids made it themselves and were quite proud of the fact. And man, I never realized how much I missed pudding, Reese's, Mounds Bars, Cow Tales, Skittles, and popcorn until today.

We enjoyed our pudding and then it was calm time. Marie tried to sleep for two hours (with limited success) and Paul and I played with his train and I read him Peter Pan while he molded clay. It was peaceful and amazing. As a reward, they got one piece of candy each.

Then it was snack time, and since I was really amazed at the behavior today (as in, they said please and thank you to each other and there was no screaming or anything) I said we could watch Peter Pan. So, we settled down with some amazing microwave popcorn and enjoyed the film. You know, Peter Pan actually works really well in French.

Then I made dinner early, and everyone ate very well with the promise of pudding and a new bon-bon for dessert. When we were done, I doled out a few Skittles each. I think that was actually the biggest success of the day. I was hugged and kissed repeatedly for that one. Then we read more of Peter Pan and they were off to bed by 8:30.

Oh how I love the simple pleasures in life!

Godot

Last night was my second night at theatre class. It was amazing. I love my life.

This week I actually got to do stuff. Last week I got there late and only did part of the warm up. Then I sat for the remaining three and a half hours watching other pairs of students doing scenes from 'Waiting for Godot' (or 'En attendant Godot'). It was interesting but boring too.

This week, I had made some friends and I had a scene. I was the second one there, which is always nice, and I had my lines memorized. We warmed up (but I got singled out for not bending my knees enough in a slow motion fight exercise and for not air-punching energetically enough. At least I understood what she said.)

Then we did an Italian (which in my understanding is a speed-through) and I was partnered with one of my new friends. I was excited to realize I really did have these lines memorized in French, and she helped with some of my slaughtering of the pronunciation.

Then it was acting time. We ended up going last, which means we did our scene at 10:30 at night. I was so sleepy. And nervous. I'd been fine at the beginning but after watching everyone else I freaked myself out. There were some great scenes.

One really cool one was the two Spanish people we have in class. To help them get into character, Sylvia (the teacher) let them do the scene in Spanish. It was awesome and a little confusing for me cause it was my scene too but in Spanish, not French or English. A bit mind-boggling, but what isn't these days?

Finally it was our turn. We rocked it! Miraculously, I understood all the directions she gave us. And she liked what I was doing so much, she made me do it again and told everyone to watch my gestures. It was embarrassing but I was excited. I think I act better in French. It's liberating somehow.

During the scene, everytime I said a certain line, I heard snickers in the back of the room. Afterward, a few people came to talk to me and I discovered that my accent is "delicious", and the way I said that line was cute, and I reminded them of Jane Birkin. I'm so glad I knew who that was because they asked and I felt cool that I knew.

I think the others are more willing to talk to me now that they've heard me speak. I probably seemed standoffish, but really I just didn't know what to say or how to say it.

Anyway, after everyone left I stayed to pay the teacher for the lessons and she told me that what I had done was really good. I'm so excited! I'm pretty sure I didn't stop smiling all the way home.

Oh, and driving in Marseille is so much easier the second time. Next time, it'll be a piece of cake! And hopefully I'll find somewhere to park that doesn't cost me 7 euros, because that is ridiculous.

Theatre

Great news! I am now participating in theatre classes in Marseille! It's awesome and I'm so excited!

I had a meeting a week ago with the woman who runs the school. She offers a unique opportunity for foreign students to learn theatre and improve their French. Basically, we just start with the beginners class and stay there until our level of French (and our acting ability) improves enough to move up to the next class. We're in class side by side with all the French students, which is great since I was finding it hard to meet locals my age.

I started Tuesday and it is great. It's from 7-11 at night so I'm pretty exhausted after a day of school, work, and then that but it's worth it. I also have to drive myself to Marseille since the trains stop at 11. Tuesday was the first time I'd made the drive and it was a challenge. I got lost a few times and had to pay way too much at a parking garage but I made it only 15 minutes late (even though we're supposed to be 15 minutes early).

We study mostly contemporary works. Right now we're working on 'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett. Believe me, it's challenging enough without it being in a different language. But, I do find the language and the fact I'll only be here a year kind of liberating. I don't feel as self-conscious making a fool out of myself as I usually do.

I've already talked to a few others in my class and I think it'll be a great process getting to know them. They're mostly French with some Spanish and a few other countries mixed in. I only did the warm-ups and observed all the scene work last week but this Tuesday I have a scene to perform, in French! Yikes! I'd better go run lines again...and figure out the meaning of what I'm saying.

