Les Baux de Provence

Hey everyone,

Saturday was one of the best days I've had out in France so I am very excited to tell you about it. We went to Les Baux de Provence on Saturday which is a village about an hour and a half away from home in Mormoiron. We were going there because there was a medieval battle on in which two sides fought a mock battle on the ruins of an old chateau called Chateau les Baux.

We arrived and parked at the bottom of the hill. There were so many cars! Luckily there were buses running up and down the hill otherwise it would have taken us ages to walk up! When we arrived at the top we stepped off the bus and were greeted by the sound of swords clashing, swords being taken in and out of their sheaths and people laughing.

We walked around and looked at the numerous swords, axes, maces, and mauls all shining brightly in the stalls. We also saw helms, body plates, gauntlets and chain mail that almost dropped me flat on the ground from the weight of it!

We walked up to the stands and sat down. The stand overlooked the castle and it was magnificent. There was still a watchtower where archers could fire their bows and arrows from and from were they could pour boiling oil or water on the attackers.

We watched a bird-of-prey show before the main battle, which was fantastic. There were various owls and also eagles which flew around. The men picked up a piece of meat connected to a rope and swung it around. The hawk then flew in and stole the meat. They said that it can go a maximum speed of 250 kilometres per hour!

After that we got to watch the battle! This creepy music started playing and cloaked people walked up to a guarded castle. They then dropped their cloaks and started attacking! More people then came in and together they stormed the castle and won it. The king of the people who stormed the castle then came and demanded to have it back but they said 'no'. The people who lost the castle then came back with reinforcements and stormed it also. The king of the people who lost the castle demanded for a fight, one on one. The good king won the dual and sent the opposing king to jail.

We strolled home to the bus and drove home. We were so exhausted that night that we didn't change out of our pyjamas the next morning.

I'll talk to you next week

Bye!

Orange and Horse Races

Hello everyone!

Ivy and I have been at friends' houses because Mum and Dad were in Switzerland for a week. My Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle stayed at our house for some of the time that we were away and when Mum and Dad arrived back they stayed for 3 more days with us all together. Ivy and I came home 2 days earlier than Mum and Dad and so we hung out with Aunty Annie and Uncle Wim.

On our first day we did nothing but relax, but on the second day we went to a judo demonstration in our village of Mormoiron. One man chopped a concrete block in two with his foot! That afternoon we drove to the Hippodrome where they held horse running competitions. It was great fun because we made pretend bets on the horses and we got to go on a really steep jumping castle! Their was a horse from the USA, called Miss Tootsie.

The next day was Monday. Mum and Dad were home and I was excited because it was my first day of normal school after a week of staying with friends. When the day had finished I walked home and rode my bike with my friend Paul. I was riding home when my leg slipped off the pedal and the back of my leg split open on the sharp edge! We had to go to the doctor and I got four stitches. I haven't been able to walk so much so I've been at home for the last four days. I did nothing from Tuesday to Thursday but yesterday I went to Orange with my parents and managed to hobble around the Roman Antique Theatre of Orange.

There is a big semi-circle with seats ascending up the side, opposite the stage. This theatre is very special because it is one of the three Roman theatres in the world that still has a wall behind the stage where the actors performed.

At the edge of the town of Orange there is an Arc de Triomph which was built to make his people confident in the Emperor's power. It was raining quite heavily at the time so we didn't stop to walk around the Arc, but it was much smaller then the Arc de Triomph in Paris, but it was beautifully detailed.

Tomorrow is Serge's birthday party so we will stay up late tomorrow night and I will see my friend again whom I stayed with for my week away. We spoke only French!

Au Revoir,

Sean