Happy Day at Chenonceau

Of course, it wasn't like the weekend was absolutely lost. Saturday was amazing and absolutely luxurious! Oh, I wouldn't trade discovering my favorite French chateau thus far for anything. I admit I got a little photo crazy.

First off, my hotel was wonderful. I stayed at the Relais, which isn't that much different than what else is offered in the villlage, but I felt I got a lot more for my money here than I could have anywhere else this time of year. Besides, the staff and the service was so great that that made every penny worth it.




My room was tiny but very cozy and comfortable. And as you can see, I got several things I was thankful for in Europe as a student....

1) A large, clean bed all to myself (emphasis on clean which I have heard doesn't always happen but I could be wrong)


2) I had an actual full-sized mirror to use for the first time in weeks (There's only one in my host family's home and it is in Madame's closet meaning only Madame uses it, of course.)


3) Cable TV all to myself and on César Night no less (That would be the France's Oscar Night)

4) I got a four course steak dinner and full breakfast included in my stay. (The fries were not an intentional order. I'm finding fries to be eaten here more than back home and we love fries. It is rather scary in that sense.)

5) There was a bathroom and it was just for me!


6)And it wasn't just a shower. And it had constant streaming hot water! That was heaven. The shower in my host family's house produces lukewarm at the hottest which for someone like me is like bathing in ice water. However, I have adapted a little to it.


The chateau is currently under restoration so not everything is as joli-looking as it usually is but I think you can appreciate it anyway. To me, it was the gardens and the rooms that really make up Chenonceau and not the fact that it is practically built on a bridge.









While I was over there I ran into a CIDEF tour of some of the chateaus and met up with Heidi! It was great to see one of my classmates so randomly like that.


One of the best parts about the chateau to me, besides its strong feminine history, is that fact that the staff takes great pride in the fresh flower displays in almost all the chambers. They are uniquely well known for this in the French chateau tourism business as the staff told me while I was visiting/ problem-solving with them on Sunday.




Of course, I can't help but leave you with a pic of one of my favorite historic women, Catherine de Medici, a feisty Italian gal who knew what she wanted and how to get it.


Wonderful day.

Chenonoceau and Xynthia

I'm going to first add in a "blog entry" I wrote yesterday which I think pretty much describes how I spent all day Sunday.

"I find myself writing this much earlier than posting it because there is no Wi-fi in Chenonceau unless you’re staying in certain hotels.

I have learned that when a Frenchman warns of an oncoming tempête, he isn’t necessarily being charmingly dramatic as usual.

This tempête is what apparently happened last night while I couldn’t get sleep at 5AM. Every other year it seems according today’s local paper, France’s west coast gets a nasty cyclone from the sea and the wind sweeps into the inland and does major damage….like during the weekend I chose to visit Chenonceau and Amboise.

So to explain why I’m sitting in a Chenonceau bar, bored out of my mind, not in Amboise, with only half a battery life, and over 3 hours (or the whole night) to wait for a train to Tours on a Sunday is because of Xynthia. That’s right. They name the nasty things. That is how bad they are. On a very sad note, it was reported that three men died because of la tempête.

I feel particularly stupid because Monsieur mentioned it the other day that I should be careful. I though he was just talking about the wind in general which he ALWAYS refers to as tempêtes for that dramatic and fun attitude he and I share when we talk together. Well, apparently he wasn’t being dramatic this time.

Just lovely.

Normally, I’d say, “Well, let’s just visit the chateau again! I can do just the basic tour this time and easily spend the whole day just carefully soaking in each and every room. But that didn’t work thanks to Xynthia (dear lord, I hate that name now). The chateau was closed almost all day due to blown down trees. I’m not talking about the wimpy ones. Chenonceau doesn’t have those. I’m talking about the trees that are several decades, if not, then centuries, old having been blown down.

