(Alexandra, we're done with the emotional crapola. Say something about the country you're living in, for goodness sakes.)
SO! France. Let's talk about that, shall we?
Where do I even begin... I can't write about everything, that would take too long. It's like when you missed too many journal assignments in English class and you're like "forget it, I'm writing a plot summary" (admitted that I never actually did that, I'm saving you guys the essay-length entries focusing on every day that has recently passed.)
HC signed us up for a whole bunch of excursions/workshops:
EXCURSION #1
The château at Loches
 |
| Yeah the town is friggin' beautiful. |
 |
| The château! |
 |
| Market stands throughout town |
 |
| Now THIS guy, he had an interesting story. (Charles VII) |
 |
| I don't remember who created this, but someone was kept in this "comfortable" prison cell for years and wrote all over it. I think it was someone royal. I have some research to do. |
Chenonceau (another château)
 |
| And on your left ladies and gents, you will see a beautifully crafted garden pruned by yours truly. (Check out the forest... it extends WAY back. Wish we had time to walk the trails where the king used to hunt.) |
 |
| Thas' me. |
 |
| IT HAS A MOAT! |
 |
| Vue Panoramique |
 |
This room has a really interesting story. It was Louise de Lorraine's bedroom, wife of King Henry III. She inherited Chenonceau after Catherine de Medici's death (the mother-in-law of Louise.) After her husband was assassinated, Louise painted her bedroom completely black. She walked around the château dressed in all white (mourning clothes at the time,) and pretty much locked herself up in there after his death. The various symbols standing out on the black walls have different symbolic meanings. For example, the picture below is representative of tears. There are also pictures of crowns of thorns, H and Lambda intertwined ("H" for Henry, and Lambda for Louise).
|
 |
| Tears painted all over the room... and I think above that is a headpiece that widows wear, but don't hold me to it. |
 |
| "Act casual," we try this picture all the time, and everyone looks in the same direction. SO. I took it from behind! Some of the lovely HC girls on the trip with me! |
The wine cellars ("caves") of Blanc Foussy
 |
| I forgot why, but this carving is at the entrance into the wine cellar. |
 |
| Unmarked bouteilles |
 |
| (fake) Mushrooms |
ATELIER (workshop) #1:
Vins blancs et Fromages de Touraine ("Ding-dong, wine and cheese wine and cheese" --SNL)
 |
| Pork, pork belly, ham, and pork on bread |
 |
| Goat cheese (love this stuff) on bread. Yes, whenever I refer to bread in France, you can assume it's baguette bread unless otherwise specified. |
EXCURSION #2
(wake up time: 5:30 am. arrival back at home: 11:30 pm. Worth it nonetheless.)
Mont St. Michel
 |
| Mont St. Michel is beautiful from the outside. I like the architecture on the outside better than the inside, which is very bare (and yes, very beautiful. But bare. I just prefer it from the outside, on the deck right outside the church at the top of the fort, etc.) |
 |
| The one other time I went to France, my parents and I visited Mont St. Michel. We got to see it both at day and night-- I remember my dad was worried about parking because the tide comes in so quickly (the parking spaces bordered the sand.) This empty stretch of sand gets flooded VERY quickly, and the sight is stunning at night. |
 |
| Sand, quicksand (learned that was there when I visited this time,) and the stretch of a road that leads up to Mont St. Michel. The green is the beautiful land of Normandy, with rolling farms and acres of incredible country. |
 |
| Out on roof right outside the church. |
 |
| Don't look down... |
 |
| The little town at the base of the fort/monastery |
La ville de St. Malo
 |
| Just chilling in the middle of the English Channel. |
 |
| The girls with our friend from Spain, Javier |
 |
| Beautiful city just sitting on the beach |
 |
| Three of the HC girls walking on the right |
 |
| "I have swag." |
 |
| Entrance to the beach once the tide came in. The water came in so quickly that Lily's towel got soaked without warning. My shoes got wet too... sandy feet the whole way home. To think that about an hour beforehand, you were able to walk out at least 40 yards... |
 |
| Woops, got a random person in the picture... but it's a good shot so I wanted to keep this up. |
ATELIER #2:
CUISINE
 |
| Tartines Tourangelles (bread (not baguette, surprisingly! It was organic though!) with sauteed white onion and goat cheese) |
 |
| Keila doing her thing |
 |
| Jess with the crème chocolats before they went in the fridge |
 |
| I helped make these ones, Petits Sables au Beurre (butter cookies.) Were good when we scooped the
crème chocolate on top
|
EXCURSION #3
Château at Blois
Note: I was always the first person to say that every château ends up blending with one and the next. HOWEVER. Blois was a different story. This place is designed very different from other châteaux, and I have to say... it was incredible. My favorite one by far (then Loches.)
