Jan 14th: A Day of “Buongiorno”

This morning, we slept in a little later than usual. We met at 10:30 to go to the internet café to catch up on blogs and emails. Joey, Rob, Tori, Mary Alex, Rebekah, and I went to a different internet café than the rest of the group. We could not find the right one, so we settled on the café we could find. We spent about an hour emailing, blogging, and catching up with people through the internet. Joey, Tori, and I had finished so we went and got some delicious gelato (yes, we ate dessert before lunch!).

Now we went back to the hotel to meet the group for lunch. We ate a small pizzeria outside. It was so nice to sit near the sea and eat lunch in January and not be cold! While we were eating, several members of the group bought purses, bags, and sunglasses from sidewalk vendors.

We walked out to the water and snapped a few photos!

Now it was time for an assignment. Dr. Elsner told us our assignment was to pick someone on the trip that we did not know that well and walk around with them and observe and talk to the Italian people. My partner was Caley! We walked around and tried to talk to people using the little Italian that we knew. At first no one was answering us, but then we figured out it was because we were just telling them, “Hello.” We walked and eventually some Italians talked to us. It was interesting because they attempted to talk to us even though they could not speak our language. Caley and I were enjoying the scenery so much that we missed the hotel and walked way, way too far. We soon discovered that we were lost and did know how to get back. We had to ask the Italian people for directions. This was really interesting because even if they could not speak English they would yell out some in Italian to the people around them. I assume it was something along the lines of does anyone speak English. It was amazing how they were so willing to help! Finally, Caley and I returned in time to meet the group for dinner! Here are a few photos that we took along our long walk!

We walked around for a while looking for a place to eat dinner. We had a few failed attempts because a few places did not take a credit card. Eventually, we found somewhere to eat. It was a delightful little place with delicious food! This is what I ate for my first course!

Now that dinner was over we wandered around for a bit and some people got gelato. It was getting late and we knew that tomorrow we were traveling to Monaco (to eat at the number one restaurant in the world!), so we went to bed to catch some z’s!

-Allison 🙂

January 15th- Louis XV in Monaco

We left early on the morning of the 15th from San Remo. Cool weather helped to ease the headaches felt by a few of our party. A little coffee break just past Ventemiglia soothed the souls of some, and a nice parking guy saw us try to figure out the parking machines, so didn’t give us tickets, but rather waited until I came back and showed me what to do. We cruised the beautiful seaside roads from San Remo to Monaco, finding that to go downwards you had to go back and forth across the slightly descending terraces. We eventually arrived at our hotel and had time to freshen up a bit before walking down to the Hotel de Paris.

Erskine Women showing how lovely they can be!

Not to be outdone, the Erskine men dress out for the event!

Suzanne at the desk of our hotel assured us it was a five minute walk, but this turned into nearly 15 due to high heels and steep stairways.

We made quite the adorable parade walking there.

Upon ariving, the beauty of the buildings stunned several of us, as did the car selection out front. This was no cheap dive, nor pretentious “wanna-be” place, but the absolute real deal.

Upon entering, the feeling of grandeur increased, and the entire facility enveloped us in a sense of serenity and luxury.

Of course, we were instantly recognized and greeted most appropriately.

The Maitre d’Hotel gave us a most wonderful tour of the kitchens and banquet halls before ushering us to our tables in grand style.

There, in the main restaurant, upon gold-plate were special menus for our group.

The menu consisted of:

A l’apéritif :
Barbagiuan.

(These were small, paper-thin ravioli filled with salty spinach and ricotta and hints of citrus)

Pour patienter :
Bouillon léger de brocoletti « romano »,
ailerons de volaille , tendres gnocchi de lait caillé.
(A glorious soup of broccoli crowns crushed in Olive oil, then smoothed with Fond du Vollailles- fowl stock. This was poured over the tastefully presented “chicken wings” that had been deboned and stuffed with foie gras and truffles, along with two cannelles of scalded-milk gnocchi)

Coquilles Saint-Jacques de Normandie,
blanc de blettes, artichauts et jeunes carottes
saucés d’une nage liée de roquette pilée.
(Scallops from Normandy, quickly seared and served with spiny artichokes, baby carrots, and a crushed arugula sauce.)

Agneau de lait des Pyrénées frotté de piment d’Espelette
à la cheminée, radicchio, fenouil et abats en beaux morceaux « alla romana ».

