EAC S'14 Week 4

Euro Week 5



On Tuesday, we drove all the way to Avignon and did a quick sketch of Pont d’Avignon (Pont Saint-Bénézet). Built in 1177 it was later destroyed by King Louis VIII forty years later. Only four of the 22 arches remain due to war and numerous floods. Even though it is no longer a complete bridge, it is still very beautiful. Following the quick sketch, we visited an amazing château in the land of the former Popes.



We got to see the facilities for the wine making process and learned about the various grapes grown and harvested there. The wine was stored in old oak, never new and stainless steel tanks. We could smell the strong fragrance of the oak ones but some people, we were told don’t like oak-stored wine as it alters the purity of the grape.



One thing that made this château experience so much more interesting was the owner of the château. She was a very humorous and friendly French lady who spoke fluent English with a South African accent. We had a lot of fun chatting with her.















Thursday was quite cloudy and rainy, but luckily, we were visiting the Pont Du Gard museum when it was raining heavily. Pont du Gard was one of the biggest ancient Roman aqueducts. It was built to channel water from the springs of the Fontaine d’Eure near Uzes to the collection basin in Nîmes. From there, it was distributed to fountains, baths and private homes around the city. The Pont is 49 meters high above the river and 274 meters long, and was built on three levels. It was very spectacular and surrounded by woods.



Each one of us picked a favorite spot and did a drawing.







We got a little tired after a long day and after some delicious ice cream brought back our energy, we got back in the van and drove to our sweet home.





Saturday is our big traveling day. Everyone got up really early in the morning to catch the train to Nice.



Unfortunately, I was sick and did not make it to Nice. According to the travelers, it was a gorgeous two and a half hour train ride along the coast. They first went to a big open air market to pick up picnic items and then enjoyed their sweet picnic under the sunshine on a wonderful stoney beach.



Some people were brave enough to go into the water. Axel and Emi swam for a long time in the sea. After some sun tanning and sketching, they traveled to the top of Nice’s castle and got a beautiful view of the beach.







After that, they traveled back down to the old city of Nice and did some fun shopping. They took the train back to Aix safely. However, after they got on the bus at Marseilles, the bus broke down and started on fire after 10 minutes, therefore, they had Dave come rescue them.



The adventurous bus ride made all the people hungry apparently, so they picked up many pizzas on the way back home. I then joined the big group and we had a wonderful night.



It was another fun week! Below is a sneak peek of some sketch books.


Anna


Eli


Nathan


Walker


Cathy


Axel’s leather cover


Nathan


Eli


Ben


Axel


Emi