 |
| A beautiful park right outside of the château |
 |
| Headin' towards the château... |
 |
| La maison de magie, across the square from the château. If you look in the windows, you'll see golden dragons just peeking out, moving up and down. They just appeared all of the sudden while we were waiting to get inside... like four-year-olds, this entertained us highly. |
 |
| My favorite part of the three-tiered façade of the wing of Gaston d'Orléans, facing the courtyard. There are actually several wings to the château that each represent the royalty that resided at Blois (at different times, of course). The difference between each floor in d'Orléans' wing is artistic genius, and trust me, that takes a lot for me to say (mainly because I don't know enough about art to truly appreciate it. Good thing Lily's an art history major and can change that!) Each level is unique with the most interesting, minute details. At the very top you see the bust of a man... that would be Gaston duc d'Orléans himself, brother to King Louis XII (Gaston also lived at Blois thanks to his brother, who gave him the castle as a wedding gift. Erm... a castle for a wedding gift? My my, those kings.) |
 |
| One incredible thing about the château at Blois was how modern it appeared.. just look at the colors and design. This is the Salle des États Généraux (Estates General Room,) the largest secular Gothic room in France. |
 |
| Colleen and Barbara, acting like royalty. |
 |
| Oh love, how you engrave yourself in initials on walls... Henry IV and his wife, Marie de Medici (H&M, not to be confused with the clothing store. There's one of those in Tours, by the way.) The kings at this time (actually, throughout all of history, everywhere) had a serious issue with their image. Their initials, symbols of royalty (ie. fleur de lys, dragons, salamanders, porcupines, etc.) they INVADE the walls, inside and out. |
 |
| I mean, if I could have a study like this... I'd be set. (Actually there was one in the next room that I liked even better.) Notice the monogram of the H in the back, with the crown on top? King Henry |
 |
| Just in case you wanted to see the actual countryside, here's a glimpse from the way back from Blois |
Other things that have happened...
 |
| Reading on my nook (because couldn't bring books overseas, too heavy. It's not the same as a real book, but it's practical for the trip.) Currently reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Found a comfortable bench at the park around the corner from my apartment. I'm so happy I found a bench that's actually suitable for reading! |
 |
| Been trying sandwiches all over... like I said, everything's on a baguette (unless you go to Carrefour. I want my whole wheat back though!) |
 |
| Been walking around Tours.. here's a shot of Rue Nationale |
 |
| Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) at Place Jean Jaurès |
 |
| A shot of the international school I'm attending, L'Institut de Touraine |
 |
| (Still L'Institut de Touraine) |
 |
| Jardin de Prébendes. I get to walk through it every day on the way to and from school. Absolutely beautiful to walk through. |
 |
| Un canard sur le pont |
 |
| Been eating great food chez my host mother. This was one of my favorite things... rice with crab meat (the type you find in California rolls,) corn, radishes, and a little bit of dressing. AWESOME combination, never would have thought of it. |
 |
| Tried meat pâté and loved it despite any reservations I may have had. My host mother's grandmother made it herself! |
 |
| Found a restaurant that bares my name |
 |
| Walked by day next to the Loire river.... |
 |
| Saw La Guinguette in the light |
 |
| Continued to explore Tours |
 |
| Visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours |
 |
| This part of the garden at Musée des Beaux-Arts reminded me of The Secret Garden |
 |
| You know, I really tried my best to find the painting "Fall of Icarus" that is cited in the poem "Musée des Beaux-Arts" by W.H. Auden, which I've analyzed numerous times for classes at school. Could not find it, no matter who I asked (some said it was in the museum, some said it wasn't,) or where I looked. Wish I could've seen the painting I've been studying via poetry within the past two years... |
 |
| Visited the cathedral in Tours (pretty much next door to the Museum, saw both in the same day) |
 |
| Eat good food. That includes dessert. Combo deals are quite helpful in this scenario. |
 |
| A very interesting piece I found at the museum. |
 |
| Crossed into the northern part of Tours |
 |
| Love this... it's all over Tours |
 |
| Waddled in the Loire |
 |
| Had my first legal glass of wine |
 |
| Walked a LOT |
 |
| Walked by the Loire at night during visits to La Guinguette |
 |
| Not the best picture, but this tree is stunning, hangs right over La Guinguette and glows beautifully at night. |
 |
| Rode the bus for numerous excursions (and by myself, but that's a completely separate story. See my second-to-last post if you're interested in THAT one...) |
 |
| Danced Swing and Hussle at La Guinguette with Lily (I post this as "Ring my Bell" is playing in the background. Now I want to rumba...) |
 |
| Taught our friends to do the same... ! Very proud. |
 |
| The girls just chilling at La Guinguette |
 |
| The garden our school faces |
 |
| School again! |
 |
| Ate Mexican in France while ordering in Franglais |
 |
| Found a favorite boulangerie |
 |
| Found a coffee shop...... addiction problem? But I actually haven't gone there yet, this is Barbara's (she is a fellow coffee addict.) Don't worry, I'll get there and take advantage of their free wi-fi |
  |
| Ran the ink dry out of the pen Nikki lent me this past year, and realized I have Asid's hair tie that she put in my hair at some point Spring semester. |
PHEW.
That's all for now. I'll be better about more consistent posts in the near future.
Going to read and get my rest... waking up at a reasonably early hour (for the weekend, at least) tomorrow, so sleep is necessary!
With love from across the pond,
Alexandra :)
