Our last group excursion was to Les Baux-de-Provence and the Alpilles. I’m splitting them into a few different posts, since we saw a LOT that day!

First, we took a bus to the Alpilles. The driver pulled over so we could get a group picture.

Here you can see Les Baux from across the valley!

The medieval village of Les Baux is very cute, built up on the hill.

The castle in Les Baux-de-Provence was a stronghold for Provençal kings from the 10th-17th centuries, in many places carved directly into the hill. It’s a bit of a workout to visit the whole thing!

From the castle’s keep, you have a spectacular view of the ruins and of the valley below.

They have replicas of medieval siege weapons, with regular demonstrations for visitors.

After visiting the castle, we walked down the hill for a magnificent show!

We visited le Musée Réattu. It’s in a building that used to house the Chevaliers de  l’Ordre de Malte, which was confiscated during the Revolution and purchased by the Arlésien artist, Jacques Réattu.

Our guide talked to us about the history of the warrior monks who lived here before the Revolution.

This is the view from Réattu’s workshop!

This unfinished painting reveals his planning techniques for large paintings. He drew the people nude, then added clothes with paint.

Réattu purchased this painting for himself, and there is some controversy over who the young man is.

There are examples of modern art in the museum, most of which have some link to Arles and to Southern France.

There are paintings lent to the museum by Pablo Picasso himself. This painting, on loan from somebody else, is a portrait of a friend of his dressed as an Arlesienne lady with a shawl and a complicated hairdo.

As with many buildings in town, there are mysterious passageways under the floor!

It wouldn’t be a proper stay in Arles without a visit to Les Arènes. It’s a Roman amphitheater that was built around the same time as the Colosseum in Rome, in the first century AD. The amphitheater is just around the corner from where we held classes.

I took this picture the night of our good-bye party. The afternoon had been stormy, and the clouds at sunset were incredible.

To get to the seats in the amphitheater, you first have to go through the tunnels, called vomitoria because they enabled large numbers of people to enter and exit quickly.

Our awesome guide, Nathalie, explained to us that, during Roman times, the amphitheater was used for gladiator fights. However, this site remains in active use. Now, it is used most famously for two different bull-related events: la corrida and la course camarguaise. La corrida is the Spanish-style bullfight, normally only twice a year, where the bullfighter kills the bull at the end. La course camarguaise is a game they play with a smaller bull, where they tie an object between the bull’s horns and people run after the bull to try to retrieve the object. There are also concerts and plays that take place in the amphitheater.

Between the fall of the Roman Empire and when the local government decided to restore les Arènes beginning in the19th century, the structure was used as a residential district of the city of Arles. It contained over 200 houses, including public squares and services. Here, you can see the two remaining walls of the old houses that were built in between the arcades. Each of these homes would have had two stories and would have housed an entire family.

It was very hot in the stands that day, but the students were good sports and let me take a group picture anyway.

We got to climb up into the tower to get a better view, and there was this amazing fossil on the railing! As with many buildings in Arles, the amphitheater was build of limestone (calcaire).

Friday the 29^th of May, we went on an excursion to Avignon. The highlight of the visit was the Popes’ Palace.

We took the train from Arles.

Here we are in front of the Popes’ Palace. Due to wars in Italy in the 14th century, the seat of the Catholic church moved to Avignon. Later, back in Italy, they elected a new pope. For a while, there were two popes at the same time, and even three when a third was elected in Pisa! At the time, the palace in Avignon was the largest papal residence. Six papal conclaves were held here.

This is a room that the popes used to meet with important people. At the time of the popes, there were no bare stone walls in the palace. They were originally covered with frescoes, most of which were destroyed during and after the Revolution.

This is the ceremonial dining hall that was used for large feasts. The pope sat alone at one end, and the more important the guest was, the closer he or she sat to the pope and the more food he or she was served.

Before feeding anything to the pope, his servants tested his food for poison by dipping shark teeth and precious gems in it. They thought it would make the food change color if it were poisoned. We found their methods dubious.

This is the main chapel, one of many chapels in the palace. Formal masses lasting up to twelve hours took place here. During and after the Revolution, many religious properties were confiscated, including this palace. This chapel was converted into a multi-story barracks for use by Napoleon’s troops.

During the Revolution, even statues got decapitated, as you can see here at the entrance to the chapel.

Some of our students, and our guide, stand in the Loggia, where the newly-elected pope would look down at his admirers and throw money out the window.

Our guide shows us pictures of the frescoes in the pope’s chambers. Unlike other parts of the palace, these frescoes were covered by Napoleon’s troops rather than destroyed. They were able to be restored. We were not allowed to take photos or even talk in the bedroom because the art is so sensitive to the environment.

After the visit to the palace, we had lunch at a restaurant called In Et Off. It was delicious.

We had chocolate mousse in jam jars.

