Travel Bug

Hey Guys!!!

Ok so I haven’t written a proper blog in a while, so Ill hafta start from the top.

Last weekend I decided to say in Montpellier. Saturday morning we got up early and went to the market. It’s super cool there! You walk through isles and isles filled with all sort of stuff for cheap. I bough fresh fruit and croissants! That afternoon a bunch of us got together and played a game of soccer. You know in the movies, when a small group of ppl start to play soccer on a sandy terrain, and then by the end there are a bunch of random ppl and everyone is having a blast?!?! Well it was exactly like that. The Greeks, the Canadians and the guys from Spain (are they Spaniards?) decided to play a game of soccer. By the end we had the French, the Chinese and the Italians playing with us too. It was awesome! I even scored two goals…Go Me!!!!

Thursday, the four Canadians from Ottawa went to dinner with a teacher who was in Montpellier from Ottawa in order to give a conference. I got a free dinner (which was delicious!), a good contact and interesting conversations…it was awesome!

This weekend, I had to leave Montpellier…I think I have the travel bug. Anywho, some of the guys were going skiing, but not all of us could fit in the car, so Gab, Sarah, Louis-Philippe and I decided have some fun of our own. We did two day trips – Carcassonne and Nimes. Carcassonne is a little more South than Montpellier, and is a medieval town. The town itself was nothing to brag about, and I was a little disappointed until we crossed the bridge into the medieval village. It was super neat. The town is filled with all these medieval boutiques and historical attractions (like the torture museum where they show you the different techniques used to torture people in the medieval era.) We went to a haunted house where I came to the conclusion that I am afraid of the dark. They put you in a pitch black room, where you cant even see the person standing in front of you and you wait until something scary happens. The actual scare tactics were kinda lame (ex. a glow in the dark ghost randomly appears) but the dark and the suspense are killers!!! Sometimes a random guy (and at one point Louis) would jump out and shriek… this got the three girls screaming like babies. We also did a tour of the castle and got to learn a bit of its history. For dinner we ate the Carcassonne plate which is called Cassoulet. It’s basically a bowl of beans with a sausage and pieces of lamb…tasty!

Saturday we did Nimes with the international students program. The first stop was to a candy museum. The actually museum was kinda boring, but we got free candy at the end, so I was pretty happy! We also went to the coliseum and the maison carré. In front of the coliseum I touched a statue’s bum because apparently it’s good luck…ill let you know if my luck changes anytime soon!!! The coliseum was influenced by Greek/Roman architecture. Twice a year, they still have bull fighting tournaments! I, sadly, was not able to experience one of those first hand, but I used my imagination! On our way to the Maison Carré we passed by the Palais to Justice. Now, I must tell you that my group (aka, Gab, Julien, Sarah, Louis-Philippe, Pierre-Alain, Felix and I) are all future lawyers, so we make it a point to find the court house in every city that we visit, and take pictures in front of it! This time we got so excited once we found it that people started taking pictures of it having no idea what it was or why is was so important…this kept me thoroughly entertained…I have such an influence on people haha! The maison carré is a Roman monument and its purpose has differed throughout the centuries. It started off as a Roman Chapel, but was destroyed at the beginning of the War of Religion. In the middle ages, it became la maison commune et des Consuls de ville, so it kept it’s public function. In the 16th century it fell into private hands and was turned into a stable. In 1673, Augustinian monks acquired the Roman temple and build their convent. They were eventually evicted due to the events of the French Revolution. The monument was shortly used as a granary, and eventually was sold as a “bien national.” (Just thought Id give you guys a little history lesson!) Afterwards we walked through the gardens and up a hill until we reached half a tower. I say “half” because a few centuries ago, people thought there was treasure buried in the walls of the castle so they got permission to destroy half the castle in order to find it. Turns out it was just a myth and no such treasure actually existed, so now all that is left is half a tower!!! Inside the tower are swirling stairs. I obviously climbed them to the top and it was while doing so that I realized that a) you cant be afraid of heights if you want to truly live the European castle experience and b) highs make me nervous unless Im jumping out of a plane (at that height, you have no concept of reality!)….
That night we went out to the bar. I have started asking the bar tenders if I can take home my beer glasses…if you ask the right bar tender (aka a guy) and tell him that you’re Canadian and you want it for a souvenir, they usually don’t have a problem. So far I have 4 glasses all of which are sporting the logo of a different type of beer!

As of Thursday I’m on spring break! My daddy is coming and we’re gonna do the northern part of Italy, Switzerland and Germany! Can’t wait… next weeks blog should be filled with exciting stories! ;)

Missing you guys lots and loving you always!

-Ash
xoxo

p.s. Kris…I wrote a long one just the way you like them! ;)