The Next Step

I've come to the conclusion that it's not about what you do, it's about where you do it and who you do it with.

As it always does when fall arrives, my mind is exploring possibilities for my future. As usual, I have already changed my mind multiple times. I'm past the 'go to VCU and get my social work masters' phase and the 'go back to school for anything right when I get home' phase. I'm already looking for another adventure.

Somehow, Australia got the ball rolling. It was only yesterday that I started considering it and already I know the best youth hostels, the requirements for my visa, which city I want to go to (Brisbane), where I want to work (Australia Zoo), how long it takes to get from there to the Outback and Tropical North Queensland, and how much money I need to have before I go.

After hours of research, my stream of consciousness leapt from Brisbane to Australia Zoo to any zoo and settled on Disney World's Animal Kingdom. I was considering whether I wanted to be away from home for another full year so soon after being in France for that long. Florida is tropical and seemed a nice compromise. Also, I don't have to go through visa hassles. And I LOVE Disney World!

Since the weather here is ridiculously nice today, I took a long walk around the countryside near the house. It gave me a lot of time to think. I was considering whether it was wise that I am making more plans to do random, directionless, fun things while most people my age are starting careers or families. *shiver* I am so not ready for that.

Anyway, I decided that it was. Who's to say that all these things I'm learning won't lead me right to where I'm supposed to be. There's no way I can plan my life now. I don't have any idea of all the possibilites waiting out there.

What if I get a job at Disney World because they have some random job opening for someone who can speak French, plays the violin, and likes working with kids? And there I end up working with the animals and become licensed in some animal care something or other. And from that I get a job working at Australia Zoo. And then I meet some handsome relative of Keith Urban and get married and have adorable Aussie babies. And then my awesome Aussie babies will grow up to be Wildlife Warriors and have their own globe-trotting TV show and I can guest star. And then... You see, the possibilities are endless.

Ok, so I really do have it all planned out, but I guess I'm flexible.

The point is, as long as I'm happy with where I am and who I'm with, and as long as I can make enough money for a roof and food, I don't know that I have to lock myself into a lucrative career path right now. At the end of my life, am I going to look back and say, "Gee, I sure am glad I worked at that job I didn't like so I could buy the big house in the stuck up neighborhood and have 1.3 kids who don't like me anymore." or will I think, "Wow, I'm glad I lived."

Nimes

Welcome to Nimes! It is a beautiful city full of Roman ruins that you can reach in as little as an hour by train from Marseille.

The five of us (Camilla, Lisa from Germany, Chelle from North Carolina, Hannah, and me) spent the whole day exploring this place. It was a perfect day. Not too cold, overcast but no rain, fall leaves, and hardly any other tourists.

As we walked through the tree-lined streets, somehow reminiscent of Paris, we spent time trying to talk to each other in French, something we haven't had much will to do until now. I think we were all encouraged by our ability to communicate pretty decently.

We saw the best preserved Roman colosseum where they still hold bullfights. There we were able to go into the arena bleachers and underneath where the gladiator chambers are. We also made friends with a stray cat.

We chilled in a cafe for a few hours with a table full of pizza, bread and cheese, liver, and who knows what else.

We strolled through the breathtaking Jardins de la Fontaine (Fountain Gardens) on our way to climb the swirling, lighthouse-esque stairs of the Tour Magne (Great Tower).

And finally, a stop at the Maison Caree (Square House), which was sadly under construction. They show a 3D gladiator film inside but fortunately, by unanimous vote, I was spared that monstrosity. (Disney World's 'A Bug's Life' and 'Muppets' 3D adventures have scarred me for life.)

By the end of the day we were exhausted. (My legs still ache from the tower climb.) We got back to the train station just in time to board with about a million other people on an unusually short train. So we sat on the floor for an hour and a half, as the beautiful French countryside slipped past the windows that we couldn't see through. But it's ok, because I fell asleep on someone's feet.

Not Getting Squished

I just wanted to let you know that I was hit by a car the other day. It didn't hurt and it was probably my fault but I'm still mad.

A huge group of people became impatient (as usual) in Marseille so they decided to cross the street before the little red man turned green. I followed the crowd because really, would a car keep going if there were twenty people in front of it, even if it was in a hurry? Apparently, yes.

Unfortunately, I was on the edge of the very large group of jaywalkers. I was almost across when the man in the white car got tired of waiting. Did it matter that I was still in front of his car? Probably not. I may have looked a bit too small to do any damage to the bumper.