The French security guy was super nice to me. We ended up in small talk as many French people like to do and that is how I learned about this tree business and that he had also noticed no trains from either direction all morning.

“That means it was bad everywhere, “ he explained. He felt sorry about my bad luck and said that certainly I wasn’t the only one. Indeed, the bar has a couple of other students, French and foreign, who seem to also be bidding their time not being at the Chateau until the next train…at 17:58. It is only 14:30.

This battery better hold."

Well, about three hours later I went back to the train station and found the sign had that next rain canceled, too. As Chenonceau is such a tiny town, there is no proper train station with a proper person to ask about these things so I went to the chateau instead which was open by then.

The same French security guy I mentioned earlier recognized me (not too many French-speaking Americans to be found he later told me) and so did the ticket lady from my visit on Saturday. We all started talking and since they had the Internet connection I had been lacking for about two days, they found out that only very select cities in this part of France over to the ocean coast actually had trains running and even then about half of those trains were incredibly late or canceled as the French train system for the most part works on electricity and the vast majority of wires were down. I was about to have no choice but stay in Chenonceau another night.

However, a young woman who was a souvenir shop worker and who lived in Tours said that Tours was one of the train stations with working trains and that it would be no problem to drop me off. I was immensly grateful and told everyone this over and over. I wanted to pay the woman something for her kindness but she wouldn't take anything, saying that she just wanted to make sure on her part that my stay in France wasn't a complete disaster. "It is important that you understand the French people are far more kind than their weather," she said and I was more than touched.

So I got to the Tours train station and , oh goodness, was it a mad house. Hundreds of people ran in and out of the chaos. I can say at this point I have been at la gare at numerous moments and know the French train system better than I do the American one by now and believe me when I say that it had never been like it was last night ever before. Trains were half and hour late at minimum. Truly half of the trains I saw were empty as they have no where to go and the ticket office was exploding with anxious and desperate people. It was very clear no one had anticipated the level of damage from the storm.

I found a TGV destined for Nantes which would be passing by Angers at least and I asked the first conductor I say and asked, "Does this train ACTUALLY STOP in Angers?" When he replied yes but it is rather crowded, I replied with, "Thanks, sir, but I don't care. Good enough."

Indeed it had to have been over capacity. For TGV it is highly recommended that one gets a reservation before bordering which is only 8 euro with a rail pass like mine but 25 euro on the train if you don't. I couldn't have gotten thought he ticket office in time and I was just ready to pay the stupid 25 euro if the conductor actually bothered to check everyone's ticket (they didn't and I don't blame them). I ended up having to stand most of the way because of the lack of seats but I got to Angers, darn it!

I caught up with Monsieur in his car in the middle of the car traffic that rivaled the people traffic. I jumped in like lightening and we were off. He was actually in a good mood and said, "You sure can get out of some crazy situations can't you?" I sighed and replied, "I don't know Monsieur. Someone up there must like me because I think I operate on luck half the time." He was pleased I met so many wonderful French people working at the chateau and told me that the death toll from la tempête had climbed to over 50 and that every working train station except in the southeast part of France was backed up and overcrowded. I was incredibly lucky to have gotten back that night.

They had dinner ready for me and I realized how hungry I was. It was after 9PM but I had spent the last several hours thinking of things that were more important to me than eating. I ended up talking with Monsieur, Madame about the weather's after affects and laughed when they described to me J.B.'s reaction to la tempête when they called him to make sure he was okay. "Une Tempête? What? Did you get a bit of wind? It is sunny over here!" As he studies all the way down in Arles, he had no clue what had been going on and truly this storm was exceptional for French weather.

I must tell you though that Saturday was an ideal chateau visiting day and I'll come back with that. As Amboise was a no-go this time, I at least now know what I'm doing this weekend for my birthday!

Mandela and Vending Machines

I'd like to start off saying that I think I just found my new motto.

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

Nelson Mandela

(Thank you, Mom, who forwarded this to me via e-mail!)

