As one of the modules I’m taking is a study comparing contemporary European societies, I thought it relevant to do a comparison of the most infamous week of the English university calendar with the French equivalent. Registration At the University of Birmingham everything administration-related is done online with high-speed servers on one single website. Here …
Author Archives: ziwillis
Violès
Although in the Côtes du Rhône region, Violès itself is a tiny village fairly unremarkable for anything except its wine. We based ourselves here for a week, using the house just outside the village in the countryside as a useful midpoint for moving around the area. On our day of arrival, we’d just returned from …
Orange
On our way towards Orange, we stopped at the market in Carpentras – finally one that we had the correct information for! French markets are hubs of colour, smell, and noise; this one was no different. Carpentras market There is no breakfast my family loves more than yoghurt with a spoon of honey – a …
Gigondas
Gigondas is a village founded by the Romans in the Côtes du Rhône Villages region, originally named Jocunditas. It seemed thus only right that we make our way there by stopping at some Roman ruins nearby. An afternoon in Vaison la Romaine Our original plan was to go to a market in Violès, however, due …
Finding accommodation for my year abroad
This was something I was very concerned about for a long time, not least because my very organised housemate had successfully gotten hold of a houseshare/flatshare with some coursemates for his year abroad. Meanwhile I had heard precisely nothing. As a precaution, I joined the student university group for Aix-Marseille where people were advertising flats …
Vers Pont du Gard
Vers Vers Pont du Gard Please excuse my terrible French pun as I regale you with the story of our journey towards Vers Pont du Gard. In short, this was a stop at Tain-l’Hermitage. Why? For the wine cave, of course. We had an early start that morning, leaving Meursault in time to ensure that …
Meursault
While the name of this village in Burgundy may trigger memories of Camus’ L’étranger for some, the infamous Meursault was named after a bottle of wine. Meursault wines are famous, are usually a guarantee of good quality, and often come with a price tag to match. Camus clearly had some spare cash at the time …
Heading off to Aix
Becoming a double subject cliché A joint honours student of English Literature and French, it was only a matter of time before a blog appeared. Whether it was to document a year abroad, give my unwanted opinions about books, or to replace my so-called ‘unhealthy’ TripAdvisor obsession, you’re lucky enough to read it all. Following …
An Aixpat-en-Provence 