Sean's France Trip: Part 2 (Avignon, Pont du Gard, & Tours)

Now we move onto the second part of my trip! 

This part I went to Avignon, Pont du Gard(aqueduct), and Tours.

As the trip progressed I understood the different parts of French culture. Paris is usually the initial thing someone thinks of when someone brings up France. Taking French for four years and learning about the culture I still focused more on Paris. I am glad that the trip moved from southern France to Paris because it showed me other great things besides Paris. 

This is the half-bridge(Not sure of the real name) in Avignon. The currents of the river caused the bridge to collapse, but they kept rebuilding. They finally gave up on it and it gained fame from this so they just left it like this! 

We walked to the top of a palace, that looked like a fortress, and there was a beautiful view of the fields across the river. 

There was good views of down the river, too!

It led to a park that had many statues. 

After exploring the park, we got to explore Avignon!

Every town that we visited was amazing!

 I thought it was funny they had a restaurant called the American. 

The next day, we went to Pont du Gard. It is a Roman aqueduct built in the first century. This is the largest section that is still standing. It has withstood floods and storms that have reached. They sure knew how to build things back then!

We go to swim under the arches. The water was freezing and it looks a lot closer than it really is. It was so worth swimming underneath it. When can you swim underneath an aqueduct?!

After Pont du Gard, we went to do some calligraphy and fencing! We just practiced some letters and I did better then I thought. 

 This is the instructors calligraphy! I wish I could say this is mine, but he did it so effortlessly.  

 We learned the basics of fencing, but did theatrical fencing. 

 We had to practice different moves and put them together to create an interesting fight scene! I am showing who is boss by knocking the saber out of his hand!

 More food! I attempted to take pictures of every meal, but sometimes I would just skip them on accident! This is a yummy quiche!

 I starting eating the pasta, then I was like, "Oh crap! I need to take a picture!"

Can't have a dinner without a desert! The 9 days I was in France I probably ate the most deserts/pastries then I would in like 6 months! 

That is my second part of my France trip! 

If you have any questions about France or any more details about my trip feel free to ask!

I will answer with the best of my knowledge! 

Thank you! :)

Pride

Hello, Jessica again! Hopefully Sean will post more of his beautiful France trip pictures soon. Until then, I thought I would post again. We were planning on making a post about this, but we didn't get a lot of good pictures and we just changed our minds. But I decided that I would bring up this issue, because it is something Sean and I are both passionate about. The issue is Gay Rights. On Saturday, Sean and I went to Cincinnati's Gay Pride Parade to show our support for Gay Rights. 

 Myself, on the Purple People Bridge, wearing a cute pin I got at the parade. It is sticking into my backpack... not my arm... I swear. Just keep scrolling... scrolling, scrolling.

 Sean, looking awesome and proud, as he should. He is an amazing person. He is intelligent, kind, and passionate about what he wants with his life. He hasn't let any of the negativity associated with being gay get to him because he doesn't let being gay define him. It shouldn't define him as person. It is just a part of his life that he lives with. We are greater than the sum of our parts.

The statue of Cincinnatus at Sawyer Point, looking quite dapper in his pridewear.

The parade was a pretty good time, but since we don't live in Ohio, we couldn't sign any of the petitions. That sucked. And we aren't 21, so we couldn't look cool walking around with a beer in our hand. (Kidding) And I am not 18, so I can't vote on any of these issues... YET.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope that you don't hate gay people. You should just let them be who they are. Let them marry who they love. Let them walk down the streets--dressing however they want to, holding whoever person's hand they want to, doing whatever they want-- without being judged solely because of their sexual orientation. Seriously people, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay. And if you believe there is, then your reasoning is invalid, because everyone should have equal rights, no matter what.This is 2012, wake up, we live in a changing world, and we should be working toward equality and peace.

I would love to start a discussion in the comments of this post. There is still a lot to be said and done about this issue. 

This post had a lot to do with this video, because I have trouble putting the way I feel into words. You should definitely watch it! And watch the rest of the Vlogbrothers' videos.

Esquire Theater/Moonrise Kingdom

Hello! This is Jessica, and I thought I would make a quick post today since Sean hasn't had enough time to post more about his France trip! Anyway, I saw the preview for this movie at the Esquire in May when I was seeing another movie called "Boy" (A lovely, adorable, and simple movie, by the way). After seeing the preview for Moonrise Kingdom, I became obsessed with it, and it took forever for it to get to the Esquire! The Esquire is a movie theater in Cincinnati on Ludlow Avenue. It is my favorite movie theater of all time. For about two years now, my dad and I have went to see movies there together every few months. Now, Sean and I go sometimes too. And of course, you can go here every two weeks to see a live performace of Rocky Horror Picture Show! All around, it is a great movie theater. They put REAL BUTTER on their popcorn. They play great b-movies. The staff is really laid-back and nice. 

And it looks awesome as well! It's in the best location, too. There are three Indian restaurants on that street. THREE. Of course, I only love Ambar. And there is also an old Skyline Chili that is open late for those nights after RHPS. There's a couple cute clothing stores. Really, if you've never been there, you are missing out.

Okay, I wasn't planning on going into full detail about the theater, but I seriously went off on a tangent there.

BACK TO THE MOVIE! I don't want to give any spoilers because I am seeing the movie again in a few weeks with some lovely chaps for my birthday and I don't want to ruin it for them.  


Basically, the movie is about two twelve-year-olds who are in love and exchange letters back and forth, through which they later plan to runaway together. The boy is an orphan khaki scout and he escapes from camp. The girl--well, her parents call her "troubled"--escapes from her parents and little brothers. When the camp leader (Edward Norton!!!!) discovers the boy is missing, he calls the small town's police officer, and they set up a search party to find them. After the girl's family is questioned about his whereabouts, they discover their own daughter is missing as well. The whole town goes into a frenzy about finding the two children, all while a storm is brewing near the island in which they live.

If I had to describe the film in three words, I'd say: adorable, hilarious, and nostalgic.

I would rate it five stars. 

And I would rate my review one star. I apologize if you actually read my sad attempt to write a movie review. Though, I hope you will watch the preview if you haven't already, and go out to see the movie as soon as possible. It was incredible, and if you have never seen a Wes Anderson movie, I suggest you to also go watch them. He is a brilliant director.

Okay, I am done trying to be a writer for the day! I will stick to taking bad pictures and writing bad captions for them. Thank you for your time, I appreciate it!