Hiking in Amblialet, Visiting Cordes, Rugby Match in Albi

I've fallen in love!!! Don't worry Evan, it is not with a French man, but the town of Cordes (pronounced chord) in southern France. I will get to that soon, but first...

Thursday morning a group of us woke up early and went on an adventurous hike around the mountains of Ambialet. These are a few of the photos from that adventure....

The start of our hike..

Ambialet, with the monastery on the hill..

Cordes-sur-Ciel (Cordes on the sky)

Cordes is a town in southern France, just under an hour from Ambialet, that was founded in 1222. Since the twentieth century, the town is known as Cordes-sur-Ciel, because it towers above the heavy mist during the winter season. 

(from the internet)

When the town was first founded it was safest to build at the highest point, so Cordes began as a small town on top of a mountain, protected by a fortified gate. As the town expanded they began to build down the mountain, enclosing the town each time with a new wall and fortified gate. The town expanded enough that there currently are five gates (now freely open for passage). 

Here is the reminisce of one of the old gates

 

The higher you walk up the steep cobblestone the further you walk back into history..

 

 

We popped into an antique store and the 84-year-old owner began to sing and had us all join in and sing whatever songs we could think of.

As soon as he found out we were American students he ran into another room of the antique store and brought out a handful of French books. He handed them out to all of us, saying we would keep them to practice our French. The books he handed me are the perfect souvenirs!

(Amy's photo)

My friend Carly has an awesome camera, so she let me steal a few pictures to show all of you...

  

Me, Colleen, & Carly at the highest point in Cordes

 The shutters are as blue as the sky!

 

 Red, White, and Blue!

Just wait until you see my collection of pictures of all the shutters and doors, it is coming along incredibly!  I have never seen a town where EVERY single door (shutters too) is so unique and different from one another; I was giggling the entire time we were wandering around the town.

Cordes also has amazing door knockers, here are some of them (especially for you Mama!)...

I have been to some incredible places in my life, but Cordes has taken the cake. If I ever manage to conquer the French language then I would seriously consider living here. For now, I will settle for coming back to visit within 20 years ;-)








Rugby Match in Albi

On our way back to Ambialet we stopped in Albi and went to the Albi vs. Narbonne rugby match. Narbonne is located just under 3 hours from Ambialet, close to the Mediterranean Sea. We are actually staying in Narbonne on our way to Barcelona, Spain at the beginning of February.

This was my first time to ever see a rugby match and not only did I not know any of the rules, but trying to understand the french announcer was an entirely different challenge. However, I did get a chance to sit next to Tim for part of the game, so he gave me some pointers about what was going on. 

 

Albi's team colors are gold & black, so a few people in our group were more than willing to purchase fan gear, because they figured they could wear it to Steelers games.

Here is a very vague, general overview of what happens:  (Dags, correct me if I am wrong)

There are 15 players on each team on the field at once. When in possession of the ball the team makes their way towards their goal. When passing a player can only throw the ball in a backwards direction to a teammate. They can kick the ball forward, but then it becomes a free ball and the other team is free to catch it and take possession.

This is called the scrum. There are 8 players from each team that lock together to form a mass of 16 players. In this picture a Narbonne player (the guy in orange that is standing with the ball) will toss the ball underneath the middle of the scrum.The players then try to gain possession of the ball.

A scrum is a way of restarting the game, for a number of reasons.

My favorite part of the game is when players lift each other up in the air to receive the ball. It is So fun to watch. These guys are incredibly strong and have the biggest quads I've ever seen!

 This night was truly a night of firsts...my first rugby match, my first sip of hot wine(their substitute for hot chocolate for cold nights in the stands), and..... I went to find the bathrooms (les toilettes) and had to laugh when I found them; they were co-ed, so I walked in and there were guys using the urinal right in front of me. I politely averted my eyes while waiting for a stall to open. When I walked in there was no bowl, just two foot rests and a shallow basin on the floor. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind squatting, but it is usually in the woods, not at a sporting event. The experience made me giggle and I am glad I finally went through it. However, I can say for the first time, "I appreciate toilet bowls."

I cannot believe I have only been in France for one week! We have already done so many wonderful things and seen so many beautiful places I cannot fathom the amount of experiences I will have under my belt by the end of April. I hope you are all doing well and please feel free to email me at kellie.madeline@gmail.com to update me on your  lives, anytime. 

Au revoir,

K.Madeline