Down South - Languedoc-Rousillion/Provence

20.12.2001 -2 °C

20 December 2001

Bonjour

Am now back in France. At present I'm in Languedoc-Rousillion in the city of Nimes. It is quite a nice place but the hostel is a little quiet at the moment... the guy at reception told me a group of schoolies are arriving ce soir so thankfully i am leaving tomorrow. Apart from about 3 people, everyone speaks French and not much English! I think my French is slowly improving though. A lady on the train today informed me that I spoke French very well. Hmmm...very kind she was.

I left Switzerland on Saturday and it was something crazy like -15!! All of Western Europe seems to be suffering from a cold snap at the moment though - it has even been snowing in Provence!One of the girls I am staying with said that on Friday the whole town basically closed down because of the cold and snow. It is getting a little warmer though and i am optimistic that Spain will be HOT - ok well relatively so.

I woke up Saturday with virtually no voice......a combination of aphonia, diplophonia, pitch and phonation breaks (for all you speechies out there)...mum is certain I'm borderline pneumoniac but it's not that bad. Hey but if I do get really sick, I will make sure you all have my address so you can send lots of flowers. Everyone at the hostel has been laughing at me cause i sound like a frog... but I am in France so that suits! I learnt a new word too.... gorge (throat). It's kinda hard to get assistance in the pharmacy when you can a) not speak much French, and b) not actually use your voice at all!

I spent Sunday exploring the city of Nimes...... quite a nice place...one of the girls from the hostel, Josephine showed me around. We visited the Jardins de la Fontaines, Arena (old Roman arena where they used to have bull fights), the archaeological museum, natural history museum (it was bloody cold outside!), and a couple other things.

On Monday, I went toArlés.....visited the archaeological museum on the site of the old Circus Maximus and next to a gypsy camp. Also went to the Roman Arena, amphiteatre and forum, Roman baths, an art gallery with a couple of Picassos, and chased the feral cats around the town!

Yesterday I went to La Pont du Gard. Very impressive......it used to be an aqueduct back when the area was settled nearly 2000 years ago - maybe longer even....it is quite huge and is in the middle of nowhere. I had planned to go to the village of Uzès in the afternoon but ended up hiking around the bush near Pont du Gard in the fresh air.

Today I went to Avignon. I had wanted to go here since I was about 9 when my piano teacher told me about the people dancing on the bridge........it turned out to be quite an ordinary bridge but the city itself was really beautiful. I visited the old Holy See, the Palais du Papes, visited another archaeological museum, natural history museum, the gardens on the top of the hill (great view of the river), and Villeneuve dez Avignon, across the river, which was home to a colony of noisy geese, nice sculptures and fountains that had icicles dripping from them because of the cold. I found a fantastic pizza place for lunch.....mmm....

Tomorrow i am off to Montpellier on the coast. I had hoped to base myself in Narbonne and do a trip to Carcassone from there; but i don't have a list of places to stay in Narbonne and there is no hostel there. I am booked in to stay in a guesthouse in Montpellier which is full of foreign students studying French. You get a room with private bathroom, breakfast and a hugggggggge dinner for FF150 - about $AUD40! good value..... not sure what there is to do there but it is on the coast so maybe it will be warmer

Am meeting Denise in Barcelona on Sunday and will be in Spain and Portugal for 4-5 weeks. Depends on how accessible some places are we are hoping to go. May head back to Suisse and Paris for a couple days if time. I had tried to change my flight to come back earlier but am still going via Thailand and wil be home Jan 30. Just in time for end of cricket ODIs!

The French are obsessed with their animals and take them everywhere....this afternoon on the way back from Avignon; my seatmate was a scruffy looking dog and across the aisle was a gorgeous chinchilla, just like caesar! People take their dogs into restaurants, on public transport. They actually put signs up outside museums to inform people that their petit chiens are not allowed in the building! Its nice having all the cute animals around but unlike the Parisiens, the folks down here don't carry their doggie bags to clean up the mess so you have to watch your step.

A bien tot

Belinda x