April 8th Tuesday

I got up at 7:45 am and got ready for my trip to Tours. I had some cereal and finished packing.

Adrienne and I took the RER to the Austerlitz train station. Our train was at 9:20am. Adrienne and I bought our train tickets as well as our 12-25 cards. These cards give those of ages 12 to 25 a 50% reduction in ticket prices. We were supposed to meet Casey, Lana, and Glynnis at the train station but we couldn’t see them. We kept trying to call Casey but she wasn’t answering.

Adrienne and I had to rush to the train. We caught sight of the others. They’d shown up really late. Adrienne and I went ahead and caught our train and the others would just take the next one. We had a two and a half hour ride to Tours. As we got closer things started looking familiar. I’d made the trip from Paris to Tours a few times when I was studying there.

When we stepped into the train station, I felt like I was coming home. I was so excited to be back. I was worried it would be really different but not much had changed in the three or so years since I last saw it. Stepping into Tours also did magic on my tongue. As Adrienne and I made our way to the tourist office I was blabbering in French with ease. It felt so natural to speak French.

Once at the office, I went ahead and reserved the castle tour for all of us. We would meet up with a van that would take us to and by different châteaux in the Loire Valley. I had to put it all on my credit card and that made me a bit nervous. The woman working there asked if I was French for her statistics. I told her no and she said that my French was very good. I was glowing! It’s so wonderful to be complimented on my French.

Next, Adrienne and I headed to the youth hostel near the university. I had a friend that stayed there when we were studying here. Adrienne and I paid for our room and were able to put our suitcases there. We also made a reservation for the others in a 3 person room. It seemed the best way to split it up.

We made our way back to the train station to wait for the others. We checked the train times because we’d talked about visiting Chenonceau that night. Then the others arrived. We took them up to the youth hostel to drop off their bags. I was excited to show the city off. Sadly it was a bit colder and gray.

For lunch I demanded that we go to my favorite fast food restaurant Mangez-moi. They have kebabs there. I had a Grec fromage and a Coca light. The sandwich is made up of a cheese filled pita, sliced meat, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and French fries. It is deliciousness wrapped up in a yummy package.

After lunch we went back to the hostel. Casey was still slaving away on her papers and she needed the internet to do so. We got her an internet card so that she could use it later. Then we walked along the Loire River. We made our way back toward the tourist office. They had a deal on castle entry tickets. Some of us went ahead and bought some. Those of us with student IDs waited because student tickets were cheaper. Then we went to the train station. We bought tickets and took the 16h33 train to Chenonceau. The tickets were only €5!

The train was really nice. We arrived at the stop and got off. We walked up and came up to an entrance that had been renovated since I last saw it. They had a new ticket office.

We walked down the long tree-lined “driveway” to the castle. As we went we saw some interesting creatures. They looked like big beavers with rat tails. They were playing in the water and mud. We took pictures and I took note to find out what they were.

We went in and used our free audio tours on the castle. It was pretty much the same as I remembered. It’s a medium sized château built on the river. Not next to the river. On it. My favorite part is the big hall. It used to be used as a hospital during a war and the soldiers would fish out the window.

We also took a quick look at the gardens. It really was a shame that it was cloudy. The castle and gardens are beautiful in the sun. We had to hurry to catch the last train back to Tours. It came at 18h24. We got in and walked back up toward the youth hostel. We stopped in a grocery store and the others bought some spaghetti to make for dinner since the youth hostel had a kitchen. The store was run by some Arab immigrants. They tried flirting with all of us. They said to me “Petite fleur! Ça va, petite fleur?” They were calling me « little flower. » It was definitely a reminder of my old times in Tours.

We dropped the others at the youth hostel. Casey had to work on her papers and Lana and Glynnis wanted to make dinner. I wanted to go out to eat. Adrienne and I set out to find a restaurant. We found one that I thought I’d been to with my parents. They had a cheap menu. I ordered an interesting dinner. I started with a salad of chicken livers, cucumbers, tomatoes, mustard, and potatoes. It was quite delicious. I had a beef steak for the main course and it came with an onion sauce as well as a tomato and potato salad. I accompanied this with two glasses of Touraine d’Amboise wine. It was a red wine that was light but dry. For dessert I had fromage blanc with red fruits.

Adrienne finished our wonderful dinner and then made our way back to the hostel at 10:30pm. We found Casey triumphant in finishing her papers. She was so happy that I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying. I think it was a bit of both.

Glynnis and Lana wanted to go out to a club. Even though I was exhausted from not getting proper sleep for the past few weeks, I agreed to show them what Tours had to offer.

We got dressed up and headed out. I took them to the one close club that I knew of, Excalibur. They had just opened so the club was completely deserted. We went in to take a look but we were the only ones. We felt weird so we decided to go to another place.

We wandered a bit and found a bar with a beach theme. I got a strange feeling when we went in. It seemed like it was only regulars. We sat down and tried to pick what we wanted. I ended up ordering a mojito. Everything went fine until a group of rowdy young drunks decided to bother us. One at a time they came over and tried to hit on Lana or Glynnis. They drunks couldn’t speak English very well and my friends couldn’t speak French. At first I translated to see where the conversation went. Very quickly we got tired of them and left to find another place.

We found another bar that looked a bit more welcoming. I ordered sangria and it was very yummy. We sat there talking at the table and enjoying not being bothered idiots. At a table next to us, a man and a woman about our age were playing chess. They kept looking in our direction. I figured it was because we were speaking English. I was already pissed off about the people bothering us in the last bar so I was thinking of mean things to say to them.

Finally, the two of them came over and talked to us. They asked if any of us played chess. We said no. They then introduced themselves. The guy was named Julien and the girl was Marilyn. They were staring at us because they were trying to figure out if we were speaking English. They were actually excited to talk to us. A conversation ensued that included French and English. Julien could speak English but Marilyn couldn’t. He wanted to play translator so I spoke in English but helped him when he didn’t know how to translate. By the end I was mostly playing interpreter. It actually turned into a fun night.

Eventually the bar closed and kicked us out. We left and stood outside for a moment wondering what to do. I wanted to go to the hostel. The rest wanted to go try Excalibur again now that it was later. I was ready to leave them to it. It was late and I was running on 4 hours of sleep. But they talked me into going.

We were able to get back into the club without paying the entry fee again. We had lots of fun dancing and joking around there. Lana and Glynnis were quite popular. There were at least six men circling around them like sharks. They kept trying to dance with the girls but they either ignored them or shook them off. Lana has a habit of screaming when she’s drunk. Normally I wince in pain. This time, our new French friends thought it was pretty cool and soon they were all screaming. I was then clutching my ears in pain. Loud group.

I really wanted to go home and it was almost 4:00am. I asked if the girls would leave with me and they said no. They told me to go without them and they’d be fine. I took another look at the creepy men and asked the girls again if they’d just leave with me. I reminded them that they didn’t speak French and that it wasn’t the best area to walk in the middle of the night. I was about to leave them when they finally agreed to go with. Marilyn had already left and Julien left with us. He offered us a ride home but I told him that our hostel was around the corner. It would be about the same walk to his car as it was to the hostel. We talked outside for a bit and then we went upstairs while Julien left.

It had been a fun night after all. The two French people that we’d met were neat. I was sad that I didn’t have more than their names. It would be fun to try to contact them again.

I headed up and tried to sneak into my room. Nevertheless I woke up Adrienne. I told her a little bit about the night but mostly just fell into bed. I fell asleep sometime between 4:30 and 5:00am.