Sunday, January 31, 2016
Unexpected friends from Unexpected places
While Hannah was traveling home for Christmas, she found herself in a pickle. She had to pee but she had a ton of luggage with her and obviously couldn't just leave it unattended. SO naturally, she found a normal looking girl and asked her if she could keep an eye on her stuff. After a conversation, Hannah discovered that this random girl has a friend in Paris who lives there as an au pair also and hooked her up with her contacts and what not and that leads to this really cool cafe and delicious hot cocoa...
Mountain man...in Paris?
Walking home from school and what do we find? The perfect size tree for this little man.
"Mangez-vous"
Mangez-vous: a "rendez-vous" with food! My awesome and amazing and lovely and hilarious and sweet soeur missionaries introduced me to this made-up awesomness of a word.
I had planned on inviting Soeur Walton and the newly adorable Soeur Simpson to my house on January 23rd when my host family would be gone but....I asked them about their plans to leave and they decided to stay home for the weekend. Dang it!! Well, that didn't stop me. I really wanted to have a discussion/food night with the soeurs so I proposed I still make dinner for them but we just meet in a different place. The church building! Perfect.
I had been craving aasian food like nobody's business and I am also on the man-hunt for some furikaki. (It's a seaweed/sesame seed seasoning for rice and it is HEAVEN). Well, I took a day and discovered the China Town of Paris in the 13th arr. Definitely going to revisit! While I did not find furikaki (so sad), I decided to make pad thai for the soeurs and I also picked up some vegetable shrimp dumplings to serve. And the best part is...it's all gluten free! Thank you, rice and Asians who eat a lot of it in every form. And for dessert, I through in some very non-Asian gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd. Something that hardly anyone here has heard of!? But I'll get to that.
So I spend my Saturday morning doing nothing and then going to the market en bas really quick and then doing nothing and then prepare what I can ahead of time for dinner... It's hard making a full course meal in a very far location when really pressed for time! So I transported lot's of tupperware and ziplocs of cut veggies and noodles and rice and jars of sauce and Pulco to drink. It was difficult and I ended up forgetting the bean sprouts for the pad thai (!?!?!) but while sitting on the bus, I noticed I smelt really good, like garlic and stir-fry. Not bad. And for another added bonus, I had a "Best Two Years" moment: an old lady sat by me on the bus and turned and asked which stop I would get off at and, without even a hesitation, I responded easy breezy Covergirl style. It may have been a conversation of about six words, but it was effortless! This month has seriously been the month where all this French is finally sticking.
I arrive at the stake center to find my soeurs and two elders jammin' out on the piano showing off their crazy good skills. Soeur Walton is a piano phenomenon!!! I have never seen somebody play so fast and so well! My piano idol! Well all of these missionaries have amazing hidden talents like Elder SOMETHING beatboxes like a G and made an awesome rendition of their missionary theme song with three other elders. Someday I want to grow up and be as cool as the missionaries in Versialles. Just sayin'.
After the musical talent show, I start pulling out all of the stuff to make and everyone got super excited and I'm so happy! The food turned out as well as it could considering it was my first homemade attempt and I have expectations of Thai Bistro running over my tastebuds. But everyone was happy and it was a success! The first round of Elders left after their appointment 'ami' didn't show :( and then two other Elders arrived for the appointment that they had with a cute Chinese lady. With so much extra food, I offered it to the Elders who ate it happily and thankfully I didn't have to carry it home! Their investigator had made some asian spring roll type things which we all ate out of respect and while they were a little salty and burnt, I was happy to be "one of the missionaries" that night and do as they do!
The soeurs shared with us a short message and we watched the Mormon Message titled 'The Hope of God's Light'. It was a perfect message. Even thought the video is about a man who, frankly, I really don't have much in common with considering he partied and drank and did drugs, I do know exactly what he means when he says he feels God's love like a hug and that he knows people were sent to him as an answer from God.
We wrapped up the night with a rapid dish cleaning session so the soeurs could get home on time and a selfie since I forgot to take a picture before! When I got home at 9pm from my dinner party that I told my host family about, they said, "that was an early dinner!" My only response was, "Ya, they were all American. We eat at 6:30, not 9."
