Blogs from Tours, Centre, France, Europe - page 9

I find myself in a strange situation, language-wise. For one whole week now, I have not spoken any English at all. Our group is very good at speaking only in French. Whenever someone speaks to me in English, I always respond in French and s/he continues in French. Our teachers are strict on that note. While I am at ease speaking French (moreso than most of the others who are all students of French in their early 20's!), I keep finding myself "out of context". Today, for example, we were looking at an article about the Feudal System--for homework we had about 10 questions to answer in writing about it. My last contact with the Feudal system was when I taught it to a Grade 8 class in Sardis, in 1965, in English! So, not only ... read more

Today has been full and interesting. I thought I could quickly do some shopping for groceries--wrong! A 5-minute walk each way was the easy part. Somehow, wandering around a French supermarket does not easily lead to completed shopping. Since none of the packages is familiar, I have difficulty telling whether I am in an aisle for cleaning products or staple foods. The fruits and vegetables, meat and fish are easy. You can smell them as well as easily see them! Shopping for 1 is a challenge as it is at home. Today, I tried to buy 1 potato, 1 carrot, 1 onion, etc. They are not always sold in bulk. The other delaying factor is that all the products look so interesting, that I want to stop and examine each one. Hence, it took me over ... read more

Our first encounter with rain today, but I won't complain--just some showers. We all met at a very old bakery which dates from the 17th century--a real oven fueled by wood; bread made by hand, except for a mechanical kneader which represents the 2 arms of the baker. They make all their bread from organic flour and a natural starter--really great bread if you don't mind paying 5.85 Euros a loaf! Au Vieux Four in a little square behind the Cathedral. Then we had a guided walking tour of the old city. In fact, there were 2 city centres which amalgated (I think in the 16th Century). We saw buildingsm still inhabited, that date back to the 16th Century. The guide we had was a wonderful teacher who is passionate about history. He explained things so ... read more

Yes! We've arrived in Tours. The weather has remained hot and sunny. We've been busy getting settled, both in residence and at the University. Our lodging is in a new residence building in North tours, so we cross the Loire each day to get to the University campus. Our rooms are very nice--sort of remind me of a cabin aboard a ship--small but concise. We each have our own bathroom too. Then there is a communal kitchen on each floor (the 16 of us are divided up into 3 floors). There are other students here too, so we hear and speak lots of French. Today we started classes--there will be quite a bit of work to do, but centred around the history, culture, and literature of the Tours area. We've walked a lot and seen some ... read more

Tuesday 13th May A normal working day in Europe, so we should be free to visit whatever takes our fancy. Seeing we are in the Loire Valley we feel it would be remiss not to visit some chateaus. We decide to visit Chateau Chenonceau (or Chenonceaux, the French seem unsure of which way it should be spelt). Chenonceau would be the most photographed chateaus in France; it's the one with the four large arches extending out into the river and is usually photographed on a still day with the four large arches almost perfectly reflected in the water. The day was brilliant and sparkling. Probably the hottest day we have had in Europe, but not sweltering by any standards. The car park was a long walk from the chateau itself, and those that wished, could spend ... read more