Return of the Wheaties

Last week I had two very dear friends from Wheaton come and visit me. First, was Emmie Hamilton and her sister, Sarah. They were traveling in Rome with their mother and decided to swing by southern France. After encountering a few miscommunications (ie thinking that I lived in Aix-en-Provence), they finally arrived. They were pretty tired from non-stop tours in Rome, so this was their more relaxing leg of the trip. The first night we went on a walking tour of the city and then stopped by my favorite boulangerie to pick up dinner. We bought a variety of quiches, pizzas and tartines, and sat around the table for hours eating and sharing recent life details. Emmie and I caught up on our "Wheaton gossip", aka who is engaged and who got married, typical Wheaton talk. The next day I had decided to take them to the market in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. There were two possible trains that we could have taken and yet we missed BOTH of them. Instead, we picked up a snack and walked across the bridges to Villeneuve. We hiked through the medieval city and up to the Fort. After walking around a bit longer, we headed back to Avignon. The next day, the girls took our bikes for a ride around the city walls. That night we all went out to dinner to a little bistro that I have been wanting to try. We ate yummy French food and shared one last night of laughs.

Two days later Jess came to visit. She has been traveling around the world and she starts her cooking classes in Florence, Italy this week. The first day, I gave her a walking tour of Avignon and showed her all of my favorite places in the city. The next day we all sat along the river and we walked around the backroads on the island. We were having some trouble finding the best way for her to get from Avignon to Florence. No matter what day or time she left, she had to pass through Nice, France. On a whim we decided to go to Nice for the night. We spent Saturday walking along the beach and we hiked up to the top of a cliff and got a beautiful view of the city and the sea. We explored more of the old city before going out to dinner at this quaint bistro in town. Before our departure the next day, we walked around the daily market and then said our goodbyes. I am so lucky to have friends from a far who make the trek to come visit me in France!