I cannot tell you how much I love the soeurs here!! And the friends I have made who have helped keep me sane when the job is literally killing me and who have been adventuring with me from the start. So grateful today and for eternity!
I had planned on inviting Soeur Walton and the newly adorable Soeur Simpson to my house on January 23rd when my host family would be gone but....I asked them about their plans to leave and they decided to stay home for the weekend. Dang it!! Well, that didn't stop me. I really wanted to have a discussion/food night with the soeurs so I proposed I still make dinner for them but we just meet in a different place. The church building! Perfect.
I had been craving aasian food like nobody's business and I am also on the man-hunt for some furikaki. (It's a seaweed/sesame seed seasoning for rice and it is HEAVEN). Well, I took a day and discovered the China Town of Paris in the 13th arr. Definitely going to revisit! While I did not find furikaki (so sad), I decided to make pad thai for the soeurs and I also picked up some vegetable shrimp dumplings to serve. And the best part is...it's all gluten free! Thank you, rice and Asians who eat a lot of it in every form. And for dessert, I through in some very non-Asian gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd. Something that hardly anyone here has heard of!? But I'll get to that.
So I spend my Saturday morning doing nothing and then going to the market en bas really quick and then doing nothing and then prepare what I can ahead of time for dinner... It's hard making a full course meal in a very far location when really pressed for time! So I transported lot's of tupperware and ziplocs of cut veggies and noodles and rice and jars of sauce and Pulco to drink. It was difficult and I ended up forgetting the bean sprouts for the pad thai (!?!?!) but while sitting on the bus, I noticed I smelt really good, like garlic and stir-fry. Not bad. And for another added bonus, I had a "Best Two Years" moment: an old lady sat by me on the bus and turned and asked which stop I would get off at and, without even a hesitation, I responded easy breezy Covergirl style. It may have been a conversation of about six words, but it was effortless! This month has seriously been the month where all this French is finally sticking.
I arrive at the stake center to find my soeurs and two elders jammin' out on the piano showing off their crazy good skills. Soeur Walton is a piano phenomenon!!! I have never seen somebody play so fast and so well! My piano idol! Well all of these missionaries have amazing hidden talents like Elder SOMETHING beatboxes like a G and made an awesome rendition of their missionary theme song with three other elders. Someday I want to grow up and be as cool as the missionaries in Versialles. Just sayin'.
After the musical talent show, I start pulling out all of the stuff to make and everyone got super excited and I'm so happy! The food turned out as well as it could considering it was my first homemade attempt and I have expectations of Thai Bistro running over my tastebuds. But everyone was happy and it was a success! The first round of Elders left after their appointment 'ami' didn't show :( and then two other Elders arrived for the appointment that they had with a cute Chinese lady. With so much extra food, I offered it to the Elders who ate it happily and thankfully I didn't have to carry it home! Their investigator had made some asian spring roll type things which we all ate out of respect and while they were a little salty and burnt, I was happy to be "one of the missionaries" that night and do as they do!
The soeurs shared with us a short message and we watched the Mormon Message titled 'The Hope of God's Light'. It was a perfect message. Even thought the video is about a man who, frankly, I really don't have much in common with considering he partied and drank and did drugs, I do know exactly what he means when he says he feels God's love like a hug and that he knows people were sent to him as an answer from God.
We wrapped up the night with a rapid dish cleaning session so the soeurs could get home on time and a selfie since I forgot to take a picture before! When I got home at 9pm from my dinner party that I told my host family about, they said, "that was an early dinner!" My only response was, "Ya, they were all American. We eat at 6:30, not 9."
I cannot tell you how much I love the soeurs here!! And the friends I have made who have helped keep me sane when the job is literally killing me and who have been adventuring with me from the start. So grateful today and for eternity!
Saturday, January 23, 2016
La Tour Eiffel
Courir, Patinoire, et un film.
Hannah and I braved the negative celsius degree weather and went running from her house, along the seine, to the Eiffel Tower. We walked up to the counter and bought our 5 euro ticket and began the climb to the first floor. My first time up the tower and I was so excited! Weighed down with my winter coat, bag, and scarf, running was a little difficult but the views just kept getting better and better!
Sur la premiere etage, on peut faire du patinoire! Et c'etait gratuit!
