i had a very quiet and unproductive weekend. lack of advance planning plus pas beaucoup d'argent equaled a very peaceful and relaxing weekend at home. and I loved it. i caught up on all of my missed television shows and spent some quality time with my host family. we watched more john wayne films and even this variety show that highlighted french music from the 90s. oh boy was that a treat. i was able to skype with my big brother in my business fraternity Rachel and even some other bros as they were having the semiannual midcourt evaluation of the pledges. 10 hours spent cooped up inside some building on a saturday listening to pledges repeat and recite fraternity history and brother facts? no thanks. but it was so nice to talk to her and some other friends and get caught up on the latest happenings at usc.
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| River Sorgue |
sunday we had an excursion to Isle Sur la Sorgue and Fountaine de Vaclouse. This excursion was paid for in my tuition so there was no chance I was missing it. After 5 consecutive days of beautiful skies and warm enough to tan temperatures.. Sunday arrives and its raining. Bueno. So we all board the bus, and great, Carol is there. Carol was our tour guide from our trip to Nice, Cannes and Monaco and if her voice doesn't make your ears bleed.. youre lucky. Some people have a knack for speaking on bus overcom systems.. she doesnt. She told us allllllll about the places we were going which in fact are just quaint little provencial towns.. but she told us that we were going to the Venice of Provence and afterwards.. there would be no need to go to Venice. Well dang, you can imagine our excitement.
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| My friends Clare and Libby and I |
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I really do enjoy visiting the french countryside and i had a great time. but poor weather and two sleepy towns on a sunday made for a less than thrilling adventure. but comme toujours, we made it fun! Isle Sur La Sorgue is this quiet little town with a river, La Sorgue, running carelessly throughout the town, winding and twisting, and yes, it is quaint and charming and there are lots of pretty walk bridges.. but im thinking it is not at all like how i imagine venice. (good thing ill be there in 3 weeks). there was a beautiful and quite extensive market on sunday- vendors selling everything from moroccan couscous to little trinkets and knickknacks and even tablecloths. it was so nice to walk amongst the crowd and just browse. i have become such a fan of european markets, although i have yet to make any really impressive purchases. My girl friends and i, we spent the afternoon wandering around the town until we found a quite little park with some nice European graffiti'd skate ramps. With bottles of rosé in hand we recounted funny stories from our respective backgrounds and just laughed and laughed until it was time to go.
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| Mysterious source de la River Sorgue |
After Isle Sur la Sorgue we departed for a 4 minute bus ride to Fountian de Vauclouse. An equally as quaint and precious and unforuntately dreary town this past Sunday. The river Sorgue runs through it too.. although it actually originates here from a mysterious source that decades and centuries of people have never been able to uncover the real truth of. its quite picturesque, although the rain really started to pour as soon as we arrived. with nearly 2 hours to kill, we made our way to a petit café and grabbed seats by the water. It was just my friends Sarah, Grace, Molly, Clare, Jasmine and I. And what did we order? A bottle of rosé, french fries and a milkshake. Typical? Oh absolutely. Delcious? you betcha. I could not have imagined a more perfect way to spend the afternoon. It was very unfortunate that the rain had to come and be dreary but I'd say I made the best of it for sure.
