A Semester in Provence: Aix in the Fall

Aix is so beautiful right now!!! Well actually it's raining at the moment, but I don't mind, it's nice to be inside and feel cozy, and I think I may go watch a movie with Aimee on her bed after I post this. Our fall break has started and I'm spending the weekend in Aix and leaving for Istanbul, Turkey late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and I couldn't be more excited! It's nice to be in Aix for the weekend though. Aimee and I walked around town this morning to check out the weekly Saturday market and I found a beautiful scarf, a hand bag and a few other things, all on sale! It was quite a success, and then we stumbled upon a bagel shop! It made me miss Bagel Cafe and Bruggers Bagels so much, and we just had to go inside. We split a plain bagel with beurre de cacahuette, or in English, peanut butter! So simple but man do we miss peanut butter! It was delicious. Most of the kids in the program took off for their fall break destinations either yesterday or today so there is only a small group of us in town for the weekend. My friend Ryan's host mom offered to rent a big van and drive us all to Avignon on Sunday for the day so that should be fun! Even though I was just there with Mom and Dad, we didn't stay for very long and I am interested to see what Ryan's host mom takes us to do! I cannot believe tomorrow is Halloween! Though the French do celebrate it, they definitely do not celebrate with as much enthusiasm as we do in the states. I miss all the pumpkins and witches and ghosts and fake cob-webs... all of that just must be far too tacky for the Axois. I have seen the occasional decoration here and there, and I've seen some people heading to costume parties but nothing can beat an IV halloween! I hope everyone in IV is having their best one yet, and know I'm there in spirit. I can't believe I've passed the half-way mark of my stay here and I have a feeling these last weeks are just going to fly by. I keep reminding myself of how lucky I am to be here and I'm trying to just soak it all up and store it away in my memory forever. Here are some pictures to try and give you a feel of how colorful and beautiful Aix is right now!