Travel: Un tour de la France en Cinq jours - Part 3: Avignon

Travel: Un tour de la France en Cinq jours - Part 3: Avignon

Friday, 5 May 2017

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Here I am finally with a very belated conclusion to my Tour de la France en cinq jours series – disgustingly belated, in fact, when you consider the fact that my trip actually happened in February and here we are in MAY. MAY. Someone give me a kick up the behind! It was actually my booking ANOTHER trip to France that prompted me to get up to date with this trip – so thank my spontaneity for this little city guide!

The final part of my trip was the longest stretch of my stay in France – a visit to the beautiful city of Avignon, in the South of France, to visit a friend of mine that I met whilst living in Strasbourg. His lovely girlfriend Blakley was ever so hospitable and put me up for two nights in her lovely little studio, which made life (and the trip) so much easier! I’ve been to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille before, cities that are relatively close to Avignon so I kind of knew what to expect in terms of architecture and climate.

Avignon is a lovely little place – and it really is little. Joe met me from the train station and gave me a quick whistle stop tour of the city as we walked back to Blakley’s apartment, and it became quickly apparent that it wouldn’t take long to see all of the main tourist attractions. I dropped off my bags and freshened up before Joe and I wandered around the main city square in search of somewhere to get dinner. We found a lovely little Italian restaurant and ordered one of the tastiest pizzas that I’ve ever eaten in France (and this is saying a lot; the French have a very unnecessary obsession with putting emmental on their pizzas…). We accompanied pizza with wine and then went off to one of the squares to meet some of Joe’s friends for cocktails and frites.

The next day, we got up relatively early to tackle all of the amazing sites that Avignon has to offer. One of my customers at work, a fellow Francophone, advised that Avignon has the most amazing Papal palace and told me about how the Pope, at one point in history, chose Avignon to relocate to away from the Vatican City. I absolutely love history so this was something that I definitely wanted to check out. However, breakfast took precedence so we wandered around the food markets in the Centre Ville and ordered Pain au chocolat to go.

The Papal Palace was absolutely phenomenal to visit. I was quite lucky to visit Avignon on a very sunny day- the temperature actually surpassed 20 degrees in February!- so wandering around meant being able to tan a little bit. All good, as far as I’m concerned. We didn’t go inside the Papal Palace but seeing it from the outside was more than enough for me- the palace is surrounded by the most beautiful grounds (where we later relaxed with books and snacks)- and the building itself is both colossal and magnificent to look at. We were also able to see the Pont d’Avignon (as made famous in the song!), a bridge that crosses halfway across the river Rhône. It’s made up of four arches, the rest of which were destroyed during the Crusades. If you’re interested in history like me, this is a pretty cool thing to go and have a look at. We decided at this point that lunch was a good idea and let’s be honest- you can’t go to France and not eat croque monsieur at least once, can you? I ordered a normal croque monsieur, and Joe went for an Alsacien variation. Neither of us really want to let go of our Alsacien background! Joe then showed me around the University of Avignon, including sneaking me into their vast library, before we felt the need to go and get MORE food. This time crêpes were on the menu and my word, they were delicious. I spent the rest of my time in Avignon hanging out with Joe’s lovely friends over even more food; Blakley and his friend Hattie put together the nicest little spread of food. I felt incredibly welcomed into their group and couldn’t have spent time with a nicer group of people.

Avignon was a treat to visit- it wasn’t the usual city that I’m used to visiting in France but it has its charms and was definitely worth my time in getting there. It was lovely to catch up with an old friend and get a taste of a new culture, all at once. Thank you to Joe and Blakley for the amazing hospitality- you two are lovely and the favour will definitely be returned when you visit Liverpool!

Have you ever visited this part of the South of France? 

If you want to check out the rest of my trip: 

Part 1: Bordeaux

Part 2: Montpellier

Movies: February's French Fancy of the Month

Movies: February's French Fancy of the Month

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

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I absolutely love Foreign Language Films. I studied French at University and spent a lot of this time pretending I was studying by watching French films, so I’d like to think myself a little bit of an expert when it comes to recommending good foreign language films. I’ve decided to do a little monthly Film blog-post recommending a different foreign language film each and every month for everyone’s enjoyment, going hand in hand with my #holliewatchesmovies twitter tag. Naturally, my recommendations will be based around French language films: I don't have anything against any other languages, and I have watched a blooming lot of Spanish language films as well as French, but I just find that French ones have that certain "je ne sais quoi." Excuse the pun. 

