Ten months in Tours: March 2014

Monday, 31 March 2014

Rebecca and Nick come to visit

Last week was a relatively quiet one. Predictably the first couple of days were a bit zombie-like as I was so tired trying to recover from the previous weekend's adventures. I got a couple of good exam results back, which was reassuring, and other than the Erasmus night out on Thursday I was mostly just trying to get any uni work done before Rebecca and Nick arrived at the weekend.

I've been looking forward to their visit since it was all booked at Christmas so it was great to finally get to show them around Tours. They arrived around midday on Saturday after a few days in Paris and we spent the afternoon seeing the main sights (Cathedral, Basilique, Tour Charlemagne, the Loire, Rue Nationale, Place Jean Jaures, and the old buildings around Place Plumereau in the older part of Tours). When we went to the Cathedral the cloisters were open to the public, which I've never seen before, so we were able to see them and also see the Cathedral from new angles which was nice. I'm glad that after almost exactly 7 months here there are still new things to see! We made sure we had the necessary patisserie as we walked around and then after dinner we went out for drinks with Chloe and Marie at one of the Irish pubs.

On Sunday we went to an event called 'Salon du chocolat' in the congress centre in the middle of Tours, which was heaven. You had to pay to get in but once you're in you get to try free samples of all different kinds of chocolates from the various stands. There were also technical colleges showcasing their work and extravagant chocolate sculptures for the Concours. We bought a couple of bits and pieces, including some delicious rich hot chocolate, and sampled lots of others, including quite a lot of different aperitifs (pretending it wasn't still the morning!). I also tried my first ever macaron, which I know is shocking given how long I've been here for. After a quick lunch in the park by the station we headed off to the Jardin Botanique to see the animals. It's a deceptively big park with a large range of plants and also a seemingly random selection of animals. We saw goats, a donkey, a pot-bellied pig, and lots of birds but also wallabies, emus, porcupines and tortoises!

In the evening we went out for crêpes, as is tradition, and then it was time to say goodbye all too quickly. I'll be back in England for a week at Easter as I'm going to bring some of my stuff back, so it's not too long until I'll be home anyway but it was still over too quickly! I hope they enjoyed their trip to France, and I'm glad I got to show them my town.

Cathédrale Saint-Gatien

The cloisters

Me and Rebecca in the cloisters

Rebecca and Nick at the Cathedral

The mysterious built-over doorway

Rebecca and Nick by the Loire

Display for the concours at the Salon du Chocolat

Monday, 24 March 2014

Chambéry and Geneva

This weekend was simultaneously great and completely exhausting! Chloe was going to visit some of her Edinburgh friends in Chambéry, in South(ish)-East France, and she asked me along so I seized the opportunity. I'd never heard of Chambéry before so I probably would never have thought to go there of my own accord.

We booked a covoiturage (car-share) for the journey there on Friday which worked out well as we were driven there by a sweet older couple on their way from Brittany for their holidays. It was slightly nerve-racking waiting at the motorway exit but it's actually a pretty safe, and very environmentally friendly, set-up and also quite a European experience as covoiturage hasn't taken off in Britain like it has here.
We arrived mid-afternoon and went for hot drinks at a lovely Salon du Thé, where I got a generous serving of Chocolat chaud maison aux épices and we were able to recover a little from the long trip. Chloe's friend (also called Chloe) met us in town and took us back to her residence, where we were able to have cheap accommodation, and then around the town to see the old buildings and the Cathedral. Chambéry's not a huge town but it's picturesque as it's set near the mountains and has lots of stand-out features, such as the Fontaine des éléphants in one of the main squares and the castle, Château des Ducs de Savoie. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside the castle, but perhaps I've been to enough for now!

We made a fairly last minute decision that night to go across the border to Switzerland the next day, as Geneva is just over an hour by train from Chambéry. There were 5 of us as Chloe's friend Lisa came over from Aix-en-Provence and her French friend Rosalie was able to come too as she's recently moved to a town about half an hour away. The weather was terrible, particularly as we'd got quite used to the nice weather we've been having recently. But there are lots of things to do in a city like Geneva, and we managed to get through a surprising amount.
We went to the Maison Tavel museum, which was all about Genevan daily life through the ages and was really interesting. On one of the floors there was a scale model of the walled city as it was in the 1800s which was great as it meant that when you walk along by the lake you can try and imagine what it would it would have been like then.
We also went to Cathédrale Saint-Pierre which wasn't on the same level as some of the other Cathedrals I've seen recently in France and Spain but was still interesting and had a striking modern organ. Apart from that we just went to things as we found them, including lunch in a sheltered square where an enthusiastic little brass band were playing, an art gallery called galerie la cave which was displaying the work of an artist who manipulates car tyres and similar materials to create art, and to a luxurious department store where we sampled salsas and chocolates etc.
The rain finally stopped near the end of our day there so we walked along to see Lake Geneva, and the famous Jet d'Eau, which is apparently one of the world's largest fountains. It's got interesting origins as it was initially used for purely practical purposes by a hydraulic power network, but it was moved into the centre and became a landmark when they realised it's potential.