By the way, isn't it cool that South Africa just got done celebrating the 20th anniversary of his liberation. Now they're getting ready for the World Cup being hosted in their country. It is just South Africa's year I think with one significant thing after another!

I wish I could say I have anything significant going on. Really, I'm just getting ready for my first two day trip this weekend. Day 1, I'll be in Chenonceaux, and Day 2, I'll be Amboise. I choose these two places because...

1) They have very significant chateaus and pretty ones at that. Chenonceaux was home to more grands dames than I can think of right now and Amboise is the resting place of Leonardo Da Vinci.

2) They are super, super easy to reach with just a train and a pair of feet. Also they rest in small towns that have a lot of charming stores, hotels, B&Bs, and restaurants.

I was considering adding the city of Tours to my list and use it as a headquarters because almost all chateaus have roads and/or tracks that lead to Tours. However, after consideration that there is way to much in Tours to fit in fairly during a weekend like this, I decided to ditch it and spend the night in Chenonceaux.

Let's hope it goes well.

Moving on to another subject, I've been collecting more and more American things in France. Some may be surprising, others not. For instance, these are the vending machines in the main lobby of the building where CIDEF is located.

To students like me outside of France, if you want the cheapest prices for soda, snacks, coffee, whatever, it would be at the school's vending machines. As a general rule, ANYTHING that is meant to be targeted to a student audience is cheaper. For instance, the cheapest, biggest meal you can get is with the university cafeterias doted around Angers. However, note that the reason it is the cheapest and the biggest is that it is governement subsidized. Truely, I have noted, government food is governement food whether in the U.S. or France. Go in ready for an adventure each time because it could be pretty good or a plain mystery. I haven't gotten sick yet though!

I found this in Le Point which is basically the French Newsweek or Time. This would be an ad for their Fillet-O-Fish or as they call it in France,....Fillet-O-Fish. (Insert laugh at my own joke here.) In case you're curious, this ad claims that all Fillet-O-Fish's in France are made with fish that is 100% wild caught.

This next photo is courtesy of the cute Thai boy I mentioned in one post. He says his name is just too complicated to anyone who isn't Thai so he has everyone call him A. You say is just like the English pronunciation of "A." Super, super easy. He has been studying the whole year so this is actually his second semester. He and his family live in downtown Bangkok where his parents own a top-of-the-line fashion store (I need to take a picture of him because he LOOKS like the kid of fashion store owners). Anyway, he says he is a Starbucks addict because they are everywhere back home and found this so of course had to get it. Can I call this an American thing from France and Thailand, then?

La Poste and American Things in France

It is funny how we can anticipate something to be very easy and end up being harder than we thought (please refer to "The Epic Battle Between My U.S. Debit Card and The European 'Chip and Pin' system""). Then there are the times when we are so sure that something is going to be complicated and it isn't at all. Finally, I had an experience like that yesterday. (Yes, I did have time to write yesterday but I had caught the lazy bug and watched Les Jeux Olypiques with my host family instead and ogling lean-muscled, pretty French skier boy, Vincent Jay).


I had three post cards to send out and I was absolutely certain there would something different about the French postal system that I'd have to wrap my head around and maybe buy 20 euros worth of stamps if I was lucky to get these stupid pieces of paper state-side! I went up to the very stern face French postal worker and quietly explained I wanted to send these postcards to the U.S. and would like to know what stamps I needed to buy. "Trois cartes-postales? Trois Marianne's." he simple replied and asked for 2,55 euros for the three Marianne's what is apparently a postal nickname for a standard French 0,85 euro stamp with the allegory of France, a rugged-looking woman named Marianne. Joy! I hope my recipients get there post cards without problem!