FEBRUARY’S FRENCH FANCY OF THE MONTH
INTOUCHABLES

I thought the safest thing to do when kicking off this series is to introduce my absolute favourite French movie straight into the mix. Intouchables, or Untouchable, as I believe it is called in the UK, is nothing short of an absolute masterpiece. Based on a true story, Intouchables tells a tale of potentially the most unlikely of pairings: following the relationship between a quadriplegic named Philippe and his carer, Driss. Driss is, contrasting significantly with the white, upper-middle class millionaire Philippe, a black immigrant with an unstable family history who applied for the job as a means of fulfilling the requirements of his unemployment benefit. For whatever reason, Philippe takes a shine to Driss and employs him on the spot and Driss enters a world which is every bit outside of his comfort zone and as far away from the banlieues of Paris as he can imagine.  

The film is, in spite of it’s somewhat serious nature, absolutely hilarious. There are times when I found myself almost crying with laughter at well-thought out, cheese filled humour. There’s a particular scene involving the music of Earth, Wind and Fire which really hit the spot. I don’t really think I need to say any more, here. It also has it’s poignant and touching side: Driss, as is to be expected, uncovers a sense of responsibility and maturity that he had otherwise been lacking and uses his own youthfulness to enrich Philippe’s life with love, laughter and much needed joie de vivre.  

If you haven’t seen it, then I 100% recommend that you do so. A beautiful and enriching cinematic gift.

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Life: My University Experience

Life: My University Experience

Sunday, 28 August 2016

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I recently graduated from university (woohoo!) after 4 incredibly long years of studying, emotional breakdowns and hangover-filled lectures. Most people are aware that I studied a languages degree, with my language being French. When I was at college, I was dead-set on doing a pharmacy degree. I took A levels in Chemistry, Biology, English Literature and French so I had the options there to get me onto this degree path- the week before our personal statement was due, I had a sudden change of heart and instead applied for French and German Studies.  

I’m not going to sit here and bang on about how amazing my degree was, because in actual reality, I lost all of the passion that I had for French about a year and a half into it. That isn’t to say that I hated every minute of it; the contrary. There were certain classes and certain lecturers that made the experience incredibly worthwhile but as a whole, French wasn’t really for me and I think I would have been better off doing something a little bit more creative. In the future I intend on doing a masters in Comparative Literature and I definitely think that is more up my street than French was.

I was incredibly lucky with the friends I made on my course; the entire course was made up of people who were likeminded and friendly and the vast majority of them I’d love to stay friends with. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule but none so drastic that it made the university experience difficult. My living arrangements throughout were slightly more complex: in first year, I lived in a flat of 10 people, some of whom I got on with and others I didn’t. I lived with the same people in second year and a little divide formed a few months in. I can honestly say that the people I remained friends with out of my original “fresher’s” house are amazing and I’m grateful for them. While we don’t see a lot of each other anymore, which is a shame but I know that they’re there if I need a chat and a catch-up. I also met my boyfriend in the first class I ever took at university- he was (and I believe I was for him!) the first person on my course that I spoke to at university. He was a fast worker as well, getting my phone number and a coffee date within about 40 minutes of sitting next to me!!

I had a compulsory year abroad included in my degree, which was definitely a life-changing opportunity for me. I chose to teach English in a small town close to Strasbourg and it was honestly the best decision that I made over the course of those four years. The city of Strasbourg is beautiful beyond words and comprehension and if I had the opportunity to live there, with all of my friends and family, then I probably would jump on it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I’m very much a home girl and rely too heavily on those around me so I wouldn’t be brave enough to make the leap and move out there by myself. Maybe one day, eh.

In my final year of university, I lived with course mates and it was definitely a much more structured and peaceful experience. We all had similar classes and timetables, which made the balance between socialising and work much easier to navigate. We’ve all gone off to do our own things now – one of the girls even moved back to France after graduation – but I’m hoping that these lovely girls will be friends for life now.

In all, my experience at university was a positive one. I just wish I’d studied something I was more passionate about as I definitely think I’d have achieved more. I came out of my degree with a 2:1, which I was very happy with, all things considered. I’m excited to see what the future holds for me and how I’ll put my degree to use in the coming months and years.

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