A Tour of Tours

What a crazy, crazy week! I meant to update on Sunday, but time got away from me and OH MY look at the time! It's Thursday night already!!

Here are the highlights:

Friday night I had dinner with my host parents and a couple of their friends--one of whom happens to be an English professor (I think) at a local school. So that was actually really cool. I actually understood about 95% of what was going on. However, I stayed up MUCH too late, and had to get up SUPER early on Saturday morning because....

WE WENT TO TOURS! ...It was actually not all that exciting. For those of you who maybe aren't familiar with the area, Tours is a slightly larger city about an hour away by train. It's actually quite similar to Orléans, is situated on the Loire, and has a chateau.

So Saturday morning, when we arrived in Tours, Angie called her friend Emmanuelle who lives in Tours and was going to show us around. We went to the tourism office and putted around a bit waiting for Emmanuelle. I got some shopping done (woo, shopping!)

Eventually Emmanuelle met us and she had her brother with her. So the 5 of us walked around town. First we went to the cathedral. I don't know why, but I love cathedrals. Maybe because we really don't have churches like that in the States. Partially I'm overwhelmed at the work that people put into them. I don't know. Anyway, pictures!!

The cathedral of Tours

Angie with Emmanuelle

Angie, Maddie, and I

After the Cathedral, we went and saw the chateau. It was actually not terribly impressive, and we didn't go inside. It was still blisteringly cold out, so we probably should have gone inside, but we just moved on pretty quickly.

Yeah... this was pretty much it.

Then, after a detour into a gaming store (Maddie, Angie, and I geeked out over Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings replicas), we walked around the old part of town. Maybe it's just me, but I absolutely ADORE these old buildings, they're so cute!

Absolutely adorable!

Emmanuelle and her brother went off to spend some time together, and so cue our three hour lunch break at a crêperie (yum!) to avoid going back out in the cold. Then we walked down to the Loire and ran into a bunch of Anonymous protesters (I was pretty psyched). Then we took gratuitous pictures of all the ice on the Loire before heading to the wine museum. The museum was pretty tiny, but I thought it was actually pretty interesting. Maddie and Angie got bored. lol

Maddie failing at eating salad. We were cracking up.

Anonymous! Why hello there!!

On the riverfront (those are Angie's and Maddie's shadows, too).

The Loire hasn't been this frozen in almost 20 years.

After stopping in a bookstore (I stocked up on French reading material), we headed to Emmanuelle's apartment for tea. This was absolutely splendid. We spent most of the time talking in French (her brother, François spoke very little English). This was very agreeable. Finally, we had to leave to get dinner before our train. We wanted to go to this restaurant called La Souris Gourmande (roughly: the mouse chef) whose dishes are based entirely on cheese.

Next time, little mousie, next time!

Unfortunately for us, it's a very popular restaurant, and there was no room without a reservation. So we went to McDonald's (naturally) and chilled until our train came. By the time I got home, it was 11:30. Quite the long day.

Sunday was a study day as Ethan and I had to prepare our presentation on Mardi Gras for Thursday (today!). Then I met Angie and Maddie and we got all our tickets for our big vacation coming up!! We're heading off to London, Edinburgh, and Dublin next week!

Tuesday was Valentine's Day, so the girls and I headed out for a drink in celebration at a little pub called the Hendrix on the Rue de Bourgogne. I had this sweet concoction called The Doors in which I got a glow stick (woo). Then I tried absinthe. It tasted like licorice. I ended up a little tipsy. Nothing seriously major.

The Doors. Pinapple-y and delicious.

Yesterday we went to see The Iron Lady (with Meryl Streep!). It was absolutely fabulous. However, I was expecting it to be in French, so when it started, it took me several minutes to realize it was in English. It was very confusing.

That's pretty much all for now! Not sure what we'll be up to this weekend, but I'm sure we'll do something.

The Little Things

So, I meant to put all these things in the last blog post, but I got so excited about the cute little goose I met that I completely forgot! So here you are, some random stories.