Oh la vache, this was one of the coolest days I've ever had in Paris.
There was practically no one on the Eiffel tower that day and I was the first person on the rink and Hannah and I skated with the place to ourselves. Oh my gosh! It is s surreal to think I ice skated on the highest rink in the world, over looking a beautiful city, with just my friend. After binge-watching the Bachelor, I was starting to think that not even one of their dates could top this!
I soaked in the views from the 2nd floor, skated to my heart's content on the first floor, and relished in the life I have right now. And there are these weird bicycle things next to the rink that light up little bulb/light structures when you pedal. Okay, why not. The French love their bikes. And there's a section of the ground that is just glass so I stood on glass over looking the people below me. It was a freaky feeling!
But this Friday was amazing!!! A bucket list item that nobody would even think of putting on their bucket list was ice skating on the Eiffel Tower. I got to hug it! And I got to run the stairs and do a few laps around the top. So flipping cool. And then we ran back to Hannah's and ate some warm soup and watched a movie before I dived into the city and went to Chinatown....
Hannah and I braved the negative celsius degree weather and went running from her house, along the seine, to the Eiffel Tower. We walked up to the counter and bought our 5 euro ticket and began the climb to the first floor. My first time up the tower and I was so excited! Weighed down with my winter coat, bag, and scarf, running was a little difficult but the views just kept getting better and better!
Sur la premiere etage, on peut faire du patinoire! Et c'etait gratuit!
Oh la vache, this was one of the coolest days I've ever had in Paris.
There was practically no one on the Eiffel tower that day and I was the first person on the rink and Hannah and I skated with the place to ourselves. Oh my gosh! It is s surreal to think I ice skated on the highest rink in the world, over looking a beautiful city, with just my friend. After binge-watching the Bachelor, I was starting to think that not even one of their dates could top this!
I soaked in the views from the 2nd floor, skated to my heart's content on the first floor, and relished in the life I have right now. And there are these weird bicycle things next to the rink that light up little bulb/light structures when you pedal. Okay, why not. The French love their bikes. And there's a section of the ground that is just glass so I stood on glass over looking the people below me. It was a freaky feeling!
But this Friday was amazing!!! A bucket list item that nobody would even think of putting on their bucket list was ice skating on the Eiffel Tower. I got to hug it! And I got to run the stairs and do a few laps around the top. So flipping cool. And then we ran back to Hannah's and ate some warm soup and watched a movie before I dived into the city and went to Chinatown....
7/11
I was telling my 10 year old, during a heated soccer battle with an oversized tennis ball, that theres a famous gas station in America called 7/11. They are famous for their slurpees! *Had to describe a slurpee.
Well, I told him that on 7/11 or July 11th, they offer free slurpees.
Then he brought up a good point: in France, it would be the 7th of November because everyone writes the date with the day of the month first. 7/11.
So, giant 7/11 corporation, if you ever decide to expand to France, you will need to consider either changing your name to 11/7 and giving out free slurpees in July or just give out the free slurpees in November.
Food for thought.
Well, I told him that on 7/11 or July 11th, they offer free slurpees.
Then he brought up a good point: in France, it would be the 7th of November because everyone writes the date with the day of the month first. 7/11.
So, giant 7/11 corporation, if you ever decide to expand to France, you will need to consider either changing your name to 11/7 and giving out free slurpees in July or just give out the free slurpees in November.
Food for thought.
Galette de Rois
A king cake is a type of cake associated in a number of countries
with the festival of Epiphany at the end of the Christmas season.
Day of the Three Kings.
Tradition in France is to eat these all month long in January, mainly January 6th, and in each glaette is a "feve", or a little porcelain charm. Whoever gets the slice with the feve is King or Queen for the day and can choose their King/Queen if they wish. Usually, the youngest child goes under the table and looks up at the cake and decides who is to get each piece.
In my house, Malo got it at school, Alex got it twice I think (after Julie graciously gave it to him when he had a meltdown over it), and I haven't eaten any normal galettes because of, well, the gluten. I just love this so much. (Can you hear the sarcasm?)
As seen in every bakery window display across France!! I love this holiday month! Maybe even more than Chandeleur...
