Avignon and some fun at the ranch...

Well like most weeks, this one was filled with a few adventures, but was otherwise not too exciting. Bhavana and Nasco had some friends visiting from Maryland so on Tuesday we took them to Avignon. For all you history buffs, and I know there are a lot of you out there, that city may ring a bell as being the site of the Avignon papacy in the late middle ages…For those who have no clue, that means that for a brief period of time the pope resided in the French town of Avignon instead of Rome, and for an even briefer period there were two popes, one in Avignon and the other in Rome. So where there was once a pope, you can find a papal palace. The palace itself was fairly impressive considering the time it was built and its size. They spared no expense I’m sure. One thing that was really interesting for me to see was an actual indulgence paper. Indulgences were scrolls that the church sold to “pardon” peoples sins (of course after it’s bought every new sin is still not forgiven so you have to buy more) as a means to propagate the religious wars of the time and fund the extravagant churches and palaces of the papacy. This in fact was the subject of that fun dissertation that I wrote last month, and you know I love it when everything I learn comes full circle. The Pont de Avignon (a bridge) is also the French nursery rhyme equivalent to London bridge. It goes like this: “Sur le pont d’ Avignon, l’on y dansait, l’on y dansait tout en ronde” (On the Avignon bridge, we have danced there, we have danced there all around) or something like that. It’s actually kinda catchy. Anyways, the sightseeing itself wasn’t all that tough, but getting home was harder. Lets just say, I had to make a judgment call about taking a bus to a different train station where we wouldn’t have reservations for the train but would try to go anyways or we may not get home…people had their doubts (as did I….) and I had to sweet talk the conductor of the train, but we got home. The people who sell tickets in Montpellier are not helpful. If they give you an open ended ticket, they don’t make clear which trains you can and can’t use it for. Fortunately, God once again was looking out for us, and we made it home. We very well could have been stuck there for the night. It’s funny though, how you just know sometimes that you’re going to get home (even when it looks doubtful). Later that night we celebrated Bhavana’s bday at the Australian bar, which included lots of dancing and some wading in a fountain on the way home (for some of my less coherent friends).

This whole week has been pretty gloomy until this weekend rolled around. It was so sunny Saturday that it made me feels like its summertime. You know that feeling that everything is more laid back and peaceful and warm and bright. I love that feeling. To make the most of the day, a few of us decided to take an adventure to the Camargue region, the delta of the Rhone that’s known for its bulls and horses. We hopped on a bus and asked the bus driver what stop to get off to go horseback riding. He wasn’t all that helpful, because he said when we got off we’d have a lot of walking to do, and he didn’t know in what direction. So we hoped for the best, and when we got off the bus we asked some locals. After a asking around we got pointed in the right direction and started walking. We finally made to a stretch of rode with a bunch of ranches. It’s weird because it felt so country (finally!) but we were still in France. We found a ranch that we liked (not pony rides, real horses), and we decided to go on the 2 hour trail ride that takes you along the beach…It was so beautiful to be riding along next to the Mediterranean. Let’s just say experiences like this don’t come often in one’s lifetime. I had a wonderful horse that didn’t get into too much trouble. Amy had a spunky horse that liked to skip people in line, stop and eat, then run to skip everyone again. It’s funny because our guide warned us that if the horse starts running that whatever we do don’t scream. Just stay calm and pull back on the reigns. I told him that we wouldn’t but he said almost all girls do. So I said that we were American girls, and we were tough. He laughed and said even all the American girls scream when their horses go nuts. So he didn’t believe me. But at one point Amy’s horse went nuts, her foot came out of the stirrup, and she was practically airborne off her saddle because Amigo, her horse, just took off with no warning. She didn’t scream, though, and just kept her balance and gave his reigns a good tug to slow him down. I told the guide we were tough, but no one ever believes me…All in all the ride was a ton of fun (though I’m a little sore, and the guides made fun of how we rode…bouncy with chicken wing arms), and I can’t think of a better way to spend such a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The ranch even gave us a ride back into town in their pickup, so we had some time to cruse around the beach town before our bus came. The day was a success, and I even got a little color (by which I mean sunburned, but its better than white…). There’s nothing like a little adventure to pluck up your spirit.

Today I had less luck. Though the weather is still beautiful, today I was apparently supposed to “spring forward”. Needless to say, when I got to church the service was over, sad. The sweet old man out front explained that the time changed, and at first I thought he meant just for the church. I thought: that’s odd, in France services (among everything else) rarely if ever starts before 10. But what he meant, and I finally understood, was that daylight savings time was today…oops.

Oh and this might make you smile. Since I have no speakers for my music (courtesy of the french customs office), I'm forced to use my headphones. Recently, I've been having quiet a few dance parties using only my headphones. So if you can picture it, I'm dancing away to my music (mainly country) and if anyone could see me they wouldnt be able to hear it and I'd just look like a fool. So I hope that mental image makes you laugh. Love y'all!