First, I'm not sure why, but a lot of people I meet here think I'm German. There was the random girl behind the cheese counter who asked if I was German (did I pronounce "chevre bleut" weird?). Then my history professor is convinced I'm German. He often likes to find out how various words are translated in various languages. So he'll give us a word ("chipie" for example), tell us what it means, and then ask what the word is in our language--so we have to translate it from French into whatever language (English for me) and then translate the definition of that word back into French and explain it to the class. Well, he ALWAYS looks at me and asks about German. *shrug* Strange. One of the girls in Angie's class said it was because I looked German. Do I look German? I have no idea.

Second, I miss my cats. I know, I know! That's so lame. BUT, the one saving grace is that Angie has two lovely little kitties at her apartment--Taz and Cookie. Well, last week while we were supposed to be working on homework but ended up talking instead (this happens often), I had Cookie on my lap. Taz must have gotten jealous because he jumped up on the table and when I picked him up to put him on the floor, he decided to sit on my shoulder instead.

Taz is so cute perched on my shoulder.

And then I became a kitty jungle gym.

So finally, on my way to school every morning and on my way home every evening, I get to take the tram. This is actually quite lovely. I don't have to worry about traffic, I can read or just jam out to music, space out, etc. It's quite preferable to driving. Also, we get to cross two rivers: the Loire and the Loiret. Both are absolutely gorgeous. But from the very first tram ride, I fell in love with this little house on the Loiret. I'm certain that one day it will be mine. And I finally got a picture (albeit a crappy one because it was taken from the tram) of this wonderfully adorable house.

House on the water: you're doing it right.

Now, I know you can't see it very well, but it's so cute and full of character. And right off their back (front?) door is a dock with a couple boats. How awesome is that?

A goose tried to eat my iPhone (and other stories)...

Hello everyone! Sorry for the tardy update. I haven't been up to terribly many exciting things, though there has been some drama that's been making me feel "Blah" (hence the lack of updates).


Anyway, here's what HAS been happening: I started running with Angie and Maddie along the Loire river. "Running" might be too strong a word for what I do, really. I'm super, super slow you guys. But, I move my arms like I'm running and I think that's all that counts, right? Well, at least it's exercise, and it's a BEAUTIFUL view.

Pont Georges V - Our starting point

The view as we run toward the next bridge

Secondly, we thought we saw Robert Downey Jr. in a restaurant near the university. Stacie and I were so excited we took a picture! Okay, I took a picture, but Stacie wanted it, too. Needless to say, it wasn't Robert Downey Jr. BUT they could be brothers at the very least. The next day (after running), Angie and I decided to go see Sherlock Holmes. It was all in French, and I think I understood most of it, which was pretty awesome. Also, it was a good movie. I kind of want to read Sherlock Holmes now.

Mr. Robert Downey Jr. look alike

Last weekend I also got to make Julia Child's french onion soup for the girls. I know I just follow the recipe, but I kind of consider it my specialty. I was worried about how it would turn out because I was using a gas stove to cook it (which I've never done before), and not all the ingredients were the same. Vermouth, for example, was something I could not find. The recipe calls for vermouth or dry white wine. Now, I have no idea what a dry white wine is. So I picked up the cheapest bottle of white wine I could find.
In the end it turned out really good. It tasted different than it usually does when I make it in the states, but was delicious nonetheless, and I was pretty freaking pleased.

Friday night I tried escargot. It was gross. Don't get me wrong--it wasn't the texture. I think if it had been prepared differently (properly?) I really would have liked it. As it was, it lacked the buttery, garlicky, smooth taste I was expecting.

The escargot in their little bowls--I didn't have to do any work to get them out of their shells.

Creepy face as I put a snail in my mouth. I was actually pretty excited.

And then the excitement stopped as I realized it tasted a lot like spinach and not at all like garlic butter.

Yesterday I hung out with my host family. We played Scrabble (in French) which was pretty cool. I only needed help making a word once. Okay--twice. But the second time was because it was the end of the game and the only letters I had were "w", "x" and "k", which are like the hardest letters to place in French Scrabble. I lost pretty badly, but that's okay. It was fun anyway.


Today I woke up to about 2 inches of snow outside. I met Angie for lunch after she was finished at the local art museum (Musée de Beaux Arts). We had some pretty good pizza and then went walking around in the snow. PICTURE TIME! If you're interested in seeing a video of me being a pigeon maestro, check it out here on Youtube.