Julie and I accidentally matched with our black dresses and colorful scarves.

After lunch, we split up to explore the town. Aileen took a group of us to see the famous Pont d’Avignon and Jardin des Doms.

There is a popular children’s song about this bridge. “Sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse, on y danse.” It’s really called le Pont Saint Bénezet, and was built and rebuilt many times between the 11th and 16th centuries. So here I am, dancing in front of the bridge!

We climbed up the hill to the Jardin des Doms to get a better view of the city.

Another view of the Popes’ Palace.

Then we walked back to the train station, passing the medieval city ramparts.

While I wait to go in to the office to use the faster Internet for updates on more excursions and visits, here is a fun link! It’s a map of how many kisses people give each other as greetings in different parts of France. In Arles, it’s three times!

Click here!

Last Tuesday (over a week ago already! Ack!) we had a Language Lunch. My group ate at Les 2 Suds, in the Espace Van Gogh.

Here, “cake” is a savory dish.

And tiramisu. Yum!

On Tuesday, we had a movie night at the Center. We watched “Intouchables” and “Le Dîner de cons.” I enjoy both of these movies, and I think the students did as well.

For Wednesday’s Language Lunch, my group ate at Mon Bar, in the Place du Forum.

A delicious caramel pear dessert:

On Wednesday afternoon, we went across the street to the Théâtre Antique. It’s a Roman theater that was built over 2000 years ago and is still used for performances!
We got to stand on the stage, then go up to the top of the seats. There used to be more columns forming the wall behind the stage, and the seating used to go higher.

Our amazing guide, Nathalie, explained the symbolism in the stone carvings and the names of all the parts of the structure. If you look closely, you can see fossils in the limestone. Many buildings in Arles are built out of limestone that comes from local quarries.

After the tour of the theater, Nathalie, had us try to guess how Romans would dress. We didn’t manage very well on our own!

One class talked about stereotypes about France, and then one student added a cat.

It has been so busy the past week that I am far behind in my updating. My internet connection has a hard time with all the photos. Stay tuned for updates about the Roman theater and our excursion to Avignon!

A group of students arranged their own visit to Marseille last weekend. Here are a bunch of photos taken by one of our students, Jiaxi “Jessica” Wen. There are also some more great photos on the blog of another student, Zheng “KZ” Kang.

Arriving in Marseille:

The hotel:

La Grande Roue:

Le Vieux Port:

Going to Notre Dame de la Garde:

Notre Dame de la Garde:

The students in two of the classes had chapter tests on Monday. Then we had a language lunch. My group went to Les 2 Suds in the Espace Van Gogh, on the site of the old hospital where Vincent Van Gogh was brought after the ear-cutting incident. We had delicious quiches.

Most of us had something chocolate for dessert, but Aileen had this beautiful tarte tatin with pears.

In the afternoon, a group of us went and had Moroccan-style mint tea.

Then, we went to a movie! It was “La Tête haute,” which opened at the Festival de Cannes this year.

The movie was distressing, so here’s a video of kittens.

In the near future, I will post pictures students sent me of their weekend trip to Marseille! As for me, over the weekend I saw this…

(Les Alyscamps, an early Christian and also medieval necropolis)

…and this.

Stay tuned for student photos of Marseille!

(Note: most of the photos on this post were contributed by one of our students, Jiaxi “Jessica” Wen. I will note which photos are hers by marking them with “JW,” and mine by marking them with “JN.”)

On Friday, we had our first excursion! We went to Aix-En-Provence. First, we met in the morning to catch the bus.

(JW)

(JN)

We arrived in the Place Charles de Gaulle, which would also be our meeting place in the afternoon.

(JN)

Our first stop was at the Cathédrale Saint Sauveur, where we were given a tour of the adjoining cloister by an extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide. The carvings on the pillars tell the story of the history and beliefs of Christianity. The complexity of the story was more confusing than the fact that we were hearing it in French.

(JN)

A few students asked me how old the cathedral was. As you can see from this plaque, it’s a complicated question! Different parts were built in different time periods.

(JN)

(JW)

(JN)

After we left the cathedral, we had lunch at a restaurant called “Chez Nous.” The vegetarians had risotto, and the others had lasagna and salad. Then we had a café gourmand (explained in a previous post) for dessert.

(JN)

(JW)

(JW)

(JW)

(JW)

(JN)

The afternoon was free, so most everyone went shopping!

(JW)

(JW)

We found many local products: books, art, macarons, calissons…

(JW)

…and, of course, lavender! We are in Provence, after all!

(JW)

Everybody ended up at the meeting place on time, so it their map studying earlier must have helped.

(JW)

(JW)

(Not gonna lie: I started the bunny ears thing. But Brenda got me back!)

(JW)

Then we took the bus back to Arles.

(JN)

This weekend, several students are traveling as a group to Marseille. I can’t wait to hear how it went!