It started as a day in Tours, with our bags, killing time before meeting our couchsurfing host Arnaud. Sandy and I were nervous about couchsurfing (for those of you who don't know, CS is a community of people that have couches travelers can stay on for free..its a cultural exchange), but when Arnaud showed up with his girlfriend, Noelle, our nerves were instantly calmed.
The first night, Arnaud and Noelle took us out to a typical restaurant of the Loire region which lead to a 3 course meal with perfect proportions. We then met up with another couchsurfer and listened to some pretty (terrible) jazz music.
After having a breakfast of homemade bread with Arnaud, Sandy and I headed out to rent bikes and do part of the Tour à Vélo in the Loire valley towards Ambroise. The journey is the destination as never been so true. We were biking through a picture--rolling green hills, vineyards, wild flowers, it was incredible.
Once in Ambroise, we at our picnic outside of a chateau and had our pictures taken by American students who thought we were French (and who thought we couldn't speak English thus criticized our eating out of an avocado like a bowl). We then went to Da Vinci's house where they had realized some of his inventions in his gardens. It was like a Tech Museum in San Jose. We did the paddle boats, fired a fake multi-direction machine gun and laughed at the signs that made Da Vinci sound like God.
The next day was spent in Blois, another town about 20 minutes outside of Tours. We stumbled upon an outdoor marché. Blois is situated on a hill and the marché winded through streets and had booths of veggies, cheese, clothes, bread and jewelry. Needless to say, we missed the early bus and wandered the charming streets.
We did eventually end up at Chambord, the grandest chateau of the Loire Valley, which is not an understatement. Never have I ever had such free reigns to wander around a chateau and literally get lost in its 6 stories. What made it even cooler was that Louis XV had stayed there, who I have been studying all semester.
Before the dinner party Arnaud's parents invited us to, Arnaud gave us a tour of his "backyard"...complete with a creek you can kayak on, a chateau in which a Duke lives who thinks it is the middle ages, meadows and ducks. At that moment, I just wanted to move there...and then came the dinner party.
It started out with real champagne from the Champagne region (a first for me), chevre frais and radishes, tomatos and sausages. Everyone was really nice and we had a great time comparing stories and speaking French. The courses were as follows: Fois Gras (another 1st) paired with a very nice (and quite expensive ((a bottle goes for €300 in a restaurant..)) white wine. We then proceded to have a slice of lamb, then a rack of lamb both complemented with a Chinon wine that Arnaud's father bottles, and then the cheese. Ahhhh cheese, how I will miss thee. Dessert was homemade strawberry ice cream. Ahhh.
The night ended around the piano, pictures were taken and bisous were given. That family was so welcoming and kind to complete strangers...remember that Sandy and I didnt even know Arnaud before going to stay at his house. This busts every stereotype of French people as cold and distant. At least in the countryside, they are the nicest people in the world.
