A Little Eccentric

Ma famille ici!

This last week was amazing despite its rough start.
My family did not get to Tours until 6pm on Sunday because of many traveling delays. I have determined that Becky makes everything around her late and delayed, and she only proved me right throughout the rest of the vacation.
I sat for so long in the hotel lobby waiting for my family that the staff kept offering me coffee. I think seeing their taxi pull up was one of the most welcome sights I have ever seen.

Everyone was tired and jet-lagged, but we still went out and got a good dinner. Tchykita came with us to dinner so Becky and I rode the night bus back with her so I could get some stuff (I stayed in the Hotel with my family) and Tchykita wouldn’t have to go alone. To go back to the hotel, the bus should have come to pick us up at 11:27pm but Becky and I were stuck there until 11:50pm because Becky somehow makes everything late. Also, I can give her horns if I take the picture just right.
We got back safely though and Becky got a lesson in French patience and what it is like to have little communication.
The next day, I took my family on a walking tour of Tours to see all the stuff I’ve been telling them about. We saw the cathedral, Place Plume, the St. Martin Basilica, etc and everything good that Tours has to offer. We got a good lunch in a creperie and my family got to try gallettes for the first time. I was amazed at the difference in my French and helped everyone out with reading menus, etc. Tours is pretty small, and few people speak good English. I liked being so useful.
We also went out to see some of the famous castles surrounding Tours. We took a morning and went to Chenonceau and Amboise. The weather was gorgeous! Chenonceau is my favorite castle. It sits over the water and has a really cool history about a queen and king’s mistress and how much they hated each other. Look it up, it’s pretty interesting.
I always forget how much I like Paris until I come back. As we arrived Wednesday morning, this was my fifth time there (can you believe that?) and it was just as amazing as ever. We had amazing hotel rooms, and Becky, Rox and I got one overlooking the Tuileries.
The first day we saw Notre Dame (always awe-inspiring) and the Eiffel Tower. Mom was incredibly brave and all of us went all the way to the top. There’s one thing to scratch off your “things I need to do before I die” list.
The next day we packed in the Musee Rodin, Napoleon’s Tomb, the Hotel des Invalides, and the Louvre. We all loved it, except Becky was less than impressed with Rodin. It was beyond awesome to go to all these places and see all these things with my family.

After all the sightseeing, we stopped at a salon du the (pronounced "tay") called Angelina’s for their famous hot chocolate. It was delicious, but incredibly rich, like drinking a melted chocolate bar.
When we got to the Louvre, it was surrounded by the protestors I mentioned in my other blog. It was a crazy experience to be in the middle of such a huge protest.



That night we went to dinner with the ever-charming Herve, a French tour operator and friend of my parents. He was as awesome as ever, and we went to the delicious Sargent Recruteur for dinner. I ate a dinner of pate, sausage, bread, duck and potatoes, fromage, and crème caramel that was beyond incredible. That was probably my favorite night and it helped me to remember why I like France so much.

Friday we visited the Musee D’Orsay and Sacre Coeur. My dad and I got quite good at figuring out the Metro, even though it is terribly confusing like most things in France.
Sacre Coeur was gorgeous as always, with its big white domes and intricate mosaics. Also, there was a service going on so we got to hear the beautiful and haunting singing of the choir. We briefly saw Artists’ Square and before we went back down the many, many stairs to the metro. We went back and found a Italian restaurant on Rivoli. It was really hard not to think about my family leaving, but it was inevitable.

We got up and around the next morning and checked out of our lovely rooms. I took a taxi to the train station while my family took one to the airport. I had two thoughts as my cab shot through the Paris streets towards Austerlitz: one, I am amazed and proud at how much I have grown and learned and matured in the two months that I have been here that I can travel, speak French and be by myself with such ease, and two, that I have the greatest family one could ask for and it REALLY sucked not to be able to go home with them. Whether it was Rox and Dad’s constant barbs at each other (Dad declared Roxanne “the meanest of us all” which she kind of is), Becky’s endless naps and beckyness, or Mom’s ability to be the sweetest and most comforting person in the whole world; it was a perfect family trip.
Thank you to my parents and sisters for taking the time and expense to come all the way here and visit me for a week. It was wonderful to show you my adopted country and it was one of the best weeks of my life. In only two more months (hopefully) I’ll be back in the good old US with all of you again!

posted by Molly Jo @ 7:55 AM