Towards the end of October I found myself approaching the Université d'Avignon's half-term break.
In the UK this would generally be referred to as "the autumn half-term" or "The Halloween break". Here it is the "Toussaint," referring to All Saints' Day. Ironically, this year both Halloween and All Saints' Day would actually occur after we had returned to Uni! For All Saints' Day, however, we would have the day off.
The half-term break marked me being around a third of the way through my time in Avignon, and so was a chance to reflect on how far I had come. It also marked a turning point in terms of the weather: summer, which had been dragging on right into October, finally turned to autumn, with dark nights, golden leaves and a pleasant coolness.
I was really beginning to feel comfortable and settled in Avignon. I knew my way around both the university and town, and as someone who loves walking and rarely takes any other form of transport, this was very important to me. I had my favourite places - the best pizza shop, the best few bakeries, the best bookshops. I'll probably divulge these later in a special post, so watch this space!
I had considered going back to the UK for half-term, but finding flights was hard. So I decided to focus on having a lovely time in Avignon. I booked some activities and treats for myself; namely, a trip to Montpellier - one of my favourite places in the world, an origami workshop, and the first two films of a local Harry Potter marathon (I simply could not have sat through all eight!)
I thought that as well as talking about half-term, I would use this blog post to share some miscellaneous photos I have, mainly from my phone and mainly of food, that don't merit having a whole post to themselves. I hope you enjoy them!
Horse and cart
The Pont d'Avignon
The river looking blue
The tail end of summer by the Rhône
A meal in the Uni canteen. The quiche slice turned out to be goat's cheese, which isn't my thing, but the rest was yummy
A crêpe from a shop near the river. Not enough Nutella for my liking, but passable
"Before going to university I would like to..."
"Live with my boyfriend"
"Live with my cat"
I don't think Lucky Charms are British, somehow! Nor are Hershey's/Reese's chocolates, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Kraft Mac & Cheese boxes or A&W Root Beer, all of which were on the shelves below! And, before you ask, they do have a separate American section, which is full of corn syrup and peanut butter!
Crazy strawberries! This just struck me as sweetly over-the-top
The joys of a banoffee cheesecake and Nutella frappé from the French Coffee Shop
I had not expected so much cream on this! I fet really self-conscious wandering through the street eating it
At a bar in Place Pie with some other students, after we worked on a project together. It was nice
Back at French Coffee, and I asked for cinnamon on my drink in an effort to be autumnal
The Palais des Papes all lit up
Over the next few posts I'll tell you all about Montpellier, the origami and Harry Potter. I also have something a bit different coming up in the form of a review for Arts Alliance of a film about Russian art.
I hope you're enjoying my Avignon blogging so far - here's to another great half-a-term here.
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
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