Author: sam_goeuriot

Today was a very eventful day and I spent a lot of quality time with my correspondant’s family. In the morning I woke up at around 11 AM and it was nice because almost the entire family slept in and we woke up around the same time by the time I was finished showering and getting downstairs his mother had already prepared a traditional, delicious, Algerian meal called shackshouka. I’m convinced Ali‘s mother can be a professional chef after eating lunch around 1 PM, Ali and his father and I, left to go to Futuroscope. It is a popular amusement park and tours, and it is about an hour drive away on the car, I spent a lot of time talking with Ali and his father and getting to know everyone better. We got there quite quickly, and the weather was pretty cloudy and a little bit chilly. We found a parking spot quite easily, and when we entered, we noticed there was almost no people there. His father explained to me that usually they come in the summer once every two years, and there is always a lot of people. We went to around eight attractions throughout the day, including objectif Mars, le vienne dynamique, etc. It was similar to Disneyland in America, but much smaller. My favorite attraction was objective Mars because it was a roller coaster, and was more exhilarating than the other attractions. It was a lot of fun because I was going to spend quality time with Ali and his father. Normally the weight for each attraction is around one to two hours, but because there’s no one here it was only around 5 to 15 minutes, which was super nice. Although it was convenient not having to wait at all, it was quite creepy due to the lack of people. We had originally planned to watch a show at 10:45 PM but we decided it was way too late because we had explored most of the park by 8 PM. We had dinner there, since Ali’s mom packed is five sandwiches, which was a bit overkill but we all ate one. As usual it was extremely delicious the day overall was really nice. We were able to do a lot of activities and I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to tomorrow on Monday.

 

Today I was able to sleep in a little, so I woke up around 10. Then, I headed downstairs and ate a pain au chocolat from the bakery for breakfast. We didn’t have any plans right after breakfast, so I just hung around the house with Scott for a little while. For lunch, we ate chicken wraps which were super good. In the afternoon, Scott and I went to get some groceries at a little corner store that had anything you could think of. Next, we stopped at a friend’s house where we played some video games before heading back out to meet some more friends. But first, we went to the shopping area near the center of the city. Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday, but we did buy some toy watches we thought were funny at the supermarket. With our new accessories, we met up with some more friends and went to the park, where we were able to join some people who were playing soccer. We managed to win 5-4, then we headed back home. For dinner, my exchange family and I shared a pizza and a couple croque-monsieurs. As we ate, we watched Roland-Garros (The French Open), then we ended the day by watching an episode of Fort Boyard, a French game show, which I thought was pretty funny. So far the trip has been great and I am looking forward to the rest!

I started off today by waking up at 9 am and having a fresh pain au chocolat from the local bakery. My exchange family brought me to their beach house in Soulac the night prior, so my exchange student, her mother, and I walked over to the local market and bought fresh seafood, vegetables, and cheese.

It just so happened that Soulac was having their annual 20th century festival where people would dress up in 1900s clothing, so we headed over to the town square where many vendors had set up tents. I was able to try straw-weaving with the help of a lady running a tent and created a small bookmark.

After stopping by the house for a short moment, my partner and I biked back to the festival area with her little brother, since we realized that a steam train was going to stop by (and we wanted photos). We got back home and ate a delicious lunch consisting of a grilled fish bought from the market and some green beans; then, my exchange family brought me to the beach where we hung out for about an hour before getting some ice cream from a shop that was established in the 1920s.

My exchange partner and I parted ways with her family, as we went to see a miniature Statue of Liberty which represented both NYC being straight across the Atlantic and the coast of Soulac being the last view of France that Lafayette had before going to America.

 

Finally, we went back home and had Jambalaya, fried cod, and soupe de poisson for dinner before finishing the day by going to see the sunset at the beach. Overall, I had a jam packed but very fun experience today.

