Tours, France

After a very late night last night, I woke up to the sun shining at 11 am instead of my alarm at 6am which allowed for a very peaceful and restful morning. I stepped out of my room and said good morning to my exchange partner, Lou, her mother, and her sister. Thankfully, the whole house had slept in this morning meaning I didn’t miss breakfast. Around 12, the four of us sat around table and had croissants and pain au chocolat, which were infinitely better the ones I would have had from Starbucks if I was in North Carolina. A French conversation came to life between my exchange family, and I got a headache from serving my head from person to person trying to keep up with the conversation. Do French people not take a second to breathe in conversations?? Anyways, we all dispersed after our quick brunch to different corners of the house. I went to my room to get started on packing. Unfortunately, I got distracted by some chocolate I had sitting on my table so I sat down to start munching on those while watching Gossip Girl. As put into the words of a French person, “It is a crime that I have not watched Gossip Girl as an American,” but is it really my crime if American Netflix was the one who took it down? As of right now, I am 5 episodes in and I only have 116 more to finish in the next three days before I reach American soil and Netflix says, “Show is unavailable. What else would you like to watch?” Before I even put one piece of clothing back into my suitcase, Lou knocks in my door and says in it is time for lunch. I follow her to the kitchen and a strong smell of Vietnamese food hits my nose, thinking I am going crazy I shake my head and sit down at the dining room table. Then, her mother comes around the corner with a plate full of the food I was smelling which I sadly forgot to take a photo of. The food was delicious, and I was able to have great conversations with the family at the table. After lunch, me and Lou sit down in the living room for a rematch of more than a few heated Uno games we had back in the US. I was prepared to make the greatest comeback of my life from a 10- 3 loss. I realized at the halfway through the game that there would be no form of a comeback, especially not a great one, for me as our game started for a 5-0 loss for me. At 11-2, Lou finally called it quits out of pity for me. To comfort me, me and Lou watched a couple of episodes of The Vampire Diaries while eating ice cream and the best chocolate pudding I have ever had. After putting it off all day, I got started on my packing and finished in a few hours just in time for dinner. Lastly, before I stepped into bed, I went out on the balcony to read and watch the sunset. This was the best ending I could have asked for to this amazing exchange trip. 

I started my day waking up bright and early at 8:23 refreshed from my first night finally getting a full 10 hours of sleep. Following my discovery of 6 new, baby bruises and a side of soreness from the previous day’s antics on the high ropes course, Eva and I headed out to meet up with Joyce and Colombe for a cute Saturday morning brunch at a cozy store called Colette. Our appetites were not to disappointed as a sumptuous spread of smoked salmon, fresh avocado, and perfectly runny sunny-side-up eggs awaited us. We took our time working through the food and warm coffee as we made small talk and gradually cleared out plates – leading me to once again be reminded of my lack of dexterity and neatness while watching Colombe and Eva’s smooth use of cutlery.

Upon finishing our lavish meal, we headed out to complete some much needed shopping. Stopping first at a small jewelry store called Marceau & Ines, I picked up a pair of bracelets as gifts for family. Unfortunately, none of the other girls seemed to find anything to their liking, and we went back on our way. Next, we went to check out a fancy-looking chocolate store just beside La Rue Nationale, on recommendation from Madame Jones earlier in the week. There, Joyce and I picked up some chocolates and candy and were surprised with complimentary chocolate samples after purchasing our choices.  I thoroughly enjoyed how the stores in France seemed much more personalized. It seemed  as though each store had its own aesthetic and atmosphere unlike the commercialized chain stores that make up for a majority of shopping in the US.

From there, after we had secured our gifts for our families, we briefly got distracted by a rather peculiar store called La Chaise Longue. Inside they had everything from shoe shining kits to Olympic games merchandise to various cute plushies. What really caught our attention; however, were their massage pads which were on display for customers to test. As we took a moment to sit down, I noticed the store also carried funnier options of massage pads such as one shaped like a corgi’s butt and another shaped like one giant UGG boot meant for both feet. Later, having parted ways with Joyce and Colombe, me and Eva stopped at L’Univers, a restaurant near Jean Jaures, to have a drink before catching the bus home. I was quite surprised by the idea of sitting down at a dine-in restaurant to simply buy a soft drink, but according to Eva this is a very common practice in France.

Today I woke up at 7 am and at 7:20, I had two pieces of toast with butter and jam for breakfast. At 7:45, I walked to school with Juliette. Honestly, it was super nice to walk in the fresh air. After arriving at St. Ursule, I went to my exchange partner, Colombe’s english class. In class, we played the game Times Up and did a Queen Elizabeth II themed Kahoot which was really funny. Afterwards, I stayed in the same room for the next English class with the same teacher because Colombe had a free homework period. We just ended up doing the same activities though. I then went to math class with Colombe where we split into groups to complete a math escape room. Around 11:20, I left class with my exchange partner for lunch. We went to a place called The Bagel Corner with Rebecca and her exchange partner Eva and it was very delicious. We did a little bit of shopping after eating and then boarded the bus to Gadawi Park. After arriving, everyone got their harnesses on, we listened to an employee explain everything, and then we could start doing the ropes courses. It was overall really fun, especially ziplining, of course. I did three courses in total and enjoyed all of them. It was also just generally super pretty in the forest. At around 4:30, Eva’s dad picked up the four of us and we spent some time at her house before I returned with Colombe to her apartment. We had ravioli for dinner and then watched a movie. Overall, today was a fun and educational experience!!