My host mom did make a gluten free one with the special flour which was very nice of her. So I did get to join in on the fun once. And the sell little tart ones at a cute window bakery in Paris which was WAY OVERPRICED but I had to try it.
And Marks & Spencer (the greatest store in Paris, remember?) sells gluten free desserts. Yay!!! This is a traditional English cake thing and I totally saw them eating it in Downton Abbey. I felt cool.
Day of the Three Kings.
Tradition in France is to eat these all month long in January, mainly January 6th, and in each glaette is a "feve", or a little porcelain charm. Whoever gets the slice with the feve is King or Queen for the day and can choose their King/Queen if they wish. Usually, the youngest child goes under the table and looks up at the cake and decides who is to get each piece.
In my house, Malo got it at school, Alex got it twice I think (after Julie graciously gave it to him when he had a meltdown over it), and I haven't eaten any normal galettes because of, well, the gluten. I just love this so much. (Can you hear the sarcasm?)
My host mom did make a gluten free one with the special flour which was very nice of her. So I did get to join in on the fun once. And the sell little tart ones at a cute window bakery in Paris which was WAY OVERPRICED but I had to try it.
And Marks & Spencer (the greatest store in Paris, remember?) sells gluten free desserts. Yay!!! This is a traditional English cake thing and I totally saw them eating it in Downton Abbey. I felt cool.
Tours, France
The Never Ending Day of Doom!
Well, it certainly didn't start that way. In an attempt to get out of babysitting in the morning on Saturday, I may have said that my train left at 9:30 am.... It didn't really leave until 12:15. What's a girl gotta do to get a break from kids! I have a firm case against that lie for when I'm standing at the judgement bar.
With my 3 hours of time to kill, I visited the little gluten free bakery just up from Les Halles underground shopping center and bought a ridiculously overpriced Kings' Cake (Galette de Rois) mini pie to take on the train. 1) I'm always hungry since this gluten free thing and 2) I am always hungry. And it was Gluten free. *Read post about Galette de Rois*
So that didn't take long. I decided to just get back to Montparnasse and read my amazingly, awesome book (We Were There) and wait for Emily and Hannah to arrive. I was freezing and stiff but I wasn't babysitting so life was good!
Finally the girls showed up and the weekend adventure began. That includes a ridiculous amount of filming because of my inspired idea, thanks to Hannah's introducing me to the Devines, so I was naturally going to film and document the marvelous weekend trip in France. Well, I'm glad I did because it was the Never Ending Day of Doom accompanied by two cool people so it was actually pretty great. Too long of a title? Peut-etre.
We boarded the TGV (first-time experience on the fastest man-made thing in the world) and settled in for our extremely quick trip to the Loire Valley. Upon further inspection, we realized we were in the "quiet zone" which Emily soon realized was not the best place to eat chips. All laughs over here. Silent cracking up! A few lip sync battle sessions raged as I had Uptown Funk blasting in mine and Hannah's ears and Emily had who-knows-what going on in her ears. The quiet zone didn't stop us.
The countryside was, in fact, beautiful on the sunny gorgeous day and the TGV felt like it was floating a few times. Very cool!Our 15 euro seats were totally worth it. But what I was really looking forward to was our 18 euro first-class seats home. Too bad I would never get to use it. But we'll get to that. (BITTERNESS STILL RAGING). Ok...
We made it to the station in Tours and had no idea where to go. Totally a go-with-the-flow trip that had zero planning which we definitely paid for later. Figuratively and literally. I asked the lady in the info box which was the nearest Chateau and she suggested Chateau de Chenonceau which was exactly what Hannah wanted to see. We rushed over to a ticket kiosk and dropped another 14 euros each on round trip train tickets to the Chateau and hopped on the nearest train. No, we didn't know what time it would return. No, we had no clue where to go after that. We just knew: Train-> Chateau. !!!
Turns out the 50 cents I spent on the bathroom in the station could have been saved because the fancy schmancy trains had bathrooms inside. #socheap
Hannah and Emily showed off their abundance of snacks (rice cakes) and we eagerly awaited this Chateau. Once we got to our stop, we climbed onto the platform and went into helpless tourist mode. There was a map but we were all too busy recording video, snapchatting, or asking Siri for help (all of the above) to actually read the map. Round two went like, "Chateau! Ahh we found it! It says Chateau!" If there was anyone remotely nearby, we would have been a sight to see. Or laugh at. Mainly the latter.