As it was the weekend, I slept in until past 10. I felt quite well rested after that. After a quick breakfast by myself (because everyone else, in fact, did not sleep past 10 like I did), I had free time with Simon and his family. I started by playing foosball with them. It was interesting; they seem to play foosball a lot and thus have developed a strategy: they would hold the ball in one of the back rows of players, then flip over their players in front to have a (more) clear shot to the goal. Simon’s little sister especially was very energetic, dramatic, and competitive as we played foosball. Well actually, she’s very energetic and dramatic all the time, not just when we play foosball. Afterwards, Simon brought out a table for us to play table tennis. The table was quite small compared to a regular table tennis table, but it was still fun. Simon tried putting a lot of spin on the ball when he played, and his sister lacks a backhand. Unfortunately, there was wind which made it more difficult to play. We had lunch afterwards where we ate pulled pork and mashed potatoes left from yesterday as well as some salad and tomatoes. I couldn’t eat too much due to the fact that I ate breakfast really late. I also got to try a type of syrup (that, to my knowledge, we don’t have in the US) that French people sometimes put in their drinks that makes the water sweet and, in this case, minty. We started the afternoon by… playing more table tennis. Though this time, we did some more bizarre things like using our hands or removing the net and blowing the ball back and forth (which was quite hard because of the wind). I also played badminton with Simon. After, around 3-ish in the afternoon, we went to a festival with a lot of shows. We watched two shows together. In the first show, two people were basically taking a bunch of old objects and kind of competing against each other while building (kind of imaginary) homes. It was quite funny and there were a lot of people watching. We ate a quick snack there and watched the next show, which had more people and less good spots to watch. In this show, a guy was making jokes and doing some stupid things to prepare for a motorcycle trick, which he did at the end. A lot of the jokes I didn’t understand due to lack of vision and the French being fast, but Simon and his dad agreed that the jokes were not interesting and that the show was really long. We went back home and ate dinner, which was pasta. Later in the evening, me and Simon went to watch the second half of a movie we started yesterday: The Fabelmans, which was an interesting movie related to the life of Steven Spielberg. Simon’s sister and father joined later, and we finished the film at almost midnight, at which point I realized I still had to write this blog…

As it was the weekend, I slept in until past 10. I felt quite well rested after that. After a quick breakfast by myself (because everyone else, in fact, did not sleep past 10 like I did), I had free time with Simon and his family. I started by playing foosball with them. It was interesting; they seem to play foosball a lot and thus have developed a strategy: they would hold the ball in one of the back rows of players, then flip over their players in front to have a (more) clear shot to the goal. Simon’s little sister especially was very energetic, dramatic, and competitive as we played foosball. Well actually, she’s very energetic and dramatic all the time, not just when we play foosball. Afterwards, Simon brought out a table for us to play table tennis. The table was quite small compared to a regular table tennis table, but it was still fun. Simon tried putting a lot of spin on the ball when he played, and his sister lacks a backhand. Unfortunately, there was wind which made it more difficult to play. We had lunch afterwards where we ate pulled pork and mashed potatoes left from yesterday as well as some salad and tomatoes. I couldn’t eat too much due to the fact that I ate breakfast really late. I also got to try a type of syrup (that, to my knowledge, we don’t have in the US) that French people sometimes put in their drinks that makes the water sweet and, in this case, minty. We started the afternoon by… playing more table tennis. Though this time, we did some more bizarre things like using our hands or removing the net and blowing the ball back and forth (which was quite hard because of the wind). I also played badminton with Simon. After, around 3-ish in the afternoon, we went to a festival with a lot of shows. We watched two shows together. In the first show, two people were basically taking a bunch of old objects and kind of competing against each other while building (kind of imaginary) homes. It was quite funny and there were a lot of people watching. We ate a quick snack there and watched the next show, which had more people and less good spots to watch. In this show, a guy was making jokes and doing some stupid things to prepare for a motorcycle trick, which he did at the end. A lot of the jokes I didn’t understand due to lack of vision and the French being fast, but Simon and his dad agreed that the jokes were not interesting and that the show was really long. We went back home and ate dinner, which was pasta. Later in the evening, me and Simon went to watch the second half of a movie we started yesterday: The Fabelmans, which was an interesting movie related to the life of Steven Spielberg. Simon’s sister and father joined later, and we finished the film at almost midnight, at which point I realized I still had to write this blog…

 

I started the day by actually waking up to my alarm for the first time!! We ate a very yummy breakfast consisting of chocolate croissants and the best fruit I’ve ever had. Once we arrived at school I went to two english classes and a history class where they were learning about the American Revolution. In the first english class we played uno most of the time and in the second one I talked with some of the girls who came to NC last year. The second english class ran into most of the dancing but we made it there for the last one and a bit of singing. Lunch today was American themed, cheeseburgers and fries! After lunch we went and played pétanque. Maya and I won all 6 of the games that we played!! After school, my buddy brought me a croissant/cookie which was amazing!! For diner my family took me to le Château d’Artigny where we had an amazing meal. I got to try a lot of new things and learn a lot of new vocab from the menu. And the desert was amazing! France is amazing so far!!

This morning, I woke up late and had to rush out the door. I got lost on the way to the first class I had to go to, but ended up running into a friend of mine, so it was ok.

 

I arrived in English class and sat down at a table with some people I’d never met with Moriah and Lauren. I found it very funny that the guy next to me used google translate to figure out everything he wanted to say instead of asking us questions. In between the translations, he’d switch tabs on his iPad and play “FE!N” by Travis Scott. After a couple minutes of awkward conversation, we taught our table how to play the card game “spoons”, but with cell phones instead of spoons. They picked it up really fast and it became really fun.

