Author: keegank744

Sunday, March 31st. For most of the day, my family and I relaxed, so I don’t have too many exciting pictures to show. However, I’ll start from the beginning of the day. I woke up in an ibis hotel on the outskirts of Paris- we had driven to a family friends house of my exchange family early in the morning on Saturday, and we had stayed here Saturday night at what my exchange family tells me is an incredibly cheap budget hotel. After waking up, we drove to that family friends house again and stayed there for most of the morning – we had come yesterday for a first communion and then spent the rest of the day with their family and other relatives. We ate and mingled and such, but by this time most of the family members were filtering out and returning to their respective homes. However, we had a nice breakfast (baguettes, croissants, and assorted jams and the sort, surprisingly) and lunch, and overall a nice experience, even with the family members trying to assess my french. After this, we started the drive back to Tours, which was about two and a half hours. It was a bit boring, but a good rest after all the talking in french. We got home around 6, where we watched some TV shows and french and continued to relax. Thomas, I, and Thomas’ father also all played some piano in what they called a friendly competiton, but both Thomas and his father were exceptional. After this competition and some other small activities, we all had dinner together, this time Thomas’ older brother with us, for he had not come on the trip. It was again a nice meal, and shortly after dinner (crepes, of course) we played some board games. I played Cash and Guns, and even though I did not win at least I understood. After this, I  went to get ready for bed, and then I decided to finish off my day with a bang- writing this blog. Overall, it was a very nice and relaxing day, and hopefully the following weekdays will be as well.

My first full day in France was largely spent in caves. I woke up in my new room to the sound of Thomas’ knocking, and then I went downstairs to enjoy the incredibly stereotypical breakfast of baguettes and croissants. I spent the rest of the morning getting to know Thomas’ family better, who are all very nice and understanding. For lunch, we went to eat in a restaurant located in a man made cave, which made for an interesting aesthetic. There was no menu at the restaurant, but rather several courses that were listed at the beginning of the meal. It ended up being a very good lunch; there was bread for each course in which you could put the food, whether it was mushrooms or goat cheese. The goat cheese in itself was a nice experience, for it had a very strong and differentry taste without being bad. The restaurant also had some mushrooms with butter and garlic and a few other things inside, and those were pretty good as well. After eating in the cave, we went to another system of caves. The location was called Le Mystere Des Faluns. The caves had different inscriptions and displays that helped describe the history of them. It went over their formation as well as the creatures that had once lived where the caves are now. It also talked about the miners who first dug into the caves and unearthed the fossils and other remnants. Overall, the caves were quite beautiful and astounding. I also enjoyed walking around the area outside the large cave systems where you can see the houses of people who carved their homes into the rock. Again, it was quite an amazing experience. After this, my exchange family and I returned to their home where we had mushrooms and chicken, along with green beans and a few other vegetables. I would think that my taste in food is branching out during this trip, which is nice. It’s a good improvement to make during my first full day.

Note: I will edit and post pictures as soon as I can, but it does not allow me to submit them from my phone, at least not that I know of or can figure out.