One Very Busy Week

It's been one very busy week, thus the whole not posting thing. So much has gone on that I'm going to have to go back through pictures to write this.

Wednesday and Thursday we did our internships, so of course, the better part of both of those days were filled with fun with horses and Marine for me. Wednesday night we also had what went from "dinner with the mayor" to "a quick intro + snacks with the mayor", which was kinda fun but mostly a little awkward. Thursday I finally got to ride for the first time since I got here and ended up falling off a horse for the first time ever. (Reason: I forgot to recheck the tightness of the girth. I went to post since it's English style riding, and the entire saddle rotated around the horse, dumping me off.) I have a few cuts and bruises to show for it since I fell on some rocks, but it was really nothing major - mostly just a pride-bruiser.

Friday we got to go make bread with one of the locals who sells her bread at the farmers' market here.

Alice working with the dough.

My bread. Nice, huh?

The outdoor, wood-burning oven.

Lots of bread.

Friday evening we had dinner at the home of the Roberts, one of the local couples who hangs out with the group some every year. They are really nice, and dinner was fun. Afterward, we went to one of the cafes here to watch the USA vs. England soccer match and have (more) wine/drinks.

 

Candid shot during dinner.

Saturday was the day of our giant hike up one of the mountains starting at the home of the Boscos, another couple who spends time with the group, and lead by M. Bosco. Our hikes leading up to this hadn't been so bad, so when I suddenly realized it was going to be 2+ hours of non-stop climbing, I knew I was in trouble. If you've never been at this high an altitude and tried to do athletic things, take it from me: breathing is extremely difficult if you're not used to the lack of oxygen. Extremely. Coming back down the mountain, while hard on the knees, was exponentially more enjoyable and was followed by a BBQ lunch at the Bosco's. :)

 

Deciding whether or not crossing the stream is a good idea. 

Verdict was "no" after 3-4 people had made it across already.

  

Hiking back down the mountain. (I was too worried about breathing to try to take pics on the way up. The views were spectacular though!) Pictured: Katie, Carla, Angela, Kaitlyn, & M. Bosco.

Sunday morning we left for Aix-en-Provence. We wandered around for the afternoon in Aix and saw the home of impressionist painter Paul Cézanne. After that, we drove about 20-30 minutes outside of Aix to get to the place where we would stay and immediately started swimming. That only lasted for about 10 minutes though, then the clouds rolled in (quickly), and it began to storm.

 

Coffee in Aix.

At first, we thought these were to mark the path to where Cézanne lived, but then we saw them going in several directions. No clue what they actually are, but they're paved into the streets and fun looking.

Aix.

Kitty at the home of Cézanne. :)

Today we went to Les Baux de Provence and saw the show at the Cathédral d'Images. It was amazing - probably one of my favorite things this entire trip. It was an image/video presentation about Australia (especially Aboriginal Australia) projected onto the rock walls of the inside of an old limestone quarry with some sound from the footage but mostly just very well-chosen music to match the presentation. I've never seen anything quite like it, and I absolutely didn't want to leave. (The presentation looped, so I probably watched it almost all the way through a second time before I absolutely had to leave.) I have some pics and footage (filming/photography was allowed w/out flash), but it just doesn't do it justice (especially since, to get a good image, I had to lengthen the exposure time which brightened the entire pic a whole lot).

 

This shot is probably the closest to the actual brightness in the Cathédral d'Images.

That was followed by lunch. I had fish with vegetables and what basically amounted to garlic mayonnaise. Now, I'm not usually a fan of mayonnaise, but this stuff was good!

After lunch, we headed to St. Rémy for a while to wander around again then made the 3-4ish hour car ride back to Jean Chaix for dinner.

 

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

There are, of course, stories and more details to everything, but in an effort to keep these to a readable length, I just can't include everything. I can't wait to get home to show all of you more pictures and tell you about everything in greater detail. 

Miss you all!