I have arrived at the Foyer, my new home away from home. Everything seems to be fine. The room is
small, but it is very clean and seems to have everything I want. I also
have a nice view of the courtyard garden from my window. The building is complete with a roof
top terrace and a beautiful view of the city! I can see the top of the Palais des Papes from here!
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| Foyer at Avignon |
Madame la Directrice seems very nice; after
inspecting the room I got busy unpacking. I was a bit worried that the building would be cold,
as so many of these old buildings here seem to be. Happily, the Foyer
seems to have steam heating, so it is very warm! The showers are down the hall. Overall it's home-like.
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| The rooftop view from my room |
They serve breakfast and dinner here five days a week; we have use of the kitchen on the weekends. I'll eat lunches, that's the main meal of the day here, at the University.
The walk to the university
is very short, and I saw the location of the university buildings, though I
still have to find out how to get there on foot. It is very close, so that
shouldn't be a problem. I'm located within the university domaine.
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| Stone wall of the Papal Palace |
The
city itself is very pretty! Right now it is rather cold, because all of France
is having a cold snap, and the Mistral wind, while not too strong today, is as
frigid as promised!
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| The Pont d'Avignon |
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| Decorative ironwork gate |
I slept pretty well last night. It was very quiet. I walked around Avignon for several hours today. I went to the
Palais des Papes and saw the Pont d' Avignon. I also saw the cathedral
of Saint Peter. It
was warmer today than yesterday; it drizzled a bit, the wind wasn't blowing.
The city is really interesting; there are all kinds of
pretty bits of sculpture and architecture, often just sitting here or
there: sculptures in niches on the walls, carved aches, delicate iron
work, elaborate door knockers. They're all kinds of different things. The Papal palace is very impressive, though located on a cliff over the Rhone river and
with such high walls, it 's almost more a 15th century Papal fortress!
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| The entrance to the Papal Palace |
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| St. Peter Cathedrale Avignon |
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| A French language keyboard |
Oh, and the keyboards
here are slightly different, and it is very annoying! I never thought about having a different language means different keyboards too!
