Got up bright and early aka 8:30am to catch the bus at 9:30 to go to Carpentras with 7 other students from my program. We had a little trouble finding where to pick up the bus but found it (got help finding it) just in time! 45 minutes later we arrived in Carpentras.
The head of the association (French-Etats-Unis Association or something like that) met us at the bus station. We went to/saw the former hospital and prison, and got toured around the rest of Carpentras - looking at the landscape, saw a former Roman aqueduct, the remains of their ramparts, going into art galleries/expositions, etc.
Then they drove us to lunch at a restaurant where we met up with the other people of the association. It was good. I had a plate of vegetables crudité to start, rotisserie pork, a provencal tomato, potatoes, etc. Then for dessert we had apple tart/pie with whipped cream. Yum!
I sat across from a stereotypical snobby American (from Manhattan, went to school in Boston at Northeastern) and then a pompous French person. The American was convinced that (despite his inability to speak or understand French after being in France for 30 years, he's in his 80s), the problem with french people is that they are jealous of everyone no matter what they have. The French man was talking about how people in Africa have no culture or work ethic because everything is at their fingertips - food in the trees, hunting for meat right in the forest, etc. I wished that I had a better grasp of French vocabulary because it was very frustrating to sit and listen to him go on about this without being able to dispute it. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
After lunch, they drove us around the area looking at the scenery, going up to a chateau, etc. See the pictures to look at what we did. The weather was gorgeous! Overall today was a great - and busy - day!
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