Suckling Lamb from the Pyrenee mountains, rubbed with Espelette pepper and roasted with its heart, liver, and kidneys

Sélection de fromages affinés pour nous.

Selection of Perfectly ripe cheeses from a huge variety on the cheese cart

Citron du Mentonnais confit, sorbet citron-basilic,
fine tartelette tiède au vin d’orange.

Ou

Le Louis XV au croustillant de pralin.

(Effectively lady fingers, topped with hazelnut paste and a ganache of dark chocolate, then with a ribbon of chocolate and gold foil!)

Mignardises et chocolats Alain Ducasse.

Matching this wonderful menu were wines:
Les Vins

Champagne
Sélection Alain Ducasse

Vacqueyras « cuvée des Clefs d’Or » 2006
Clos des Cazaux
M. Archimbaud-Vache
(0% Clairette, 20% Grenache Blanc, 20% Rousanne- Average price per bottle is 120 Pounds Sterling)

Villa Minna 2004
Coteaux d’Aix en Provence
M. JP Luc
(A beautiful blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache)

They also decided to serve us a few extra items, including a gorgeous Muscat to drink with dessert before the coffees and teas came out.

After the four hours it took to eat, we were asked if we would like pictures outside the door under the restaurant sign, which, of course, we did. I was very proud of my beloved students, all of whom looked so beautiful/handsome, and could get used to being filthy rich…

-Dr. E.

January 19–Paris, je t’aime

Everyone woke up early to enjoy our only full day in Paris, and our last full day in Europe as a whole. We ate breakfast in the cafe attached to our hotel, then Rob and I headed out to see as many of the city’s amazing sites as we possibly could.

Having gotten an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower from the Musee de l’Homme the previous night, we opted to head first to the Champs Elysees and make our way to the Arc de Triumph. Commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806, the Arc de Triumph towers over the French tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Place de l’Etoile, a meeting of twelve avenues at the west end of the Champs Elysees. Due to the elevator being out of order, we ascended the seemingly endless stairs of the Arc in order to reach the top, where we got an amazing view of the city and saw some of the landmarks that we failed to see up close, such as the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.

After a brief mix up on the metro, we headed to the Tuileries gardens near the Louvre. The garden is adorned with many statues depicting famous individuals from actual Greek and Roman history, as well as mythological figures. From the gardens we went to Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in France and the site of many public executions during the French Revolution, including such victims as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The square is now adorned with the Luxor Obelisk, a monolith from Egypt more than 3,000 years old which bears hieroglyphics portraying such events as the reign of Ramses II. We crossed the Seine and saw the Assemblee Nationale before heading back to the Louvre to meet Tori and Allison for lunch.

The outside of the Louvre itself is amazing to behold, preceded by the Arc de Triumph du Carrousel (a smaller arch commissioned by Napoleon) and the magnificent glass pyramid entryway designed by American architect I.M. Pei. The Louvre has three wings: Sully, Denon, and Richelieu, each undoubtedly containing amazing works of art, but we had to make the best of our time and only attempted to see the contents of the Denon and Richelieu wings. In this way, we were able to see such famous works as the Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading the People, The Raft of the Medusa, and Coronation of Napoleon.

We left the Louvre and headed to Notre Dame cathedral, seeing its picturesque Gothic architecture and beautiful interior. This was by far the oldest cathedral that we saw on the trip, with its construction dating back to the late 1100s. It was truly amazing to behold.

We attempted to go back to the Champs Elysees to do some last minutes shopping, but did not stay very long as we realized that we were going to be late for dinner. We met up with the group at the hostel and went out for our last meal in Europe, spending the remainder of our budget and having a good time. We then proceeded back to the hostel to get a good night’s sleep so we could at least be coherent for the following day of travel back to the States.

-Joey

ProfNote: This last day was a wonderful time for the students to really consider how they had spent a lot of their time in Europe. The journals of almost all of them reflect on the depth of friendships they formed, life decisions evaluated, and difficulties of group dynamics if adult autonomy is given. Lots of good growth came from this last day, even if it was among the most difficult for some people, it was also among the most rewarding.

Marseille Bound….

