Return to Avignon

 Hello!

 I had a lovely Christmas at home. The time came, however, to return for my final stretch in Avignon. The journey was uneventful - I went via Marseilles again - and I reinstalled myself in my studio apartment.

 I had little time before moving on to Spain for the next part of my adventure, so I tried to cherish every day. I didn't have much left to do at Uni - I just had to pop in and out for a few things. I spent the rest of my time studying, practising my French, seeing friends and just wandering around.

 I visited the Palais des Papes, the Rue de la République, the Rhône. I bought some last souvenirs - postcards, lavender bags, magnets - and said goodbye to all these places that I had come to love.

 The Epiphany is a big deal in France, with families sharing a kings' cake and searching for the tiny figurine hidden inside. As many of my friends had already left France, I decided not to buy or make a big cake and instead I bought a small version for myself.

 It was tasty, and the little mouse - if that's what he is? - is cute and still sits on my shelf. Of course, I got to wear the paper crown for finding him!

 I also smiled at the attempt at hilarious international marketing that is Frenchips - supposed to sound like both "French chips" and "friendships", I'm guessing. Hey, they tasted pretty good!

 One lovely and unexpected thing happened before I left. I walked in the direction of my favourite pizza place and then just kept walking, interested to see where I would end up. This was extra-muros - outside the city walls - and the roads seemed to stretch away forever.

 It was peaceful and open and that walk alone would have been a nice experience. At the end of it, though, was something amazing.

 I was walking by a major road when I heard a frantic, non-stop squeaking. It seemed to be coming from the line of trees on a road island, so I crossed over to it. Standing below the trees, I was surrounded by an orchestra of noise. It was so loud, and there were clearly many, many creatures contributing to it.

 At first I thought it must be bats, but then small swarms started leaving the trees and swirling across the moon - a breathtaking sight - before returning to their roost. In the moonlight, I could see they were birds. I made a few videos of them.

 It was magical. It felt like a miracle of nature, right in the middle of a busy road on the edge of a town. If I closed my eyes I could be deep in a cave, with birds or bats flying all around me.  It reminded me of the scene with the flying keys in Harry Potter - who knows, maybe they used birdsong as the background noise for that.

 I walked back to my apartment feeling blessed to have witnessed and heard something so incredible. As I walked past shops, and people going about their business, it struck me that I felt the world should have changed somehow after I encountered such wonder - but no, it was just an ordinary night. Wonder happens all the time, and life just goes on.

 I did my last few chores - got my final Erasmus form signed off, returned my last book to the library. I enjoyed my favourite treats from Casino - my local food shop - one last time: cheese and tomato half-moons (pasta) with peanut butter (it sounds weird but I love it!) followed by chocolate merveilleux - gorgeous desserts made of chocolate, meringue and cream.

 I had one last conversation evening at Cami-Li, my lovely local English-French bookshop.

 I had a final hot chocolate and said my goodbyes to my friends there.

 Then it was time to leave.

 Due to the timings of everything, my last night would actually be spent in a different room within my building, so I had to move all my stuff out of my apartment and up a few floors. On the plus side, my new room had a TV. So I was able to watch "N'oubliez pas les paroles!" ("Don't Forget the Lyrics!") as I prepared for the journey to Spain.

 Annoyingly, on one of my last days I had fallen down the stairs in my residence and damaged my ankle. Great! The journey ahead of me would be long and complicated and the last thing I needed was to be limping. But it happened, and I would have to manage.

 I'll tell you all about that journey - which had six different parts and in which I was allowed no margin of error whatsoever - in my next post. It was stressful in the extreme, but memorable, and it took me to Vigo, where plenty of exciting times awaited me.

 Thanks for sharing my adventures in Avignon and Provence. Time to set out for Galicia!

 Liz x

Céret

 Hello!

 Céret, the cherry capital of France, which is not far from Perpignan, had been on my radar for a long time. When I did go, it was pretty unexpected.

 Rebekah, another English Assistant, and I fancied exploring somewhere in the department together. We decided to meet at the Centre of the Universe (Perpignan Railway Station) and pick a destination. 

 After a lot of deliberating we chose Céret. Rather than go by train we elected to go by the famous 1 Euro Bus.

 The sky was moody and the hills dark as we cruised through the countryside of the Pyrérées-Orientales. It was very atmospheric. We got off at the wrong stop, realised, jumped back on the bus before it left us there - phew - and got off at the next one, the right one.

 The right stop still wasn't exactly in the town centre so we had to pick a road and hope it was the right one. Fortunately it was and we found ourselves in the middle of Céret. 

 The first place we visited was a patisserie - of course! Followers of this blog will know how much I love taking pictures of bakery and patisserie displays.

 We left and wandered up the street. I had absolutely no idea what was in Céret apart from cherries when they were in season which wasn't now, so I was going in completely blind and it was quite fun. In such a small village it was impossible to get badly lost.

 We found ourselves at the Museum/Gallery of Modern Art and decided to take a look. I was greatly impressed by the large volume of works by Picasso - I hadn't known he had lived in Céret and that the town was so important to him. I was also delighted to see works by Miro and Juan Gris.

We did this at school in Art - I had no idea it was here!

 After we left the gallery my camera battery ran out so I switched to my phone. The images are slightly less clear but I think it happens to add to the ambience in Céret that day. It was quietly overcast, with a mysterious feel, like a storm was coming and the town was waiting.

 We found a public music box stand which Rebekah loved. Melodies included the Star Wars theme, Yesterday and "Greensleaves".

 We encountered a beautiful fountain designed by Picasso. I was enchanted by it - it will definitely feature in one of my novels some day.

 We explored a bit and saw the famous Devil's Bridge as well as a nice carved lion some pretty but slightly spooky skies.

 I bought some postcards and we made our way back down the hill to the bus stop. Dusk was coming and the sky was really eerie. I did my best to capture it on my phone camera. The atmosphere was really crackling - I wonder if a storm broke after we left.

 We hopped back onto the bus and rolled back home to Perpignan. It was a good day; I enjoyed spending some time with Rebekah and am glad I made time to see Céret. 

 The art gallery was interesting and the town quite quaint but what I remember most about that day is the bizarre atmosphere: the colours in the sky and the tension in the air. It was a weird and therefore unique day out.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x