We got there and waited for
everyone. A lot of people skipped the trip because of what happened last time
and honestly with how this one went I do not blame them... We got rid of our
third bus which I foresaw coming before we even got there. This made it just a
French and an English bus. I was on the French bus. I sat closer to the back in
hopes that the annoying tour guide lady which we had last time would be less
obnoxious from there. She wasn't and this time Yamina was on our bus. Before we
could leave she came by and checked all out seatbelts individually and told us
each to put this away or put our bags on the floor. It was really stupid. We
felt like five year olds.
It didn't get better either. We
couldn't talk the whole bus ride because the lady never shut up, and it wasn't
like educational stuff, it was stupid stuff. "One time I came here with my
kids and we played on the playground for a few hours" great for you! No
one cares and your voice is one of the most annoying I have ever heard. Whenever
someone started talking Yamina would come and start yelling at them. It was
overall just bad. When we finally got to Lourmarin which is a very cute and
pretty little village, we got off to your the chateau and the cemetery.
Basically we walked about half a mile to the cemetery to look at the grave of
Albert Camus. Which was I guess cool but I'm not really a cemetery junkie even
if they are famous people. To me it is like, well their body might be there but
now it is just bones and taking up space and it's not like they are really
there to me. I'd rather remember someone for them not some rock on some dirt
where their bones are.
The walk to and from though was
almost infuriating. We kept getting yelled at to walk on the tiny sidewalk
single file than to walk in the completely deserted road where you could see
cars coming from either direction easily. She literally would stand in the road
and yell at us not to walk on it and not to cross the street until she was
there and not to keep walking until she told us to. I literally felt like it
was first grade. Literally. It was one of the most degrading experiences.
After we did the cemetery we went to
the chateau tour which I was kind of excited for because it was really pretty.
Psyche! We don't actually get to go IN the chateau we get to walk around it
because IAU doesn't want to pay for it. Which was included in the program...
Okay... So that didn't happen. No storming the castle today. They also told us explicitly that we needed to
buy lunch here because there would be nothing else anywhere else.
Well.. It's a Sunday so almost
everything is closes already and then it is small so there isn't much around.
There was one bread place open, one casino store, and one very expensive
convenience store. Do you see the problem here? 100 students 3 stores? Yeah. I
decided to go find the bathroom. I found it and the light didn't work and there
was no toilet paper. Luckily my iPod has a light and I had a napkin. Win. It
was sketch though like all European bathrooms that are free. They didn't have
soap either but I found that Gina had purell. So that was good.
Cassandra when I found her had
fought the bread rush and bought me a baguette. Win. I bought some oranges at
the convenience store before we found the casino store. It really was madness
though. Whoever thought this whole thing was a good idea was wrong. Everyone is
cranky and it isn't helping to be treated like children so this good fiasco was
bad too. I bought a soda and some pretzels at the casino store and then helped
hold everyone's stuff while they went to the bathrooms. After all this food
madness we didn't have much time I asked the village really because we had to
get back to the bus. But from what I saw things were very expensive but also
nice looking. But for forty Euros for a scarf I was fine not shopping.
We got back on the bus and I moved
up in the bus so I wouldn't get sick. We got to a new village but couldn't get
out because the road was blocked by a car, as tends to happen here. The whole
time we grotto overhear over the microphone the conversation about nothing by
the guide, Yamina, and the bus driver about movies they have seen and how all
our French teachers suck for not showing us all more movies in class. Like we
have seen some sorry we don't know every French movie ever made... It was not
so good. Then we got through and went by a very amazing view into the valley
but I was on the wrong side of the bus to get a photo. After that, we went and
turned around and went a different way down through the village that I don't
know the name of, to go to Lacoste. It was kind of a confusing thing because
one bus went the wrong way and then we followed it and I guess it was just a
different route to the same place.
Lacoste was really pretty! We got to
see the view we had on the bus but off the bus. The village itself was also
really pretty and had a flea market going on while we were there. I heard there
is an art school there too with lots of American students. It was really
pretty. I would say it is probably the second most beautiful place that I have
gone so far. The only downside about here is that the castle is at the top of
the city and I mean top because it is basically on the side of a cliff with
really steep ramps. I don't know how much of an incline it is but it was more
than the exercise machines can go. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it
but I really wanted to try anyways.... :-/ didn't work out. I was working my
way up slowly when finally the guide who left the buses five minutes after the
group caught up to me. I told her I had an illness that made it hard to get up
and she made me go back down. It was kind of disheartening. But at the same
time maybe that was exactly what I needed was some time away from the group. So again no storming the castle for me. Apparently it was closed though anyways.