Another 10 euros and another free bathroom, we were walking down the tree-lined/moat surrounded/stream lined path to the chateau. Beautiful weather!! And not touristy at all! Perfect day to go. We arrived around 2 pm and decided that at 4:30 we would go back to the platform to catch a train back to our 5:30 TGV to Paris. What the heck were we thinking. We didn't even check train times! TRAINS IN THE LOIRE VALLEY DO NOT RUN LIKE IN PARIS. They are NOT every 12-30 minutes! They are like 90 minutes apart.But we will get to that.
First up, the Labyrinth. Hannah and Emily were running around like kids in a candy store. Perfectly shaped shrubs that Hannah towered over and Emily was, well, barely visible over. In our future dream homes, we will all each have our own labyrinth.
Then we trotted around the gardens of the Chateau and photographed every angle possible. First to the left, then around to the right. I was in awe!
The inside was no disappointment either. The gallery? Oh my word have mercy on my soul. INCREDIBLE. Basically, it is a ballroom with black, wrought-iron chandeliers, black and white checkered floors, bay windows on either side over looking the river, and tall white walls lined with green shrub trees. I want to get married in there! My other favorite place was the kitchens.With a descending staircase going down below the castle, the kitchens were split up into two/three rooms that included servant dining quarters. Just like Downton Abbey! So naturally, I loved it.
4:30 came around and we decided to head to the platform which at first we had trouble finding because Tours is confusing and dumb when it comes to trains! But we found a poster, read it, was like, "nah it can't be coming in an hour and a half", then moved down the line, found another poster and was like, "no this can't be right either", then moved down and found a screen and in fact it said that the next train was not coming until 3 minutes after or TGV home would leave Tours....
That one hit you right in the gut. I debated hitch hiking, calling a taxi?, walking.... We really didn't know what we were going to do. Hotel for the night? Sleep on the platform? Survive off those blasted rice cakes that I could not stand anymore.
I knelt and prayed and Emily used her data to find us a ouibus home! Teamwork! Hahahaha. We sat and waited and watched the time pass as our TGV left and we just sat there still. Then the little train was late 15 minutes so that was great. It was just one thing after another!
We land in Tours train station again. We walk the distance to the bus station which really wasn't a station at all but more like a side road parking lot. The GPS had us going to a non-existent space so we hoped and prayed that the parking lot we found was our destination. Then we sat and waited some more. Remind you, this is about 7pm at night now and we have not eaten lunch or dinner and I was feeling the huger pains!! On our little curb of shame, we endured the biting cold, listened to music, and did our best to keep things light hearted.
When the rain started to fall, I couldn't help but laugh because when everything else seems to go wrong, obviously expect some rain. Movies prove it! We laughed and shivered and danced our way through the night until the glorious Ouibus whisked us off to Paris. I slept the entire ride home basically.
Adventure is so not over yet!! I am physically starving, so flippin' cold, and done with public transportation.
When we get off the Ouibus, we run through the pouring rain to the nearest metro, praying that I can catch a train home before they stop and end this monstrous day. Well, an hour later I'm pulling up to my stop and I walk home only to find my key is not fitting into the lock properly. My host parents left a key in the other side of the door. WHAT!?!?!? This day was meant for the movies. I was cold, wet, and starving and...locked out. I knocked and phoned but nobody was answering. Nobody. I forgot about the doorbell from the outside wall but, knowing me, I'm too nice to disturb anyone so I called up Hannah and told her what a freakish night it turned into. Being the gracious person that she is, she told me to come to her house and crash for the night. THANK YOU!
So I rush back to my platform (a good 15 minute walk away) and check to see when the next train is. It was the last one and it wasn't for another 27 minutes. Are. You. Kidding. Me.
But I took it all in stride and waited patiently those 27 agonizing minutes in the cold and tried to dismiss my stomach which felt like it was going to eat my insides. One of the great ad terrible things about France is that there are vending machines everywhere so when I'm not in need of food I get a snickers and when I am in need of food I get a snickers. The only gluten-free thing in there (do NOT tell me if I'm wrong) and I needed energy even if it cam in the form of a sugar kick in the butt.
