Cavaillon

Cavaillon is one of the bigger towns near Avignon that we still hadn't ventured to until yesterday. We saw that the weather was going to be sunny, so we finally made the trip there. We didn't know what to expect except for some beautiful scenery. The town is situated near the mountains and has many trails for hiking. There is a little church on top of one of the bigger hills, so our only goal was to hike to the top. We grabbed some snacks and began our climb. It only took about 30 minutes to get to the top, but it felt like hours. We were all sweaty and hungry by this point. We picked a spot on top of the hill and had a picnic lunch and laid under the sun for awhile. After descending back down the hill, we were all parched and stopped at The Loch Ness Cafe for an orangina.

Once we made it back home, we decided that we wanted to use Hannah's blender to make some smoothies. We headed back out to the grocery store and bought a variety of fresh and frozen fruits. We spent the remander of our day testing different kinds of fruit smoothies.

Spring is here!

Finally, the wind has died down and the sun is shining! We have been "profiting well" (another expression that sounds 10x better in French) from the beautiful spring weather  and our last two week vacation by visiting some tourist destinations. Friday, Leslie, Hannah and I packed our bags and biked the 17 kilometers to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Along the way, we made a pit-stop in Sorgues (where I teach) to picnic in the park. After resting for a bit, we continued down the country road to our final destination. Once we made it to the well-known wine village, we parked our bikes and explored the area. We hiked to the top of the hill to the old chateau and got a picturesque view of the village and the surrounding vineyards.

Picnic in Sorgues

Another hot-spot for tourists is the Pont du Gard, which is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge not too far from Avignon. I went there during my high school trip to France but I have been wanting to go back since we live so close. When Leslie and I first got our bikes in October, we tried to summon up the strength to bike the 26 kilometers there on two separate occasions. Both times we failed. This time we decided to take the bus which was worlds easier than biking. Once we got there, we hiked around the bridge for a few hours and tanned next to the river. After several hours we decided to look at the bus schedule to see what time we should leave. I was almost positive that I read the schedule correctly and that we had to wait until 5:30pm for the next bus. Of course I failed to take into account that it was Saturday and the 5:30 bus doesn't stop at Pont du Gard during the weekends and we actually had to wait until 7pm. Thankfully, Laura and her sister had rented a car and were planning on stopping at Pont du Gard on their way back from Nimes. They saved us from having to wait another 2 hours for the next bus home. On our way back to Avignon, they wanted to stop by Chateaunuef-du-Pape to buy some wine. This gave me an excuse to taste some different wines and buy myself a nice bottle as a souvenir!

Photobombing...it's back!

Tourist season has officially started! Our new photobombing tactic is to blend in with the tourists as much as possible. To achieve this goal, we decided to actually become tourists of our own city and tour the Pope's Palace and Avignon's famous bridge. After 7 months of living in this city, I finally know some history. The palace didn't give us many opportunities, but the bridge was a success. As always, I was the picture taker and Leslie and Laura were the photobombers. Lurking Laura was at her finest and definitely won photobomber of the day. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Lurking Laura #1

Lurking Laura #2

Lurking Laura #3

Titantic

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!