Friends and Family,
We would talk about how the long day came out to yet another good outcome. Getting into Marseille with riots and Picketing from the local Muslim community. Acting like we were from Canada, found our way to the van rental then walked to the hotel where we left right for the game! We walked such a long time, but it was worth it! The game was awesome and the local club won (beating La Havre 2-0).
We finally hit up a local cafe for a late dinner (Cafe di Pasta) all cold and in need of food we made it work in that small restaurant. We were able to experience fagotinni, penne, ravioli, gnocchi, and so many more types of pasta that were accompanied with several different types of sauces. We then headed back to the quaint hotel for some much needed sleep.

Kim & Adam

ProfNote: The Students were mixed between those who are varsity players on the EC Soccer teams and those who had never played nor seen a professional game before. It was great to see the Varsity players patiently explaining the subtleties of the game to those less-well informed. In spite of a rowdy, drunken fan in front of us, everyone got into the overwhelming enthusiasm of the home crowd with their chants. Language barriers can be broken by raw emotion…

January 16 – Porshe’s, Ferrari’s, and Bentley’s

1/16/09

Today the group is in Monaco, and we are surrounded by people who drive expensive cars and eat huge meals everynight. It’s amazing, but everything is super expensive.

Today was a day for relaxing. Most of us slept most of the morning from pure exhaustion. We met at lunch time and had an amazing Italian meal. After lunch we split into groups and went walking around Monaco. Some people went to look at the yachts in the port and others went to the Palace.

Jessica and I went looking for a good place to take pictures of the sea, and ended up getting asked out by a Russian guy and his uncle who had just finished buying a Ferrari. They also owned a house in California and lived here for 6 months out of the year. He was fantastically rich, but we turned him down. Who knows how that could have ended.

After that we went shopping and bought some french books and cds. At the mall we found a pair of cute flats that were 895 Euros (around 1000 Euros). Everything here is super expensive. We walked around for forever trying to find a place that sold postcards. I think the people who visit here are too rich for postcards.

We met up for dinner at yet another Italian restaurant. Everyone was hungry and Dr. Elsner compared us to locusts in the Bible. It was a good meal, but a quiet one because everyone was tired from walking all day.

See you all soon!
~Jessica

January 13 – Palais Des Papes/Superhighway Tunnels Supercool Superganza

Avignon became the residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in 1309 after Pope Clement V moved the Papal Curia there to escape the violent chaos that was post-barbarian invasion Rome.  Initially, Clement just lived in Avignon’s existing Dominican monastery, but his successor John XXII began the construction of the lavish building now on the site.  Avignon remained the seat of official Roman Catholic papal power until 1377, when in an EXCITING TWIST (aka the Papal Schism) it was occupied by “antipopes” Clement VII and Benedict XIII until 1408.

The picture above is actually the entrance to the NEW palace, an expansion begun by Pope Clement VI.  Fun fact about that guy: he bought Avignon from Queen Joan I of Naples for a staggering 80,000 crowns, but he never actually paid because he considered absolving her of the murder of her husband payment enough.  Popes!

Here’s a link to the official website.  At the bottom of the page, you can find a good overhead view of the palace:
Clicky

The big square is the new palace.

Another view of the exterior:

That big golden lady stands atop the adjoining church.  It’s made out of gold.  Seriously:

When you enter to buy your tickets, you’re treated to this lovely fresco of Pope Benedict XII:

Note that those stones are actually painted onto flat walls.  Cheapskates.

A picture of the massive Courtyard of Honor, from above, where distinguished guests would first enter the palace:

From this point on I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but I did anyway with the flash turned off because I’m a cool guy. B)

Unfortunately, during the French Revolution, all the iconography was taken and melted down, and when Napoleon took the palace over for use as a barracks and prison, they whitewashed all the walls and took down all the tapestries, so it mostly looks bare and unimpressive inside.  Most rooms look pretty much like any other in the palace, but there are a few notable places.

Let’s skip ahead to the pope’s bedroom:

The walls are adorned with vines and flowers, and the floor is covered with colorful tiles.  The room contained the pope and some of his chambermen, who would go through several daily waking-up and going-to-bed rituals.  The room is quite large, and was divided up by movable walls that changed depending on the time of day or ritual.

The grand chapel:

From Clement VI’s reign on, all pontifical worship and sacrament ceremonies occurred in the grand chapel.  Unfortunately for you, they were working on restoring the scant remains of the room’s frescoes while we there, so the restored stained glass was covered up by those unsightly drapes.

