Day 5 - Gordes

Editor's Note: Megan Glidden is blogging from Europe during the .

Tuesday, March 27 

Gordes 

This morning came far too quickly for most of us. We had a wake up call at 6AM, which is hard to be ready for when you don’t hit the pillow until 2AM…totally worth it though. The weather here, as I have said before, has been fabulous. Mid 70’s every day with not a cloud in the sky. We have been staying outside until late at night telling stories and laughing! 

We got on the bus this morning and headed to the city of Gordes. It’s a hill town with twisted cobblestone streets and fantastic terrace views. We stopped quick to get a beautiful view of the city and to take a few pictures. It was gorgeous.

Before spending some time in the city, we arrived at the Senaque Abby, just outside the city limits. The Senaque Abby hosts a monastery founded in 1148 and populated by monks. We were able to get a tour of the monastery, which was amazing, and also attend a mass service where the monks chanted and sang. The experience was pretty incredible and the choir students were there as well. It was surreal to see all of us together in an ancient chapel gathered together listening to French monks. It was an experience of a lifetime for sure.

After leaving the monastery, we arrived in the city of Gordes which was filled with cobblestone streets and plenty of quaint shops and delicious cafes. We at lunch at a place called Casa Rosario. We had pasta and pizza that was to die for…and a glass of wine, of course. We bought scarves and clothing from some of the street shops and bought wonderful olives and garlic from the small farmers market going on.  Our last stop in Gordes was the wine shop, where we all bought some bottles of French wine, which we are very excited to try tonight.

We arrived back at the hotel with a little time to rest and get ready for the night. We ate dinner at the hotel, which consisted of mushroom soup, chicken and mash potatoes, and a raspberry cake that was unbelievable. 

After dinner we went to a cathedral to watch the students perform along side of French students in a concert. It was such a treat to see the choirs and orchestra coming together and the music they made sounded incredible. All the students were practicing this afternoon and their practice really paid off. We got to chat with the students and other local residents who attended the concert (which they seemed to really enjoy). It was a great time to catch up!

Tomorrow we are leaving Nimes and heading to Carcassonne. Nimes was a great place to stay at for three nights! The weather was gorgeous and we couldn’t have asked for a better time! We are all excited to see what tomorrow has in store! More to come soon!

From Nimes,

-Megan