10 days ago, Brianna returned from a class trip in the Provence region of France, where they spent 5 days touring together and using their French.  On May 30th, we walked Breeze to ASP at 6:30am to board a bus, and then that bus took them to the train station where they went to St. Remy de Provence, by train. They arrived at lunch to Van Gogh’s hospital where he painted the surrounding fields, and they had a picnic in those fields and then toured the ‘Residence’. That night they arrived at their Hotel and had journal time because the assignment was to track their holiday in a journal in French.

The next day they took a bus to Nimes for a guided visit of Maison Carree (arena), had lunch in Nimes and then went horse back riding on the water. Afterwards, they visited the Camargue. “The Camarague” is region of the Rhône delta in France, characterized by numerous shallow salt lagoons. The region is known for its white horses and being a huge nature reserve.  Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire when the city was home to 50,000–60,000 people.  Several famous monuments are in Nîmes, such as the Nîmes Arena and the Maison Carrée. Because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the French Rome.

Also during the week, they visited Orange and its Theatre Antique, and Natu’rando Nature park for kayaking to Pont du Gard.  While in Orange, they learned about the aqueduct and detente on the shore of the ‘Gardon’ river. Another day they went to Avignon and the Palais des Papes (Pope’s Palace) which was built in 1335. It is the largest Gothic Palace in the word and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  They also visited Pont d’Avignon (the famous bridge) which was begun in 1177 and originally had 22 stone arches crossing the river.  Here is the group in Avignon. They caught the train back to Paris from here.  Can you find Breeze? She is in grey. 🙂