I put my coin in the slot and pushed up. Nothing. I tried it again. Nothing. Why was nothing working in my favor that day!! After a few more futile attempts, I finally got my snickers bar and a warm(er) seat on the train and another long-haul back to Paris.
I got to Hannah's and she fed me some rice and we talked forever and finally crashed by 2 or 3 in the morning. Let's just say, I'm so glad that day is over. I'm so glad for awesome friends who can help. I'm so glad I got to see another part of France. And I'm so glad for the memories that have been made that will be funny to laugh at in a few years time. And I'm glad I finally finished this post!
Well, it certainly didn't start that way. In an attempt to get out of babysitting in the morning on Saturday, I may have said that my train left at 9:30 am.... It didn't really leave until 12:15. What's a girl gotta do to get a break from kids! I have a firm case against that lie for when I'm standing at the judgement bar.
With my 3 hours of time to kill, I visited the little gluten free bakery just up from Les Halles underground shopping center and bought a ridiculously overpriced Kings' Cake (Galette de Rois) mini pie to take on the train. 1) I'm always hungry since this gluten free thing and 2) I am always hungry. And it was Gluten free. *Read post about Galette de Rois*
So that didn't take long. I decided to just get back to Montparnasse and read my amazingly, awesome book (We Were There) and wait for Emily and Hannah to arrive. I was freezing and stiff but I wasn't babysitting so life was good!
Finally the girls showed up and the weekend adventure began. That includes a ridiculous amount of filming because of my inspired idea, thanks to Hannah's introducing me to the Devines, so I was naturally going to film and document the marvelous weekend trip in France. Well, I'm glad I did because it was the Never Ending Day of Doom accompanied by two cool people so it was actually pretty great. Too long of a title? Peut-etre.
We boarded the TGV (first-time experience on the fastest man-made thing in the world) and settled in for our extremely quick trip to the Loire Valley. Upon further inspection, we realized we were in the "quiet zone" which Emily soon realized was not the best place to eat chips. All laughs over here. Silent cracking up! A few lip sync battle sessions raged as I had Uptown Funk blasting in mine and Hannah's ears and Emily had who-knows-what going on in her ears. The quiet zone didn't stop us.
The countryside was, in fact, beautiful on the sunny gorgeous day and the TGV felt like it was floating a few times. Very cool!Our 15 euro seats were totally worth it. But what I was really looking forward to was our 18 euro first-class seats home. Too bad I would never get to use it. But we'll get to that. (BITTERNESS STILL RAGING). Ok...
We made it to the station in Tours and had no idea where to go. Totally a go-with-the-flow trip that had zero planning which we definitely paid for later. Figuratively and literally. I asked the lady in the info box which was the nearest Chateau and she suggested Chateau de Chenonceau which was exactly what Hannah wanted to see. We rushed over to a ticket kiosk and dropped another 14 euros each on round trip train tickets to the Chateau and hopped on the nearest train. No, we didn't know what time it would return. No, we had no clue where to go after that. We just knew: Train-> Chateau. !!!
Turns out the 50 cents I spent on the bathroom in the station could have been saved because the fancy schmancy trains had bathrooms inside. #socheap
Hannah and Emily showed off their abundance of snacks (rice cakes) and we eagerly awaited this Chateau. Once we got to our stop, we climbed onto the platform and went into helpless tourist mode. There was a map but we were all too busy recording video, snapchatting, or asking Siri for help (all of the above) to actually read the map. Round two went like, "Chateau! Ahh we found it! It says Chateau!" If there was anyone remotely nearby, we would have been a sight to see. Or laugh at. Mainly the latter.
Another 10 euros and another free bathroom, we were walking down the tree-lined/moat surrounded/stream lined path to the chateau. Beautiful weather!! And not touristy at all! Perfect day to go. We arrived around 2 pm and decided that at 4:30 we would go back to the platform to catch a train back to our 5:30 TGV to Paris. What the heck were we thinking. We didn't even check train times! TRAINS IN THE LOIRE VALLEY DO NOT RUN LIKE IN PARIS. They are NOT every 12-30 minutes! They are like 90 minutes apart.But we will get to that.
