Weekend in Provence

Last weekend, 20 of the Sweet Briar students went to Provence on a trip organized by the program. We had a great group of students and an equally great dynamic duo leading us: Moïra (one of the Sweet Briar secretaries) and Gilles (the guide for the trip).

We met up at Gare de Lyon at 6:30 am. The TGV (high-speed train) left the station at 7:07 am, and almost 3 hours later we got to Avignon. A private bus was already waiting for us and we went straight to Uzes. This small town didn’t have much to do or see, but we walked around the town’s market and enjoyed the nice weather. Three hours were more than enough though…

Our next destination: Pont du Gard. I didn’t have many expectations about the bridge. When we got there, I was amazed by the magnitude of the monument and stunned by its architecture. Plus, the river and the mountains made a beautiful landscape. Pont du Gard is, without a doubt, one of my favorite places in France so far. Gilles told us about the history of the bridge (the construction may have taken place between 40 and 60 AD) and we all took many pictures. What a fascinating place!

Pont du Gard

Back on the bus, we headed towards our hotel in the city of Arles. Before we got there, however, we stopped in two bridges to take pictures. The second one was the Pont Van Gogh, where we had one of the funniest moments of the trip. Sam, one of the girls, attempted to climb up the wooden bridge. She went up really fast and seemed to be reaching her goal, but suddenly, she started falling down in slow motion… “Oh, my God! oh, my God…”, we could hear her whisper. In a matter of seconds she got back to the ground and her foot got stuck in a very narrow opening at the bottom of the bridge. The people closer to her burst into uncontrollable laughter. “I can’t get it out!”, she whined sarcastically. Finally, she got out, we got back on the bus, and, a few minutes later, we arrived in the hotel.

Pont Van Gogh

After one hour of resting, we walked as a group to a very nice restaurant, where three tables were already waiting for us. The food was delicious! So was the wine… Half way through the dinner, a Gitano guy with a guitar walked in the restaurant. He started playing some songs in Spanish, and that’s when the night really began. This Catalan guitarist had a lot of energy and charisma. Gilles, who was just beginning to show his youthful spirit, didn’t waste time and started singing (or improvising) with him. Then I and the other Latinos joined, and suddenly, the party was on! Almost everyone danced and we all had a great time!

The night continued at an Irish bar, where we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day! We had some beers, which mixed with the wine we had at the restaurant, stimulated great conversations. Luis, Marcela, Alexandra, and I had a big discussion about Latin American politics. Others met some French people. Then we ran into the guitarist and his family. All of this happened in the outside of the bar, as we wanted to take advantage of the nice weather. But later in the night, we went inside the bar, where a live band was playing mixed music. We resumed the dancing that had started at the restaurant. It was so much fun! At 2:00am, most of the group got back to the hotel.

Sunday morning, we met up for breakfast in the hotel at 8:00 am. We ate a lot! Then, led by Gilles, we went out to discover the history Arles… First, we went to the coliseum, which is one of the biggest coliseums of the Roman Empire (only second to the one in Rome). Luckily, it remains almost intact. Then, we went to the Roman Amphitheatre, which has unfortunately been destructed throughout the years. Only a few original structures remain in place. But they have a well-made virtual reconstruction of the place, so we could at least imagine how it looked like centuries ago. The history behind these monuments is truly fascinating!

Katie, Moïra, Fede, Sam, and Victoria at the coliseum

When we got back on the bus, we headed to our final destination of the trip: le Palais des Papes. What a huge monument! Gilles gave us a very interesting tour. Each chamber has a lot of history: the bedrooms, the living rooms, the dinning hall, the kitchen, the chapel, the cloister, the list goes on and on.

We really enjoyed the visit, but the way back to the bus was the most enjoyable part of the day. It was 3:15 pm and our train back to Paris was supposed to leave at 4:08 pm. We didn’t have much time. Some people went the wrong way as they left the palace and we had to wait for them. Then Gilles didn’t know the way back to the bus. We ran one way; then back the opposite way. We went through a few alleys. We laughed and ran, laughed and ran. 3:30 pm and we kept running with no path. Finally we saw a sign that indicated the way to the Pont d’Avignon (the famous bridge). “That’s it! That’s the way!” said Gilles. We kept running and laughing, and finally got back to the bus. Luckily, the train station was only about 10 minutes away. We got there comfortably, and three hours later, we got back to Paris.

Running back to the bus!

The two days in Provence went by really fast, but it seems as if we were there for a whole week! I learned many things during this trip, and I remembered one irrefutable truth: no matter where you go, traveling with friends is always fun!