So he went...and hit my leg...and I was mad. But I ran anyway because I was pretty sure I'd lose that battle. But next time you just watch out little white car man. If you do it again I'll...I'll...I'll be even madder!! So there!

Meaningless Procrastination (I'm doing anything but homework)

I just got the urge to blog but I don't have anything specific to blog about. Hm...

Sometimes I freak out a little when I write these things. I try to be funny, or at least entertaining, but I find that is hard to be funny when you're trying to be funny.

I've also heard (quite recently and from a reliable source) that my blog is in fact scaring people and possibly alienating them with my usage of large words and stories of potentially dangerous incidents.

I would now like to state, for the record, that this blog is for entertainment purposes only. It is intended to keep friends and family up to date and serve as a journal for me to look back on.

(I gave up real journaling about a year ago due to lack of time as a result of beginning to do things actually worth writing about.)

I would also like to inform you that I do, in fact, use a thesaurus. I like big words and when I have time to sit in front of my computer for an hour writing these things, it's fun to pretend like I know cool stuff, like how to use "whithersoever" in a sentence, when in reality, I just found it on phrontistery.info.

(Although, since I went to school at CHA and am therefore quite familiar with the King James Version of the Bible, I do know that it is perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with "Whithersoever thou goest..." See, I can use it in a phrase at least.)

You will be happy to know that I will have something much more interesting to write about after tomorrow as I am planning on going to Nimes with some friends. I know you really only want to read about my adventures in France, not my musings on words and blogging. No worries. Check back sometime in the next few days and hopefully I can make that happen for you.

Oh, and there is potentially a really exciting thing starting for me next week, but I won't say what until I know for sure. Until then, you can try guessing, if you even care...

*The pic is of the drawings Paul did for Halloween (which he spelled "Alouin", which here I suppose is phonetically correct). They are cute and maybe you will like this post better because of them.

Le concert

I know, second post in one day. Sorry, I can't help it. When stuff happens, it all happens at once.

This is also my second promotional post of the day. I've already urged the consumers of this blog to check out and love the music of Olivia Ruiz. Now I implore you to go see the movie "Le concert." It may be difficult for those of you who are stateside (i.e. most of my readers) because I assume that since it's a French movie, it may never hit your movie theaters, but if it does, watch it.

This movie is amazing, obviously, or I probably wouldn't be writing this post. Of course I like it. It's like it was made specifically for my interests. (That's not egocentric is it?) The film is in French and Russian, the two languages other than my own that I have strong interest in. It features one of my new favorite actresses, Melanie Laurent. It is about an orchestra playing Tchaikovsky (whom I love). It includes a brilliant violin solo. And it is amazing.

So basically, I'm telling you to watch it, whenever it becomes available for your viewing pleasure. For your sake, I hope the DVD comes with the option to watch it all with English subtitles. I watched it with French subtitles for the Russian bits (and for when the Russians tried to speak French) but when the real French people came on and started talking really fast, the subtitles were gone. It was sort of a mind boggling exercise in concentration. But it was worth it...because the film is fantastic...and funny...and sweet...and you should watch it...

Olivia Ruiz: Miss Meteores

I feel that I have been an exceptionally cultured individual this week. I have admired architecture and murals at historical sights such as the Pont d'Avignon and the Palais des Papes in Avignon. I have witnessed a Baroque concert in the charming Aix en Provence. I saw a French film, Mademoiselle Chambon, at the cinema. And then, to top it all off, I went to a French Pop concert.

I have not been to many normal (i.e. non-classical) concerts in my lifetime. The only one of those that even meant a whole lot to me was Amy Grant (who will forever and always be my favorite singer) and if you know Amy, you know it wasn't a jump around in the mosh pit kind of concert. So, that being said, I didn't really know what to expect for any type of pop concert, much less one in France.

At one point during the night, I feared I may never find out. I went with my host parents, Anne and Julien. We were meeting people once we got to Marseille. There are tons of people in the city on Saturday nights so it took a while for Julien to find a place to park. He had dropped Anne and me off in the Metro station where we were waiting semi-patiently for him, her sister Cathy and Cathy's fiance, and Anne's friend Delphine (whom I had met during our notorious outing to see District 9. I've heard good things from friends in the states about that movie but believe me, it's not something you want to see in French.)

Gradually, the members of our party trickled in. But apparenly, it is always a contest whether Anne or Delphine will be latest. This time, Delphine won by a landslide. I was beginning to fear she would never show up...and she had our tickets. Finally, right as the train was pulling up, we caught sight of her sprinting down the stairs. We all made it and were only minutes late for the opening show. *insert sigh of relief here* We ended up sitting on the stairs, rather than in seats, but that just made it more fun.