Pont Georges V, the cathedral of Orléans, and the tram

Another shot of the cathedral--we walked across the bridge just to get this shot

Geese that wanted some food--we were able to go right down to the water

This little guy tried to eat my iPhone that I was using to take photos. He was cute though. We're buddies.

Another shot of the cathedral

 After we took a walk, we went to the movie theatre near the river to see Félins (Disney's "Big Cats"). We had a little bit of time to kill so I got some hot chocolate (chocolat chaud viennois) at the theatre's café. It was the most ridiculous hot chocolate I've ever had in my life.

Mountain of whipped cream PLUS sugar packets, you know, in case it's not sweet enough for you.

Finally, I'd like to close by giving a music recommendation. I've been listening to Patrick Stump's debut record, Soul Punk, for like three weeks straight now and it's just amazing. Definitely give it a listen if you've got a chance.
 

Belle Paris

Last week was pretty uneventful--the tram broke down and has yet to be fully recovered, so that led to an interesting time getting to and from school on Friday.

Speaking of Friday--WE WENT TO PARIS THIS WEEKEND!!! I can't lie, you guys, Paris feels like a second home to me. We stepped off the train and it was just incredible. We rented an apartment for two nights for super cheap and it was in a great area. If you are traveling, I definitely recommend checking out airbnb.com for accommodations. And if you are coming to Paris, let me know and I can tell you the apartment we stayed at because it was amazing. Even came with a cat to cuddle and play with. :)

This is Terton. He was so cute!

SO, the weekend was pretty jam packed, so I'll try to condense it. We arrived Friday afternoon and got settled into the apartment before deciding to head off to the Eiffel Tower where we got tons and tons and tons of pictures. I wasn't really expecting to be as impressed by the sight as I was. I mean, sure, it's beautiful, but I had already been there, seen that. Boy, was I wrong. I almost got choked up just staring at it. When I came to Paris almost 6 years ago exactly, our trip up the Eiffel Tower was the embodiment of her dream; now, it's the embodiment of mine. It's something I feel that I will always be able to share with my mom, and I got a little emotional.

The view from Trocadéro.

After the Eiffel Tower, we took a cruise on the Seine. It was so absolutely beautiful with everything all lit up at night and, depending on the cruise line you take, you also get a bunch of history and information related to the city and it's architecture. Then it was time to hit up the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. It's something that's pretty cool to see, but if you're not one for shopping, you can probably skip the walk down the Champs-Élysées.

The Arc de Triomphe

To top the night off, we had dinner at this absolutely charming restaurant in the 13th Arrondissement (near our apartment) called L'Aimant du Sud. The owner was fabulous and ended up giving us almost a full bottle of wine on the house. Plus the food was just to die for. If you're ever looking for a good meal in the 13th, I definitely recommend this restaurant.

Saturday morning, we got up early and went to the CATACOMBES. I've been waiting for this moment for six years. It was incredible. I think we spent about an hour and a half wandering around, and I could've easily spent another hour or two reading all the different inscriptions. The entire experience was equal parts terrifying and awe-inspiring. If you're at all into history, you have to check out the Catacombes.

Surrounded by bones--freaky

Leaving the Catacombes

Later we went to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. It was pretty. The church was pretty magnificent, but the sky was kind of cloudy and overcast, so the view wasn't as great as it really could have been. Then we headed out in search of Moulin Rouge. I was kind of disappointed by it, to be honest. It was okay, but I was much more interested in the two bagpipe bands (plus traditional Scottish dancers) and the marching band that randomly converged in front of the Moulin Rouge.

In front of Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge--smaller than I had envisioned.

I think we definitely saved the best for last because Sunday, we went to Notre Dame. The church was as magnificent as I remember (dare I say, more beautiful than Sacre Coeur?). I was especially emotional here, too, remembering my grandparents. I lit a candle for all of them and even though I'm not religious, it was still a pretty moving experience (especially after the Scottish dancers the day before that reminded me of my Maut Mah).

