Paisible: Peaceful

Tours est plus paisible que Paris, bien sur.

It’s true—compared to Paris, the city of sensory overload, Tours is much more peaceful.  And after the frantic adventuring, it’s rather welcome.  My host family said that they preferred to live in a smaller town like Tours and make excursions to bigger cities, and I think that’s probably the way I would like it too, to get a taste of both worlds.  To be close enough to visit the bigger places like Paris in a day, but removed from all the hustle and bustle.  Paris is exciting, and not too traumatic, and we certainly stayed for far too short a time to really explore it in depth, but I think it may grate on the nerves after a while.

And yet Tours isn’t exactly small—in fact, it’s rather huge.  To a pedestrian, at least.  Not gigantic huge, but large enough to get lost in, to house probably hundreds of cafes and restaurants, a decently large train station, a cathedral, a basilica, and several other buildings of great proportion, both physical and historical.  It’s also a pretty tourist-y city, and I’ve seen several tour buses (mostly of Germans, Italians, and other French people) and met many American tourists not studying with the program.  (I didn’t realize this before but Tours is a pilgrimage site, as it holds the relics of St. Martin in its basilica.)  I’ve spent the past few days exploring it on foot, by myself, with friends, on a guided tour, and still I think I may get lost if I venture too far from the paths I know without a map.  It’s very exciting, to be in a new place, to discover the sights, sounds, smells for yourself.  There’s still a ton I haven’t seen, museums to go to, little shops to enter, a whole manner of things to explore.  It will be intriguing these next few weeks, especially for a navigationally challenged person like myself, haha.

Things I like about Tours (so far…there will probably be others…and presented in no particular order):

1. The fact that it’s in France.  And the people speak French.

2. My wonderful host family.

3. The food.  Enough said.  La nourriture est trop délicieuse pour mon santé…but hopefully we’ll walk off some of the calories, haha.  We may have rotund stomachs by the end of this program, but we’ll have calves of steel, bien sur.

4. The way most things are within walking distance.  Even if you have to walk a long way.

5. The way I can look out my window and see a rosebush (un rosier, je pense) and hear the bells from a nearby church.

6. The history—it’s very rich, historically speaking, and very old.  C’est une ville qui date au temps de Caesar.  And it’s filled with really old buildings…the old part, Vieux Tours, looks a little like a medieval village.  Or something one would see at a Renaissance festival.  (Except that it’s real, of course.) 

7. The atmosphere.  The ambience.  The way you can sit in a café, literally, for hours, without irritating anyone—it’s the norm here.

8.  The Loire!

9. Les châteaux! (Castles !)

10. Les églises!  Et les temples ! (Churches !)

11. Les fleurs!!! (Flowers!)

12.  All of the adorable little shops.

13. The food.  It deserves repeating.

The adventures I’ve had in Tours may not have been as notable (or name-dropping) as the ones I’ve had in London or Paris—La Place Plumeraeau isn’t exactly as well-known as, say, the Meridian Line or Notre Dame.  But I’ve walked along the banks of the beautiful Loire (and walked in it a little bit, before we saw the “Ne baignez pas” signs…oops) with mon ami français Mark, explored the city, and indulged in probably far too much pastries.  It’s been pretty awesome.

Yesterday we took our oral placement exams at L’Institut de Touraine, which weren’t bad at all; the anticipation of them was much worse than actually going through with it.  It consisted primarily of a brief conversation with a nice woman who worked at the Institut, and I learned a few new vocabulary words.  (Exemples: phare=lighthouse, les Gémeaux=Gemini.)  After this we had a copious amount of free time for lunch before un prof à l’université gave us a walking tour of Tours.  We somehow managed to get through lunch at a pizzeria, the proprietor of which was very well-acquainted with the tribulations of students who don’t speak very much French; we also learned (after a few awkward stares) that Americans tend to be generally louder than the French.  Note to travelers: don’t seem too loud, or you risk looking a little obnoxious or touristy.  Hmm.  We also stopped at a boulangerie (a super delicious place that sells bread, sandwiches, pastries, and delicious things like that) and bought flan, which Mark described as “eggy heaven”.  It’s true.  Flan=delicious.  And I don’t even like eggs that much, at least not in pastries.  We window-shopped (Tours has very good shopping), and then Shakhlan and I went on a walking tour of the city.  We discovered things I doubt I would have managed to find on my own, and visited several landmarks—the Cathedral, the Hotel de Ville, the Theatre, the Palais de Justice, etc.  It was exceedingly hot but quite wonderful.  There was some downtime for writing postcards and such, and then dinner (I had rabbit for the first time ever…it tasted, to me, exactly like chicken), and then a few of us in the Tours program (Basil, Mark, Chloe, Lauren, and I) went out to explore the night life of Tours. We stopped at a café for drinks (for those who aren’t fond of alcohol, I recommend les sirops à l’eau—it’s pretty much flavored water, but better than it sounds—the peach one is delicious), and then visited La Gangette, a very interesting establishment on the banks of the Loire.  It’s a very popular open-air bar-type-thing that attracts people of all ages, with lights strung up in the trees, a dance floor, and tons of tables.  It’s so pretty!  C’est très populaire avec les jeunes.  And it’s definitely amusing to people-watch, whether it’s the older couples swing dancing to classic French tunes, the random guy performing probably elicit-substance-fueled acrobatics (e.g., walking on his hands and ninja jumping into a tree), and everything between the two.  It was also amusing to hear them play “Mambo No. 5” and “Like a Virgin” randomly between French songs, haha.

Today was the first official day of classes at l’Institut, and like most first days, it was filled with introductions, explanations of the course expectations, the confusion of arranging schedules, etc.   It was also a bit of a reality check, since so far we’ve pretty much felt that we’ve been on vacation.  Going to school in the summer is something we’re going to have to get used to, haha.  But it was actually quite interesting.  In general, we have classes that focus on writing, oral comprehension, and phonetics, and then cultural workshops—so far I’m taking diplomatic French (today we learned about international organizations—shout out to Amnesty! Yay!) and literature.  C’est bien.  The primary teachers for our class are very nice; Fabien teaches us oral skills, and Stéphanie focuses on the writing.  It was a long day, but not too bad, and later today several of us are going to the “Café des Langues” to practice speaking our French.  It will be splendid. 

Quelques photos:

Pilgrim's Passage: Very fitting for a wayfaring stranger in a foreign land...and for being right next to a basilica.

Slightly tilted picture of La Place Plumereau--I live about five minutes from here.  C'est agreable, n'est-ce pas?

One of the buildings of the l'Institut de Touraine...I definitely walked into this garden on a random promenade, and realized it was part of the Institut the next day.  Oops.  I had wondered why there was a stone commemorating the founder of the Institut there....

Ruins of the old basilica.  I would have gotten a better picture but I didn't want to stand in the middle of the street.  And probably get hit by a car.  Or a tour bus.

One of the views from my window!  Un tres joli rosier!

A bientôt!