I traveled with Leslie Cavell, one of the art history professors here at Albion, who is studying the cloister associated with Saint-Trophime. The church and cloister of Saint-Trophime, built in the twelfth century, are only part of the city’s long history. It’s been continuously occupied since the sixth century BCE, when Greek sailors established a port there, at the mouth of the Rhône. We stayed in Arles for ten days, taking a ton of pictures of the church inside and out, exploring the narrow, curving streets, and marveling at the Roman ruins scattered around the city.

The focus of my research is the many lions that are part of the facade.  There is a female lion and cubs, a lion with a sinner trapped under its paws, a male lion, a chimaera with a lion cub in its mouth, and a lion with the arm of the sinner in its mouth. I think they might be representations of power related to the formation of an independent Republic of Arles around the time they were sculpted.

After we had finished our work in Arles, we rented a car and drove around the French countryside, eventually ending up in Paris four days later. On the way we visited some spectacular sites, mostly Romanesque churches with a few other interesting ones thrown in between. My favorites included the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct built over two thousand years ago; the  beautiful church at Vezelay, where the bones of Mary Magdalene found their final resting place; and the cathedral at Reims, a  Gothic church that is an absolutely amazing sight to see. In Paris, between doing research at the national library and archives, I had a great time visiting the Musee d’Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, and of course the Louvre. And yes, I even got to see the Mona Lisa! (Well, after pushing my way through the seemingly endless crowd that surrounds her...)

I’d never been to France before, or anywhere outside of the United States, so it was very interesting just to watch people go by, just as interesting as visiting famous monuments. Their way of life is very different from ours. French stores open at different times during the day than American stores do, the restaurants don’t serve dinner until seven at night, soccer fields are called football fields, and people bring their dogs everywhere with them. But there were familiar sights too: McDonald’s is a favorite fast-food joint there, and the latest Star Wars movie was being advertised all over the place.

While I was there, I got a fortune cookie from a Vietnamese restaurant. The fortune said, “You will do things that you have never even imagined.” I didn’t need a cookie to tell me that—this trip was an amazing experience, and I definitely hope to go back someday. Au revoir for now, France...you haven’t seen the last of me!