Le 91ieme jour: Après la vacance./After vacation.

Here is a short (Reader's Digest version) description of what Sam and I did while she visited this past weekend.

1. We conquered the greve. Well not quite, but almost. They only thing it stopped us from doing was from seeing the Pont du Gard. But besides that, we got everywhere we wanted to in spite of all the havoc it is causing.
2. We baked a cake. Actually it is my grandmother's recipe that my parents sent me for a pistachio cake. Claudie and Michel liked it. They went back for seconds (which made it less noticeable/uncomfortable for us to go back and get seconds!)
3. We went around Avignon: the Pont Benezet ("Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse..."), the Palais des Papes, the Jardins des Roches, and the other church in the Palais des Papes "square" (the name escapes me at the moment).
4. We went to Nîmes: saw a bull fight "training session" in the ancient Roman arena for free. 'Gratuit' is one of my new favorite words in French. This adventure was completely unplanned and ended up being worthwhile since we ultimately ran out of things to do in the afternoon because we couldn't get to Pont du Gard. It was what I imagine to be the French version of the Kentucky Derby - classy people wearing big hats as seen in this picture of the woman with the white hat. However, seeing a "Ralph Lauren model" at the bull fight was certainly worth the visit! Sam insisted I take a photo (and I didn't need much persuading) and right before I took the photo, he "swished" his hair back with his hand. What a true model move!!!
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7. We went to Marseille: have to say, Michel warned us. Marseille was very dirty. There were parts that were so dirty, I don't think I have seen anywhere else in my life as dirty. But at the same time, there were parts that were really pretty near the Vieux Port and along the water in general. It was Sam's first time seeing/touching the Mediterranean. Good thing she is going to Greece at the end of her time in Europe! However, I feel as though it is the one city I can "check off my list." I feel no need to go back. We both ordered without really knowing what exactly we were going to get. I lucked out, Sam not did not fare as well.

Today, Sam left to go back to Paris. She had some train issues because of the ongoing grève (strike, or as the French like to call it, "les mouvements nationaux", literally "the national movements"), but ended up getting back to Paris in one piece. I really hope the strikes are over by the time I need to head to Paris to meet up with my parents and sister!

Had class today in the afternoon - History and Political Science - both which I felt went better than normal. Maybe that's because I've been on break, who knows. But it was a nice change whatever the reason for the difference.

Tomorrow I have a presentation (poem and performance) for Littérature using "my five assigned words" - un pneu, quasiment, s'asseoir, l'escalier, un fauteuil. Translation: tire, practically, to sit, stair, armchair. Yes, I know, random words! I had picked them and then by chance (we were randomly handed out each others' lists of words), I received my own. We'll see how it goes tomorrow, and I'll post about it.

For dinner, an asparagus omelette, pasta, and pistachio cake! Afterward, we watched a movie by Hayao Miyazaki (some of you may recognize his name because he produced "Princess Monoke"), but we watched a different one - "Le Chateau [something]". It was really cute!
This video is one of the many that I took while at the bull fight. Enjoy!