I sat and ate my lunch on some
stairs by an archway and then walked around the flee market. I didn't find
anything super great. Pretty soon Cassandra, LaSia, Gina, and Sally came down
and found me. They all asked if I was okay since they hadn’t seen me come up
and I said I was fine it just wasn’t something that I could really do. Then
they wanted to walk around the flea market again and this time I bought the
thing for Mom that I had looked at before. There was also an adorably cute
little dog. We looked at lots of rings and lots of old things that were kind of
cool and I was like that would be cool to have but a pain to get home. Next
time I do Europe I’m bringing an empty suitcase full of bubble wrap to get cool
stuff home. I already have some poster like things I’m worried about getting
home. So who knows! I wish I could just send a big box of clothes home because I
have a lot here that because it is getting colder I won’t be using and now it
is just taking up space… Oh well.
After we walked around the flea
market it was time to head back to the bus to go to Rousillion. The talk on the
drive there was more on topic. We learned the legend of why the Ochre is the
red color. One day the sort of like queen of the area had sex with a lover
while her husband was away. The husband found out and took the lover out in the
woods and killed him and cut his head off and then took out his heart. Before
anyone noticed the lovers disappearance the King took the heart to the cook and
had him make a sauce out of it for lunch. Then after eating lunch with the
Queen he told her that the sauce that she liked so much was her lovers heart
and so she screamed and instantly went running off the cliff and died. And so
it was the 80m fall that killed her and her blood stained the rocks red.
That’s all total baloney but I thought
it was interesting. There’s a lot of weird stories like this where cheaters
unknowingly eat their loved ones bodies or stuff like that. I don’t like it. It
actually gave me bad dreams last time that I saw a story like that in a movie.
The whole idea to me is really gross and horrifying. That better never happen
to me. I would throw up and then kill myself too.
When we got to Rousillion it was
really cloudy so they almost said forget it but we got off with instructions
that if it starts to rain we all come back to the bus otherwise we would be
there for an hour. We started walking
and just by looking at the village the houses were all much more of a red color
than a beige tope color. It was cool! Then we started going up further and we
started to see the Ochre! It was so pretty! The college paid our entry into the
walking park. There is a cave tour too but we didn’t do that. But I would it
sounds cool! We walked in and it was Soooo pretty. I thought it was so cool
because it really does look just like a desktop background. The colors were
gorgeous and I can see why people choose to paint it because it is just
awesome. I want to find a good painting of it because it was really gorgeous.
Some people who live in like Colorado weren’t very impressed but they said it
made them miss home. Which I could understand. If we went to an Oregon forest
looking place I probably wouldn’t be as impressed but just homesick.
We went on the walking tour which
was on sand which was also changing colors as the rocks did so I think that it
was more natural that nother people did. They said they imported it, but I think
it changed to well to be like that plus the Ochre wasn’t super rough. There
were two paths to take, the shorter one and the longer one. We took the longer
one. My group like to walk really fast and not take very many pictures so I was
constantly struggling behind them but they would stop and wait for me. It was a
lot of down so I was worried for the up. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would
be but I did stop three times to catch my breath/ relax the cords.
When we got to the top again we took
a bunch of pictures and then headed out. There was a dog that seemingly had no
owner but had a cone on its head and had had a fix surgery by the looks of it
walking around. Gina was very concerned that the dog didn’t have an owner but I
said well it looks fed and has had surgery so it must be someones. She asked a
lot of people though if it was theirs. After that I had to go to the bathroom.
But the thing was they were self cleaning bathrooms again, but this time less
organized. You couldn’t tell if when you closed the door it would think there
was no one there and then clean or not. So it was a pretty scary deal. I tried
twice to go in but then the lights would go off and I would freak out and run
out not wanting to have a shower. Eventually I figured out how to get the light
to stay on by not touching anything and then went fast and left. It was a
pretty scary ordeal and fiasco! Some self cleaning bathrooms are nicely
organized so it makes sense but these ones were not. I even followed the English
directions but they were no help because then the lights would go off and leave
me in the dark. It was scary.
After that I bought a chocolate ice
cream cone for only 2 Euros! We had to get back on the bus though. You know
those people who take a really long time to eat ice cream because they lick it
slowly and are really careful? Yeah I’m not one of those people. I wolfed that
sucker down. It was so good though. Totally worth it!
When we got back on the bus it started raining so we had really good timing. When we got on the bus I was exhausted. I just put on my headphones to block out the incessant talking of the guide who was now really not talking about anything in particular, and went to sleep. I woke up and we were back in Aix and the bus was stopping close to my house so I hopped off and went home.
When I got there, Madame was just sitting down to watch the movie Jane Eyre so I decided to join her. It was pretty good but also pretty messed up with some of the characters. I could follow pretty well though so that was good. After that we had chicken and potatoes from the market for dinner, bread and cheese, and then Madame put another plate in front of me. Usually we are done at this point so I was like what's going on? And she was like it's a surprise! She put sugar and nutella on the table, and then jam. And then came out with a pile of crepes! YAY! It was a very good surprise. She told me that we have enough for tonight also! Woo hoo!
After that I skyped the Fam. Spencer and Megan went to see my parents so they were there for the Skype call as well. It was good. I miss them. But I am for the most part having a good time. I can't wait for Fall break!
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