A Week of Updates

    Hey guys, I’ll start by saying sorry I’ve disappeared! I’ve been really under the weather and spending pretty much all my time cooped up in my room sleeping and feeling generally miserable. Some way to enjoy France, hmm? Anyway, I guess I’ll start at the beginning of the week and work my way through! Expect this to be a long entry.

    Monday -- Had my first Vernissage piece due for Travel Portfolio. I’ll load it on here once I get it scanned. I went in really excited about it -- it’s a drawing of this broken down old fence in Gordes (there’s a sketch of it in my artwork album) done in dark green paper in white charcoal and dark brown and sienna pastel pencils, a slight variation on my favorite of black and white charcoal on gray paper. So anyway, I take it in and show the professor, and we talk about it a bit, and he says finally, “so, how far along would you say this is?” And, thinking I was pretty close to finished, I said, “80-85%?” And he pauses and says, “well... I’d say about 50.” So. Now I know how that class is going to be. I spent to the whole afternoon working on the piece, adding a lot to the fence with grayscale colored pencils and working a bit more on the cobblestone detailing. I’m actually really, really pleased with it now. Hopefully the professor is, too.

Tuesday -- Had Treasures of Provence, my local art history class, in the morning. Discussed the Romans in Provence. I have a paper proposal due in a week, and the topic has to be something about Provence or Paris, preferably Provence, and can be major related. I have NO clue what I want to do. Suggestions; ideas? Email me! French class in the evening... Still pretty basic, but it’s good to practice nonetheless. I was sort of appointed class assistant, since we had an odd number and were practicing conversations of how to order a sandwich, etc. 

Wednesday -- Traveled with Travel Portfolio to Bonnieux, the village across the valley. It’s a really neat little village, at least twice the size of Lacoste, with many more cafés, boutiques, and such. Lacoste is definitely prettier and more quaint, but there are times it’d be nice to have the hustle and bustle of a bigger area. By Wednesday night, I was beginning to feel really ill, so I opted out of the evening faculty lecture and made plans to go to the doctor the next morning.

Thursday -- Missed my Treasures of Provence trip to Glanum to go to Apt instead and see a doctor. The medical system here is extraordinary, and the doctor does everything -- there is no such thing as a nurse practitioner here, or seeing a nurse and waiting thirty minutes just to see a doctor for five minutes. The doctor was there from start to finish, and was very thorough. He gave me a couple prescriptions, and that and the visit cost little more than a copay with insurance in the States. Pretty amazing. Slept pretty much the rest of Thursday, to be ready for Friday’s field trip.

Friday -- Oy, what a day. Friday was our day trip to Arles, so we got up bright and early to grab breakfast and get on the bus for the just-over-an-hour ride to the city. Once a major through-fare on the Via Domitia, the Roman Road, the city is known for its Roman ruins, specifically the colosseum and amphitheater. Because it was Good Friday, the city was hosting Corridas -- Spanish Bullfights. Typically in Provence, they have “bullgames” -- non-kill bullfights that are based on using a hook to try to get a lanyard that’s strung between the bulls horns. Instead, these were the traditional bullfights of Spain. I didn’t think it’s something I was going to be able to handle, but a few of us bought tickets to the inexpensive morning amateur fights, which took place in the old colosseum, which is remarkably well preserved. There were six bullfights in all. The first one was a bit horrifying, as we weren’t sure whether it was going to be a kill-fight or not. By the end of the second, you’re a bit desensitized to it, and by the end of the third, it’s just part of the game. The kill is swift and humane, done to minimize suffering on the bull’s part. By the time you’ve gotten through the first two, you’re as into as the local crowds, analyzing the matador’s every move, cheering for his swift moves and gasping as he makes dangerously poor decisions. You yell olé at a good pass and boo when he gets headbutted by the bull because of poor timing. No worries, no one got gored. There were a couple of close calls, though.

