Spain Trip 2010: Day 6

Today, we got up early to take a break from Spain and see a little more of Europe by travelling to Southern France. After eating our breakfast buffet (which strangely included French fries as an option), we took off on the bus for a two hour road trip. The majority of the team continued to show their exhaustion, as usual, by falling asleep almost instantly on the bus ride. Although, I envied their ability to rest on the bus, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery on the way to France, which included beautiful landscapes of farms, old, stone homes, and large, snowcapped mountains.
Once we arrive in Perpengion, the small town of France, we were greeted by our tour guide for a short tour around. We went to a beautiful French Cathedral first. When we first entered the church, the color scheme was dark, but as we walked deeper, the architecture became much lighter and more welcoming. The beauty was stunning, with stained glass windows, statues and paintings. This specific church was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, indicated by the centerpiece behind the alter. The centerpiece was a massive wall with images that told the story of St. Johns life. Right in the middle of the wall, there was a small hole. This hole was used for special effects during services. Doves would fly out of it, symbolizing hope to the people. Two other holes used for similar purposes were located on the ceiling. Not only would doves fly from these, but also fire and light. I found it extremely interesting that these special effects could be performed so long ago, in almost as good of fashion as they could be today with our modern technology.
Next, we visited the home of a very wealthy merchant. Strange and slightly disturbing images bordered the home. It is speculated that the small, sculpted images represented the seven deadly sins. For example, the presence of a lion symbolized pride and a sculpture of two merchants doing business symbolized greed. The home was enormous considering its age, and the amount of detailed décor inside amazed me.
After that, we were set free for lunch and got to shop for several hours. We were all extremely excited to shop, and took off immediately to buy as many things as we could. Of course, I tried a crepe for dessert, which was delicious! Abby and I split an entire giant, pizza sized crepe topped with chocolate and bananas, and ate every last bite of it.
I also found an awesome antique store where I bought a 200 year old book, which may have been my favorite purchase of the whole trip even though I have no idea how to read French. Everyone else seemed to find good things too, indicated by the number of bags we all had. But I think Lance may have had the best time of all of us since had definitely had the most bags.
When we got back to Spain, we ate dinner and had girl talk-part 2, on the beach. We sat in a circle and shared embarrassing childhood stories for a few hours before crashing into bed. Overall, my favorite day on the trip.
I love team----Ally Hunter (’12 sophomore)