Moved in, Unpacked, Relaxed

This week has been very busy and it's nice to have the time to just relax for a while.  Thursday we went to a medieval castle/village called Château des Baux.  The Baux family were said to have been descended from Balthazar (one of the three wisemen).  It was definitely an amazing castle once upon a time, but now it is in ruins.  There are parts of it going back as far as the Roman Empire, and in the surrounding mountains there are signs of civilation going back to around 2000 B.C.  The village (photo above) was very quaint.  Many of the houses have now been turned into shops of various sorts, but I believe that there may still be people living in some of them as well.  Le mistral was pretty intense, but with all the climbing we were doing it was more refreshing than anything.

For lunch that day we went to the home of an old man named Lolo.  He is in his eighties and still making renovations to his house and farm.  Again, parts of the house have been around since the Roman Empire, and it has been in Lolo's family since the time of Louis XIV.  The deed was signed by the Sun King, and he still has it. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!  Anyway, Lolo made us lunch.  It think it was somewhere between 5 and 7 courses. Aperetif, pâté, olive omelette, ratatouille, meat with green beans (we couldn't figure out if it was lamb or pork or both, but it was delicious, cheese, clementines.  All of it was wonderful and took about 2 hours to eat.  Afterwards we got to look at a Roman quarry on his property that is now an olive grove.  Fun fact: Lolo lives in St. Remy and his property is juxtaposed to the insane asylum that Van Gogh checked himself into after he cut off his ear.  It still functions as an asylum today.

We checked out the Aix nightlife on Thursday evening.  We had a good time.  French boys are not great dancers, but they are nice and quite entertaining.  We have been warned that smiling at and talking to French boys is dangerous, but they provide an opportunity for us to work on our language skills.  Apparently French girls are cold and unfriendly, but we Americans are having a difficult time fitting into that mol.  (Below is a photo of the city from my hotel balcony. The mountain in the background is called Mont Saint Victoire).

Yesterday I got my class placement.  Somehow I tested at the highest level (5), and I'm not really sure how that happened.  I know that I write well, but the person who tested my oral proficiency said I was at a level 3, so I think there is a disconnect in my placement.  If I stay at this level I will be able to have class only Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, which would be pretty cool.  But, I really think I need to be in a level that focuses more on perfecting my grammar than on course content.  We'll see how it goes for the first few days.

I finally moved into my homestay this morning, which was such a relief.  I was so sick of living out of my suitcases.  Yvonne is a wonderful cook.  I am so excited that I get to eat her meals every day for the next four months.  I will probably get fat.  I don't think the French paradox applies to Americans in France. :(   But, their house is wonderful, and it's nice to be back in a room of my own.