CHARLIE LIN – PRINGLES GALORE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

After a rainy day in Venice, a cramped six man overnight train journey, and a delayed “TGV” trip, we were finally welcomed to Southern France by beautiful sunshine.

Our stay in Beaucaire has been refreshing and relaxing, waking up at the late hour of 8am and getting free time in the afternoons to swim, sunbathe, or use the ever-desired wifi. Every morning we have an assortment of pastries to select from, and to be honest, I for one am stating to get sick of croissants. Then we journey in the vans (with the masters driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, many stories to be told perhaps another time) to the local hypermarket, “Carrefour”, where we buy our lunch and spend forever deciding which Pringles flavour to pick (Ketchup, Texas BBQ, Roast Chicken, Rosemary and Olive and more – French cuisine at its finest!). In the evenings, we’re treated to a three-course meal by the hotel, with dishes featuring rabbit, small, tangy onion things, and black coloured spinach (no escargots yet, sadly).

The highlights in Southern France for me were the Pont du Gard, Tarascon Castle, and the Orange Theatre (which is not actually Orange, just named after the town Orange. Ask Jonathan Hart for correct pronunciation).

The Pont du Gard was just an amazing sight to see. How were the Romans able to build such precise architecture with such simple tools? Not to mention, the view was simply just magnificent.

Tarascon Castle is a well-preserved medieval châteaux with the most amazing acoustics. Inside the stone chambers, Mr Boyce’s melodies echoed harmoniously and it was really fun trying it out myself. At the top, the view was splendid and there were great opportunities for panoramas and group photos (whilst fearing for your life, standing on two thin strips of stone and staring into the river hundreds of metres below - slightly exaggerated, maybe).

The well-preserved theatre of Augustus at Orange was another example of how skilful the Roman architects were. With Joe Brealey standing in front of the stage, the rest of the group could still hear his speech loud and clear a hundred meters away at the very back of the theatre.

I’m really going to miss the sunshine and relaxing daily-schedule here in Southern France, and even the radio station in the vans that only has a playlist with 5 songs. The days have been flying past and the tour is sadly approaching the end! Hope everybody back at home is well (haha…school).

Au revoir,

Charlie Lin