Monday, October 3, 2011

Thief Overload and the End of Provence

When Elliot and I returned from Provence on Sunday we got a nice welcome home from our house’s alarm system.  A security guard came over to the house and I was so frazzled.  Total French word vomit.  I was extremely confused (and am still super confused) about what exactly happened from that point forward.  For some reason, he could not shut it off or leave until the alarm was off.  So Nicole’s sister, who lives next door, ran over as well as a couple other neighbors.  The code that they knew did not work.  So Nicole’s daughter in law had to bike over from across town and call her husband at work to get the code.  Then the nice (but actually incredibly grumpy) security man could leave.  Woot woot. 

Tonight our dinner conversation revolved around lobster, suicide, and alarm systems.  The part about lobsters is includes solely me blabbing about my experience in North Haven on a lobster boat in broken French.  So many vocab issues.  But now I feel fully prepared to write a postcard to my dear friend Jesse!  Semi-success.  Then Nicole told us 3 different stories about suicides that have occurred on the opposite side of the street.  She told us it might not be a good idea to live on that side of the road.  Solid advice but also quite disturbing and extremely sad.  Then, she warned us that petty theft levels are on the rise around this time of the year, because people are running out of money and Christmas is just around the corner.  She gave us the code to the alarm system and warned us to answer the phone whenever we are home alone.  She told us a story of when another exchange student did not and on 3 separate occasions “un voleur” (thief) came in to steal stuff.  Apparently they walk around and if they hear a phone not being picked up it’s a red flag for an easy steal.  Considering two of my best friends just got robbed on their study abroad programs, I am going to seriously heed her warnings and take even more precautions when I am out on my own!

Time to update you folks about the end of my heavenly trip to Provence.  I was super impressed with our program directors organization.  We had the perfect place to stay – a hotel with a few cottages where we were completely by ourselves.  We had great food and the perfect combination of rest time, relaxation time, as well as exploration time.  I adore the three ladies who are in charge of the program – Miriam, Minou, and Micheline.  They are absolutely HILARIOUS and when shit needs to get done they are right there doing it.  This weekend, two of the kids in our program had to go to the hospital – one for falling on her wrist a couple weeks ago and the other for cutting his hand on glass.  As soon as they were told about the problems, they immediately figured out what to do.  It’s so nice to have them here as a support system.  They make me feel completely safe and comfortable if I ever do have a problem!

Saturday, we visited the small villages of Fontaine de Vaucluse and Gordes.  The latter was a small village on the top of a mountain with an incredible view where we stopped quickly for lunch and ice cream.  The first had a beautiful river and a cool paper mill.  Both were out of the beaten path, not the typical tourist spots in Provence.  Going to areas we wouldn’t go to by ourselves was another thing I really appreciated about the weekend. 
After those two towns, we went to visit the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénaque.  Its stark austerity made me feel very uncomfortable.  It reminded me of a mental institution because everything looked white, uncomfortable, and unnaturally clean.  Then we went to the Musée de la lavande.  I thought this part was super interesting even though the rest of the group was basically falling asleep.  It may even have been my favorite part of the day.  We watched a video on harvesting lavender and checked out some of the old equipment used to make perfumes and other products.  I think a large part of my interest comes from my roots in Northern Maine.  I kept comparing the lavender business to the potato farming industry.  Instead of collecting the lavender and directly pouring it into trucks that will then be taken to a storage facility (like in potato harvest), a lavender harvester puts the grain into one big row and then uses another machine to pick it up.  The business also doesn’t need seasonal workers to sort through the product on the machine like in potato harvest.  I did the same thing at the vineyards the day before.

Our last dinner was epically unforgettable.  The three directors were a riot.  My favorite part was when Micheline repeatedly said, “doggie bag” with her French accent.  I didn’t really understand her joke but considering everyone makes fun of me when I say doggie bag instead of take out box, hearing her use the term made me smile.  You could also tell the group was a bunch of nerds when we had a 20+ minute discussion on books.  We talked about all the favorites from our childhood – C.S. Lewis (Narnia), Eion Coller (Artemis Fowl), JR Tolkein (Lord of the Rings), Brian Jaques (Red Wall), and more.  Good times.



Fontaine de Vaucluse
Inside the Abbey

Abbey Senanque



old distillery equipment

Gordes
Potato Harvest
Lavender Harvest
Overall, it was a super relaxing weekend.  I got to check out some really neat places in France and hang out with some really cool people.  

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