Quickly..yesterday I took a much better picture of the monastery, so here it is...
Anyway, a few days ago we traveled about 30 minutes away into the town of Albi, where we will be taking a portion of our French lessons. When we first arrived we took some time to take a stroll around the town and get a feel for it.
Many streets in Albi, like this one, are walking streets that were constructed long before motor vehicles were used in the town. Even if they wanted to allow cars to drive on them some of the streets are just too narrow, even for the tiny cars they drive over here!
I have a newly found obsession..shutters!! Almost all of the houses/buildings in both Ambialet and Albi have shutters on all of the windows. I think I am going to put together a poster similar to Doors of State College, but make it Shutters of France
Right in Albi is Saint-Salvi Church. This is what you see from the outside...
This is what you see on the inside...
These are the gardens at Saint-Salvi Church, in Albi 
In the gardens you can see this...which used to be the watch tower for the town
We popped outside and just a block away this giant spilled down on us..
This is the Cathedral of St. Cecilia and was built as a defensive fortress and statement of strength after a holy war in the 13th century. I'm sure it looks huge in this picture, but believe me, huge does not even begin to describe the size of this building! Look at the picture below, notice how enormous this entrance looks...well, look back up at the top picture on the left side and you can see how this entrance is merely a fraction of the tallest point of the building!
Check out the gargoyles lining the building..
Here, the pigeons are clinging to the wall like Spiderman!
We did not get a chance to go inside of the cathedral, but as soon as we do I will make sure to post pictures!
Albi is home to the famous artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec of the late 19th century. Here is the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, which I am really hoping I get the chance to visit!
Albi, France
During the festival of Epiphany it is a tradition to eat le gâteau des rois (the cake of kings). The cake has a single bean or small novelty item baked into it and the lucky person to find it in their piece of cake is crowned king for the day. Mama Himes actually put her incredible baking skills to work and whipped one of these up for me before I left...(her's was better than any of the others I've had here in France)
After meandering through the main areas of town we made our way to the university where we will be studying French. Tim explained that many universities here are not nearly the social hub that they are in the States. Because of this, there are very few extracurricular activities,which in turn results in an incredibly low tutition.
Before meeting the group I now call housemates, I was convinced I would be one of the few students who had little-to-zilch experience with the French language. However, I quickly learned that the majority of our group has never taken a French class in their life. So, despite my extreme concerns and lack of French finesse, our first French class went quite well! We have two professors, Marie & Isabette, who will be working with us for 6 hours a week for the entire semester. We will be attending class in Albi once a week, and Marie and Isabette will be traveling to the monastery for the second class-day of the week. I thought we would be starting out learning how to say things like "ear" or "bathroom," but that is not the case. Marie will only speak French, unless it is the end of class, and we have jumped right into learning phrases by means of oral communication. There is very little work with handouts or a textbook. This style of "tough-love" teaching is a major challenge, but it will definitely benefit us in the long run!
Since visiting Albi we have also started most of our other courses. Of the other courses, I am most excited about an Art History class I am taking. In each class we are assigned an artist, a piece of their work and a new group to work with. The next class session we are expected to present an exposé on the artist and their work. We are also expected to introduce the artist, the date and location of their birth, their nationality, a statement concerning their work, and one or two of their works and their dates IN FRENCH! Thankfully, Tim Perkin's daughter is taking the class and she grew up between France and the States, so she is fluent in French; she is going to be a major help!
I am also taking Anatomy & Physiology II lecture and lab online, with 5 of the other students. Most of my "free" time is devoted to reading/studying for this class. I took the first A&P course online last summer and I was by myself and had to complete it in 6 weeks. So, I am anticipating that having a longer amount of time and friends to study with will make the course flow a bit better. However, I am in France, not State College, so there will be a lot of activities I need to attend and plenty of distractions! Due to the fact that this course will most likely be the bane of my existence my posts/pictures will most likely come just once week.
Lastly, I am taking a religious studies course (starting next week) that will mostly consist of excursions around France/Spain and I am also taking a few Fine Arts courses that I will explain once I get started on them (one includes gardening)!
I miss you all and hope all is well! For now, it is 1:25am (I'm a real college student ;-) and I must finish some lingering homework and get to bed!
bien dormir, (sleep well)
Kellie
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