So, there was no Chocolate Factory, just a Chocolate Convention – but I can't complain, I got free samples for about 2.5 hours straight. I thought I'd be all “chocolate-ed” out after that, but today I was already craving goodies again.
Saturday I woke up bright an early to go to Arles for the day. Arles was important during the times of Roman Empire and was also home to Van Gogh for a bit. Our first stop was the Roman Ruins, first to the Roman Amphitheater, then to the Arena. I had another crazy friend run in when I saw Alison Bertin at the Arena in Arles. She spotted me from all the way across the stands. I had known she was in Antibes for the semester, but this was a pure chance meeting. Neat!
After this, we paused for a picnic with fresh fare from the large Saturday Market. I enjoyed some Paella and an apple. I was also gifted a piece of free baklava from a wonderful Greek-French woman who said I was beautiful – the French could learn a thing or two about smiling – they'd get more free loot!
After our picnic we headed to the Crypts, which were solely the place of ancient underground markets, not dungeons for the dead as we were imagining.
We then ambled to Van Gogh's hot spots – first a garden he painted (which was the garden of an asylum – go figure) and then to the café he painted in his very famous “Café Terrace at Night.”
It seems that I, and the people I travel with, have this habit of speeding through all the sights in order to finish them, so by about 3:30 we had exhausted all of our tourist destinations and took repose by the Rhône River where we cast a message in a bottle out to float. We then hopped back on the bus to Aix!
It was a lovely day followed by a lovely night where we got to interact with real live French people our own age! It was a good learning experience night because they spoke English very well, but insisted we use our French. So, we got to learn a lot of things that we might otherwise be afraid to ask our program directors and host parents.
Sunday at noon a group of us headed to Mont St. Victoire to climb to ascend the beast. It looks super daunting, and it was fairly difficult, but I was so proud (sore, tired, hungry, sweaty, thirsty...) when I reached the summit! The highest point is the Pic des mouches, which we reached, measuring 3,317 ft. There is a 13th century chapel at the top of the mountain that was open on Sunday, as well. We saw some very French hikers(so trendy), a man run up and down the mountain all in the time it took us to descend, and a pack of French Army men. We also saw spectacular views of the region, though it was a touch foggy.
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