Christine drove me and all of my baggage to the university. On the way we picked up another USAC girl, Courtney, whose host parents had left a few days prior for vacation. They said their goodbyes before leaving but Courtney has plans to come back to Pau with her real parents in a couple of weeks anyways. Once all of the bags were crammed into place, we headed to school. I felt like such a dork when I forgot that the bus would not be parked at the usual spot for field trips, but was instead in front of the residence halls. At least we were running enough on time that this little delay didn't cause us to be late. We pulled in by the bus and unloaded everything. I felt like a total loser with all of my huge baggage, but there was also nothing inside that I was yet prepared to get rid of. I would just have to make due with these embarrassingly massive bags for the time being. Thank goodness the bus driver was a strong guy; he was able to hoist my bags into the luggage area far better than I could have. But it was all moving too fast- once my bags were in, that left me with nothing more to do but face Christine for the last time. And that was it- we just fell apart. I think we hugged about 5 times, and each was more like holding each other than quick little hugs. Christine utterly sobbed and that made it so hard for me to keep any sort of composure (it was smart of me to wait to put my make-up on during the bus ride). Aleca was there too, and I finally got to introduce Christine to the girl who stayed over the one time I had the house to myself. They talked for a second and then Christine just went on about how wonderful I have been and how attached her and Lionel have gotten. It was so so hard to say goodbye...
Eventually, I gave her my last hug and got on the bus. Once in my seat, I suddenly realized that I didn't think my backpack had made it out of the car. So I also had to be that dork who jumped out of the bus before we took off to the other end of the country. Well, at least I was right- my backpack full of pretty important stuff (including my passport) was still in Christine's van. Oh well... I did what I needed to do on that one.
And then, we were waving goodbye to our new beloved family members, and not too soon after, Pau itself. I was happy that I was sitting by Roshanna on the way out of Pau- she was totally okay with letting me have my moment; but she also didn't let me wallow. The two of us had a really great time for the rest of the morning on the bus.
We were headed to Tours! About a 6 hour bus drive, Tours is just south of Paris. We had a reserved tour at the famous Château de Chenonceau this afternoon and a hotel in Tours for all of us for the night. And my friends, I don't think more beautiful countryside exists than the stretch of green and yellow from Southern France to Northern...
Just pulling out of Pau
Beautiful France
Nearing Chenonceau
As you may have imagined, the bus ride was pretty uneventful. There was a lot of napping given that we all dragged ourselves out of bed so early. We had two or three bathroom/coffee breaks but that was about it until we pulled into Tours. Tours is a smallish city, but the Château truly is a well-known tourist attraction and is well worth all of the hype. Set in between two of the most manicured gardens Walt Disney has ever seen, the Château de Chenonceau is the type of picturesque French castle one pictures for a postcard. And I'm sure there are many postcards with the Château on the front.
Pulling up to the castle!
After the bus parked, we all got out and stretched. I felt almost giddy at the warmth of the air and quintessential sunshine- and the glorious déjà vu! Some of you may know that I have been to Paris once before, on a field trip with my French class from Beyer in 2007. We did all of the big tourist things on that trip; including Chenonceau! I was slowly becoming thrilled at the thought of re-seeing things that had already awed me once before.
Aleca and I in front of the moat
Selene, Me, Chantalle, Allie, and Merylin <3
After a few pictures in front of the castle moat, we were handed our tickets for the tour guide and trouped through the small security gate to make the magical walk up to the castle. And I mean it- overgrowth like this can only be found in a magical place~
See what I mean?
And there she is! The Château de Chenonceau
We hung outside for a few minutes to take pictures of the face and the river, but then we had to go in and get in line for our tour. Thankfully it was an audio tour with an English option, and a fancy iPod type gismo that allowed us to select the recording that corresponded with the room we were in.
Some pictures from inside the castle~
This hall was used to house and treat injured soldiers during WWI. About 2,254 soldiers were cared for in this hall
"The Mourning Room," the woman who lived here turned her bedroom black after her husband died; there are nooses painted on the ceiling
Back outside after the tour, we had nearly an hour to spare for walking around the terribly lovely gardens, the hedge maze, the gift shop, or whatever else seemed fitting. We actually pulled in ahead of schedule today so we had extra time on our hands to take things at a nice pace. I randomly attached to a very sweet girl named Kali for my walking buddy. The two of us walked and talked through the gardens and the maze, and just had a great time talking about how excited we are to see our families. Kali's mom and aunt are arriving in Paris on the last day of our field trip to spend time here with Kali. I couldn't help feeling a little jealous of her. :)
Lovely
=)
I loved this purple garden
The gorgeous, enchanted forest leading to the maze
"Sam! How'd you get over there?!" XD
This "snow" (pollen) gave everyone an allergy fit on the bus on the way out
Surprisingly enough, everyone made it to the bus on time. We pulled out on schedule and went on our way to the heart of the city towards our hotel. I was in a very relaxed, peaceful mood after such a gloriously beautiful day but dread suddenly set in- we were required to move all of our baggage off of the bus, to our hotel rooms, and then load it all back up in the morning. I was so dreading this part. Being a rather small person, two gigantically heavy suitcases, one carry-on sized bag, a backpack, and a shoulder bag seemed like a bit much for me to handle. I don't even like reminiscing on that whole charade, but I can happily [bitterly] announce that I did get all of my bags inside without anything on my bags or my body breaking and without making a total fool out of myself. Voila.
Once in our room (I was in a bedroom with Aleca that joined onto a bedroom where Roshanna and Allie slept), Aleca and I changed, freshened up, and headed out for dinner. We joined up with a few other girls and all headed into a cute little, eclectic pizza place. And you will never guess the pizza I decided to try for dinner: pizza topped with sliced duck, goat cheese, arugula, and cherry sauce. AND... it was sooo gooood!
My pizza and wine
Everyone was curious about my pizza and most wanted to try it. All who did said that it was really good, so I'm thinking sweet and savory might be a thought for American pizzas? Us girls hung out at the restaurant for an hour or so and then went for a stroll out in the cool evening air before heading back to the hotel. Once there, we rotated showers and I talked to my family on Skype. It was really nice to see their faces after such a long, full day and be able to tell them that we had made it safe and sound to Tours. The five of us talked for a little while, and then I was feeling the exhaustion of the early and emotional day. It was time for bed. I gave myself plenty of time to sleep tonight while still setting my alarm with a half hour to get all of my bags to the bus. If I have to drag them one at a time from the room to the bus, so be it!
Tomorrow: it's on to Paris!! =D
No comments:
Post a Comment