Here’s one of the very few fully restored frescoes, found on the ceiling of the grand audience chamber, where visiting nobles would enter the palace proper and be greeted by some of the pope’s underlings, or sometimes by the pope himself. It depicts various Catholic high religious authorities doing… I’m assuming religious work, as no information was given on the artwork:

A picture of the entire grand audience chamber:

The quiet inner courtyard of the old palace.  The wall facing the camera is where all the living quarters for everyone but the pope were located:

The chapels were all closed to guests because the museum authorities were working on restoring them.

Here’s the Wikipedia link in case anyone is interested in the chapels:
Clicky

The Avignon papal palace is a place of great history, but, unfortunately, it isn’t much to look at, courtesy of Napoleon. HOWEVER!  I’ll leave you with an interesting bit of historical learnings:

Remember the EXCITING TWIST?  Up until the Papal Schism, pepper was illegal, as it was considered so acerbic that it must have been the work of the devil.  (Arbitrary church doctrine ahoy!)  However, during the reign of the antipopes in Avignon, it was legalized and taxed as a revenue stream for the second papacy, as there was already a significant black market trade. Thanks to the Papal Schism, pepper and like spices became much more frequently used in cooking, which had a profound influence on French cuisine.

Following our trip to the Palais des Papes, we got on the road to Sanremo, and traveled through upwards of 30 of these:

The superhighway passes through, and I mean literally THROUGH, the lower fingers of the Alps, above the cities on the coast. The system of tunnels is massive–often you will drive only 500 meters outside before entering another 1500 meter tunnel. They are an impressive feat of engineering, as it would be next to impossible to pave and then drive up and down over the huge number of ridges that cross the highway. Throughout the tunnel are escape ladders, S.O.S. stations in case of emergency, and large, jet-engine-style air exchangers, keeping the air in the tunnel at least somewhat fresh and breathable.

– Rob

January 12 – Albi, France

Albi, France: Jan 12th

The morning began with a stop at a bakery for breakfast. A lot of people ordered the chocolatetin or a ham and cheese filled crosiant with our new favorite european juice drink, Oasis. We were sure not to order “cafe,” which here is a shot of expresso. We quickly learned to order either cafe creme or a cappaccino!

We then headed towards the Cathedral Saint Cecil, which is the largest brick strucure in the world and was truly breath taking! The inside was beautifully painted with frescos!

After exploring the city, and for some of us a little shopping :), we visited the museum of Henri Tolouse-Latrec. He was a magnificent artist whos works included many Moulin Rouge scenes, which are very popular representations of Paris. I found the gallery especially interesting!

We then headed off to another small town in France….Avignon!

Au revoir,
Anna

Jan. 11 Mass in Carcassonne and Massive of Amounts of Laundry

Our Sunday began with a small continental breakfast at the hotel consisting of breads, ham, coffee, and cereal. We then made our way to the old city around 1050 to take our places in the breathtaking cathedral. The cathedral was stunning with stained glass windows shaped like diamonds and a variety of other beautiful designs and the whole back wall was covered by a manificient organ the likes of which we had never seen before. The only thing that tried to steal from our experience there was the fact that it was so immensely cold throughout the service. However, that did very little in the end and although hardly any of us could understand exactly what the priest was talking about, we all left the service mesmerized and enlightened. We learned shortly after from doctor elsner that the service was about John the Baptist and how God is always around us like a “cocoon” and always providing us with protection. It almost felt as though we had already somehow gotten that message though during the service even with the language barrier.

From the church we went and had a quick lunch and then it was onto laundry, which turned out to be way more eventful then we had originally planned. As we were doing laundry, people explored the city some more and Dr. Elsner and Joey went to get the vans we would be using for the next couple days of our trip. After about 4 hours or so of laundry, we were all good and ready to head to our next destination of Albi, France.

That evening we stopped about halfway to Albi in a town called Castres on the Tarn to have dinner which was delightful and set got us ready for the last adventure of the night. This adventure consisted of driving of the enitre city of Albi looking for our hotel for, however spirits were pretty good because of the meal we had just had and after a bit of searching and some interaction with the locals we finally reached our destination.

Caley Kropp and Tyrell Dyson

Au Revoir

Jan 10th We are in a CASTLE!!!

