Author: sam_goeuriot

We started the day by arriving at RDU airport around 3:30 p.m. this allowed us to have time before our flight at 6:10 p.m. We ended up needing this time since a ticket issue was experienced, we made it through security and boarded the direct flight to Paris. This flight brought us some introduction into France through the provided dinner and breakfasts. When we arrived at Charles de Gaulle, we were greeted by decorations and some airport upgrades in preparation for the Olympics. Next, we took a charter bus to Tour, on which we stopped at a different style of rest stop compared to the U.S., including a gas station and EV chargers around a mini shopping mall for a variety of food options for our lunch. On the second leg of our bus trip to Tour most of the students went to sleep since most of us were unable to sleep on the flight. When we arrived in Tour, we were greeted by the exchange students in a center square or park within their downtown. With my exchange partner we rode the bus to his house then spent the afternoon, walking his dog, playing some games, cooking my first French meal in France, and ending the night with a card game. Overall, the first two days of travel were exhausting but well worth it for the adventures to come.

We are finally in France after our two-day travel! We arrived at the airport on the 27th around 3:30pm and our flight departed around 6:30pm. Once on the plane, dinner was served, and I fell asleep off and on for the rest of the ride. We arrived at 1:30am which was really 7:30am in France. After this, we made it through customs and saw our first glance of the Paris airport. The airport is full of decorations celebrating the upcoming Olympics! After we made it through the airport, we were picked up by a bus who took us on another 4-hour ride to Tours. As we arrived, we were welcomed by our French exchange students and their families. Emma (my partner) and I then headed home and stopped at a bakery on the way where I saw my first French baguettes. Overall, the last night was very tiring, but I am glad to finally be here in France!! 

I started the day by buying some more pet fish with the family. They already have a fish named Fierman, but they wanted to add to the collection. I was surprised that the fish/pet stores in France are so much more ethical than the ones in the US. Here they keep all the fish in large and well aired tanks, unlike out pet stores that store them in small cups. The assortment of birds was also surprisingly exotic, there were some I’ve never seen before! Next, we visited Chloé’s grandmother’s house to pick some red currants for a jam. I never knew how much fruit you needed for a jar of jelly. At least there were also cherry trees that were in season, giving us a nice break from the hard work. To finish the day, I ate fish and a great salad! Desert was my favorite though, a raspberry mousse with solid raspberries in it. I can’t remember ever having it before and it was delicious. Chloé’s family gave me two pairs of Charentaises, one for my mom and one for me, as a parting gift. I baked a loaf of bread with Chloé as my last activity of the night. Although I’m excited to go to Paris I know I’ll miss my host family and I’ll forever be grateful for my time in Tours.

Today was a chill, laid back day for me and my host family in France. We had no plans but it turned out to be a fun and quite eventful day. First, it was Mother’s Day in France so we celebrated by gifting my host mom some gifts, including tea we bought on rue nationale. Then, I packed my bag as it is our last day here. We then had sausages for lunch in the grill. There was the saucisse de toulouse and the merguez, two types of local French sausages. After that, I found out that unfortunately, while we ate lunch, the family fish passed away. But the family quickly grieved and decided to get a new one today. We went to the pet store, and they were out of fish. So, we went to another one and we picked out a fish named Samosa. Then we went to a store to buy some party supplies for Manon and came back home to play darts. I got dead last 5 times. After that, we had dinner of chicken and string beans. It was a great last day!

Today, my host family and I woke up early to drive an hour to the Futuroscope theme park. It reminded me of American theme parks, but with significantly less people and much cleaner. The attractions were different too: instead of roller coasters, most things were digital simulations. My favorite attraction was a ride that simulated flying around the world, The Extraordinary Journey. It was similar to the ride Soaring at Disney world, where you have seats that lift up in the air and a screen shows different landmarks. We ate lunch at the park and I ate a pizza that had goat cheese and greens on it. My host family goes to Futuroscope often so they knew which attractions were the best to do. Walking around the park was really cool because of all the huge futuristic structures. We stayed until around 6:00 and then drove home and I slept in the car. Once we got home, I played with their dog Luzy and packed. For dinner we ate tomatoes, salad, and bread.

