Day 14: Excursions à Aix/Excursion to Aix

Last night it was just me and Michel for dinner. It was definitely obvious that it was just the two of us. He told me that I could help by making eggs. He had re-heated some type of ravioli and some rice with mushrooms. I was given the job of making eggs. He told me I could put ham or onions or anything I wanted in the eggs, gave me the eggs and some olive oil. I asked him what he would normally do. He said he would normally crack the egg and drop it in the pan. So that's what I did. Then I asked him what to do. He told me I got to decide. He wanted me to do them "American style". :-) Normally I would scramble eggs, but it was clearly too late for that. I flipped the eggs over and then decided they were done. He was happy because he thinks he ate eggs American style.

At dinner last night, we talked about how American politics are all over the news, but in the US we don't hear about French politics. He told me that's because in comparison France is a small country and America is bigger and has more global influence.

We also discussed his work. He works in Togo for a humanitarian organization that works with at a clinic with people with leprosy. He said where he works is "le misère dans le misère" (misery in the misery). It seemed very said. But then later when we were watching tv, he mentioned how he tapes tv shows and brings them with him to Togo. All the children and people gather around the tv in the middle of the village to watch the tv because they don't have anything like that. It seems like he finds his work very fulfilling.

Today was the first excursion with my program. We went to Aix-en-Provence, a city about an hour away. It is well known because it was the first city settled in the Gaul region by the Romans (or something like that) and Cezanne lived/worked there.

We started out in the Cathédrale Saint Sauver. The cathedral was built and remodelled in different eras so it represents three different art styles (I think roman, baroque, and gothic). We had a woman who was a professor with the Institute last semester as our guide describing to us what we were looking at. Also, a person who worked with the cathedral gave us a special tour of the cathedral courtyard where the columns showed images of Bible stories, specifically the Epiphany and the Crucifixion among others.

After that we ate lunch. We wandered and saw some of the markets where they had acacia honey and lavender honey, among other things. Some of us went to lunch at this place called, Le Patacrepe, which seemed like a French/classy version of iHop in the US. I had espresso (in a tiny cup!) and a crepe with potatoes, cheese, ham, and presciutto. Needless to say, it was delicious, but it definitely catered to American tourists.

We headed back to the meeting spot to go to the next museum and had plenty of time. We wandered around in the area, running into other people from our program who told us there was some really good gelato down the street. We all hurried there! Even though it wasn't super warm, gelato is delicious in any weather! I ate chocolat orange et cannelle (orange chocolate and cinnamon). I didn't know what cannelle was, so this was another "I'm trying and hope it's delicious" moments. ... which of course, it was! One of these days I won't be so lucky, but for now this philosophy has served me well. This was my first gelato of the trip!

We met up with our guide and headed to the Musée Granet where there are usually Cezanne and Picasso paintings on display. However, the museum is temporarily under construction and therefore these paintings were not on display - only one Picasso. Despite this, the artwork was still beautiful.

We left there, went back to the bus, and went to Atelier Cezanne - his studio/workshop. A lot of the original items from his studio were still there - tables, vases, skulls, cloths, etc. It was really cool to get the vibe, look around, and think, "Wow. Cezanne worked here.". How awesome!

After that, we got back on the bus and headed back to Avignon. - Walked home, etc.

For dinner, it was just Michel and I again. Tonight we walked to get kabobs for dinner (instead of cooking!). Instead, we ended up getting fries and some type of vegetable crepe. It was very good. However, Woody (the dog) was expecting kabobs - he went a little crazy. Apparently he loves eating the meat off of the kabobs! Michel said that Woody's favorite words are "à la gare" (to the station...to pick someone up), "à la mer" (to the ocean), and "kabobs"! He's such a cute dog!

At dinner tonight, Michel and I kind of picked up on our conversation from last night. We talked about music being in English, then American films being translated into French, and finally Obama. He talked about all the violence of American movies and how this is dissipating into French culture and French young people. He described American movies by slitting his throat and indicating lots of blood, and big explosions with large "arm spreading" motions. He grew up knowing all English speaking bands/artists - Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, etc. Finally, he believes that "Obama peut changer le monde" (Obama can change the world.) and that he's the only one who can do it. The American economy influences all the others and it's because of 100-200 bankers/Wall Street people who caused the US and then all other European countries' economies to follow suit. Michel believes that if Obama takes action(like with the bankers, large multi-national corporations, and millionaires), then other European leaders will follow suit. He believes that there are a few really rich people in the US and then people that are really poor and that the gap keeps growing. He thinks that the rich should be slowed down a little bit. He also thinks that the US spends money in so many other countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, instead they should spend money on helping the poor people of the US. Talking with Michel is so interesting. He has so many ideas to share and talk about!

Tonight there is a salsa soirée at my house (at the theater below) to benefit Africa. I think it will be tons of fun. It starts at 10:30 and goes until "..." according to the sign on the door! Should be great. Michel and Claudie told me I could/I invited some friends from the Institute to join me.