Averett Around the World

My first ten days in France were not only exhilarating but also informative. On day one in France, it dawned on me that one is free to safety roam around. So, we did a tour of Aix-en-Provence, the home of famous artist Paul Cezanne, who greatly influenced 20th-century abstract art. The first renowned site we toured was Paroisse Cathédrale Saint Sauveur, a French church in Aix-en-Provence. I learned that it dates back to the 12^th century, and it reflects different architectural styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, and Neo-Gothic. Also, I realized that majority of the ancient building in Aix-en-Provence epitomize Roman design.

The next day we visited the Entremont architecture site in the company of Dr. Guillaume Durand, a professor of archeology at the Institute of American Universities.

Our next adventure was a wine tasting and educational tour of the Roman/Christian ruins area. On this day, my classmates celebrated my birthday, which I will never forget with local pastries, flowers, and wine from the Chateau Bas, a winery and vineyard in Provence, France.

Later on, I attended an educational wine tasting lesson and met a wine consultant who taught me about wine tasting. I discovered that wine tasting is more than drinking wine. It encompasses analyzing the aromas, flavors and other characteristics of wine.

Over the weekend, we toured two big cities in France – Arles and Marseille. While at Arles, I took part in wine tasting to apply what I had learned earlier about the proper way of wine tasting. In Marseille, we enjoyed spectacular street art. Equally pertinent to mention is that during the ten days I enjoyed the French cuisine. I learned that the Moroccan and Italian traditional foods shaped French cuisine. Undeniably, the ten days were adventurous and informative. I cannot wait to visit Paris next week.