Where to begin!  These past few days have been great.  Today was our last day of first session class.  Three weeks gone already!  Time is flying by.

Wednesday night was l'Institute de Touraine talent show...we sang the MSU fight song and alma mater!  Of course, no one understood anything and we sounded terrible, but it was fun to share our traditions with La Guingette.

Yesterday was La Fête de la Musique!  It is a nation-wide holiday of-sorts where live music is played all day and well into the night.  And it's free!  The perfect day for a poor American college student trying desperately to stay on budget.  There were all kinds of music--rock, rap, classical, punk, ethnic, etc.  We saw a steel drum band at La Guingette that was really awesome!  And at Place Plumereau, we saw a rock band....and I participated in the mosh!  It was an interesting experience (one that I can say with 99% certainty that I will never do again), but it was fun and I'm glad I was peer-pressured into it.  At least I burned off some of the excessive calories for the day!

La Fête de la Musique

Like I said before, today was our last day of first session.  I will be sad to see my days of no work be left behind.  But I suppose it is time to actually start working!  This afternoon, we took an oral placement test, and when we return from our week-off, we learn our class schedule for July.  After the placement test, I got ice cream--Kinder Bueno Bar flavored!  If you haven't had a Bueno Bar before...you have not lived.  And they are sold in the states, so buy one ASAP!  They are heaven in a candy bar.

For dinner tonight we had sardines!  I was extremely nervous that I would hate it.  In the states, sardines are known to be disgusting, fishy crap not worthy of eating.  But they were delicious!  Not bad at all.  I don't know if it was the way Hugette cooked them, but I would eat them again.  There was also pâté de lapin...also amazing!  She also made us homemade tiramisu--words cannot describe how amazing it was!  And Wednesday night she gave us millefeuille, a famous french dessert (Images of Millefeuille).  Today I treated myself to a mini chocolate pastry that was to die for.  I also tried un macaron nutella yesterday for about 1euro.  I could eat French desserts (really all French food) all day, every day.

Le 3 Chocolat

Sunday I leave for London!  And then on to Venice on Wednesday night.  I am so excited for my week-off.  It will be the best experience of my life.  Hopefully I don't get lost!

Paris was amazing!  I visited le Musée d'Orsay (Was literally a foot away from real Pissaro and Monet artwork! Cannot believe this is real life), went to the TOP of le tour eiffel (absolutely terrifyingly-awesome), successfully got lost at least twice (took us two hours to find our hotel that was only a 30 min walk from le tour eiffel), ate food that was so good it is impossible to describe, bought a painting in Montmartre near le Sacre Coeur, went to la Cathédrale Notre-Dame, and to top it all off, got some sun :)

Observations of Paris:
1.  Heard more English than French...disappointment.
2.  A lot of French restaurants close to major monuments serve American dishes to please the American tourists...understandable but seriously, hot dogs are not that great!  They'd get a better pay-off with hamburgers.
3.  There is nothing like lounging in the park under the Eiffel Tower.
4.  Montmartre is probably one of the COOLEST places I have ever been.  I thought that the first time I was there, and second time around, it still holds true.
5.  Les Champs-Elysées is over-rated, in my opinion.  Too many people and not a practical destination for a broke American college student!
6.  Sleeping eight people in one hotel room is actually not that bad...especially when we pay only $33/person per night to stay in Paris!
7.  Taking the stairs on the Eiffel Tower is terrifying, but definitely worth it!  Only 9euro to get to the highest point in Paris?! Yes, please.
8.  Maps of Paris are tricky.  You think a street is straight...and next thing you know, you're an hour away from your original destination.  Advice?  Get a taxi hahaha
9.  The Metro is confusing.
10.  I can't wait to come back!

(Also please excuse the awfully placed pictures...I am still trying to figure out how to make it uniform with two pictures per row!)

 <--A real Monet painting!! <--a bridge full of locks

<--La Seine                    <--la tour eiffel

               <--View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

 <--Best French wine     <--dessert w/ sparkler!

                 <--Street band

 <--First French Café

<--Montmartre artist   <--Keila and I @ le Sacré-Coeur

     <--le Sacré-Coeur     <--l'Arc de Triomphe

Tomorrow I go to Paris!  Yay so excited.  Today in class we talked about the differences in the concept of marriage between France and the United States.  It's very interesting that the French regard a mistress/second family as an everyday occurrence!  The President of France has had quite the romantic history and they don't mind at all.  They see privates lives as private, no questions asked.  And then you have the US, where we know the name of the President's dog and his daughters' favorite things to do.  It was a very interesting discussion.

We had our first excursion today to les châteaux de Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau.  Both were awesome, but I preferred Villandry for its beautiful gardens. It was magnificent!  But if I had to live in a château...Azay-le-Rideau wouldn't be so bad.
Also for lunch I had les fraises et deux croissants again, but it was awesome when the vendor recognized me!  Probably more-so the fact that we are boisterous Americans that travel in a pack and would be difficult to forget, but it was still cool.

Les jardins du château de Villandry

                                             

le château d'Azay-le-Rideau

In class today we learned about the symbol of France:  Marianne.  She represents France and its revolution.  The blue is the color of France.  The red is the color of the revolution and the white is the symbol of royalty. Together they are France. She is female to represent the idea of a mother (hence, the exposed breast).  We also covered France's national motto:  Liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, fraternity).  It was an interesting class!  Probably the best one we have had so far.
After class I wandered with another student and bought lunch for 3.90euro--a sandwich, drink, and a pain au chocolat (a dessert croissant).  What a steal!  I also bought a backpack for my weekend/upcoming week trips that only cost 13euro!  It was a good day for my wallet.

