Migranes, Van Gogh and Mistral

So where did we last meet? Ahh yes, last sunday. The Migrane. Well, I want to say I bid it "adieu" but stayed with me until about Wednesday, coming and going. Which was a total bummer. Not sure why it was happened, but remember why I never got truly sick as a kid...when I truly was, I can't move. It turned into one of those kinds of head aches.

Aside from that the week was pretty good. I wish i had more time to blog about what I'm doing during the week but it's all just go-go-go! Monday was a very successful day in the landscape. I kind of feel like Monday's are my day to paint. I never really get a "case of the Monday's" here but at home it's brutal. Looking at how my paintings have progressed I feel like I'm going to be prepared a little bit better for returning home and trying to put together my senior show. There's just so much I have to thiink about for next semester... basketball, what classes I need to take to graduate, sr retrospective show, classes in general, becoming an adult?! Ahh I dunno. It's just weird to think that in a few short months I'm going to be done with school... but right now I'm in FRANCE?! My life is so crazy right now. In so many ways!

Tuesday was the normal long day. Katherine and I went out but it was so bizarre because it seemed like Aix was a ghost town! Wednesday was spent sitting in my room all day because the migranes returned. Thursday I was back at it.

Thursday night we tried looking for somewhere to watch MLB postseason games, but I guess France could care less about who wins the stinkin' World Series!! It was kind of frustrating. Katherine and I ran into some guys we know from IAU near the Pizza Place. The 5 of us went to IPN, got some drinks and the night commenced. The rest of people we knew that were out that night followed close behind to IPN. The bar tenders at IPN are american students and they are some of the coolest chicks we've ever met. They're hilarious too and kept giving us discounts on our drinks which is AMAZING because firstly, they can't serve true liquor, like most bars in Aix, everything is premixed and most things don't taste good. So, it was good becoming friends with them. Hearing the music pick up, everyone around us started to move a little faster, dance a little sillier and make their way over to the dance floor. I ended up staying until about 1:30 knowing I had a field trip to Arles in the morning.

On my walk home I could see and hear the lightning from a distance. Just as I was rounding the corner at Place de l'Université a ::CRACK:: whipped overhead and the rain hit the ground with a loud thwap. I stood and just looked up and screamed " YES!!" If you think this is weird, then so be it.. but I'm Chicagoan. We have four seasons. About this time, I'm heading over to the Corn Stalk Farm to hang out and sell some pumpkins, be wearing long sleeves, hats and boots, while watching the days get shorter. Here-- the weather had been consistantly warm during the day and cool in the evening, a summer cool. When the rain started, the tempurature dropped a good ten degrees making me shiver as I walked home, but it was fine because FALL in France had finally arrived. Just as I was passing St. Saveur behind me I hear "Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle, pardon! pardon!" I turned around and looked to see a normal looking guy who looked kind of lost. I was waiting for it to be some creepy French guy but to my surprise he said "Parlez-anglais?" He needed some directions to the Sun-set Cafe in Aix. I didn't know where it was so I felt really bad. But he was American as well. Because it was raining so hard we stepped under a doorway and we're talking a bit. He asked if I wanted to go out to the bar with him, but I politely declined because I was already on my way home. WIth the proper greeting of an "air kiss" we said our goodbyes and left.

I got home with a huge smile of my face, freezing, soaked and so incredibally happy. Fall has finally reached AIX!

Friday morning I woke up, ate breakfast and made my way over to the Office of Tourism. I don't remember what I was listening to as I left my house but realized I was taking my sweet time to walk over because I was still half asleep. I knew what song I needed to listen to pick my step up... "shooting star" of course. HA! A little shout out to my boys in the Pink House! "Love just who you are... ain't trying to change ya, you are my shooting start that's why you are my favorite!" Anyway... We we're waiting until about 7:45 to depart for our trip because Katherine hadn't arrived yet. I had an erkin suspiscion that she wouldn't make the bus when i left my house a half hour previous. I was right. About a half hour into our bus rise to Arles, I got a phone call from her. She had just missed us. Oh Katherine, when are you going to learn that chronos does mean something :)

Our first stop was just outside Arles. It was where Van Gogh painted a draw bridge. We discussed a little about our reading... what we found interesting about Van Gogh. Having known Van Gogh since I was a little girl because of "Sunflowers" at our awesome old cottage in Koontz Lake, I realized I didn't know anything about his life, other then he cut his own ear off. The reading we were given was a memoir of his letter's by his sister in law. I learned much about his life, where he painted, for how long, the importance of his parents, the importance of his brother Theo, his biggest supporter, his relationship with Gaugin and so many little details that you can relate to his art.

Our second stop was in the Alyscamps!! If you are ever in Arles, the Alyscamps is one of THE most interest and beautiful places you will see. The place is famous for being a Roman necropolis. Van Gogh came to this place and painted very well known pieces known as "Les Alyscamps". Martha and Katherine, who are both in my program at Marchutz, copied a piece of Van Gogh's at the Alyscamps. I thought they were incredibally aweomse pieces but never really knew what was IN the paintings. When we got to the place I saw these huge bath tub looking stone structures in a straight line running up the sides of the area creating a wide path for walking. I had NO idea these structures were coffins! It was totally cool to see how an old place such as this continues to have all their original things. We stopped to find a place to have a quick discussion when I spotted an Osage Orange chillin on the ground up ahead.

