Once I was the King of Spain...

I never thought that I would actually have any opportunity to sing that song and have it make any sense, but yesterday I got my chance! Well, it still didn't really make sense, because obviously I'm not the king of Spain, but at least it was somewhat applicable: the King of Spain, King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofia visited Toulouse yesterday! We saw all these spanish and french flags flying at Capitole, and then we remembered that we had read in the paper about their visit! So we waited around in the bright sunshine, saw a bunch of faux-motocades that were only there to tease us and were not actually accompanying the king, and then finally the king and queen showed up! We couldn't really see that well, and we're not sure which one he actually was, because he brought his huge posse with him and they all got out of their cars at the same time, but he was definitely in there somewhere! Also, Jaques Chirac's wife, Bernadette, was here to welcome them!

Annie and I caught them later as well, by chance, as we walked by the Prefecture and he was apparently going there for a visit! It was exciting, I like seeing famous/important people in Toulouse! His security officers were all over, on roofs and stuff, and his guards wore pretty uniforms with tassles and boots. Wheeeeee

Jack Johnson in Barcelona!

This past weekend, Annie and I went to Barcelona to see JACK JOHNSON in concert! wheeeeeeeeee! Since we have both been to Barcelona before (me in high school and Annie over Christmas with her parents), we decided to make a flying trip there just to see the concert, stay the night, and then come back! That kind of seems to be our thing, doesn't it? But I do regret that we didn't have a little more time to explore, because Barcelona is a beautiful city, and probably one of my favorites in Europe!

So we took the train Saturday morning to La Tour de Carol, right on the France/Spain border, hung out in the nice train station there for a little while, then continued on towards Barcelona. Total travel time: 7 hours, ouch! We ended up getting into Barcelona around 4:30, and went straight to our hostel, which was RIGHT off Las Ramblas (the big pedestrian walkway). This hostel was recommended to us by Stewart, another student in our program, and he was right, it was really good! They even serve breakfast AND dinner, and it's included in your room fee! Unfortunately, just with the time of the concert and then our train the next morning, we were unable to partake. :-( So we got our stuff settled in our nice 4-person room, then we headed out to wander on La Rambla before we had to get to the concert (doors were at 7). So we looked at all the funny street performers, including a lady in a pink fat suit and a funny cowboy man who did a cute dance. Then we got falafel for dinner and headed to the concert, which was in the old olympic basketball stadium.

(Jack's opening number...look at all the digital camera screens in the audience! they are like the new lighter for concerts)

As we're heading to the concert, we realize that every single person going there is American, or British. Jack Johnson appears to be some sort of Anchorman "NEWS CREW ASSEMBLE" type of call (he must have a magical conch shell) because I think every college student studying in Europe went to this concert. Which was fine, but Annie and I got to see some prime examples of how we try NOT to be typicalAmericans. So the concert itself was amaaaaaaaaazing. ALO and Matt Costa opened, and I really liked Matt Costa. And Jack came out and played a song with ALO, which was good and I had never heard it. And then during Jack's part, he played a bunch of old stuff, and surprisingly nothing from the new Curious George album (which is really cute and good, so I'm mad!) So fun fun concert happened, and then afterwards everyone was hanging out outside the stadium, and Annie and I randomly run into some Americans that Annie met at her hostel in Malaga that are studying in Italy! So we hung out with them for a few minutes, Annie ripped down part of Jack's face from a poster, and then we bought enormous hot dogs, which were delicious (hot dogs are not really a popular part of french cuisine, surprisngly). So we had good intentions of going out and dancing and being crazy, but we both got hit with such a wave of exhaustion that it would have been impossible. So we were lame and went back to our hostel, and then proceeded to be woken up at 6 am by a bunch of loud, drunk Americans in our hallway, and Annie yelled at them. GO ANNIE.

Then in the morning, we walked around in the beautiful sunshine, and it was nice because it was early (around 8:30 am) on a sunday, so not that many people were around, which is a real contrast to Las Ramblas usually! Then I sat on this huge lion. And then we bought the most expensive breakfast ever (but the churros and chocolate was delicioius! But I don't know if it was 22 euros delicous...) Oh well, that's Barcelona for you. Then we RAN to catch our train because we are stupid and apparently can't tell time...? But all went off okay, and we took the long trip back to Toulouse after a great weekend!

Family Visit!

So I have done my good deed for the week, and I exposed my parents and sister to European culture! My family came for a week, during my February break from school, and they stayed in this little apartment that is in the basement of the Dickinson Center and is available for families of students for a ridiculously good rate. So after some plane craziness (apparently airport drama stalks our family), they arrived on Sunday, February 19th. We stuck around Toulouse that evening, obviously. Then the next day, after my dad and I went for a run, we noticed that our rental car had a flat tire. So began the car bad luck. We dealt with it, then hung around Toulouse all day Monday. We saw St. Etienne Cathedral, St. Sernin Basilica, Les Jacobins, and basically just experienced Toulouse.