The opening act was a band named Coming Soon. They were a vintage, folk, rock, indie, etc... kind of band. I was positive they were American, or at least British. I mean, they were singing in English and one was even wearing a cowboy hat. But alas, I was informed that they were French. I was ashamed to not even have recognized their accent when they sang in my own language. They were cool though and they made me want to join a fun band, rocking out on my electric violin.

Finally it was time for the real show. The lights went down and an artsy cartoon danced on the scrim. Then the lights changed and the shadows of the band behind the scrim shown through. And the scim dropped, revealing Olivia Ruiz standing high on the stairs in front of a huge flowered mirror. It made me think of Snow White. There were bird cages full of flowers hanging from the ceiling and the backdrop was black with silver stars. It was enchanting.

The concert was fantastic! She uses a really interesting mix of instruments and has a unique voice. I recognized a few songs from the radio and my iPod. I had done some research after I was invited to the concert because I didn't even know who she was. I'll give you links to some of my favorite songs on YouTube at the end. It was frustrating to know the tune but not the lyrics. She sang in French, Spanish, and English but even in English I couldn't understand her. That made me laugh.

One of my favorite moments of the night was when she sang Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time. Not because it was bad because she did a really excellent job (and I could understand her words that time), but because my second favorite movie in the world is Moulin Rouge, and this song is in Moulin Rouge, and I was in France, hearing a French girl sing that song, on a stage with a swing like in the movie. I don't know the word I'm looking for. It was sort of like irony but that's not it. It was just perfect.

And my favorite song was saved for the first encore. (If you refer back to my Baroque post you'll see that they really will not stop clapping here until they physically can't do it anymore.) I'd been waiting for it all night and finally they played it: La femme chocolat!

So now I've written too long about a singer you probably have never even heard of. But I hope you check out these links to her music. Some of it's even on our iTunes if you're interested but I had to get French iTunes to find her newer stuff.

La femme chocolat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tntp-_yKwyA
Belle a en crever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtdW6YQ9EpQ
And you can search my two other favs: "J'envoie valser" and "J'traine des pieds"

Oh, and after the concert, we went to one of Marseille's first "chic" restaurants and ate sushi (come to think of it, I've eaten a lot of raw things lately: fish, beef, ham, ...), skewered chicken (not raw), and a crepe stuffed with bananas and caramelized orange. What a night!

Le Grand Theatre de Provence

I drove myself to Aix-en-Provence. Completely alone. I must be a crazy person. I don't even like to drive to Roanoke when I'm at home. And it was dark. And the road signs are in French. And did I mention I'm driving a manual car?

Everything went incredibly smoothly until I reached the second toll booth. I inserted my ticket as instructed and went to plug in my credit card. "Rejected, please try again." I tried again. "Maybe you have your card in the wrong direction, please try again." So again, I tried. "Rejected!" The previously kind woman's voice on the automatic machine is now getting louder and more angry. So I try my credit cards from the US. Of course they don't work. I finally caved and pushed the intercom button. A man climbed out of his booth and made his way over to me. I'm pretty sure he was rolling his eyes. I wonder how many times this happens per day. He explained that the machine doesn't take cards like mine, and pointed at some tiny blip on the sign that shows my card as one that is not accepted. Only, it doesn't look like my card so how would I ever have known? But he took cash so I made it through the barrier.

Once in Aix, it was simple to find the parking garage. It's a beast of a garage. Huge with arrows pointing in all directions. But it wasn't too bad. I parked and went into town.

Then I was really lost. I walked in a circle for a few minutes but saw no signs of the theatre and it was really cold. I resorted to asking a woman about to cross the road if she could point me in the right direction. I now love Aix because, and I'm basing this impression on only one person, its people are so nice. Not only did she tell me how to get there, she went in completely the wrong direction for her in order to walk me to it. She said I'd be lost for hours if she didn't. We had a good conversation in French and I'm getting really excited that I can talk to these people, at least somewhat. She dropped me off and she was right. I never would have found it on my own.

So, despite all the obstacles, I got there in one piece. What would have caused me to attempt this dicey venture? One word: Baroque.

I found out the day before that there would be a Baroque concert by the Orchestre Francais des Jeunes Baroque. Basically, it was a concert by people aged 16 to 30 playing Charpentier, Purcell, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Bach, and Bach's second son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. I must have still been on a high from seeing Avignon that made me decide to go.

