After my Lyon visit, I decided that I have to be more knowledgeable about Aix. I love being in France, but it is so busy that sometimes I forget that there is more than the little yellow schoolhouse where I spend my days. As many times as I have walked past the marché, I have never really stopped to browse because I am always on my way to class. So Thursday I had a little bit of time and decided to go in early and explore the city a bit. The big marché, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, has a little bit of everything. Clothes, shoes, bags, pottery, jewerly, soap, tableclothes, you name it. I found the old books particularly interesting. There were a bunch of those old, beautifully bound books with the gold embellishment. Now I just have to keep my eye open for one that I want!
Friday was another first: the theatre! Laurence had gotten tickets for the tour of FAME for Friday night, so I had my first true cultural outing. The Theatre de la Grande Provence is a huge beautiful complex that was built 3 years ago. I climbed it on one of my first weeks here, because it is multilevel and you can take the stairs up to the top and get a great view of Provence and Mount St Victoire, but I didn't know it was a theatre then! The show was interesting. I had never seen it before, but apparently it is all the rage in France, and has been since the 80s. The show is a cross between Chorus Line and Footloose and while not very profound, it was atleast entertaining. It was especially interesting from a translation perspective. The elements were so clearly American, yet suddenly in a French context. I couldn't help but think how strange it would be to be one of these French actors... touring with a company, but never having any hope of making it to Broadway. This one dream that is shared by every actor in America cannot be attained by the majority of the performers in France. How does it feel to be representing something that isn't part of their culture? The fact that the words were in French doesn't change the fact that it is so very American. Do phrases that are huge in America (time is money) have the same impact for the French? The only thing that wasn't translated was the chorus of FAME, and it was startling to all of a sudden hear (remember! remember!) from the ensemble when the lead was singing.
It is totally foreign to me that the French are in a society where everything is influenced by a foreign language. I rarely hear French music on the radio, and as a result, the public doesn't understand what it are listening to. My host sister asks me every so often to translate what she is singing (this week was "You Can't Always Get What you Want"). I think of myself listening to French music, catching the words only if I really listen. Imagine if it were like that all the time!
Okay, enough pondering. Saturday was the sortie to Avignon. Before going to the Palais, we took a photo opportunity to view the 2 Palais et Pont d'Avignon from afar.
We took the opportunity to sing the famous children's song that I don't recall ever actually learning as a child... Next, we went to the Vieux Palais de Papes. During the middle ages, the Popes decided to leave Rome and set up headquarters in Avignon, which at the time was it's own territory associated with France. Politics, politics. In any case, the pope built a palace and stayed there for some time. The Old Palace is today a museum with art from the middle ages. Lots of religious scenes, especially Madonna and Child. It was interesting but got rather repetitive.
After lunch, we went to the Palais Neuf, the new palace. It is much bigger than the old palace and was actually constructed at two different times, because it wasn't big enough at first. It isn't a museum, but you can tour the rooms of the castle. Unfortunately, all of the rooms today are bare because the paint is gone and the furniture and decorations were removed. Heads of statues were cut off during the revolution because the church was affiliated with the monarchy. So, unlike Versailles, it was hard to get a feel of what it would have been like to live there during the middle ages. Except, it was quite evident that it would have been very cold and dark.
After, we went on the Pont, despite the very rainy weather. Indeed, sur le pont d'Avignon, j'y ai dansé, j'y ai dansé (on the bridge of Avignon, I did dance there, I did dance there) :
Today was daylight savings here in France, so I am once again 6 hours from you eastcoasters! Coline and I finally made cookies a l'americain with the chips that mom and dad sent me for my birthday. Oatmeal chocolate chip! Even better, I converted our recipe so it tasted like home. This week I have fall registration and next week is housing lottery. Where is the time going?
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