Exploring Poitiers

On Friday we had a "cultural excursion" in Poitiers, which was really nice since I hadn't really explored the city. The levels 3-5 students all participated and we had a two hour lunch that day. I had lunch in Poitiers, a sandwich and a chocolate croissant... and bottled water.. I've been buying bottled water because everyone here does it, not even the citizens drink out of the tap. I was drinking from the tap the first week I was here but then I stopped because I got a little scared that no one else did it. I should look into the water though, because plastic bottles are no good.

The class met in front of the Baptistère Saint-Jean, which is an old baptistery from the V century. In the old days a person could not enter a church if he/she was not baptized, so to get around this rule, the church performed baptisms in other buildings. This is the Baptistère Saint-Jean which was built to baptize people. I did not go in because you had to pay 2€ to go in, but there is basically only a shallow pool type thing in the middle (empty) and some posters to read. The architecture is pretty cool though, on the outside that is. 

I didn't take many photos of all the buildings that I went into, I keep forgetting to bring out my camera until the end, I'm just not that used to it. We basically did a scavenger hunt with all the students. The teachers made groups of three with people from each level. I was in a group with a girl from Switzerland and a boy from Spain. The guy is a history major which made the excursion really awesome because he knew the history behind all the buildings and would tell us about them. I really enjoyed working with my group, we were a very good team (and we also spoke French most of the time, all the exchange students speak English and use it to communicate with each other).
This was the first time that I had ever enter a building that were hundreds of years old. I went inside a church which houses the tomb of some saint (I forgot the name), and walking inside gave me the chills because I realized that these buildings are old.. very old. It was very weird.. and I also feel that catholic churches are actually very creepy. They have this very eerie feel to them. 


When the excursion was finally over, I walked around town with Clara and Madeline, and I finally brought out my camera. It is really hard to take pictures because of the buildings blocking most of the sunlight on the streets. But I did manage to get a semi good one of Madeline. 

And this final picture that I will share is one of me (with another bottled water) in front of the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. 

The buildings are a little hard to photograph with my little camera, but I'm trying and learning as I go.


Actually, I'll leave you all with this picture: Un Chat Français (sleeping on a government building)