Today in Carcassone we got to visit the castle with the city inside. I thought it would all be old shops and museums but it was actually a very modernized town with shops, bakeries, banks, and everything you could need is actually inside the castle. The castle itself is just like you imagine a castle to be-overwhelmingly beautiful and just like the movies. Cobbled streets, tiny pathways, little cafes, painters, jewelers, and shops are everywhere. My personal favorite was the painters shop where I bought a print of his painting of the castle. He spoke english so it was easy to converse, but later I went in the education museum and the receptionist spoke no english. We just made it by with hand motions and a couple of familiar words we had in common. Allison and I went in the museum because it actually shows what schools looked like back in the 1500s and 1600s. It was my favorite part of the castle. They had old report cards, journals, assignments, tools, math manipulatives, snakes in jars, all the rocks you could think of, field guides with flowers and herbs pasted inside, weights, measuring cups, geometry shapes to put together, and feather pens with ink wells. We even got to sit at an old timey desk and write a letter on old notebook paper using the ink pen. We also got to look at their curriculum. They focused the most back then on character education, career training, science, and math. They only had writing for 15 minutes a day, and they read about everything they ever did. They gave out tickets called good points every time someone was good which is exactly what we just learned about in our management class!!!! Dr. Elsner said that the best ideas are usually the oldest. Well Allison and I thought we were learning new innovative ways to teach, but it turns out they were using all of these methods centuries ago. They even had this tool where you light a candle and the little globe revolves around it to show how the sun works to make night and day. Ive never been more impressed in my life. We stayed in there for almost 2 hours and it was only 2 tiny rooms haha!!! Afterwards we all took a trip to the grocery store which was so much fun. In France they definitely focus more on cheese, fruits, veggies, yogurts, breads, and fresh meats than anything else. There were only two tiny snack aisles. There were however like 4 huge alcohol aisles for wine and everything else you can imagine! Its no wonder they are all skinnier than us. They eat all this healthy food everyday with no packaged stuff and they walk everywhere! We had to wak about 2 miles just to get there and then 2 back to the apartments where Dr. Elsner cooked dinner for us. It was so delicious. We also had an official wine tasting. It was so cool and hilarious to watch all of us trying to figure out how to taste wine, swishing it, smelling it, accidentally getting it on our noses, laughing, and then trying to pull it through our teeth to make bubbles and making messes! Dr. Elsners food was so delicious though and we definitely all went to bed very, very happy. A couple of people went to bed early while the other half went to the discoteca. Well the internet is crazy over here and Im up to four euros now so Id better run. Hope you all enjoyed the update!!! We all miss everyone back home and want you to know we are having a fantastic time but also cant wait to see you to share even more! From the Castle, Tori Cole

Friday, January 9 – Travel from Barcelona to Carcassonne

Today we got up early and headed out for the train station in Barcelona. On the way, we stopped for a good breakfast at one of the roadside cafes. I ordered a biscuit and an espresso. After arriving at the train station, we found that the hourly train we were to catch had left 5 minutes before. So we waited by the tracks for about 45 minutes.

We caught our train out of Barcelona, and several hours later arrived at our connection point in a quaint sea sided resort town. We consulted with a very friendly policeman, who told us that the restaurants were closed for the winter. He did find one that was open, and called to let them know we were on our way.

The owner of the restaurant was a very humorous french woman, who told us many jokes and humorous stories, and our lunch was very delicious. On the phone, the owner had said we could have sandwiches, but when we arrived, she apparently liked us, and decided to let us eat the food she had prepared for supper. I had sour kraut, similar to the kind we eat in the US, but with some very different flavorings.

After we ate, we headed back to the train station to catch the connecting train. We arrived just in time to see the train pull out of the station. So we had to wait a little while to meet the next train. A great time was had, some of us learning new french phrases and others speaking to locals who wanted someone to talk to.

We finally arrived in Carcassonne at about 930. It was raining by this time, so we quickly made our way to the hotel in the rain. When we arrived, the hotel was closed. We did manage to get into one of the main doors, thanks to the kindness of a British family also staying there. To make a long story short, we finally went to eat down the road at a wonderful restaurant, only to find out that the owner of the restaurant was friends with the owner of the hotel. So after eating, we were able to get into our rooms. The food was wonderful. I had mozzarella cheese and tomatoes, along with amazing thin crusted cheese pizza.

Howard Wagler