Lazy Weekend in Apt

Bon soir from Apt! After the crazy week of traveling and orientations, Amy and I decided to stay in this weekend, having a nice relaxing weekend in this small, quaint town.

Yesterday, we explored the market together as well as did some shopping at the Intermarche, the closest grocery store* we have here. I finally made a necessary purchase that every woman who lives in a provincial town needs: a straw basket. I feel oh so français now, carrying around my food purchases in this bag. And we had a lovely French conversation with the vendor at this tent, full of advice of when the market is best and parted with him saying "à bientôt!"(translation: see you soon!) We spent Saturday afternoon planning out trips for coming weekends - next weekend, Cannes for Amy's birthday and for our first two week vacation that begins on October 19... well I guess you will just have to wait and see what that one will be, won't you?**

pain au chocolat et amandes - basically an almond and chocolate croissant. delicious!

Last night, we decided to try and cook our first full real meal on this hot plate business we've been given. Though this apartment is nice, I have to say it is quite annoying that we don't have a kitchen. Or even an oven. Or even a functioning hot plate. Our's is constantly making weird popping noises and sparking. Not fun. Even with this, we managed to make delicious poached salmon with green beans, served with fresh baguette topped with olive tapenade from the market, rosé wine, and mini desserts from one of our favorite patisseries in town.

Wine straight from the Luberon, plus a view of our new tablecloth!

After dinner, we decided to go to a movie. There happens to be a small cinema in town here, with three theaters and an incredibly musky smell inviting you to walk through its doors. We saw Diana, the movie which depicts the life of Princess Diana. Considering I was very young when she died, I did not know very much about her or her life, so I quite enjoyed it. Amy had a different perspective, as she is from England and has been brought up seeing the change in the royal family. It is really interesting to hear the different points of view, and to know the story from the lens of someone else's eyes. Not to mention that I am learning so much about the differences in what Americans call things versus what English people call them. For example, what do they call a flashlight? A torch. How awesome is that? Pulling a torch out of your bag to see where you are going... I would be so excited to use one if it was called that!

Sunday, we decided to get a bit of fresh air and exercise. So, we packed a pique-nique and headed on the nearest walking trail which lead to the nearby village of Saignon. The sign said only 3km of a walk. Not bad, eh? What it left out is that the walk itself is quite a steep climb, leaving us out of breath and quite hot on our little Sunday stroll. Once we reached the top though, the views of Apt from Saignon left me breathless from its pure beauty.*** We enjoyed our lovely lunch of salad, baguette and tapenade, wine and tarte au miel et amandes, followed by an afternoon of reading, cat-napping and soaking up sun on the hill.

Trail was marked by these lines on trees, rocks, etc.

Hidden vineyard along the hike.

See that group of beige-ish colored specks in the middle? That is Apt. Pretty beautiful, right?

Our pique-nique

Honey almond tarts!

Such a peaceful end to a wonderful weekend leads me to potentially dread this week. Tomorrow, I start my mandatory week of observation of the classes I will be assisting. I still have yet to receive a schedule of what times my classes are though... so I am not entirely sure when or where I have to be tomorrow, if I even work tomorrow. Oh well, for now I will enjoy the bits of weekend I have left, as time seems to be slipping through my fingertips already.

*Really, what I mean when I say grocery store is not what we would even consider to be a Meijer or Walmart. The place I go to sort of resembles like a Hardings or Family Fare back home, but cheaper prices.
**I know the suspense is killing you.
***Or maybe it was all the walking.