Today, I woke up to a sunny morning and got ready for the long day ahead of us. I had a pain brioché avec de la confiture for breakfast and left the house with Saona and her brother. We arrived to St. Ursule and left for a fun bus ride to the Château de Chambord. When we arrived, we did a class tour around the castle and were able to listen to very interesting facts about the history of the castle itself in our audio guide. There was also a way to see what each room looked like back then with the tablet when you scanned a code, which I thought was super cool. After we toured all the rooms, we went to the very top of the castle and took some great pictures. As we were taking our pics, we saw a beautiful lady dressed in a stunning pink dress who was taking modeling pictures just below us, so Moriah decided to tell her that she was absolutely gorgeous and asked where she got her dress from. Around 12:00pm, we grabbed the lunches we packed and ate on the castle grounds. Just before leaving, Melissa and I had enough time to run and grab and ice cream cone from the cafe. We then left for our second destination, Saint Micheal, where we learned how they make pastries and butter. We then went to the gift shop where Sohum ate all the samples, and we all bought some Madeline’s and cookies for our families. Finally, we returned to the bus station and left with our French students. I took the bus with Saona, Alex, and Ali where we forgot to get off at the right stop and ended up having to walk quite a bit to her physical therapy session. At least we got some extra exercise in! Her mom picked us up after she was done and we made pizza for dinner. Her siblings and I watched a movie and finally went to bed. What a great day we had!!!

 

Today, I woke up at 6 am and had cereal for breakfast. I got ready, and was out the door at 6:50, starting the walk over to the train station. We boarded our train at 7:08, and I had a pleasant ride observing the peaceful French countryside while my exchange student watched a show on his phone. We disembarked from the train at the Gare de Tours and walked 10 minutes to school. I found my friend Alex’s exchange student Ali, and we chatted while we waited for Alex to arrive. Around 9, we departed the bus station and had a one-hour ride to the Chateau de Chambord. I had heard pretty good things about the castle, but none of these compared to seeing the castle in person. This one was by far the best one we had seen during our time in France. First, the castle was absolutely massive and was surrounded by other buildings and luscious gardens. What really impressed me was how much detail there was in the castle. Each room we visited had its unique style and purpose, and it was interesting to see how the castle had no real overall theme. The castle had countless rooms, so I got lost from the rest of the group for a little while, but I eventually found them in the top section. After the castle, we went to the gift shop, where I got a few souvenirs for my family, and then to eat picnic lunches packed by our exchange families. After enjoying a grilled cheese made by my exchange student’s dad, we left Chambord for our next stop, which was the Atelier Saint Michel cookie factory. Here, we learned about the ingredients needed to make cookies and even tried making flour from wheat stalks, and butter from milk. After this, we went into the factory and observed the process we had just learned about. Also, it was really interesting to learn that the company produces 2 million cookies per day on average, which just seems surreal to me. After buying a few boxes of cookies for my family and my exchange family, we headed back to Tours. When I arrived, I was greeted by my exchange student, and we walked over to take our train back to his home in Montlouis sur Loire. Finally, I arrived home around 5:30, after a very long but eventful day. 

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Today was very fun and interactive! I started off the day shadowing my exchange partner’s math class which was super interesting, and I liked having the chance to see what the students in that class are learning. Next our class headed to a local cooking workshop called Tours à Table. During our time there we made three dishes, while working in two groups. For the first dessert each person got to assemble their own charlotte with spongy biscuits, a cream cheese and lime custard, fresh strawberries, and chopped mint leaves. These charlottes were a light and tasty treat and paired well with the other dishes. Second, both groups made small, individual goat cheese and tomato tartes. I really enjoyed the taste of the tomatoes with the strong goat cheese flavor. Finally, we made miniature lava cakes which had the perfect mix of cake and molten chocolate. 

After finishing up this amazing cooking workshop we headed back to the school where we attended different English classes. In my first class, we played games with the French students like Simon Says (spoken in French) and Heads Up. I enjoyed getting to interact with some of the French students and play games with them. The next class I went to was a little more relaxing as we got to watch some of the French students’ English presentations and grade them. Their assignment was to right a remake of a classic fairytale and share it out loud. We heard different renditions of stories like Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and The Three Little Pigs! After classes I went shopping with my exchange student and her friends, met her godmother, and ate sushi for dinner. I really enjoyed today!

