Châteaux de Loire

This past weekend was the first excursion that CIDEF plans for us. So, we went chateau-ing!

We visited 3 Chateaux in the Loire Valley: d'Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau et Chambord!

d'Azay-le-Rideau

This Chateau was built between 1518 and 1529.

Boring Factoid: It is known as a Museum of the Renaissance because of its tapestries and paintings.

The beautiful chateau!

All us girlies posing :)

One wall of the chateau.

You must take pictures from every single angle. THIS IS A MUST!

The moat and water around it was solid!

Next up:

Chenonceaux

This chateau is built over the river Cher.

It was built between 1513 and 1521.

FUN FACTS: It's known as the Chateau of Ladies and Catherine de Medici lived there!

Voila!

So many intricate and beautiful tapestries.

My favorite part of the construction of this chateau.

A closer look at how the chateau is built of the water.

I really wish we could have seen the gardens when they are in full bloom.

And finally:

Chambord

This chateau is the most famous of the three that we went to.

It is absolutely MASSIVE!

440 rooms, 365 chimneys and 57 staircases.

François the 1st lived here.

Random fact: It is known as the hunting lodge and the only person who has permission to stay her is Nicolas Sarkozy.

Definitely my favorite of the three :)

Can I get a "woot! woot!" for spiral staircase???

Where the women would wait and watch their husbands come in after a long day of hunting.

Moi!

Even in the muggy rain, it is all such a sight to see.

So that pretty much covers our chateaux adventures. It was a pain that it rained on and off all day and that I ruined my black boots, but it was still definitely worth it in the end.

Coming Up:

This weekend: Mont St. Michel

March 3rd Weekend: Possible Nantes day trip

March 10th: NORMANDY

St. Patty's Weekend: Dublin

Oh and I might wanna throw in homework and tests....

Week One: Complete!

Sundays in France....there is not much to do. Most shops and food places are closed on Sundays and unless you always want to go see a movie, life is pretty much dead. But, at least there is always homework, right? Haha....I should probably be finishing that....

But instead I feel like writing a post filling you all in on my first week!

Monday- CIDEF gave us all our placements. Let me tell you one thing, most people tend to get screwed over in there placements. I could start listing off names of people who asked to be moved up. For me, I believe I got placed in the right level (323!). Some things seem a bit easy and yet other aspects are a bit tough. The classes that I have will improve my French that is for sure.

Tuesday- One class! Woohoo!!! Downside. It's at 9am.

Wednesday- Oh lovely 8ams. How I have not missed you one bit. In a perfect world I would be completely rid of you. But alas, I will manage through. (Sidenote: Today is the day my mind got raped by the bank here...I still don't want to talk about that confusing happenstance).

Thursday- The one day out of the week that I can sleep in! It is definitely weird waking up to a completely empty house. Especially with all the hustle from Madame's birthday party last night. Yet today is a very special day: it is mine and Theo's 4 month anniversary. Now, I know that 4 months really does play a huge role in the grand scheme of things. But this is the first of five anniversaries that we won't be able to spend with each other. So even if it is a Skype lunch/dinner date, I will take it. Love you <3

Friday- It's Friday, Friday. Another 8am on Friday. But at least it is finally the weekend, weekend! Even if I did start my weekend with friends rather late since it seems the next few days there will be a massive influx of family members that I will have to meet. It is just nice to know that I have made it through one week of classes and I still seem to be breathing (...yep....just checked!).

Saturday- SHOPPING!!!!!! The government mandated sales end on the 14th so obviously I am going to go buy cute clothes and shoes! I'm a girl. How could I not? And then to end the night with a night-in with wonderful friends, drinks and a Lukas-cooked dinner. Perfect. I definitely needed a night in after all the craziness.

And now I am here on this Sunday. Trying to finish up any homework and yet still procrastinating along the way (how else would I have ended up here). Oh! And good news! The weather is supposed to start warming up here. Finally the weather that I was promised to see :)

Brrrrr...It's cold out there!

So it looks like I must've brought Chicago weather with me here to Angers. And yes it sucks. Like a lot! So far it has snowed twice (once as a complete surprise to wake up to and the other time definitely expected) and it hasn't been above 25-30 degrees for the past week. Where is this warm or slightly brisk weather that I was promised?!?

But there is definitely a funny side to all of this: since France doesn't get much snow, the people here are never prepared for any of this type of weather. I see boys on my way to school having fun sliding on the ice. I see girls wearing high heels and skirts! Yes, you read that correctly. It's funny to see them trying to hobble around on their heels while I am wearing boots with thick soles for traction.

Annnnnnd you would think that being from the windy city I would be used to all this frigid weather but I am not. I keep getting asked why I am cold because, "You come from Chicago! You should be used to this." Well, turns out I am not. I might come from Chicago, but at least there I could bundle up in layers. I didn't pack anything like that for here so looks like until it gets warmer I may just have to suffer...

So as I am bundling up in blankets and turning up the heater in my room, I leave you with this:

Dear Chicago,

Please take your cold weather back. Nobody in France is prepared for this and seeing everyone fall on the ice is making me cringe.

Sincerely,

An American in Angers