La canicule

So far, this week has been lazy and kind of stagnant. It feels like we're hitting the dog days--la canicule, in French. I looked it up. Of course it's only early July, but it's hot; I didn't feel well the past few days; I got all my homework for the week done on Sunday so I've just been napping and wasting time after school. I've settled into my routine here enough that some of the novelty is wearing off. It's nice to have a break to relax, but I feel like I'm in a bit of a funk. I find myself getting bored in class, and I'm not awake enough to take advantage of being in freaking France. Fortunately, today I was feeling better and snapped myself out of this strange mood by buying some incroyable souvenirs for Mommy and Brother. I still need to do a lot of souvenir shopping, but I'm so excited about what I have so far. Les soldes started today, so basically everything is on sale, which has definitely added a hustle and a bustle to little Aix.

Still, to force myself into proactive, positive thinking, here are some things that help when I am starting to space out:

1. I am in France and my friends here are awesome. If you've been paying attention, you've probably noticed the omnipresence of Cara and Kyle. They are great. Kyle is hilarious, if sometimes problematic, and Cara is just the sweetest ever. Not to mention the wonderful and in no particular order Janette, Clara, Brooke, Kim, Liz, Mel, Other Katherine, Elle, Mia, Eliza, Caronae and Kevin. Is that everyone? I left people out. But it's just incredible how close and supportive is even though we've known each other for a few weeks. I've seen this phenomenon before, at camp and in Pi Phi with the baby angels, but it still amazes me.

Outside the Château de Vauvenargues, where Picasso lived, with Kyle and Cara.

2. I am in France and I am seeing and doing awesome things every day. 

See this incredible, beautiful view? This is on my walk to school. Even if I do nothing but grab lunch before class and go home after (I have class from 1-5, so this happens fairly often), I see a beautiful Gothic cathedral spire every single day. The cathedral is actually right by the school, and my archaeology class visited it in the morning a few weeks ago. It's built on a Roman temple to Apollo, so in its very existence it attests to the victory of Christianity over Roman gods. Under the temple foundation there's a Roman street; it's in the oldest part of Aix, so it goes all the way back to 123 avant Jésus-Christ, when the little town of Aquae Sextiae was founded to keep an eye on the troublesome Gauls in Entremont (which I'm visiting tomorrow!). Anyway, over time various additions have been made to the cathedral, so it has early Christian, Gothic, Romanesque and who knows what else elements represented.   I don't always think about it, but it is really cool to be near that much continuous history every single day. The baptistry has been in use since 400 AD. That's 1600 years!

Plus, of course, we get to do unbelievable unusual things too. The Picasso château on Saturday was really great. My immediate impression was that it was much plainer than I'd expected. Although it was built in the Middle Ages for the nobility of Aix (it's like a 20-minute bus ride north of the city), almost all of it was cleared out in the nineteenth century by some businessmen who had bought it. When Picasso bought it, one of his friends expressed concern that it was too empty and too severe. Picasso replied, "Too empty? I'll fill it with stuff. Too severe? You forget that I'm Spanish. I like sadness."

So in all its simplicity and white walls, the château told a powerful story about its most recent owner. The rooms were full of his statues and engravings, aspects of his work with which I wasn't familiar. And the view from the terrace was breathtaking. Picasso, who idolized Cézanne (don't we all), was so excited to have bought a house overlooking Mont Ste-Victoire. They didn't allow pictures at all on the property, but trust me that it was gorgeous.

3. My support system back home is awesome. I have some epic friends and family. It's comforting to wake up to a message from my fiancé or my big or my soulmate or my bff... well, actually, usually BFF just wants me to add more people to the Pi Phi google calendar. But she's still nice about it. I talked to my Pagano today and it was really exciting, so he gets a shoutout too. Hooray!

Andrew, me and Pagano!

My amazing pink family!
Tania, Ebony, Julianna, Raya, Jillian, me, Sarah and Allison
(Little, little little, little little little, little little little, little little, me, big and big.)

4. I am in France! People speak French here! Do you know how much time I spend in America wishing that everyone spoke French? So much time. It's really hard. But here even the food packaging speaks French. Also, Pagano is learning French.

So see, things are exciting. It's just hard to realize everything you have sometimes.