In front of Notre Dame

Then, the pièce de résistance: we climbed the bell tower of Notre Dame (which my youngest host sister thought was called "Monsieur Dame"). This is not for the faint of legs (400 stairs to climb), nor the easily dizzied (winding staircase), but if you can stomach it, and you can make it--DO IT. I think it was easily the most awe-inspiring thing I've ever seen and could easily end up being the highlight of the entire semester. I seriously recommend putting "Climbing to the bell tower of Notre Dame de Paris" on your bucket list. You definitely won't regret it. The view was absolutely incredible, even though it was cloudy at first. But then the sun broke through, and the city just lit up. I just... I can't even. It was awesome.

The Eiffel Tower

Gargoyles with the Eiffel Tower in the background

After Notre Dame we got our stuff from the apartment and said "Au Revoir" to the kitty and our beautiful Paris and made our way home. It was seriously a great weekend--and a great big THANK YOU to Stacie for navigating pretty much the entire time.

This also happened.

Shopping, Classes, and Cake; oh my!

Hello everyone!

This week was my first week of classes which was à la fois exciting and terrifying! I'm really excited about my courses, though, because they seem like they'll be really interesting. I'm also getting to take journalism and what I can only hope is a choir class and those both seem like really great fun. So classes were good--still waiting on my student card, but no big deal.

For those of you who aren't familiar with French culture, there are only two big sales here (unlike in the States)--one in the winter, and one in the summer. Pretty much every store has sales, and they last like 2 or 3 weeks each. And then poof, no more sales for the rest of the year. Well, the winter sale started on Wednesday. Being true American shopping girls, Maddie, Angie, and I just HAD to go out shopping. So we did. For about 7 hours straight. Needless to say, my feet KILLED by the end of the night, but I found some good bargains, and I'm going to go out later next week to see if I can find some things even MORE on sale.


Friday night, after shopping, the three of us went out to a nice bar called Au Bureau. The atmosphere was nice, if a little crowded, and I had the most ridiculous, delicious sandwich known to man: The Croque au Bureau.

Yes, that's a fried egg. Yes, that is a hot dog (two, in fact!). In case you can't tell, there is melted cheese on top of that piece of bread under the hot dog. What you can't see is that under that piece of bread is some ham and some more melted cheese, and then another piece of bread. Yes. A sandwich, topped with melted cheese, TWO hot dogs, and a fried egg. Yes. It was delicious. If you are ever in France and come across this monstrosity, I beg you to give it a chance.

So, THAT sandwich happened. Then yesterday, we (Angie, Maddie, and I) met a girl from Angie's class and went to her place to make a galette de rois (King's Cake). For those of you unfamiliar with the French tradition, King's Cake is what they eat for pretty much the ENTIRE month of January. I don't think I've gone more than a day or two without having another piece. King's Cake is especially fun because inside the cake is a little figurine, and whoever finds the figurine in his/her piece of cake is king/queen for the day. Not to mention, the cake itself is delicious. *Enter cake montage*

All the ingredients!

Angie mixing up the filling

Maddie pouring the filling onto the bottom piece of crust.

Our beautiful cake before it goes into the oven.

Maddie with the finished product.

We had to let it cool outside for a bit--très français!

Clockwise from left: Stacie, me, Maddie, and Angie; toasting our skills!

Maddie, the youngest, got under the table to ensure everyone had a fair shot of getting the figurine.

My beautiful piece of cake, emblazoned with "2012" to commemorate the occasion.

We all sat around and talked for quite some time before Maddie, Angie, and I headed back to the centre-ville where Angie headed off to meet a friend. Maddie and I had McDonald's. I know, I know! It's so bad, and SO unoriginal. BUT, we had to try it, even if only once. And it truly was a little comfort food to remind us of home.

So that was my week! Next weekend I believe we will be heading off to Paris, so get ready for the EXCITE!

Things Not To Do When Stuck in a Restaurant

Bonjour tout le monde!

So, I've successfully not died during my first week in France!! Wooohooo! *Celebration* I haven't really done anything of huge import or interest. Mostly last week was a lot of paperwork, and this week is the beginning of classes.

However, I did manage to get stuck in a restaurant with Maddie and Cindy. No joke. We were hungry out on the town Saturday evening, and decided to get something to eat. After searching for quite some time (and finding a game shop I must revisit when sales start tomorrow!), we finally found a little bar/restaurant on the rue de Borgogne - the Bar Tapas.

