Aix marks the spot

Unfortunately as I write this, I’m staring down at the stupid little wifi box that sits in my host home as it flashes yellow to remind me that it can’t connect to the internet. It started doing this last night and hasn’t stopped all day, despite my best efforts. The internet at the center where I have classes is always available during the day, but the center closes at 6pm every day. I think my host is going to call the phone company and have someone come over tomorrow, so hopefully the problem will be resolved by the time I post this or shortly after.

On a positive note, this weekend was our first excursion to Aix-en-Provence! It’s a town about an hour and a half southeast from us that is known for its Roman beginnings. The city layout is absolutely astounding. The buildings are so epic, and there are fountains and monuments everywhere. Not to mention it sits inside a mountain range and is the former home of artist Paul Cézanne, whose famous renditions of Mt. Saint Victoire are known worldwide.

me in front of the fountain at La Rotonde

Aix has a much more modern feel than Avignon, and I couldn’t stop noticing how full of life the city is. The first place we stopped was ‘La Routonde’, which is a gorgeous fountain that sits in the middle of a roundabout which is surrounded by cafés and shops and people and gloriously yellow and pink buildings. There was a huge open air market in one square and a huge flower market in the next, and there are just people (and puppies!) everywhere.

The lovely streets of Aix

Speaking of puppies, I saw the cutest thing ever in Aix. There was this homeless man parked by a tree in one of the squares with a dog. He had a thin little blanket for himself, and then a dog bed, blanket and food bowl for his little dog. Normally I would be sad about homeless people having dogs, but seriously the dogs are better fed than their owners here and it’s so cute! And I get to pet dogs all day.

We also had the pleasure of visiting the Cathedrale Saint Sauver, a famous church that was built in three separate time periods using three different types of architecture. I couldn’t stop starring at the Roman baptist chamber and thinking about how amazing it was that something from the 4th century is still perfectly preserved. I was standing on the same floor that Romans from the year 300 had stood on before France was even France. People that had been baptized in that very room have been dead for literally seventeen centuries. And of course the gothic architecture is always just breathtaking.

(top to bottom) The facsade, the Bapsist chamber and the Gothic Chapel

We then were on our own for lunch, and me and some of my friends wandered around aimlessly until we came upon a cute little restaurant that’s menu looked a bit like a French Denny’s from the outside, so we took advantage of the low prices and hit it up. They even had menus in English, and we got a kick out of comparing the French and English menus and noticing the terrible translations. OH and then we bought gelato (chocolat pour moi!) and it was delicious, to say the least.
Later we got to visit the Musée Granet and stare in awe of the massive floor to 20 ft ceiling 17^th century paintings, as well as some Picasso’s and Giacometti’s. The last place we went was to the studio of Paul Cézanne. It’s this adorable little house situated on the side of a small mountain whose top floor is one large room where we would paint his enormous paintings and slide them through his custom made floor to ceiling painting door in the back. The paint in the room was never changed, so when you look at his paintings where he featured objects in the room, it’s all the same. Also, there was a kitty sleeping by the space heater that we all just fawned over until it was time to leave, and then another one outside that I pet for like 10 minutes.

We were soo tired by the time we left Aix, but it was an awesome day. I love visiting little Provinçial cities that are just bursting with history. I mean, I live in one and I still haven’t accepted how amazing that is.

On Saturday night, my friend’s host parents held a salsa (the dance, not the dip) party in the theatre they own to benefit her host dad’s charity in Africa. We also got to see the amazingly decorated apartment she lives in and meet their dog Woody!! (Yes, I miss having pets) The salsa party was amazing though; her host mom teaches dance and yoga classes, so there were a lot of her students there, and lot of people who were seriously like professional salsa dancers.

So this week has started off pretty good, although I’m currently putting off writing a one page, single-spaced paper about France’s problems in 1945. Sigh. Other than that, we have all been spending our breaks planning trips around Europe! People are going everywhere! I can't wait to go to Paris, I'm like freaking out just thinking about it right now.