This is a picture that I took of Avignon from the Castle at Villeneuve-lez Avignon on thursday. It was a really hot, hazy day, but you could still see quite far. The tall spire you can see is a gold statue of Mary, sat on top of the Palais des Papes in the middle of Avignon. We went to visit the palais des papes on friday. We tried to go on thursday, but because of the national strike it was pretty much impossible to get parked! on the news they said that 3m protesters marched across france to protest against the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62. unbelievable. it was quite an eyeopener, after learning about the french love for 'la grève' all through my education. When we finally got into the palais, it was quite overwhelming how much history and information there was to learn about it. we each had individual audio guides to listen to and give us info about it, but because it's so old (from the 14th century) there was an obscene amount of information to take in, most of which went straight over my head. it was good to see though. quite astounding.
I've had a chance to have a bit of a wander around Avignon now, and I really like it. We went to Nîmes today, and honestly it was nowhere near as nice! it felt really grotty and a bit messy and just generally not as pleasant. I'm glad I am where I am. We also went to the Pont du Gard today - it was really amazing. a 2000 year old aquaduct over a river...
It really was good. All the stones are MASSIVE and not held together by any mortar. quite a feat of engineering and quite scary really.
Also after a week of hearing nothing more about the studio (which made me quite worried, being as neurotic as i am), i got an email from the landlady today saying i can go to sign the contract and start moving in on monday. woohooo!
On top of all this, I have two nights of babysitting lined up this week, and another day at school on friday. everything is go!
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