 

After English, I went to a history class, where they were learning about the American Revolution. The class was lecture style, but the teacher was very engaging. I found her very adorable, she was wearing a cute sweater and pronounced ‘Boston Tea Party’ like ‘Bostonne Tea Part Tee’. 

 

I was greatly disappointed by the hamburgers at lunch, but I had fun with Melissa, Luna, and Maya. 

 

After lunch, we learned how to play le Pétanque (bocci ball), but we had to take two busses and a hike and a half to get there. We started off with some exercises to practice and learn how to play, and started playing real games once we got the hang of it. 

 

After school, Gabrielle and I met up with some friends at Place Primrose, a collection of cafes and restaurants in town. I got a lemonade and met some very nice French people that were surprised I am American, who said I speak very good French. 

 

For dinner, my exchange family and I ate chicken cooked with mushrooms, served with a cold cauliflower salad. It was so good. For dessert, I had a chocolate eclair and part of a baguette that Gabrielle and I picked up on the way home from Place Primrose. We finished the night going through some photo albums and discussing the music that we love. 

Day 3 of our trip! I was grateful that the jet lag was slowly getting better, and this day I felt much more energized. After arriving at school, we got the opportunity to visit the château longeais near the river. It was very beautiful, and it was fun to learn about the castle’s history and walk through the rooms. Then, we ate lunch in the small town next to the castle. Then, we drove to a goat farm, where we enjoyed learning about how the couple runs the farm and how goat milk produce is made. We got to try some of the products, which in my opinion was an acquired taste. All in all, it was a great day. I went home with my buddy on the bus, which was something I had never done before, and enjoyed the experience very much. I felt like we walked a lot, so after eating a yummy salad, I went to bed nice and early.

In the morning, once everyone arrived at the school, we made our way to the bus stop to go to the Chateaux de Langeais. Once we arrived, we hung out around the grounds surrounding the Chateaux enjoying the very beautiful scenery. Soon after, we entered the castle and started our tour with our very own Mr. G as our tour guide. We explored each room, learning more about the history of castle and its inhabitants, as well as learning several new French vocabulary words. After we finished the tour we explored the exterior of the chateaux, taking pictures of the brilliantly built structure and its beautiful garden full of flowers. For lunch, we had a picnic in the town, visiting the various shops. In the afternoon, after a long bus ride, we finally got to the goat farm. Upon arrival, while we learned about the farm and its management, we also got to meet the last 3 baby goats born this year. We then moved on to learning how the milk is obtained, and how the cheese and yogurt is made. We were even allowed to try some of the food made at the farm, though not to the taste of some, I enjoyed it especially along with their rose and sage jams. Though we were interrupted by a large thunderstorm, we were able to end our day by visiting the rest of the goats.

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This morning started off great as I slept until my alarm and thankfully didn’t face much jet lag. Then I went into Juliette’s room and had to wake her up as she’d already slept through her alarm that had been going off for the past 30 minutes. Anyways, we ate breakfast and were out the door by 7:20. We headed to the tram where we met up with Margot (a friend not in the exchange) and some others while we walked to le lycée for breakfast. Afterwards, we went for a walk around Tours, first going to le Cathédrale Saint-Gatien, where, after exploring, Alex needed to pee and couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to get the door on the public bathroom to shut (so of course, we all watched as he fought with this thing for at least 10 minutes)… Next, we went to a marketplace with some of the best framboises I’ve ever had and une torsade suisse au chocolat (which was also delicious). After lunch at le lycée, we went to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which was beautiful and super interesting… After that, Juliette and I went shopping and then to a café before heading home. Once we got back (by tram), we made crepes, ate dinner, ate the crepes, and went to bed!

 

Today is our first full day in Tours! I started off the day by waking up at 6:45 and eating brioche for breakfast. After that my exchange partner, Adrien and I rode the tram to school where we would then leave to visit an old church as well as a market! I bought an Éclair and a Ficelle Jambon. Later after lunch we travelled to the  Musée des Beaux Arts where we saw several magnificent art pieces from several eras. The tour guide spoke entirely in French which was a good opportunity to work on my comprehension skills! My favorite painting was a large, impressive battle scene consisting of warriors. Perseus is seen to be holding medusas head in the center turning the opposing warrior to stone, while under the protection of Athena. The artist who created it is Jean-Marc-Nattier. After the tour I was picked up by Adrien and we took turns riding his bike around before going home. I like going to his house because we cross one of the rivers which has a great view. We then rested for a bit and later got snacks and food for the picnic tomorrow. Overall, I had a fun first full day in Tours and I am excited for what’s to come!