Tours

Hi everyone! So after a rather horrific overnight train ride from Montpellier, (horrific because I have enough baggage for a family of four) I arrived in Tours.  For now I'm staying at a youth hostel, which is kind of a dump, but I just arranged it with my program to have my host family pick me up tomorrow, a few days early.  So I'll be meeting my first French family on Tuesday!  While I still have internet, I thought I'd put up some pictures of Tours, a truly beautiful city in the Loire Valley, the land of grand chateaux, beautiful cathedrals, and supposedly the "purest" French in the world.  

Hotel de la Ville--That's not a hotel.  That term in France represents a city hall kind of thing, and office of the mayor.  

The Musee des Beaux Arts

The absolutely breathtaking St. Gatien Cathedral.  Originally constructed in 471, it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 12th century.  I was able to attend a French mass in the cathedral this Sunday, which was such a unique experience.  

The outdoor markets in Tours--Antiques, clothing, bags, flowers, you name it!  

The "Halles," the indoor food markets of Tours.  I've noticed that the French are not big on removing the heads of things before they sell them...

Au Revoir, Montpellier

In an hour I'm taking the overnight train to the town of Tours, officially ending the most exciting, challenging, revealing summer of my life.  The idea to do this summer program was secondary to my year study abroad, but I'm quite sure it will turn out to be one of the most memorable aspects of my entire year.  

I can't deny that it was terrifying at first to be abroad for the first time, but I've never had such an easy time making friends and finding new and creative things to do.  My plan was simply to study French so that I would be well-prepared for the Sorbonne, but I learned a lot more than grammar.  I think I went out more in the last 2 months that in the last 2 years, and now I'm really ready to get down to work in Paris and settle into more a routine, which I admit I love.  In the city, I'm planning on finding some part time work as a nanny, (it looks like everyone is searching "EMT nounous," or English Mother Tongue Nannies), and also doing a small internship assistant teaching English.  

I have a week to recuperate from two months of never once getting 8 hours of sleep, then on Friday I rendez-vous with my group and we spend 2 weeks in Tours getting oriented.  I'm stoked about how prepared I feel to communicate with my host family, the teachers, and other students thanks to my 2 months of prep.  On September 11th, we head to Paris, where we'll meet our family for the year and start classes.

This week, I'm hoping to have wireless in my hostel, so I make some calls and hopefully catch up with some of you!  I may be incommunicado though, and I have no idea what to expect in terms of internet once I get with my host family.  But I love getting your comments and feedback, and please keep emailing me to let me know what's going on in the states!

A Bientot!

One last trip in Languedoc-Roussillon

Hey all! Tomorrow is my last day in Montpellier, than things will be up in the air for a while.  I'll make another post tomorrow before I leave to let everyone know what's next...

Pont du Diable--Originally constructed by Benedictine monks in the 11th century.  Supposedly construction was delayed since the devil would come and destroy the work each night, leading the foreman to make a deal selling his soul.  

This is a 9th century Benedictine Abbey of Gellone in St. Guilhem, still inhabited by Carmelite nuns.  

The town of St. Guilhem-le-Desert, a cute little town in the Languedoc-Roussillon National Park.  All the little stores, like the Boulangerie down at the bottom, are built into these cavelike dwellings.  It was adorable, with potable running-water fountains all around that just run down little crevasses in the street.  

Carcassonne and Sete

These pictures are from the charming little fishing town of Sete, right along the Mediterranean.  It's traversed by waterways and canals, so you have to constantly search out the right bridge to cross to get to the next street.  This harbor had more seagulls than I've ever seen in my life.  I felt like I was in a Hitchcock movie.  

Water Jousting-the traditional sport of Sete.  We stumbled across a lightweight competition--these are the students from the Sete Ecole de Joust.  

We took a trip to Carcassonne, the medieval fortress west of Montpellier.  

Last stop was a beautiful lake just outside of Carcassonne.

Bullfighting!

Yesterday, I went back to Arles with a friend to watch their famous bull races in Les Arenes, the ancient Roman Amphitheatre.  This region of Southern France is actually quite famous for their bull races of Camargue, in which racers get in the ring with the bull and attempt to pull ribbons off their horns.  At least, that's what happens every single other week of the summer.  Little did we know we had stumbled across a special event that only takes place twice a year.  Actual Spanish matadors come in for the real deal--The first thing we saw on the sign when we went to buy our ticket was, in bold letter, MISE A MORT, or put to death.  So basically, they were going to slaughter the bulls, Spanish style.  Apparently this was some "coming out" ceremony for three prestigious graduates of a Matador school in Spain.  My friend and I hesitated, but decided to just go for it.  It ended up being an incredible experience, unlike anything else I've ever seen.  It was hard to watch the first round, but you actually got used to the killing quickly over the course of the 6 rounds, two for each Matador.  It was really thrilling and tense and captivating.  Unfortunately, my camera died pretty early on, so this is a mix of my pictures and my friend's.  Enjoy! (and watch the video at the end...) 

The whole team parades in, the three real matadors in front.  
The Roman Amphitheatre
The guys selling "beignets" and hats, just like the guys in the stands at American baseball games.  

The stare-down begins...

The matador taunts the bull: It's not a sport that's about cruelty and killing, it's about the honor of the battle.  The matador's goal is to get as close to the bull as possible, to pull the riskiest stunts, to puff out his chest and make loud noises, and in every way possible, demonstrate that he is master to a worthy opponent.  
Finally, the matador is given a sword.  
This matador only needed one clean stroke.  

The bull falls to its knees, the signal of defeat.  The assistants swoop in and end it immediately.  Then, 2 horses come out and together drag the bull behind them out of the ring, a la Eric Bana being dragged around by Brad Pitt in Troy.  

One of the freakiest parts is when they do the initial spearing--Meaning, before the Matador comes out, they have 3 other guys come out, each with a set of short, decorative, harpoon-like things.  These guys have to stick them in the bull's back, more just to piss it off than anything else.  Unfortunately for these guys, they don't have a cape to distract the bull, they just basically antagonize the bull until it charges them.  As you can see from the above photo, it doesn't always end well...

This particular matador above in the red, who couldn't have been much older than me, exemplified the spirit of the sport--attitude, risk, domination, determination.  After getting tossed around a bit (see below), he got back up with more ceremony than ever.  Throwing off his shoes, he proceeded to taunt the bull on his knees, behind his back, turning his back to the bull with no hesitation.  It was like the goring was emasculating, and the matador had to reclaim his dominance.  The best part was, he did all this, plus the ensuing victory walk after the killing, with a giant rip in his pants from the bull horn, literally exposing his bare ass.  Now that's confidence.  

Warning--Explicit audio content.  (Okay, yes, it was me.  I couldn't help it, I was very shocked.  It was going so smoothly...)