ma vie en France est hors de commande

don't know if that translates - but what i was trying to say is that "my life in france is out of control!" -- but so fun!

Let's see, the second week of March we had our friends Hannah and Hunt visit from Oxford which was SO fun! We got to show them around Aix and Marseilles and they got to see our lives here!

Movie night with the gang at Will's apartment! Love Actually was playing with a bottle of wine to go around :)

The one and only Château D'if (Count of Monte Cristo of course) this is just off the shore of Marseilles!

We hiked Sainte Victoire together which was (really hard) and so fun! We had a great picnic at the top and because it was such GREAT weather we were joined by other interesting folks - including the man in this picture :/

This is in the courtyard of our university. Of course we weren't on spring break so we were taking shifts keeping hannah and hunt company.

These next pictures are from CEA's excursion to Camargue and Saintes Maries de la Mer (how exotic right??) It consisted of horseback riding, flamingos, the mediterranean, food, lots of bulls, and friends!

This is from our excursion on horseback - yikes! All I know is that I had zero control over that horse and, Minuit, did whatever the heck he pleased! And for the most part it was a little dreary and muddy and totally fun for those who didn't get thrown off (there were 3 incidents for our group!)

Everyone ready helmets and all to brave the white ponies!

This is my new french boyfriend also our cowboy/'gardien' - but don't worry mom, i'm still coming home!

This is the church in the center of Saintes Maries de la Mer. It dates back to the 11th century!

Some of Vivienne's friends run a bull-breeding farm in Camargue and we got a nice tour from the back of a tractor where we were nice and safe! They showed us the different techniques to round up the torros one by one starting with the leader in order to move them to a different part of the farm!

This is my friend Brittany, and i just love this picture! Camargue is known for it's flamingos all year long!

We also had the opportunity to attend a bull-fighting/local "course de camarguaise"...this is the commencement ceremony.

The participants wore all white and the contestants with black name lettering were competing and the ones with red (one in the upper right corner) were experienced fighters who were there to attract attention and basically get the bulls fired up a little bit.

These bulls were annnnggggrrrryyyyy; and each contestant was aiming to rip off as many ribbons as possible tied to the horns of the bull.

They were incredible and clearing that wall just in the nick of time!

So! That's a little update for you. Will and I leave next week for Budapest and Matt, Elea, Sher and some others are camping in Corsica! We'll be bringing plenty of stories for the next time! That's all for now!