Today was very fun and interactive! I started off the day shadowing my exchange partner’s math class which was super interesting, and I liked having the chance to see what the students in that class are learning. Next our class headed to a local cooking workshop called Tours à Table. During our time there we made three dishes, while working in two groups. For the first dessert each person got to assemble their own charlotte with spongy biscuits, a cream cheese and lime custard, fresh strawberries, and chopped mint leaves. These charlottes were a light and tasty treat and paired well with the other dishes. Second, both groups made small, individual goat cheese and tomato tartes. I really enjoyed the taste of the tomatoes with the strong goat cheese flavor. Finally, we made miniature lava cakes which had the perfect mix of cake and molten chocolate. 

After finishing up this amazing cooking workshop we headed back to the school where we attended different English classes. In my first class, we played games with the French students like Simon Says (spoken in French) and Heads Up. I enjoyed getting to interact with some of the French students and play games with them. The next class I went to was a little more relaxing as we got to watch some of the French students’ English presentations and grade them. Their assignment was to right a remake of a classic fairytale and share it out loud. We heard different renditions of stories like Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and The Three Little Pigs! After classes I went shopping with my exchange student and her friends, met her godmother, and ate sushi for dinner. I really enjoyed today!

Today, I started the day by waking up around 8 am, and ate a small breakfast of brioche, hazelnut spread, and green tea. After my breakfast, Louane and I rode to school with her dad, Anthony.

 Once we arrived at school, she left to go to her morning class, and I headed off to Tours à Table. When we got there, we split into two smaller groups. First, we made a parfait-like dessert, using ladyfinger cookies dipped in apple juice, strawberries, fresh mint from the garden outside, and a sweetened mixture of cream cheese and yogurt. After that, we made small tarts out of puff pastry. These tarts contained goat cheese, tomatoes, herbs, and honey. Finally, we made chocolate lava cakes (which were absolutely delicious). At the end of our session there, we sat down for lunch and ate all of the food that we had made over the last few hours. 

We walked back to the school as a group, and then I attended two different English classes (one with Mme. Grosjean and one with Mme. Becker, which was particularly interesting because Joyce and I got second place in the class’s kahoot). After that, I chatted with the other American students in the courtyard for about an hour, and then met my exchange student there. 

We left at 3:45 to do a bit of shopping on the Main Street. I bought chocolates for my family, and a book and a few different articles of clothing for myself. We walked all the way down the street to the boulangerie there, where I tried a combination of a croissant and a cookie. Despite feeling like I was going to get kicked out of France for ordering this touristy abomination, after I tried it, I had to admit that it was quite tasty. 

We drove home with Louane’s dad, who dropped her off at practice and then dropped me off at the house. I was quite tired, and I planned to take a short nap, but I ended up sleeping until 9:15, when her dad woke me up for dinner. We had a delicious dinner of salad, cheeses, a pasta salad with seafood, bread,  and a tuna cake (a bit like a meatloaf). By the time dinner finished, it was quite late, and I was quite tired, so I headed upstairs to get ready for bed and finished up the night by writing this blog post.

Today I started my day by waking up to my alarm at 6:40 and leaving the house by 7:35. My partner Salome and I, then caught the train and headed to Tours where we walked the rest of the way to school. Once arriving at school, Salome went to class, and I went to the Foyer to hang out with everyone until it was time to leave for our adventure today. Our first stop was the beautiful Chateau Chenonceau. We did a self-guided tour around the Chateau and its gardens listening to the history of each room we entered on our little listening devices. We also made sure to take plenty of pics! For lunch we had a picnic outside the entrance to Chateau, where everyone dispersed to find a place to eat. Since canoeing was cancelled, in the afternoon we headed to the artist and inventor Leonardo DaVinci’s house where we got to view all of his incredible inventions, artwork and eat Ice cream! After a full day of touring both buildings and gardens we headed back to the bus station where everyone said their goodbyes and went about their afternoons!

Hi blog! Today I got up around 7:00 to get ready for the day! On the way to school, I had a slice of marble cake for breakfast, which was tres yummy. After arriving at school, we departed for the Chateau de Chenonceau. Out of the three chateaus we have seen, this is definitely my favorite. The castle itself was beautiful, and the gardens were amazing. The pictures came out great, and this was definitely the highlight of my day. The labyrinth was very cool, except for the fact that i stepped in a puddle of mud and got got it on my dress. We then had a picnic lunch, and wow my sandwich was great. Next, the Chateau du Clos Luce, which is where Leonardo da Vinci lived. On the way to the Chateau, the kids of the exchange tried to start a mosh pit (dance party) in the back of the bus but it was unfortunately unsuccessful. Back to the point, it was very interesting seeing the replicas of the different things that da Vinci invented throughout his life. After exploring his house, Moriah and I took a relaxing break in the garden where we chilled.  We were supposed to be back at the bus by 16:00 but somehow got lost in the gardens but made it out only three minutes late! After the school day was over, I headed over to the Place Plum! And to end the day, my host family and I had a delicious dinner which was an amazing way to wrap up this good day!!

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