In the evening we were invited for Raclette with Rosalie and her flatmates, which was delicious and a perfect way to end a tiring day. After we stuffed ourselves full of charcuterie and cheese and potatoes, two enormous apple tarts were produced (and of course we didn't want to be rude), follwed by a local digestif.

On Sunday we met Chloe's friend Kirsty in Chambéry and then early afternoon we started our 7-hour train journey home. It was a lovely, and mostly unexpected,weekend. Now I just need to try and recover from it!

(Chloe's photos as my camera ran out of battery)

Chambéry

Cathédrale Saint-François-de-Sales de Chambéry

Fontaine des éléphants- Place des éléphants

Geneva

Lake Geneva (+ Jet d'Eau)

Raclette

Sunday, 16 March 2014

Pause week adventures in Catalonia!

I'm a bit late writing this but I wanted a make a post about Pause week since it was such an amazing and memorable week. This term Emma is studying in Perpignan (South-West France) so we decided to take the opportunity to meet up and travel together. The train journeys were hideously long, 9h30 on the way there and 13h30 overnight on the way back, but made it affordable and were definitely worth a week in the sun and seeing Emma. The last hour or two of the train journey there I could see the terrain changing, and the countryside and buildings started to look more and more Spanish. It became a very scenic route, with picturesque mountains and lakes with wild flamingoes.

The first day Emma showed me around Perpignan, starting off with the castle, which is uphill and gives you a great view of the town and the countryside, and then to the Cathedral and around the town. Although I've visited a lot of castles and Cathedrals in the North now, this was a new experience as the architecture of the castle and the way that the Cathedral was decorated were very different to what I've seen around here. Again the Spanish influence can be seen as the castle is the old 'Palais des rois de Majorque'.

On the second day we took the 1 euro bus (!) about an hour out of Perpignan, to Collioure, which is a beautiful historic seaside town. It was pretty windy by the sea but we explored lots anyway. There's an enormous castle, most of which is open to the public to explore, dating from at least the 1200s although it changed and adapted over the centuries. It's empty now but still standing, and also gives you amazing views of the countryside. Collioure is truly a beautifully situated town and I must have taken about a million photos. Apart from walking along by the sea, we also went uphill to see a windmill, some cactuses, and, you guessed it, more views of the town and coast. Because it was Pancake Day we went and had pancakes at one of Emma's friends' flat, which was a lovely way to end my stay in Perpignan.

Given that Perpignan is so close to the Spanish border, we had the perfect excuse to take advantage of this and go across the border. We stopped in Girona first, which is about 40 mins from Perpignan by train and another very historic city, with a river cutting through the centre. Once you walk a short distance from the station you're into pretty old streets and squares, and an enormous Cathedral which is virtually built into the town. After a look around the Cathedral we went and sat in the sun and ordered tapas, which was one of those moments that makes me glad I decided to do a year abroad.

Mid-afternoon we took the train on to Barcelona, which is around another 40 minutes from Girona. Luckily for me Emma speaks Spanish and also took control of the directions etc. which made it pretty easy getting around. The hostel was very central which meant we only had to get the underground to get to and from the main station, and were able to walk every else.

Barcelona is a surprisingly affordable city. Some of the tourist attractions are a little pricey (mostly the Gaudi buildings), but the food and accommodation are noticeably cheaper than in France so we were able to stay for two nights and eat very well. We got through a lot in two and a half days, including walking along Las Ramblas, going to the beach, going to see some Gaudi buildings, eating lots of Spanish food, visiting the Cathedral and taking the lift up to the roof, going to see the Arc de Triomf, and of course the Sagrada Familia (another Gaudi creation).

Because of the location and the weather we were able to make it a pretty relaxed trip, although I enjoyed the sight-seeing some of the best parts were also things like buying fruit at the huge food market off Las Ramblas, and just sitting in the park (even if I did burn immediately). I would definitely recommend going to the Cathedral roof if you're in Barcelona, as it's only 3 euros and there's a lift that takes you all the way up. When we were up there we met a French family on their holidays and heard Hey Jude being played from the bells of a nearby building!

My first trip to Spain definitely lived up to my expectations, or maybe even surpassed them thinking about it. I would love to go back another time and see more of Spain. There were Catalan flags everywhere in Barcelona, and signs in both Spanish and Catalan (which are actually quite different but fairly similar to someone with virtually no knowledge of either). I loved the atmosphere and history of Barcelona and Girona, but I suppose the next step would be to explore outside of Catalan territory, maybe Madrid?