9/10/09

So today, Rosa and I went on an excursion to Villeneuve-sur-lot. Unfortunately, although Villeneuve has a “gare”, the French word for train station, it does not have a train line. The only way to get there is by car or bus. We hitched a ride with a professor from the school who lives there and thus avoided a much longer journey via Agen. If you don’t have a car, you have to take the train to Agen (40 min to the south) and from there take a bus to Villeneuve (30min northwest).
Although it was raining, we explored the outdoor market and the store-filled streets of Villeneuve. We also met up with two assistants (Anna – a brit - and Edvan – who is from Guatemala). We had lunch with them and then they showed us around the Lycee where they both work. Villeneuve was quite nice. Rather than a city, like Agen, Villeneuve is still a village. It has a good number of stores and commercial centers but retains the charm of a bastide-style village. Rosa and I were quite impressed. I think if we had a car, we would go back there every weekend. Haha. It’s definitely more alive than Fumel. We took the bus to Agen and then the train from there back to Fumel.
This evening we went with Sophie to a music event featuring a French trio and then a brazilian group. The French group was very down-home folksy. I loved it. All the songs they sang were French classics. The Brazilian band was great to dance to. There were a couple friends of the band that had traveled with them and they danced the entire time. Tiny little rapid leg movements….insane!