First of all, Carlos came to visit! It was really fun! I showed him around Avignon and we hung out with my housemates and drank lots of wine and ate delicious cheese. He got to meet Andy and Carly, my best friend here. One night, he, Carly and I went out for wine before dinner to a small wine restaurant. We tasted all kinds of cheeses, and one of the best ones (that I've had in Avignon!) was a chevre covered in nice blue and green mold. MmmmM! While Carlos was here we walked all around Avignon and went to see things that I still hadn't seen, like the Fort St. André and Villeneuve les Avignon (a small town off of Avignon). He made me climb a tree (that he and his friend were already in) as French people walked by and stared, and I was mortified, but he thought it was funny. Americans! So inappropriate in pubic!
Then Friday night my housemates and I cooked an international dinner for my land lady, her husband and her daughter, who are all wonderful. We started off with Greek - salad and cheese puffs, then moved on to Polish cream of mushroom soup, and chili (by yours truly! It was spicy and delicious!) accompanied by Polish potatoe pancakes. Then we finished with apple pie a la mode for dessert. It was such a nice evening, and I love my land lady! (What a refreshing change from last year!) After dinner, we met up with Carlos and his friend Nigel (who had eaten dinner with Andy) at a club/bar called Delerium. They always have live music and stay open all night, and we danced every kind of dance (salsa, swing, hippie swaying...) and stayed until they finally asked us to leave because they wanted to close at 5am. (5 am is unusually early for them to close but there weren't that many people left). Since Delerium had closed, we had to find something else to do until the market opened at 6 for breakfast. We decided to go to the Palais des Papes (what Avignon is most famous for, aside from the Pont d'Avignon) and play tag in the square in front of the palace, with statues of Jesus and Mary looking down on us. This also happened to be the one night I decided to wear heels out (not to be repeated- too many cobblestone streets) and they flew off in about 5 seconds, leaving me at a slight disadvantage and running around in my stocking feet on the cold stone square. But it was amazing! Finally, around 5:45, we worked our way over to the market that was just opening, got fresh croissants, and sat down to have coffee and hot chocolate at 6am. Not ready for the night to end, we decided to go watch the sunrise from Fort St. André when we finished, so we all piled into Andy's British car (driving wheel on the right!), drove over, and watched the sun rise over Avignon. It was beautiful (albeit very cold) and for all my (very vocal) complaining I loved it. Afterwards it was time for bed, and I went home around 7:30 to go to sleep for a little.
After a lazy Saturday and early Saturday night, (Carlos left for Spain in the early afternoon) Sunday came around, and Andy and I went to the opera! We got dressed up (even though a) it was a matinee, and b) no one really dresses up for the opera in Avignon) and saw Manon. It was my first opera, and there were some parts that literally took my breath away. The duets between the male lead and female lead were so beautiful I was in a trance. A wonderful afternoon! After the opera, we went out to a delicous dinner with delicious red wine and we tried the things you have to try at least once in France: escargot (ok) and foie gras (amazing though I hate to admit it). The rest of the dinner was amazing! All around a wonderful weekend!
But it doesn't end there! On Monday, Andy, Carly and I went skiing at a small mountain about an hour away from Avignon. Andy and Carly have not really skied before, so I was showing them how to do the snow plow and turn. It was really cute! We decided to brave the intermediate slope, and so we got on the lift (which is actually a pole with a circle at the end and you put it between your legs and it drags you up the slope, called a tire-fesse in French, which means butt pull). Andy did not make it up as he lost a ski early on and then fell off the tire fesse trying to grab it! But Carly and I made it up only to be nearly blown off the mountain by a ridiculously strong wind. It was terrifying! We didn't know what to do and couldn't figure out the best way to get down. Carly took off her skis and crouched down with her head between her legs, and I tried to look around to very little avail. We couldn't see more than 5 feet ahead of us, and the wind was blowing snow and ice up the mountain that stung our faces if we tried to look down. Finally, the ski patrol came up and told us that we had to go down the slope, but the wind was so strong that I had to use my poles to go DOWN the run! Finally we made it past the windy section and skied down the rest of the mountain, and Carly got rewarded with some hot chocolate. We finally found Andy, and the three of us finished off the day with some sledding in rented saucers. Quite the adventure.
Andy moved back to England a couple days later, and I left for Barcelona, but that will have to come in another post. Thanks for reading!
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