Palaces, Cyclists, and Lots and Lots of Food

Yet another busy week in the great lands of France!

Field trip!!! On Wednesday, instead of having regular Bible class, we went on a field trip to Avignon. And if you remember your history, when the popes had a big split with Rome, they moved their palace to Avignon. So we got to visit a huge, beautiful castle where nine generations of popes lived. We got those great little audio guide things for our tour, and I absolutely love having those on tours. I always learn a lot and end up getting a lot more out of the tour than I would have without it. They always find interesting facts to tell you, and since I'm kind of nerdy with my interest in history, I think it's great.

Also, there was a modern art exhibit that was temporarily set up there, and I really enjoyed it. However, everyone I was with said that it was terrible art, obscene, and stupid. Either the French don't like modern art, or I just like really bad art. Hmm, I hope it's not the latter.

Then, after a lovely picnic lunch in the park, we drove to an old monastery that was build in the Middle Ages. We got another cool tour around and got a cool look at what life was like for people back then. Being there felt like I was living the book Pillars of the Earth. If you haven't read it, read it. You'll fall in love with cathedrals. We even sang for a while in the cathedral (we had a little crowd gather to listen to our impromptu jam sesh) because the acoustics were just spectacular. Super, super fun day. Field trips never disappoint.

The palace at Avignon

This week, we also had the last LST party. Sob. It was a talent show, and all of our friends from countries all over the world performed their various tricks and talents. We had singing, dancing, poetry readings (in English and Persian), and magic tricks. My friend, Hilal, split an apple in half with his hands for his trick. He may, in fact, be the strongest person I know. So cool. It was hard to say goodbye to some of our friends, but this has just been the best experience ever, and I'm so blessed to have met them all.

All of our LST group

After the party, we left for the weekend to a city named Ardeche. Lots of us from the church went because there was a big event this weekend called the Ardeschoise. Now, I'm sure you've heard of the Tour de France, well, the Ardeschoise is basically a lesser known version of that. It's a huge 2,000 km bike race through the Alps with over 18,000 participants every year. It's a huge deal, and cities all around Ardeche decorate and have festivals all weekend in honor of the race. And we also got to be a part of the race. In the 90's, the church here bought an old ski resort in the mountains and converted it into a retreat center where we have camp every summer. And this center is located on the route for the Ardechoise bike race, so this weekend we housed and cooked for nearly 200 of the cyclists. It was such a fun experience getting to see these men and women from all over and getting to spend the weekend in the mountains. I was on kitchen duty this weekend, so I cooked and cooked and cleaned and cooked like a mad woman. We served a huge feast for them (apparently biking a couple hundred miles every day helps you work up an appetite), and it was such a good experience for me. I work in the kitchen with a lady named Patricia and her husband Fred, and although both speak a small amount of English, basically, I was forced to speak French the whole weekend. Because speaking is so difficult, it's hard to force myself to speak it when I know that I can get away with speaking English to my friends, but this weekend, I had no choice, and it was great! I'm also going to be woking in the kitchens during camps, so I know that I'll learn a lot those two weeks too. Also, working in the kitchen means I get lots of tasty treats--a nice reward for all our hard work and for being forced to wear hair nets, which are just not cute! ;)

Rockin' our kitchen accessories

Sooooo many baguettes!!! The French really love their bread. 

Then, when we got back after the weekend, I went with a couple friends to the beach where I FINALLY learned how to skip stones. Okay, I realize that this isn't a big deal, but I've been trying to learn for probably 10 years now, and I've never been able to do it. But I was taught the correct technique, and I did it! Multiple times!! Simple pleasures.

Sunday, we had a family from church over for lunch and I made creme brulee for dessert. Actually, it was basically just creme because it didn't brulee very well since I didn't have a fancy fire torch thing. But it was still yummy! And then that evening, I invited over a couple of my friends to eat a (mostly) authentic Tex-Mex meal. I spent all afternoon making homemade tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo, beans, rice, and other assorted goodies. We had sooo much food, and it all turned out great! Tacos are a total comfort food for me, so it felt like home to get some spicy Mexican flavor.

The family we had over to our apartment for lunch

And this whole week is a week of tests. For the cemistes, they are taking their exams for the CEM program, and all the French students are taking their Baccalaureate exams for graduating school. It's a huge deal here, so they have been busy studying in preparation. I had my last day of French class today, and tomorrow begins our first day of vacation. We have three days off all summer and they are this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tomorrow, we are going to Aix-en-Provence, and then we'll see what the rest of the week holds for us. And this is going to be a great rest from the hustle and bustle of life we've been overwhelmed with lately.