A tour of Tours

Unquestionably, Paris is special in a way words can't fully describe it, but this weekend was all about the wonderful charm of a small town away from the busy city. A few of my friends and I trekked (on a comfortable hour long train ride) to Tours in the Loire Valley, having heard of the beautiful castles we could gawk at.

With the TGV train going at lightning speed and our ears popping every few minutes, my friends and I began the trip with an on-the-go picnic full of baguettes, cheese, yogurt, snack bars, oranges, and of course some more cheese (we quickly adapted to the French way of eating). Simply eating French food does not, however, assimilate you with the people as we quickly found out that masses of food on a train at 8 am screams AMERICAN. You'd think that a culture that puts such focus into gastronomy would appreciate it at any hour of the day, but the only person who smiled at us was a toddler, and I'm pretty sure she was just laughing at our mess.

Leaving Paris and the rain behind us, Tours was like a magical land bursting with sunshine—seeing as our eyes had forgotten what sun looks like in Paris with all its gray and rainy days, this was miraculous. After walking through the empty streets and sitting at a café, we were most impressed (almost shocked) at the cheap prices for food and coffee. 10 croissants for 3 euros! 6 beignets for 1 euro! Cappuccino for 3 euros! Our eyes were going crazy wanting to buy everything in bulk simply because in Paris one croissant is at least 1 euro and a cappuccino is at least 5. And what could be more satisfying than a good deal on delicious food?! Sitting on the steps of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) with the sun beaming down and a sparkling fountain across from us, we were in a state of total serenity and satisfaction. That was, of course, until we were disturbed by obnoxious ice cream truck music coming from several passing cars with large animal figurines on the back. Quite the strange image to wake you from a trance, though we found out later that a zoo was in town and this was their way to promote it rather than through traditional advertising. They definitely got points for creativity.

This trip had the potential of being fairly normal with some travelling involved, sightseeing, and staying at a hotel, but that wasn't good enough for us. We decided to spice it up a little and save some money by taking part in a wonderful thing called Couch Surfing. Explanation: There are genuinely nice people in this world who understand the needs of students like us wanting to explore as much as we can on a tight budget and as a result, we stayed in an apartment in the center of town with some entertaining locals for absolutely no cost. You may be thinking, isn't that a little shady (or as we say in French, très louche)? Turns out it was one of the brightest ideas we had because there were no strings attached and our hosts were just as eager to chill with some Americans as we were to meet French people. Our lovely host even prepared lunch for us, helping start off an impressive list of free things we received throughout the weekend (particularly impressive in our minds because it is so rare to get anything for free in Paris).

Hospitality is ingrained in French culture, but the people of Tours took it to a whole new level for us. Going off a recommendation from my friend's host mom, we went to a bar/café where the owner was more than happy to accommodate us with free champagne after realizing we knew him through a friend of a friend of a friend. Meeting his cousins then lead to more giving which lead us to a creperie where we not only stuffed our faces with nutella and bananas, but were introduced to some Jewish French Algerians who talked up a storm about politics and religion till our ears hurt. (Turned out to be worth our patience when we came back for free crepes the following night).

We did make our way out of Tours to a town called Chenonceau, known for its 16^th century Renaissance-styled castle built on the water. Its purpose was mainly a housing for mistresses, which explains the impressive beauty. I'd like to imagine the women living there were fairly satisfied with the large embellished rooms, luxurious gardens, and elaborate kitchens (again, food has always been a priority in this culture). Each room, decorated with elaborate tapestries, large beds with canopies, and extravagant flower arrangements accommodated the needs of each woman (probably the reason for the castle being so popular among mistresses). Catherine de Medici, one of the castle's inhabitants, used it as a work place and left her mark as a fortified woman (unlike the others, of course). And as if straight out of a story book or movie, there's a labyrinth garden in the woods with a gazebo in the center marking the authenticity of the chateau.

Back in Tours we continued to make friends with locals and the best part about it was how great we felt to be speaking French. This may sound bizarre given that we are students studying French and it should be normal for us to speak the language we are learning, but the responses we got from people in Tours was contrary to what we'd become used to hearing and feeling in Paris. I must admit there are plenty of Parisians who are welcoming and helpful in improving our French, but unfortunately, there are many who upon hearing our American accent often resort to speaking English (making us feel dumb) or simply look at us strangely (as if we actually are dumb). But in Tours, all was different. People appreciated our effort to speak their language and saw English as a barrier for them. At the end of the weekend, we just felt special (a comforting feeling when you're in a foreign country).

In addition to making friends who bought us rounds of coffee (very valuable after a long night), neglecting to see other neighboring castles, eating tons of chocolate and baguettes, feeling old at a club filled with 15-year-olds, perfecting the art of using self-timers on cameras, learning about adopt-a-mec.com (check it out), and playing Kings with French people…I dreamt in French! I promise you this is a huge accomplishment that may seem trivial, but among us study abroad students this is monumental! The content of the dream was uneventful, but take my word for it—this is a good sign for the future!