After quite some time, a metric ton of soup and more rest than I'd like to admit, I think that I can finally say I'm feeling better. Unfortunately, it appears that I'll never fully recover.
After a long visit to the doctor and some painstaking translations, I was able to discover the nature of my illness. Apparently I have something chronic that originated in North America. The doctor says that I most likely picked it up while I was still in the US, but that my symptoms had not matured until several months after arriving in France. He called it le maladie d'abrutie which roughly translated to "the illness of the dead." Simply put, I'm losing control of my body and with that, my free will. I'm becoming something else. I am something else. I'm a zombie.
I've discovered the epicenter originated in Tennessee where more zombies are found each day. Needless to say, it's contagious. At this point though, it's of little concern to me. I like who I am, I've come to terms with it. I figure if I'm going down then I'll bring you and the world with me:
I'm hoping you all liked this as much as I did. It's pretty impressive to see how much they've improved since their last video. And yea, all that aside, I'm pretty stoked to see Steven getting to work with zombies...
In parting, I'll leave you with an update on France: I've been in paris for the past 11 days where I've done more things than I can remember. My camera cable was left in Avignon and I don't have a nice connection to work with, so that explains the lack of content the past few weeks. Needless to say, I have 900+ photos to work with and some pretty great experiences to part with you.
Well folks, it seems like my immune system finally lost the war here since I've just done up and caught somethin serious. But don't fret, I'll be ok. I just need to nurse it with some good whiskey and I'll be up in no time (only kidding, mom).
In the mean time, this means that my trip to Aix-En-Provence, as per mentioned in my video, will most likely be canceled this coming weekend. That being said, I might have to take a rain check on posting something for you this time around. However, if things go how I'd like them to, I'll finally be able to give you a look into the daily life of a student here in Avignon.
In parting, here is some awesome street art from Arles:
About two weeks into my stay, I visited Nîmes, the ancient Roman city with Sebastien and his family. We spent most of our day wondering through the many levels of the Amphitheatre, learning everything we could about it's history and the many brave people that lost their lives for the sake of entertainment. For some time, there were magnificent gladiator fights, to which thousands would flock, and exotic demonstrations by cunning hunters challenging beasts from all over the world. However astonishing these demonstrations may have been, there were also periods of darkness in the history of the amphiteatre. For some time, it served as a slaughterhouse for prisoners and later as a cold and unforgiving fortress of the Visigoths during the middle ages.
Regardless of what occurred within it's walls, perhaps the most astonishing aspect of the arena is it's actual existence to this day. Any trace of the battles that took place, or the bloodshed that occurred has long since faded into time, while the structure itself has managed to remain for over 1,900 years. Still standing, the ancient building serves its purpose once more as a site of public entertainment. Beginning in the 19th century, the people of Nîmes began to hold bull fights on a regular basis and have since hosted rock concerts for the public. In fact, the band Dire Straits and many others even recorded live albums here.
After quite some time in the arena, we made our way to the Maison Carrée, one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. The exterior was certainly a sight to behold as the impressive and intricate molding of the temple were cast in warm sunlight of the setting sun. Unfortunately, the interior was not as I'd expected it to be. The city of Nîmes had long since converted the temple into a 3d theatre for viewing a film on the history of the region. Regardless, it was a treat enough to be there in the first place.
So, some of you may know that I purchased a road bike recently. I was pretty lucky to have some friends direct me to a place that they thought to be "small, a bit dirty, and cluttered with unfinished bikes." This struck me instantly as my kind of place. Turns out that it's called Roulons à Vélo and just happens to be the only bike co-op in Avignon! Wooo hoo! So yea, I found my way there and instantly made friends with the guys. They're all in their 30s or 40s and obviously have a ton of experience judging by the conversation that we had. John, the younger manager hooked me up with an awesome 1970s French Mercier Special Sport that's obviously been around the block a few times and for only 50e! After a bit of polish, some bar tape, and fresh tubes it was more than ready to ride.
Now that I have this bike, I've been taking the initiative to see as much of Vaucluse, provence, and anywhere in southern France as I can. I started by dipping my toes in the water just to see how the bike handled and to try my hand at navigating the french roadways. We began, Andreas and I, by heading over the bridge, beyond Ile Barthelasse to check out le tour Philippe le Bel in villeneuve. Afterwards, I embarked on my maiden voyage to Beaucaire in order to pay a visit to Sebastien and his family. I had a great time for a couple days just hanging out and catching up with them. That saturday evening, there was a massive garage sale composed of over 300 people... not something you see everyday. My next stop was in Orange, a small town about 30km from Avignon where there is an Arc de Trioumphe and a Roman theatre. Finally, just yesterday I traveled to Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct branching the river Gard, where I met some friends from ERASMUS. Looking back on yesterday, I would say that it was by far the best day I've had in France. The sky was blue, the sun was out in full force, I was able to exercise on my way there/really challenge myself, the water was turquoise and fresh, all of my friends were there and happy to see me, we had a delicious picnic, and everything around me was beautiful. I'm also pretty happy because I killed my time on the way back, cutting it from 1.5 hours to just 65 min. And yea, I know for a fact now that I hit over 78 Kph because the last mountain I descended was a 6 degree decline and had speed postings of 90 Kph..... absolutely insane.... the decent itself was a good 1.5/2 min duration. En sommaire: J'ai traversé 112K cette weekend et 162.8K en total sur mon vélo!
Although I ended up writing most of it anyways, here's an update from the road.
