Montpellier and Nimes!

So this past weekend I went to Montpellier and Nimes.
I took a trip with the Association Echanges, a group from the University of Avignon that works to bring all the foreign kids together and tries to get them with Frenchies so we can all live in multilingual harmony. I'm going to become a member of AssocEchanges so I can get all their e-mails and get hooked up on other amazing trips - next month we're going to Lyon to see a festival of lights! Or something. Ok, I'm not really sure what's going on but it's guaranteed to be cool and cheap and cultural and stuff.

Thursday night I went to a soiree for the AssocEchanges which is where I had conversations with Frenchies (this is hard for me to do because I get so nervous and, unfortunately, I don't do it enough (but, Mom and Dad, know that I'm speaking lots of French every day!)) and learned about the trip. I wasn't going to go because I didn't want to give up a weekend of extremely thrilling lesson planning but then oh wait people started talking sense in to me ("Emily, you gotta go, why would you NOT go to Montpellier and Nimes with a bunch of foreign kids for only 25 euro for the whole weekend?"). At 8:30 on Saturday morning I dragged my booty to the University bus stop and was whisked away to the coast of la France. On our itinerary was: the Pont du Gard, drive to Montpellier, stay in Montpellier for the night, and head to Nimes on Sunday. Awesome.

Besides the fact that we didn't leave the bus stop precisely at 8:30, the trip was the most organized I have ever seen in France. More organized than the French educational system, than our disastrous orientation in Marseille, more organized than the circonscription in which I work, more organized than the bank to which I (unfortunately) belong. Simply brilliant! I just want to give a hollah and a shout out to the organizers of AssocEchanges for being amazing and actually making things happen! Hollah!

Here's a rundown of each part of our trip:

Pont du Gard... wow. Everyone, please forgive my ignorance about the area of France I live in (and, unfortunately, my general ignorance of the country/of life at the moment)... I didn't know there were a bunch of Roman ruins chillin' all around us. Well, there are. In Arles there's the giant arena, in Nimes there's another one, and halfway between Avignon and Nimes is the Pont du Gard, an freaking huge. How bleeping amazing. So we took lots o' pics and I tried to be all artsy and stuff but it didn't really work out. I also spent a lot of time chatting up other foreign kids, attempting French, and figuring out how we can all be friends. Because this is something I need to do - I need to put myself out there more with people outside this 'posse' I've jumped into in Avignon and hell, we were spending the weekend together so why not!?

Then we all piled back into our bus and went to Montpellier. Montpellier's a big city on the coast. We were supposed to meet up with Montpellier's AssocEchanges but they didn't show up (vive la France!) so we all just dispersed within the city to go explore and discover it for ourselves. I spent the afternoon with the world's two greatest Italians and what did we do? We got to rent bikes and take them around town. It only cost 1 euro for 4 hours! Oh man, that's the ONE good deal I've found here in France! Aaaaand so we took it and it was so much fun. Highlights of our stay in the Mont? Jardin des Plants, conquering the hilly tiny roads of Montpellier, watching the leaves change color and thinking of Michigan, and happening upon a "wishing tree" (passersby have written tons of hopes and wishes on pieces of paper and left them in the little cracks of this tree). We also witnessed this little kid just JAM on a bongo drum at the town's center and I saw a street protest. All in all, an eventful day!

Saturday night was a chill evening of kabab-eating. Somehow, at the end of the night we found ourselves at a reggae-DJ-rock bar with a bunch of dreadheads. I, of course, was wearing my American/French combination of my pink Northface winter coat (very chic, non?) and my H & M hat... I don't think I've ever looked more out of place. But the music was great and it was nice to see a little bit of Montpellier's nightlife - they're pretty renowned here for it.

We spent the night in Montpellier's giant youth hostel. Yeahhhhhh buddy! It was my first time in a youth hostel and it was a good time. It reminded me of ASB and of youth group trips and stuff - tons of people crowded into not-so-awesome bathrooms and sleeping in bunk beds and all of that. I don't know why but I chose the room with ten beds. So I spent the night with two Italians, three Germans, two Spaniards, one other American and a Brit. That is why I love it here - I meet so many people from everywhere. We all had polite chit chat in French throughout the evening but as the night wore on we all just gave up and spoke to one another in our native tongues. Phew! I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes to slip into the good ol' comfort zone of speaking in my langue maternelle.

Sunday we woke up, ate a giant breakfast of bread, bread, and more bread and headed to Nimes.

I'd like to make an announcement? I freaking love public transportation. I mean, I could ride the bus or the train all freaking day. I really think I've regressed or something. You know how I love having the ceiling fan on at night so I can hear the sound of the blades moving in the air and I can watch the fan if I have trouble falling asleep? Well that makes me feel like I'm four, as does my love of public transportation. But no matter! So everytime we got on the bus I was really sad to get off it. No matter, though, because everything we did rocked.

In Nimes we had the chance to walk all around and take in all the sites of the city but I ended up passing out at the town's fountain with Amy and Emily, after a visit to the church (it was Sunday, after all) and feeling a little overwhelmed at the sound of church music. I need to find myself an Anglican church here, that's fo ho. Nothing compares to All Saints, but I want the music and the liturgy and the community.

So after our nap we went and had our giant lunch that was included in the price of only 25 bones for the weekend!

Then we went and saw the Arena of Nimes. Giant giant Roman ruin in town and we got to go in it (for free!) and I took so many pictures. I also was the coolest foreigner around as I walked up and down the ruin singing "The Top of the World" by the Carpenters. THat made me rul popular, fo sho.

All in all, a great weekend. I am so glad I decided to up and go - two more French cities under my belt, I saw the Pont du Gard which is bleeping fantastic, and I met a million new people and had tons o' fun with my usual homies. But don't let me go on a trip like this again without doing a little lesson plan before hand!