I haven't often been on the listening side of a classical concert seeing as I'd much rather be playing (violin if you don't know). But this was awesome. I was pretty far away so I couldn't see everything exactly, but I know that at least some of the musicians were sporting real Baroque instruments. And the Vivaldi was unlike any Vivaldi I'd heard before. I love Vivaldi!

The conductor was really funny. I understood a lot of what he said even though it was in French. That made me happy. When I didn't understand, I followed the crowd's cues and pretended, i.e. laugh when they do, clap when they do, etc... The only time I didn't give in to the mob mentality was when they clapped so long at the end that the conductor had to come back onstage at least six times. I drew the line after I'd been clapping for what seemed like ten minutes straight. It was almost 11:00 and I'd almost fallen asleep at the end.

Then it was time to make my way home. What I love about driving around midnight is that there are hardly any cars on the road. This was fortunate since I found myself dumped onto the wrong highway going a way I didn't want to be going. (Haha, reading through this the 50th time for editing purposes, I just thought of how funny it is that I can get on the wrong road and end up somewhere I "don't want to be" like Nice or Cannes or something equally as awesome. *contented sigh* Europe is great!) I panicked for half a second before I remembered how well marked their roads are here. I just followed the signs back to Aix and somehow made my way back through the center of town and onto the familiar highway that I was supposed to be on. From there I was home free.

I'll admit, I tested the speed limit just a little. The signs said 110 kilometers/hour. I felt comfortable at 90 and even then I felt slightly daredevil-ish. At one point, when the road was clear, I tried 110. Wow, that speed can take your breath away, at least at night when all you can see are the little white dotty lines on the road.

I arrived home at exactly midnight and sat in the car for a minute jamming with a song I liked on the radio. Then I stepped out of the car and suddenly considered the adventures of the night and thought, with amazememt and some pride, "What did I just do?"

Avignon

I've finally managed a day trip into a more typical Provencal area. On Sunday, I went with Anne and the kids to visit Anne's grandmother in Avignon. The drive there was absolutely gorgeous. We arrived in an hour and ate lunch all together. Then we set off for Avignon city center.

I don't know if you've heard the song "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" but it's a really famous kids' song here. It's the equivalent of our "Yankee Doodle" or something similar. Well, the song is about dancing on the Avignon Bridge. So we went to see this bridge and maybe do a little dancing ourselves.

Sadly we discovered that there is no Pont d'Avignon. It is actually named Pont de St. Benezet. Also, the people of Avignon danced, not on the bridge, but under it. Thus the song should be entitled, Sous le Pont de St. Benezet. But despite the inaccuracies, the bridge was amazing and the view beautiful.

What I think is great is that it doesn't even connect anything. Half of the bridge washed away and now it just sticks out into the water with no purpose other than to make money for the tourist industry and get annoyingly catchy tunes stuck into peoples' heads with just a glance.

After that, the family dropped me off in town while they went off to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" which I later heard wasn't that great, it was just noisy. Glad I chose to do some touring on my own.

With urging from my mother, I had done a little research previous to going on this trip. I had discovered (or actually remembered because thanks to Milligan's Humanities, I had already studied this) that Avignon is the other city where Popes used to live when they didn't live in Rome. Therefore, they had built a palace there. An amazing, ginormous palace!

So I found it. It's called Palais des Papes and is one of the most important Gothic structures in Europe, according to Wikipedia. It was really magnificent. It has turrets and those waffle-looking towers and everything you imagine when you think really old castle. I took a tour of the inside with a handheld audio guide the size of a stone age cell phone. It took well over an hour. This place was huge and really well preserved. There were rooms painted with colorful murals and original treasure findings. You can see the unbelievable large banquet room and the ridiculously small kitchen. I was just amazed when I imagined who had actually walked those floors, sat on that stone bench built into the wall, or climbed the exact same staircase as me.

And the view from the top...wow! You could see all of Avignon, the cutest, quaintest little town ever. So typically Provencal and adorable.

Now I can't wait to go back. I definitely need more time to explore. I had just found the city center when it got dark and it was time for us all to leave.

Thanks to this trip, I'm feeling adventurous. It made me remember how many amazing opportunities are so close by. So tonight I'm driving myself to Aix-en-Provence to see a Baroque concert (providing I can actually find the city and a place to park). Honestly, I don't think I ever planned to drive myself any further than I've already gone but a chance came up and I'm going to take it. No more sitting around. There are adventures to be had!