Anyway, we go inside, we seat ourselves, and wait. And wait. And wait and wait (and wait and wait). And.... well, you get the idea. I think we sat for a good half an hour before we were finally able to catch the guy who was working (just one guy working) to ask for menus. He brings us some menus. WONDERFUL! Except they're drink menus, not food menus, and Cindy is practically starving. We decide to make the best of it, and wait another 15 minutes (or so) to order our drinks.

Note to self (and everyone else): Affligem aux fruits rouges is the best beer ever invented. I hope they have it in the States, or I'm never drinking beer again.

We sat for a while sipping on our drinks, trying to figure out whether we should just drink our drinks, pay and leave and find somewhere else to eat, or stick it out. Well, we were all WAY too embarrassed to leave, so we stayed. Eventually, we were able to catch the guy again to ask about food menus. He said, "Oh, they're up on the wall!" (Except he obviously expressed his sentiments in French.) And then he told us he'd give us a few minutes to look everything over. So we take about 2 seconds to decide. And then we wait. And wait and wait and wait. Finally, probably another 20 minutes later, we got his attention so we could place our orders.

This whole tryst took about 2 1/2 hours in total. Angela thinks this is normal. Maddie thinks that it's not. Judging by my previous experience in French restaurants, it was very strange. But I suppose this was my first time in a French bar. So I'm not entirely sure. It was an adventure anyway. And the guy who worked there was very nice. :)

Oh, and we went to see the Cathedral d'Orléans as well. It was gorgeous. I only have a few very bad photos, unfortunately. I'm not a very good picture-taker.

Here's the front of the cathedral! It was kind of rainy that day. (Welcome to Orléans! It's rainy a lot!)

A plaque to remember the American soldiers who fought in the World Wars.

Relics! Pretty cool.

This flag made me laugh so hard. It translates to "Bastard of Orléans". There were a bunch of other flags around with people's names on them. No idea what this is about.

After the cathedral (and before dinner), we got hot chocolates at a little café - La Pipe de Bois - near the cathedral.

See those little colorful squares? Those are sugar. Just in case your super rich hot chocolate isn't sweet enough for you. Want some sugar with your sugar?

Alors, I think that's all for now! I think we'll be going to a chateau this weekend, so I should have some interesting updates about that sometime next week.

C'est Bon, Ça!

Well, I am officially in France. And yes, I am now excited. :)


I've been eating very well these past few days, as expected. Once I got past the hairy airplane food (not literally hairy, thank goodness), it's been smooth sailing. I even tried Fois Gras today. (Pause for reaction). It actually wasn't too bad. But that's probably because I couldn't remember what it actually was, and have not had the heart (read: stomach) to look it up yet. Other than that, I've had lots of wine, LOTS of cheese (which is delicious), and lots of cake. C'est la belle vie, non?

I have not, horror of all horrors, taken any photos yet. Except of the puppy chez mon temporary host family. He was the cutest most energetic little thing! There's a puppy here, too. He lives outside, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to play with him whenever I miss Mister, Milo, and Monty too terribly.

I'm not too jet-lagged, thank goodness. I've never particularly noticed any pronounced effect of travelling timezones. To be sure, I was exhausted when I got here (after not sleeping all night), and took a two-hour nap or so. And I was exhausted last night, and slept soundly for over 12 hours. But I think I'll be able to get fully on track with sleep tonight.

So far, I've driven through Paris a little bit--revisting old sites I've missed and seeing some new ones that I'll have to go back for when I've got more time. And then today, I walked to the tram with M. et Mme. H and we took the tram all the way to Orléans so they could show me the route to walk from the gare (train station) to M. et Mme. D's house where I'll be staying permanently. Everything here is adorable. There's a tiny house on the Loiret that the tram passes from the school to Orléans proper that is simply adorable. And all the houses are amazing. Adorable. Small, but so efficient.

Well, I suppose that's all for now. I've been transferred from M. et Mme. H's to M. et Mme. D's where I will be permanently for the rest of the semester. Alors, I suppose I should unpack and all that good stuff.

Bonne nuit, mes cheris.!