Today started off rather late with the family sleeping in. It wasn’t until when the doggy started barking as if he saw a squirrel that we woke up and got ready for the day. Around 10:00, Me and Thibs ran some ping pong while we waited as his parents cooked up brunch. As much I’d like to say I sauced Thibaut up, truth is I didn’t win a single match. I’ll get him next time though🤷‍♂️. Brunch was a mix of steak, vegetables, fruits and yogurt, and it smacked so much I wanted thirds. After, we pulled up on one of their family friends to borrow bikes for me and Josh-he’ll crash with us tomorrow since his buddy will be job shadowing- to ride around. Once we got our new whips, we rode around the city till we got to a glasses store and bought a pair of glasses for Thibaut since he lost his yesterday. As we left, I noticed that we took a different path than the way that we came from. I thought I was tripping once I saw us EXIT the city. I’m not going to lie for a good 10 seconds I thought maybe I was going to end up on the News tomorrow, but just then Thibaut turned around and told me that we were headed to a Castle famous for its garden, the Château of Villandry. The bike ride there was astounding, passing through fields and rivers riding at a speed where the breeze was perfect. We rode for about 45 minutes, and when we finally got there, we got some of the best ice cream I have ever had. Being the person I am, I quickly downed a 5 scoop icecream on a waffle cone and was thinking of seconds, but I was too full to even take another bite. Entering the Castle, immediately we see magic like architecture with emerald green water surrounding the castle. Not far off, we could see the bits of the famous garden, and already we were impressed. As we got closer, we were even more amazed. With garden beds full of colorful flowers to bush mazes to shrub fields, our eyes could only stare in awe. After, the ride back was horrendous. With his family riding at like 25 miles an hour somehow and bugs everywhere, I was out of breath and stinging in pain when we finally got back. By that time, It was around 9 o clock so we played poker as we waited for dinner. I am still in shock as there was never a round where Thibaut had a bad hand. Dinner was homemade tacos, and following the same trends, the food was mouth smacking good. We had ice cream right after, and it too was tear worthy good. I guess that is their way of making up for that bike ride back, as my legs are still sore as I’m writing this. Don’t get me wrong, if I was given the choice to do it again, I would accept in a heartbeat. Overall, this Saturday was exciting, and I await in fear for when Josh comes over Tomorrow!

Today I woke up at 8 am and had pain au chocolat from the local bakery for breakfast. At around 10 am my exchange student Léo and I went to a basketball court nearby and played basketball for about an hour. Despite beating him by 15, he still said that I was terrible for an American and that I should be much better. After that, we rested at his house for 2 hours preparing for a big afternoon.

At 1 pm we ate lunch which was burgers and they all ate them with forks and knives which shocked me. From 3-6 pm we were at the gardens in le Domaine de Chaumont sur Loire. There were some really cool ones and it was a great way to spend the afternoon. Lastly, we ate sausages for dinner and played ping pong.

I started my day off waking up at 9:00 and eating a banana for breakfast. Then, me and my host family went shopping for Mothers Day tomorrow. We went to the big center street of Tours, and we first stopped at a flower store with a lot of beautiful flowers, and they carefully picked out flowers for their mothers. Then, we stopped at a shoe store, and they collectively chose out shoes for each of their mothers. Finally, we stopped at Louis Vuitton and Adrien’s parents each bought their mom’s a fancy purse. After that, we went to the market that we went to on our first day visiting in Tours to pick up some groceries. We got a lot of things, like veggies, fruits, cheese, cake, bread, meat, fish, and spices. They said they were preparing for a big feast for tomorrow’s Mothers Day. After that, we went home and I played some video games with Adrien and got destroyed. We then had lunch, and started off with a dish of melon and prosciutto and a bowl of radishes. I loved the melon and prosciutto combonation which I had also previously tried in Italy, but the raw radishes with butter and salt were not the best. It was just a weird flavor, not bad, but also not good. After that, we had the main course of veal cooked in a mushroom cream sauce, which was amazing. For dessert, we had watermelon and strawberries. The watermelon was not very juicy but the strawberries were very good. After lunch, I watched Roland Garros for 2 hours and then we went to play tennis. It was the first time that I have played on red clay, and it was a really funky service; very slow and heavy, nothing like I am used to in the US. However, it was very cool to be able to play on red clay. After that, we played some foosball and had a cold coke in the clubhouse, and I got destroyed by Adrien’s dad at foosball. Overall, it was a very fun and relaxing day.

I woke up this morning with my left arm sore from churning butter yesterday. I told my host family that I’m “très fort,” so it would be “très facile” for me, but I don’t think I’m très fort anymore tbh. Anyway, I pretty much just slept for the whole morning and then ate lunch LOL. My French twin (Adélaïde) told me last night that I would be home alone for like 2 hours, so I figured I could just sleep for that time. After that, my French twin’s dad had to drive us and Kainda and her exchange student to Gadawi. The car ride only took like 15 minutes. While my morning may have been oh so boring, the afternoon was oh so fun! C’était cool ça!!!!!!!! Gadawi was more fun than I expected it to be! The last course I went on took like 40 minutes, but it was kind of worth it because the zip lines were fun. In the evening, I went bowling with some of the other Americans and their exchange students (i won in my lane btw). Jyothi and I shared absolutely thirst quenching glasses of water at the bowling alley. After we bowled, a group of us went shopping at L’heure Tranquille, which is like an outdoor mall. After waiting like 20 minutes for our food, we sat outside to eat and had very meaningful conversations.

Today, we had free time for the entire morning, so Hermance and I took advantage and went shopping, along with her boyfriend and Emma. One thing that I have noticed is different in France from the US is that niche stores seem much more common here. There are individual stores dedicated uniquely to just about anything, from bars of soap to bathing suits to flowers and plants. We have some stores like this in the US obviously, but here, I have noticed they are more common. We then had lunch at a burger place where I ate chicken nuggets, fries, and a milkshake with a cardboard straw. I think the cardboard straws that they have here are really cool, they are much better than those paper straws we have in the US that dissolve immediately in your drink, and are still better for the environment than plastic. After having lunch, we took the bus to meet the rest of the students at the ropes course. It was pretty similar to ropes courses I have experienced in the US, though there was less supervision on each course. Overall it was a fun and busy day!