Agghh, Life is good :)

Saturday, October 10th 2009:

Today, I went on an expedition of the city of Nîmes with the family.

The train was a cool experience! On the way to Nîmes, there were no seats left, so we all had to stand. Luckily, the train ride was only 14 minutes.

The first thing that we did today was visit the Cathérale Notre-Dame-et-St.Castor. It was a large Catholic church. It was gorgeous inside. It is one of the only medieval buildings in Nîmes left standing after a huge dispute between religions in 1567. In 1702, Nîmes became (and still is today) a primarily Protestant practicing city. This church is a place of very little interest. There are approximately 20 attendees per service.

The second sight we went to see was a first-century Roman arena called Les Arénas. It seats over 24,000 spectators. It was used for gladiator's combats. It is one of the best preserved arenas in Europe. It is 3 stories tall. There is sand that was put out after every battle because it soaked up the blood and it's stench. Many Christians were prosecuted here, which lead to many Christian conversions. (p.s: it smelled bad there, but it was so cool to learn about). It was a self-guided tour. At the entrance they give you a headset and you listen to the commentator talk about all of the events that happened and the history of the arena.

We went to an exhibition of the history of the Bible. It was quite interesting to see all of the old artifacts and the first. original writing of it. Most of it was in Hebrew..So cool :)

There was an artifact found in Egypt and it is believed to be two letters from Peter.

We went to Subway for lunch. I got a wrap with chicken and veggies in it, a coke and a macadamia nut cookie. So GOOD!

Le Maison Carrée was next on our list of things to see. It is a temple in the center of Nîmes. It was built in 5 A.D. It used to be a large market place, but has been restored and now shows videos about famous gladiators in 3D. It was pretty neat to watch, except I'd just eaten Subway, and then whole movement of objects flying at my face started to make me feel really woozie.

I saw an art museum that displayed objects from Medieval Nîmes, and the Maison Carrée. I didn't have a chance to go in. (next time!)

I saw a pink Vespa and chuckled. It had stickers of fruit all over it.

There were SO MANY squares and parks and cafés. Holy crap, what a beautiful place! There were fountains and statues everywhere. The most common square is the Jardin de la Fontaine. (the gardens of the fountains).

Next, we climbed up a very large hill to the Mange Tower (La Tour Mange). It was the beginning of climbing A LOT of stairs, but it was a gorgeous day, the gardens were spectacular and the end result was SO WORTH IT! At the top (only Fred and I climbed up), you could see the entire city of Nîmes! It was originally built so that guards could know if invaders were entering the city. Now it is an observation look-out.

A funny moment: Alex decided that he'd push Fred back down the hill in the stroller, since he wanted to walk. It was so funny, I had to take a picture.

We passed one of many ponds, but this one was better than the others. It was way cooler, because it contained goldfish a frog and a rainbow... Can't beat that!

On the train ride home , there was hardly anyone on the train, so we got to sit in first class! We went from standing to first class! haha... But boy, was I ever glad because my feet were SO SORE!

I have blisters on my feet, but I say that it is proof of accomplishment, and living a very cool life.

Love Always,

Me <3

(P.S: Ellen, I am taking you here. It's amazing.)