Allez!

I'm closing in on my last week in France, and I cannot believe how quickly the summer has gone by. I remember getting picked up from the airport, seeing palm trees, and smelling the Mediterranean air for the first time like it was yesterday. Since my last post, I've done a lot of traveling around southern France, which has been really eye-opening. But, we'll go in chronological order...

First was the Tour de France in Montpellier on July 7. I decided to watch from the beginning of the stage since it was a team time trial, which meant that I would be able to see all the riders as they lined up to depart every 7 minutes, instead of being somewhere else on the course and just watching them fly by. I got there at 8:30am, and the actual racing didn't begin until 2:30pm. My skin was angry that day. But, TdF marketing kept us pretty entertained with lots of caravans that tossed out free food and stuff. It was like a pre-race parade! I snagged some pretty sweet swag like jerseys, hats, inflatable noodes, the usual. It helped that I was a tiny girl in the very front amongst a sea of old dudes. I passed some time by making friends with a professor from Louisville and a family from Australia. And, my dream did come true -- I saw Lance! Of course, they saved him and his team for last. He got the biggest ovation of all the riders, which was really surprising to me because French people HATE him. I was really confused. All in all, it was an amazing day, and I still can't believe I got to cross this off my life to-do list.

The rest of the week was filled with chateau-hopping and zoo/Amazonian greenhouse-visiting. One of Beatriz's friends from Spain came to visit that weekend, so we went out. Bulat gets drunk from one glass of wine, so he's really no fun. After he had one glass, he went into the living room and started watching YouTube videos of Russian songs. What. Beatriz got so drunk (from Calimocho = red wine + Coke) that she passed out and vommed at the bar we went to. So, that's what partying with 19-year-olds is like.

Beatriz and I took our first train trip to Avignon on July 13. It's a typical Provencal city, and it was absolutely beautiful. I think I said, "This is so cute!" approximately 1,000 times on that trip. Avignon is known for being the seat of the papacy a bunch of years ago and having Pont d'Avignon, a bridge which is the subject of a famous French children's song. The Festival d'Avignon, an international theatre festival, was happening when we visited, which made for some hilarious sights. Lots of mimes, weird interpretive dancing, performance art, white people breakdancing, and bands playing in the streets. It was a great place to visit for a day, but I think I would be bored as shit if I lived there.

The next day was Bastille Day! There was a military procession in the downtown square in the morning. Not really impressive, but exactly what I was expecting from the French. They do have some pretty dapper uniforms, though. The fireworks and giant picnic/party were in a big grass field/park that night. It was a very subdued independence celebration, compared to what I'm used to in the U.S. Hilariously, the band that performed didn't even play French songs, but instead played the classic hits of Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, and Duffy. But, they redeemed themselves with the fireworks show.

That weekend, the three of us took a day trip to Marseille, which might be my new favorite place on Earth. It's the third largest metropolitan area in France. I have entirely too many great pictures and stories from this trip, so we'll just have to talk about it in person. Marseille has been populated for like 30,000 years or something crazy like that, so there was tons of history in the city. So, clearly, it was an orgasmic experience for me.

This past weekend, we visited Toulouse and Nimes. Bulat missed the train to Toulouse because he drank 1 1/2 glasses of wine at the city festival the night before and was too drunk to get to the station on time. So again, this is what partying with 19-year-olds is like. The train ride to Toulouse was my favorite so far; there was so much beautiful French countryside to see, and I finally got pictures of sunflower fields! Toulouse is the 4th largest city in France, and its more modern than Marseille. So, I'm glad I got to a different region of the country. Nimes is also really old and really Roman, and there were three major tourist attractions we saw: The Arenes (the most well-preserved Roman colosseum in existence), La Maison Carree (another really old Roman building), and La Tour Magne (a Roman tower that had spectacular views of the city, Mont Ventoux, the Alpilles, and Pyrenees. The Arenes was my favorite because it was awesome to imagine all of the gladiator battles and bullfighting that happened inside.

During the weeks, I've just been frolicking and reading in city gardens, going to the city music festival, and oh yeah, doing a bit of research here and there. The other day, I watched a neurosurgery - partial frontal lobectomy for a glioma. The patient was awake because they were testing him for speech in his frontal lobe, and there were times that they stimulated his frontal lobe and he went into speech arrest! Crazy!

Over the next week, I'm planning to go to the beach, take more pictures, eat my fill of baguettes, croissants, and cheese, and be emo about having to leave.

See y'all soon!