My apartment in Tours is, as we would say in French Bien Situé, located a short 15 minute walk to the train station and the main shopping venues, 4 minutes to the grocery store with a bakery and pharmacy just around the corner. In the Prebendes neighborhood, named after the gardens just 5 minutes away, it’s full of families and students. If Paris and Orleans had a baby, I am pretty sure Tours would be their offspring. Tree-lined boulevards are adorned with cafes, shops, bakeries and your classic French flair, reminding me of some quartiers in Paris. The architecture of the old part of Tours and the cathedral invoke memories of a medieval town. Tours has lots of pedestrian only areas filled with bars and luxury shopping. The train station is photogenic, with its giant glass windows. So all in all, I can’t complain, though I do have partiality towards Orleans, since I lived there for so long. Tours is certainly working its charm on me, and the unusual 80 degree weather we are experiencing is of course helping its case. My schools are not as close to the city as they were last year. One is in Langeais, a charming little town about 30 minutes away from Tours. I catch a ride with either a French or a Math professor every morning to take the long but beautiful ride along the Loire to get to Langeais. There is a cute little castle in the town. The problem is, I often have to spend the entire day at the school because trains don’t pass frequently and I thus have to rely on teachers to take me home. The other school is in a suburb of Tours, Ballan-Mire, which is about 30 minutes on the bus. Here too I have to spend long days because the bus doesn’t come frequently. It’s no big deal; I have gotten a lot of reading done sitting in the teachers’ lounge!! All of the teachers I work with are really nice and the students are excited to have an American assistant. It’s pretty good for me because I am able to use a lot of the same materials that I used last year.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Back in France!!
After months of fun filled bureacratic drama, I finally got a renewal to come back to France and teach. I will be doing the same program, but I have been re-located to Tours, the other big city in this region. My schools themselves are not in Tours: Langeais is about 40 kilometers away and Ballan-Mire is closer. I arrived in France on the 28th of September and immediately begun searching for lodging in Tours (living here would allow me to have easy transport to both my schools).
My apartment in Tours is, as we would say in French Bien Situé, located a short 15 minute walk to the train station and the main shopping venues, 4 minutes to the grocery store with a bakery and pharmacy just around the corner. In the Prebendes neighborhood, named after the gardens just 5 minutes away, it’s full of families and students. If Paris and Orleans had a baby, I am pretty sure Tours would be their offspring. Tree-lined boulevards are adorned with cafes, shops, bakeries and your classic French flair, reminding me of some quartiers in Paris. The architecture of the old part of Tours and the cathedral invoke memories of a medieval town. Tours has lots of pedestrian only areas filled with bars and luxury shopping. The train station is photogenic, with its giant glass windows. So all in all, I can’t complain, though I do have partiality towards Orleans, since I lived there for so long. Tours is certainly working its charm on me, and the unusual 80 degree weather we are experiencing is of course helping its case. My schools are not as close to the city as they were last year. One is in Langeais, a charming little town about 30 minutes away from Tours. I catch a ride with either a French or a Math professor every morning to take the long but beautiful ride along the Loire to get to Langeais. There is a cute little castle in the town. The problem is, I often have to spend the entire day at the school because trains don’t pass frequently and I thus have to rely on teachers to take me home. The other school is in a suburb of Tours, Ballan-Mire, which is about 30 minutes on the bus. Here too I have to spend long days because the bus doesn’t come frequently. It’s no big deal; I have gotten a lot of reading done sitting in the teachers’ lounge!! All of the teachers I work with are really nice and the students are excited to have an American assistant. It’s pretty good for me because I am able to use a lot of the same materials that I used last year.
My apartment in Tours is, as we would say in French Bien Situé, located a short 15 minute walk to the train station and the main shopping venues, 4 minutes to the grocery store with a bakery and pharmacy just around the corner. In the Prebendes neighborhood, named after the gardens just 5 minutes away, it’s full of families and students. If Paris and Orleans had a baby, I am pretty sure Tours would be their offspring. Tree-lined boulevards are adorned with cafes, shops, bakeries and your classic French flair, reminding me of some quartiers in Paris. The architecture of the old part of Tours and the cathedral invoke memories of a medieval town. Tours has lots of pedestrian only areas filled with bars and luxury shopping. The train station is photogenic, with its giant glass windows. So all in all, I can’t complain, though I do have partiality towards Orleans, since I lived there for so long. Tours is certainly working its charm on me, and the unusual 80 degree weather we are experiencing is of course helping its case. My schools are not as close to the city as they were last year. One is in Langeais, a charming little town about 30 minutes away from Tours. I catch a ride with either a French or a Math professor every morning to take the long but beautiful ride along the Loire to get to Langeais. There is a cute little castle in the town. The problem is, I often have to spend the entire day at the school because trains don’t pass frequently and I thus have to rely on teachers to take me home. The other school is in a suburb of Tours, Ballan-Mire, which is about 30 minutes on the bus. Here too I have to spend long days because the bus doesn’t come frequently. It’s no big deal; I have gotten a lot of reading done sitting in the teachers’ lounge!! All of the teachers I work with are really nice and the students are excited to have an American assistant. It’s pretty good for me because I am able to use a lot of the same materials that I used last year.
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