    My little group spent the afternoon after the fights exploring the city, from the beautiful old church with one of the most perfect examples of a Gothic entrance to the old amphitheater to the riverwalk to the forum. The city was bustling with life and crowds and Easter tourists. There was even a pretty large carnival, complete with rides, games, and carnival food. We grabbed dinner at one of the carnival stands, where I got a rather strange surprise. I thought I’d ordered an Italian sausage sandwich, you know, with peppers and onions, and fries, but no... I get it and it’s a baguette with sausage and fries... all on the sandwich. It was greasy and strange and surprisingly good. After dinner, we headed down the street for the much-anticipated running of the bulls. After an hour and a half of waiting, the fun began. However, it was not the running of the bulls as we’d expected, how it’s done in Spain. Instead, a group of men on horses form a U-shape and pull along one to four bulls in the space they form. All our boys that decided to run didn’t quite understand and ran in front of the horses, but after staying back to watch the next one, figured out that you run behind the bull and try to get hold of it. We’re watching the twelve year old local boys hanging on to the bull’s tail with quite a bit of incredulity. It was a crazy sight. We had to hurry to catch our bus after that, but supposedly there was a more traditional running of the bulls later that night with about 30 loose bulls. 

    I came home feeling terribly ill, planning on going back to the doctor the next morning, but all in all had a great day!

    Saturday -- Got up still expecting to feel terrible, but felt a good bit better and decided to skip the doctor, because I knew he wanted to do bloodwork and I really didn’t feel like dealing with that if this is just a virus that will go away with lots of rest. Instead, explored the market in Apt with Jessica. Went to the art store, which was good. We got stopped by this little old woman who asked if we were British, and laughed saying she should have known when we said no, American. Turns out she’d been in the UK for 45 years before moving to Apt 14 years ago when she inherited a farmhouse. She was a widow, and invited us to come to her house later for an aperitif and champagne! Sadly, we were only in town until lunch... I felt bad, because I imagine she might get somewhat lonely sometimes, and probably misses being able to speak English... Sweet woman, though. I wish I’d mentioned we’re in town every Saturday... 

    Found some books by the illustrator who came to give a lecture here and bought those. Her stuff really is amazing. Rebecca Dautremer -- look her up if you get the chance. 

    Came back from Apt and napped until dinner... Starting to feel a tiny bit better, but I’m still very feverish and have very little appetite. After dinner, the Café de Sade, one of the cafés in town, was showing a film from last summer. The students here that summer and the locals teamed up to do a dream parade with strange animal characters (the costumes were made by sculpture students) that lead up the chateau’s theater, where there was a production of Don Quixote. It was pretty astounding, and I can’t imagine all of the cast were locals.... To have that much talent in such a small village would be pretty amazing. But who knows?

Anyway, the most exciting part of the night: Pierre Cardin made an appearance!AND I GOT TO TALK TO HIM! I was the only one, too! I sat next to him during the movie, and I think he could tell I was shy. He smiled at me and I said, “bonsoir”, and he greeted me back and asked how I was. Then, during the course of the play, he leaned over to fill me in on different things, from how talented he thought the accompanist was to what was going on in the show. He asked if we’d gotten up to see the chateau yet, too. I was thanking my lucky stars that I spoke French at that time and didn’t have to embarrass myself by asking him to speak English. He had friends who arrived later that looked very polished -- Parisians, perhaps? Certainly not locals. He left with them with a polite goodbye to me. My friend behind me was freaking out the moment he left and demanded every detail of the conversation. The local woman behind me asked if I’d understood him and seemed very pleased that I spoke French. It was all a very overwhelming experience. I MET PIERRE CARDIN! The father of ready to wear! And I actually got to TALK to him! I’m still not over this, haha. Way too cool.

    Today -- Slept in until Brunch... managed a bowl of cereal and an apple, but I’m still really out of it and have very little appetite. Went to the lab to check the email I hadn’t checked in days, which was a slight undertaking. Worked on my art history class for a bit... Just trying to relax and get better. It’s rainy out, and the mistral has been blowing pretty hard the past few days. This week will hopefully be pretty low-key as we gear up for our trip to Paris next week!