a lot like paradise

well friends, needless to say I had a great weekend. the family we stayed with is so warm and welcoming and had an amazing villa with all of the fixings (as you can see in the photos). we arrived there friday afternoon and we ate lunch outside on the little picnic table, facing the oliverie. the weather was beautiful and sunny, and i felt like i was in paradise. after lunch we got right to work... we took a little tour of their property and Annie showed us an old roman bridge hidden in the woods. chloe and i planted two cherry trees and an apricot tree, then a little later we went to their vineyard and help plant some vines! man, i am going to miss the 4 course dinners here, and wine!

unfortunately the rest of the weekend the weather was not very nice, so we set some fires in the woods because in southern france there is a lot of dry brush and in the summer when it gets very hot, there are many forest fires, so people are required to "clean" their forests and burn brush. this seemed to be a very funny thing to be doing while is france (to me).

Annie brought us to Saint Tropez for the rest of the day... we had to drive through mountains to get there and it was so beautiful. St. Tropez is on the coast (mediterranean) and it's very ritzy, many celebrities come there especially in the summer. the french daughter said she saw Bruce Willis there one summer. haha. we also went to a interpretive dance saturday night... the dancer's interpretation of the islamic religion... it was super interesting and amazing how he could move his body. it made me want to be a devout yogi!

the rest of the weekend we spent eating, lounging, and looking at fashion magazines (Madame Figaro. haha). the french mom, Annie asked for my e-mail address to stay in contact with me. :)

now i'm back in Aix, going to class, getting back into the groove.

Oh, so in europe they have this amazing invention called good espresso vending machines!!! the machine makes it right in front of you, you can choose how much sugar you want. plain espresso, cafe creme, cafe au lait, etc. i will take a picture. a cafe creme (=espresso and a little milk) is 60 centimes (euro cents)!!! and so during class breaks (because sometimes i have 4 hours classes) there are a bunch of people who gather in the courtyard sitting on benches, smoking, etc. with these little espresso cups. it''s purely divine! and i do not know why we do not have them!!! they have them here in gas stations, at my school, airports, TGV stations, everywhere!

Can you believe tomorrow will be APRIL? i can't.

P.S. skype me! it's fun.