Yesterday started off on a bad note for me.  Prior to leaving for a day trip to Amboise, France, we decided to pack our own lunches and bring them along to save some euro.  I went to a grocery store before the train station that morning to get some things.  I brought my things to the check out, but the woman picked up my apple and started speaking to me in rapid-fire French, using words I didn't know, and I was SO confused.  Eventually she took me back to the fruit and I figured out you had to weigh the fruit and get a sticker to put on it that would say the price...something that never happens in grocery stores in the US.  Little to say, I was embarassed and she hated me....probably will not go back to that grocery store again haha.
The rest of my day was fabulous though!  Le château d'Amboise was gorgeous and the views were amazing.  It belonged to a few French kings in its time--Louis I and Francois something-or-other.  Leonardo da Vinci is buried there in a crypt, so we got to see that, as well.  We had our lunches and champagne by a creek, and then found la maison de Leonardo da Vinci.  It was a small château itself!  The gardens were massive, and they had taken some of his inventions and brought them to life--a playground, fake guns, a tank, bridges, etc.  Very interesting.
For le dîner, we ate at a local restaurant and had the best food of our trip!  I had a une cocotte (casserole) with ham, potato, mushrooms, and local cheeses.  Words cannot describe how delicious it was!  For dessert, I had une crêpe nutella...just as amazing.  It was jazz night, and the owner played a piano in the window and sang.  The atmosphere was unbelievable.  Very French and relaxing; we didn't want to leave!  It was the perfect ending to a great day.

un crêpe nutella

the crypt of Leonardo Da Vinci

le château d'Amboise

la maison de Leonardo da Vinci

Amboise, France

The past two days have been really great.  I have eaten well (see lower photo) and have gotten to know my MSU group much better.  Tomorrow, I visit the town of Amboise, to see their famous château.  We bought train tickets this afternoon, so hopefully that goes well!...

My French is still very rough, but everyday I remember/learn something!  Next Saturday (the 16th), our group is going to Paris to visit the Musée d'Orsay and Notre Dame.  This afternoon, some of us booked hotel rooms to spend the night!  Should be a great experience and I am really looking forward to it.

Last night, I went with some MSU students to La Guinguette, a bar on the Loire River and had a great time!  It was salsa night, and the French love their dancing!  Unfortunately, I do not have the courage to dance in public, so I watched....maybe next time!

Wednesday night, I went out with my roommates, Keila and Gabriella, to La Place Plumereau (https://www.google.com/search).  It's very famous for its old buildings and restaurants/bars.  They are really nice girls and we had a fabulous time.  It was fun to have a girls night out.

Tonight I am having a much needed night in.  I'm ready to catch up on some sleep!!

Un croque monsieur (ham and cheese sandwich with cheese on top)

La Guinguette

La Gagnette

city street

La Place Plumereau

having un chocolat!! (hot chocolate)

Today was awesome!  Class went by really fast; we learned about the Louvre Museum and the death penalty in France (or lack thereof).  After class, I had lunch:  les fraises et deux croissants.  Then, I went to les marché aux fleurs.  It was beautiful!  We talked with a French vendor for almost 40 minutes and that was magical.  He told us his daughter lives in Chicago where she is a surgeon.  We also got la glace de pêche (peach sorbet!).  After le marché, we walked more and eventually ended up in the center of town, where me and another girl had smoothies.  Mine was peach--SO DELICIOUS!!

     Today we started class. My professor's name is Florence. She is very animated and seems to want us to have fun. We spent the entire two hours talking about ourselves. After class, I went to lunch with some girls and had un panini jambon (ham) and un croissant.  It was wonderful! We went to H&M, as it was conveniently across the street, and I bought a cheap dress. About half of my MSU group had difficulty taking the placement test online prior to arriving in Tours (myself included), and had to return to the school to take it this afternoon. Needless to say, it seems everyone did not understand at least a portion of it. I'm not alone! After the exam, I went with some more people from MSU and explored la ville de Tours! We discovered les Jardins des Prébendes d'Oé (the largest garden in Tours), la Piscine Bozon (one of Tours' swimming pools), and l'église Saint-Etienne (http://www.patrimoine-histoire.fr/Patrimoine/Tours/Tours-Saint-Etienne.htm). It was probably my favorite part of the day.

Les Jardins

We got to feed little ducklings! They were everywhere in the park.

l'église Saint-Etienne

     For dinner, Hugette was not here, but she prepared a pasta dish that Ayoko made. It was penne with tomatoes, eggplant, some kind of lettuce, and feta cheese. It was delicious!! This was, of course, in addition to la salade, le fromage (cheese), le pain (bread), and le pudding that we have every day!
     I know there is an American stereotype that the French are snobby and rude.  When I went to Paris last time I was in France, this was true. However in Tours, c'est le contraire! Yesterday, when I bought my sandwich et frites, the owner let me have a bottled water for free! He refused my money and said to have a bonne journée. I will never forget his kindness :)

     Today we visited l'Institut de Touraine for an orientation and we start class tomorrow morning at 9am.  The first half of classes will be cultural, then there will be a free week, and finally, we have our grammar and oral French language classes in July.  After the orientation, we went on a scavenger hunt and split off into groups.  I made a few new friends.  Here are some pictures from my adventures:

Le Vieux Ville, a part of town where everything is ancient and the streets are cobblestone! Très beau!!

La Cathédrale (the back is right outside ma maison!!)

Here are some pictures of my living quarters!! I'll take more as time goes on.

The view from my bedroom

Ma chambre