Provence, France

 From the 23rd to the 27th of October, my host family and I stayed with a friend of my host father's in Provence. It was very beautiful there, and reminded me a lot of Colorado because of the climate and mountains. Provence is known for its lavender fields. I didn't get to see them in bloom, but there was a general theme of lavender (and honey) vending all through the countryside, and the rows and rows of wintering lavender plants were still quite impressive along the roadside. I didn't manage to capture it in these photographs, but the autumn leaves on the mountainsides were a sight to see, and I loved all the little towns, clustered about church towers.

The pictures above are from my favorite village that we visited was called Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.There was a stream right down the center of the town which was boarded by green and crossed here and there by arching stone bridges. It was very beautiful with all it's old buildings, and if you took the stairs up the side of the mountain you came to a quite churchyard and its chapel. Directly above the church, strung between two mountains, hung a golden star that you could see (but not get a great picture of) from the town. Here is an old stamp to give you an idea of what it looked like.

After we visited Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, we went to see the lake Sainte-Marie. My host family rented a small boat called a "pédalo" which you row by peddling, and we used it to go up the river into the canyon. No, you are not mistaken, the photo below is of my host dad smiling! I caught him! Afterwards we relaxed on the shore, gathered nice pebbles, and tried skipping stones.

The photos above are of me doing "acrobrach", a sort of sport that is composed of many trees, cables, and harnesses. It was awesome!!! The zip lines were very fun, and I had a great time going through the various courses with my host mother and sister. We tried the highest level at the end and failed from lack of arm strength. The French are really serious about their jungle gyms!

The photos above are of the "velorail" that we took around the country. It is an iron contraption that you peddle down the railway. My host parents decided to peddle the way there, but little did they know, the way back was downhill. My host sister and I really had to work hard at not doing anything when it was our turn! I guess the rout was beautiful, but I was preoccupied watching the lizards scurrying along the rail in front of us. Very fun! Would do again!

On our last day in Provence, my host family drove down the canyon. It was incredibly beautiful with many amazing rock structures, elegant fall foliage, and a fresh, autumn breeze. We stopped at a little town besides a cliff that you can see in a photo above. I did not include a photo, but there too were the "Turkish" style toilets. Be warned my friends, be warned... All in all, it was a great trip, and I loved getting to see some of what I had learned in French class in action!