Day #2
Cordes-sur-Ciel & Albi

On Tuesday, we drove up to Cordes-sur-Ciel, which is a medieval town from like, the 12th century. We had gone there on a Dickinson trip, and I was impressed by it, so I took my parents there. It's all perched up on a hill, and in the mornings, it's misty and it looks like the town is floating (hence the "sur ciel"). We bought this walking tour guide, and then followed along with the signs they have posted on the buildings, and ended up finding out a lot of cool things about Cordes. It's just so old, yet still intact. And people still live there. It's unbelievable.

Next stop was Albi, on the way home from Cordes. Albi is the birthplace of Toulouse-Lautrec, and also the home of an impressive cathedral called St. Cecile. Something that we read called it a mix between an ocean liner and a cathedral, because it was actually built to keep out bad catholic hating people. Or something. This was another Dickinson trip that we took that I wanted to show my parents.

Day #3
Foix et les Grottes de Niaux

On Wednesday, we took a trip to Foix, which is about an hour south of Toulouse. The town of Foix is lovely, and the best part is a large chateau right in the middle of it on a rocky outcrop! But first, we drove past Foix to Tarascon, where les grottes de Niaux are located (grotte = cave). Apparently, caves like this are numerous in Europe, but what makes this cave special, besides just the sheer size and depth of it, is the fact that there are prehistoric cave drawings on the walls! These drawings date from 14,000 BC. Isn't that incredible? I guess the cave provides a perfect environment for preserving the drawings, which is why they are still visible today. And they are actual drawings of recognizable animals and stuff, not just random lines and shapes. So obviously, no one knows why ancient man came deep into this cave (which was much more difficult to access way back then) and made these drawings on the wall. But I'm glad they did, because it was really. And the caves aren't lit, so they gave us flashlights to carry, and it was dark and sort of scary but awesome at the same time.

Then we headed back to Foix to look at the castle. This castle is cool because you can actually climb up in 2 out of 3 towers, which you normally can't do (because I'm actually an expert in castles...) So we could see amazing views of the town of Foix and also of the Pyrenees! Driving around in all these little mountain towns made me want to live in one! They are so picturesque and cute.

Day #4
Carcassonne

On Thursday, we went to Carcassonne! Carcassonne is actually fairly well-known, because it is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe (or the world, maybe?). So I guess in the summer, it's packed full with tourists, but in February, we didn't have to worry about crowds too much. Though there was a surprising number of people braving the cold! So we went to the chateau, and got our tickets for a tour which left at 3:30. And the tour is the only cool thing
about the castle, because they take you out on the ramparts, and that's the only opportunity you have to explore them. And the rest of the castle just has a museum and is kind of boring. So we went to grab lunch while we waited for 3:30 to roll around. Unfortunately, we got the most delicious lunch ever that ended up causing us to miss our tour! We ate cassoulet, which is a toulousain/carcassonian specialty, because it was first made in a tiny town located between the two of them! It's a stew with white beans, duck, sausage, and sometimes other random things get thrown in there as well. Basically, it's delicious. So we missed our tour, but had an amazing lunch, and then ended up being able to get on the next tour anyway! So after we finished up in Carcassonne, we head back to the car, only to discover that someone has so nicely broken our window and stolen my sister's mp3 player. awwweessoommmeeee. so that was kind of just a hassle we had to deal with (driving around carcassonne trying to find the police station, then calling the rental car company, then having to bring the car back to the airport the next day, etc.) But it could have been worse, and it didn't end up costing us that much time or money. Fortunately! So the next day, we dealt with the car stuff and stuck around Toulouse to do some more sightseeing and museum-ing (much to Brenna's delight).

Day #6
Collioure

This might have been my favorite day! We were ambitious and drove all the way to the Mediterranean! We visited the little town of Collioure, which was very popular with painters, such as Matisse and Picasso around the turn of the century. So the town has put up replicas of some paintings from various artists in the actual spot where they were painted! So we could look at a Matisse and be like "oh yeah, I see where he got there, or whatever" (where usually with Matisse, you would be like "what the heck is that") And the town itself is soooo Mediterranean and adorable! The houses are all crazy colors, like pink and yellow and orange, and you could explore the little streets for hours! And luckily the day we went, it was bright and sunny and fairly warm, so all the outdoor cafes lining the beaches were open, and everyone was out and about. So we ate lunch outside, and then walked all around. And then my dad and I hiked up to Fort St. Elme, which is on a hilltop overlooking the city, with beautiful panoramic views! Then afterwards, we got ice cream and walked around a little more, then had a drink in a bar overlooking the bustling pedestrian walkways and the castle!


The next day (sunday) we just hung around Toulouse, went to lunch above the market at Place Victor Hugo, walked around Toulouse a little more, and then my mom and I went to the Musee Georges Labit, which is right across from the Dickinson Center, and at one point, they were owned by the same man!

Overall, it was an EXCELLENT visit with my family, and I know they had a great time too! Hopefully sometime we can all come to Europe again. bisous!