My Mam and Granma arrive!

 Hello!

 At the end of my second week of classes in Avignon, my mother arrived to see me. My grandmother would join us the next day. 

 It was amazing to see my Mam again. We had a wander around Avignon, enjoying delicious drinks at the French Coffee Shop, like we did back in Perpignan for my birthday.

 The next day my Granma arrived and the three of us headed into town to have an explore. It was a perfect day, bright but cool. We spotted fluffy owls, an elegant toy shop and some colourful macarons. 

 We passed under the umbrellas - umbrellas that were now getting a bit wonky and starting to fall apart, but which were still incredibly beautiful.

 We saw a guy doing some tricks with a diabolo.

 Next we headed into a sweet shop, which boasted some regional products as well as general favourites. We were offered free sample after free sample, and there were some real treats.

These were amazing!

 We then popped into an ice cream shop. More poor Smurfs!

 We stopped at the Place de l'Horloge for crêpes and non-alcoholic mojitos.

 We continued on to the Palais des Papes, where several musicians were performing.

"Nice weather, François."

"I agree, Pierre, it is a fine day."

 We then hopped between a handful of souvenir shops, admiring the endless lavender bags, cicadas and pottery. One particular shop really caught my attention as it was playing "Africa" by Toto and it had such a range of soaps, bath bombs and bath pearls as I hadn't seen in a long time. Although there's only a shower in my apartment, I still love looking at that kind of thing.

So adorable!

Soaps galore! They even have chocolate-scented soap!

 We reluctantly drew ourselves away from the soaps and made our way down to the river, passing a few other shops on the way.

Our cat finally made it onto a bag!

 We had some refreshing ice-creams; mine was banana and was lovely.

 As we strolled along by the Rhône, lizards darted in and out of the undergrowth, scrambling over the hot ground. They reminded me of the lizards of Perpignan.

 My Mam suggested that we do something I had been meaning to do but had never got around to, which was to catch the little ferry across the river to Barthelasse. Having only ever got the (new) bridge across, I was game, and so we stepped on board. 

 We were joined by two dogs, a big retriever-type and a Scottie, the former of which enjoyed barking at the latter. However, the little Scottie stood his ground bravely, and when we disembarked he danced off quite jollily by his owner's side, not looking any the worse for wear.

 On the island we lounged around enjoying the afternoon sun and admiring the views of the river, the old bridge and the old town. 

 Eventually we made our way to the ferry and zoomed back across the Rhône. It had been a tiring but fulfilling day, and my Mam and Granma were both very impressed with Avignon. We would have many more adventures in the days to come!

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

My first two weeks of class

 Salut!

 With the trip to Baux-de-Provence and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence over, I settled back into everyday Avignon life. 

 My first week of lessons began and I enjoyed them. My timetable wasn't completely sorted yet, but luckily we Erasmus students are allowed to sample a few different courses before choosing for definite which ones we want to do.

 I studied all kinds of French things, from linguistics and syntax to theatre and Medieval poetry. I also tried out some Spanish modules, as I want to be speaking that regularly as well, and I joined a zumba class which is fun and something a bit different. You can do sport for credits here, which I really like, but getting a place in one of the classes is hard with so many people keen to do it.

 I learnt more and more about Avignon and soon knew my way around both the Uni and the town. I came to love walking by the river, chilling in the squares and strolling through the winding streets.

 I live very near a supermarket and enjoyed tasting new foods. One thing I discovered which made me laugh was the Nutella B-ready - like Happy Hippos but in the shape of bread. Everything about them, from the concept to the name to the packaging is so silly, but they taste pretty good!

 I also got to know my local area better. It's very tempting to spend your time Intra-muros, inside the old city walls, as that is where the main Uni building is and where you can find lots of historical stuff. However, I like being Extra-muros, outside the walls, because it's more open and diverse. I discovered a pizza shop quite near to me which I like and will probably return to.

 I found out to my delight that my mother and grandmother would be coming to visit me at the end of my second week of classes. I was so excited to be able to show them around the city that already felt like home. 

 The knowledge that they would be coming helped to power me through the stress of getting my timetable and the accompanying paperwork sorted. It's complicated, but you just have to stick at it and stay positive. I'm now doing a set of classes that I enjoy and which fit together well. I'm very hopeful that this will be a wonderful semester.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x