Mercure Chateauneuf Le Rouge Aix-en-Provence

... even a few unaccompanied women sneak past.

After I've had enough excitement for the evening I walk back to the station to wait out the rest of the night. Its only 2am, so I've got some time to kill. I end up talking with an old man who is standing in front of the station smoking a cigarette. After a brief chat, he invites me back to his place to wait for my train. He seems friendly enough, and the prospects of waiting in the cold for three more hours aren't ...

... a village called Le Tholonet, not far outside of Aix, one of the villages around the Sainte-Victoire mountain. The landscape was incredible, completely different to what we have on Exmoor of course, and views
were stunning. We walked up to the Barrage (dam) Zola, built by Emile Zola’s (a French writer living in the latter half of the 19th Century) father. The water was a turquoise colour, and it was there that I chose my spot to yodel and sing The Sound of ...

... and instead went out to a great classic Provencal dinner, and got some good wine. But then, we started to see a couple kids in costumes, or rather just kids in sheets. I think one of them had a mask. But on our way back from dinner, we found the bar scene. Mostly it was just people out on a normal Saturday night, but we had to at least go check it out. We were somewhat impressed with the Halloween scene, and probably could ...

... The woman talked about the large mountains we would encounter and how the weather was supposed to be bad for the next week.

When discussing our trip, she said it was ‘beau’. Asked if we had a map - no, transaltion book - no, telephone - no. I said ‘je suis fou?’. But she confirmed, no ‘beau’, but offered us a place to stay at their home. As she started ...

... weekend has put me right back on track, though, and so hopefully uni work will follow suit. Also got a lovely postcard from Dad looking over Holnicote, great to hear that everyone at home is well, even though I think I sometimes forget that life still carries on there when I'm not around.

Bon soir to all, from a very happee Charlotteee
xx

P.S Managed to get to one of the markets in town this week, got a full bag of fruit and vegetables for about 5€!

Well we are on the train to aix en provence. Hopefully we will have full net connection and I can stop doing this on my phone (with the full BHPB footer). Had a big party last night as it was last night in paris and we finished our booze supplies. One of the girls was dancing on the coffee table!
This morning we ...

... and so much fun! It may be a medium sized city but there are still a ton of people here and there is always stuff going on all around you! It is comprised of an inner circle which is called "old Aix" or the original city. This is by far the best part (and where my school is located and where I spend most of my time despite living about a 40 minute walk outside of it, and don't worry I have a bus pass). Its based around a huge amazing central fountain and ...

... we had a pretty good time exploring Gaudi's park, Park Guell. A long, steep walk that was well worth the climb. Landscapes in the park are linked together by natural-looking architecture that you may not even notice on first glance. Viaducts spring from bluffs, and hallways rise elegantly against rough rock. In the center, wavy benches and staircases are decorated with perfectly-placed pieces of colorful, broken ceramic tiles. The pictures will do ...

... have saved lives by the hundreds Everywhere I went I must have brought rest to the restless Fed the hungry too I must have done something great To get to have you At least once a day now, one of the kids will blow me a kiss, smile and say, "I must have done something great..." I will be grateful for the rest of my life that we get to have moments like these.

... am fascinated by this place. Today, being Friday, there are more vendors, and more shoppers. Also, on Cours de Mirabeau there were many buses disgorging hundreds of tourists into the town, swelling the crowds. I got the mushroom man to pose for me, and a vegetable lady- who wanted her picture taken without her glasses, but I insisted on her 'au nauturelle' and she laughingly complied (see pictures attached). I have found that for some reason today I am smiling. I realized that if I ...