I totally freaked!! My Keems and I found some of them near the cornfields and it's definitely something that always reminds me of two of my best friends. I got very excited.

We made our way back to the bus and were headed just down the road to our next motif. We stopped in front of an archway that read "Hotel Dieu". The translation would be Hotel God. A little confused, we all took a stab at what it truly meant. We got everything from only clergymen could stay there to a place where only god could go. But really what it was, was the public hospital. Hotel Dieu is where Van Gogh spent some time because of his mental illnesses. In Arles it's known at "Espace Van Gogh". He painted his famous, "Le jardin Hotel Dieu" in the very place we were standing. During our discussion a very kind professor, who taught at the Hotel Dieu (which is now used for schooling in part), joined in our conversations about what we were seeing against what Van Gogh was seeing. It was a very interesting conversation.

After this place walked near the Rhone where we'd stop for one more motif before walking around the riverside to go get lunch. We have about an hour to eat lunch. In French time, that's nothing. But for us, it was huge. Katherine, Kate, O'Neill, Nick and I walked up to the Cafe Nuit, where another one of Van Gogh's famous painting's were done. The food was excellend. We had to wolf it down to make the bus on time. But it was nice to be able to sit for a little while and enjoy the surroundings.

Following lunch we traveled to Montmajour, a benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 13th century. A really cool building where we'd spend a few more hours looking at a Van Gogh drawing of the lands below call "Le Crau" It was really incredible to understand that all of which he saw stretching out from Montmajour, he was able to retell on paper. The sketch of the lands below Montmajour are absolutely incredible.

We continued to our last stop of the field trip to St. Remy, the mental institution which Van Gogh stayed. We got there and it was closing with in 15 mins of our arriving so we quickly made our way up to mock up of his bedroom. We walked into this very tiny room, very plain walls and bars on the windows. It kind of brough back some bad memories for me, so, I made my way into a more open area in the next room which was a mock of the bathing area. There were some very interesting facts on the wall about the hospital itself and the area in which we were standing. The conclusion of our day was spent outside of St. Remy discussing the painting "Reaper" (three of them which were painted at different times of the day.) Before we started Nick spotted the BIGGEST worm I've ever seen in my life. It was great!!! We finished our motif and got on the bus. Everyone fell asleep on the way home. It was like we were all little kids taking a nap after a great adventure with our family, in all reality, we were, with our Marchutz Family. 7 girls, 3 boys, two father figures.. we make a pretty great bunch!

I left Friday evening for sleeping, but woke up in the middle of the night and was awake from 4 until 7:30. Luckily a friend from home was online so, I got to chat with him until I was able to fall back asleep. Saturday afternoon Katherine and I bought our Cartreize bus passes and hopped one to Marseille. Not having any real idea what we wanted to do, we got off the bus and headed to McDonalds. This is the first time i've ever eaten McDonalds in Europe and will probably be the last. We waited in line for a half hour and another ten for our food. I think because we were in an American establishment we expected speedy service etc. No dice.

After that mess of a meal, we walked towards the sea and saw this great big building to the left of us. We were pulled in and went and checked itout. We were right behind the Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille. Walking towards the front the cathedral just kept getting bigger and bigger! We went inside and checked it out. Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille is a national monument and was built in the Byzantine-Roman style from 1852 to 1896. The interior was AMAZING. Enormous arches, beautiful colors and tourists (like me) taking pictures. As much as I'm going through a thing about god and church and beliefs, everytime I walk into a cathedral like this one, I get chills. They imagery is SO powerful. The structure is big that it makes you feel minute. It's still a cool feeling to get.

We walked outside and for the first time experienced the Mistral. The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east of Toulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a strong influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the Balearic Islands (wikipedia). We sat outside of the cathedral overlooking a port and the Mediterranean. It was simply breathtaking.

For the rest of the afternoon, Katherine and I walked around Marseille, sat by the Mediterranean, stole a bathroom, sang "colors of the wind", saw cute dogs (as anywhere in France) got lost in the streets and made our way back to Aix. Saturday night I was pooped too and didn't want to be pooped for Sunday's adventures of sailing, but because of the strong Mistral the trip was postponed. A total let down. Instead Katherine and I walked down the Cours Mirabeau and looked at the antiquers. We ran into some friends from IAU who were going to a movie. Katherine and I decided to go see Taking Woodstock or "Hotel Woodstock en Francais". It was a brilliant movie. It gave me chills in just thinking about Woodstock and how awesome it would've been to be there. It kind of reminded me of Bonnaroo and I've never been more excited to buy my ticket for this summer!! :)

Today I was woken up by the sweet sounds of facebook chat, thanks Gary :) just kidding. I ate some breakfast and went to IAU to get some studying done before I had to make up my quiz for French during a tutoring session. As much as I hate extra work, I really like my tutoring sessions for french because it gives me more time to work on my grammar and speaking...correctly. The prof who gives the lessons is very nice and is really about us speaking, which I love. (my french class we do very little speaking, bummer.) I did a pretty decent painting today too. I went after Mt. Ste. Victoire.

It's about bedtime for me.... I'm fall asleep here. Or as mom says "It's the bewitching hour".

A plus!