Basketball, Barcelona, and Aix

Mid-semester breaks are two weeks in France, so whenever I get one I’m usually a little lost with what to do with all that time. My friend Leeah visited the week before the break started, and she’s a social butterfly who is very knowledgeable about travel, so I picked her brain about what to do. She convinced me to try out Barcelona, a city and country I’d never seen, and so I did. I also took a couple days to return to Aix-en-Provence, a city which long-time readers will recognize as the place where I studied abroad way back in 2019 and the origin of this blog.

Aix was familiar and comfortable. The days I spent there on this trip were certainly my most relaxed in that city. I retraced old steps and visited old haunts: the English language bookstore/cafe I got tea at, the ancient Roman water fountains where my friends and I used to fill our water bottles, the cathedral with the baptismal font they claim was constructed by Lazarus. I saw new things, too, to my slight embarrassment. This trip was the first time I visited the studio of Cézanne! He was a famous painter who spent the last years of his life obsessed with the mountain called St. Victoire, which looms over the city with a ghost-white facade that stands out from the pale tans and greens of the landscape. I climbed that mountain, once. Got very lost. I think I blogged about it, long ago.

I went to the park where I would eat lunch between classes. I ate at the restaurant where me and a group of friends first organized a Dungeons and Dragons campaign — a campaign which is still going! The five of us get together on voice calls once or twice a month to catch up and play. I’m so grateful to Aix for giving me those friendships.

That was the first week of break. The weekend before the second week (the Barcelona week) I checked out a professional basketball game in a suburb of Lyon. Do y’all remember Yves Pons? He was in the same year as me at UT. He was on the basketball team, and he was very good. He was known for his prodigious wingspan and for being French. Turns out he plays pro here in Lyon! His defense has improved considerably. His new arena here is smaller than Thompson-Bowling, and they sell crepes at the concession. The place was sold out. Kids had posters. Lots of people were wearing Lakers jerseys, which I kinda understand. Yves sunk an incredible three pointer off a rebound before the half and the crowd went nuts. It’s almost as if they understood the game and the rules… but of course that’s ludicrous.

Barcelona was beautiful and warm, but I think I don’t know enough about Spanish history or Spanish language to fully appreciate it. I saw lots of monuments and buildings that had an aura of importance and historicity, but either the signage wasn’t in a language I know, or there was no explanation at all. Makes sense, I guess, I mean there’s not a plaque at the Eiffel Tower.

Bises,

Allison

P.S.: One of my favorite video games just released a DLC, so I’m counting down the days until I can get back to my PS4. Yep, that’s the only reason I’m excited to go home.