First up, the Labyrinth. Hannah and Emily were running around like kids in a candy store. Perfectly shaped shrubs that Hannah towered over and Emily was, well, barely visible over. In our future dream homes, we will all each have our own labyrinth.
Then we trotted around the gardens of the Chateau and photographed every angle possible. First to the left, then around to the right. I was in awe!
The inside was no disappointment either. The gallery? Oh my word have mercy on my soul. INCREDIBLE. Basically, it is a ballroom with black, wrought-iron chandeliers, black and white checkered floors, bay windows on either side over looking the river, and tall white walls lined with green shrub trees. I want to get married in there! My other favorite place was the kitchens.With a descending staircase going down below the castle, the kitchens were split up into two/three rooms that included servant dining quarters. Just like Downton Abbey! So naturally, I loved it.
4:30 came around and we decided to head to the platform which at first we had trouble finding because Tours is confusing and dumb when it comes to trains! But we found a poster, read it, was like, "nah it can't be coming in an hour and a half", then moved down the line, found another poster and was like, "no this can't be right either", then moved down and found a screen and in fact it said that the next train was not coming until 3 minutes after or TGV home would leave Tours....
That one hit you right in the gut. I debated hitch hiking, calling a taxi?, walking.... We really didn't know what we were going to do. Hotel for the night? Sleep on the platform? Survive off those blasted rice cakes that I could not stand anymore.
I knelt and prayed and Emily used her data to find us a ouibus home! Teamwork! Hahahaha. We sat and waited and watched the time pass as our TGV left and we just sat there still. Then the little train was late 15 minutes so that was great. It was just one thing after another!
We land in Tours train station again. We walk the distance to the bus station which really wasn't a station at all but more like a side road parking lot. The GPS had us going to a non-existent space so we hoped and prayed that the parking lot we found was our destination. Then we sat and waited some more. Remind you, this is about 7pm at night now and we have not eaten lunch or dinner and I was feeling the huger pains!! On our little curb of shame, we endured the biting cold, listened to music, and did our best to keep things light hearted.
When the rain started to fall, I couldn't help but laugh because when everything else seems to go wrong, obviously expect some rain. Movies prove it! We laughed and shivered and danced our way through the night until the glorious Ouibus whisked us off to Paris. I slept the entire ride home basically.
Adventure is so not over yet!! I am physically starving, so flippin' cold, and done with public transportation.
When we get off the Ouibus, we run through the pouring rain to the nearest metro, praying that I can catch a train home before they stop and end this monstrous day. Well, an hour later I'm pulling up to my stop and I walk home only to find my key is not fitting into the lock properly. My host parents left a key in the other side of the door. WHAT!?!?!? This day was meant for the movies. I was cold, wet, and starving and...locked out. I knocked and phoned but nobody was answering. Nobody. I forgot about the doorbell from the outside wall but, knowing me, I'm too nice to disturb anyone so I called up Hannah and told her what a freakish night it turned into. Being the gracious person that she is, she told me to come to her house and crash for the night. THANK YOU!
So I rush back to my platform (a good 15 minute walk away) and check to see when the next train is. It was the last one and it wasn't for another 27 minutes. Are. You. Kidding. Me.
But I took it all in stride and waited patiently those 27 agonizing minutes in the cold and tried to dismiss my stomach which felt like it was going to eat my insides. One of the great ad terrible things about France is that there are vending machines everywhere so when I'm not in need of food I get a snickers and when I am in need of food I get a snickers. The only gluten-free thing in there (do NOT tell me if I'm wrong) and I needed energy even if it cam in the form of a sugar kick in the butt.
I put my coin in the slot and pushed up. Nothing. I tried it again. Nothing. Why was nothing working in my favor that day!! After a few more futile attempts, I finally got my snickers bar and a warm(er) seat on the train and another long-haul back to Paris.
I got to Hannah's and she fed me some rice and we talked forever and finally crashed by 2 or 3 in the morning. Let's just say, I'm so glad that day is over. I'm so glad for awesome friends who can help. I'm so glad I got to see another part of France. And I'm so glad for the memories that have been made that will be funny to laugh at in a few years time. And I'm glad I finally finished this post!
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