Also I have taken to also occupying myself with "American Things in France" of which I notice many. I figure not everyone is as fascinated with dogs or food as I am but they may take an interest in the enormous American influence here in France. Before I came here, I had an idea that my side of the world had an influence on the world. However, I couldn't really comprehend to what extent until now. It is both fun and terribly bizarre. There are times other American students and I experience what I call the "Alice in Wonderland Effect." It is all so familiar and yet NOT. So here is the beginning of what I hope is another interesting theme. For now, we have a couple of books.

Yes, it is Twilight. Yes, those are titles like Tentation and Hésitation. If you ask me, the French make Twilight sexy....I'll be waiting for those responses like "What?!? You thought it wasn't already sexy?" In a word, no. But that is neither here nor there now because with words like that, how can't it have just a little bit of sexiness à la Française? Hmm?

Of course, my French family was quick to make sure when the subject of Dan Brown came up that I didn't actually believe everything he wrote in the story about the Catholic Church and France. I was happy to tell them I didn't at all.


I've noticed that this is a hugely popular cookbook in stores at the moment. It is still fascinating to me that is a point of curiousity to the French that American breakfasts are as large as they are. The idea of a complete breakfast here is a croissant or other pastry and a chocolat (think super thick, creamy hot chocolate drink) or café. Thankfully, my host family has some other (and I think healthier) options to eat. Inside the book there is are recipes for pumpkin pie that tries to pass off as a Halloween tradition, Thanksgiving turkey, gumbo, and chili con carne among many, many others. On the chili note, every French person I've talked food with so far has been certain that chili con carne is the only kind of chili in existence and were shocked to learn that there are really hundreds of varieties usually based on household and region in the States. Yes, North American food may not include snails or goose liver but it can be complicated to comprehend and goes beyond le hamburger thank you very much!

All for now. Will come back with more!

St. Malo and Mont St-Michel

I'm so happy to present to you all another photo-filled post! It was a very nice adventure yesterday, the most tame I've taken so far because the whole trip was very scheduled and planned out for us. But I didn't care. I got to try mussels for the first time at St. Malo! That is where we'll start.

There were three bus loads of CIDEF students. I was on bus 1 which happened to be the one bus we borrowed from Angers local semi-professional Football team. Snazzy, no?

St. Malo happens to be a major French port and has been for centuries. It is now used primarily for British imports.

I hung out with Heidi all day and had a very good time as she is as willing to try different things as much as me, including storming the local chateau/museum. This is her!


Up the main tower of the chateau, we took great amusement with the tiny doors everywhere (shown here) and also the AMAZING views of the Atlantic and the town.


This would be the flag of St. Malo...


I continue "The French and Their Dogs" theme! I would show cats, too, but they just don't have the same constant presence of dogs.

And just before leaving, Heidi and I joined another American named James who is from Oregon for lunch at a place that was having a "Moules-Frites" special that day. Mussels are a new favorite of mine now! You might notice I also had a boule of Cidre de Bretagne. I find it very tasty and usually one can order the sweet or hard version, both being alcoholic though. I've had both and like the hard taste to compliment all my food and the sweet just by itself.


Next was Mont St-Michel and it touristy without any doubt. Bring a lot of money if you plan on purchasing ANYTHING, even a trip to the bathroom. The isle itself is fascinating to walk through with the high concentration of touristy goods and food. The monastery was breathtaking for me. Probably because of all the stairs but really it has a majesty and mystic quality I've almost never experienced before. You need to get to the monastery somehow and as Monsieur later told me, it is all a part of the pilgrimage experience. Too true.





No, I can't keep away from the dogs, especially not clever ones who can carry their own leashes. Dogs were everywhere at Mont St-Michel except at the monastery where they were forbidden.




The monastery was of course my focus and what a good focus to have. Despite the commercialism surrounding it, I wasn't at all disappointed with the legend that is THE Mont St-Michel.





Believe me, the pictures I have and the rooms and chapels there are exhaustive and there is not enough time to load all of them on this post. These are just some of my favorites. Before I finish, I leave you with one last Mon St-Michel dog.