Il était une fois….

(Once upon a time...)

I am finally back at home in Paris but I feel like I just got back from far, far away. I visited châteaux de la Loire this weekend with CIJP and it was fantastique. Only five of us from WVPP decided to go and I definitely made the right decision. I got to see more of the French paysage and four très beaux châteaux, plus Leonardo Da Vinci’s house. I was truly living in a conte de fée.

Some highlights from mon week-end au Val de Loire:

- Alaa, our CIJP chaperone, gave all our instructions in both Français and English (making everything take twice as long as it needed to mais c’était pas grave). Along with these instructions, he also carried around une horologe (clock) to show us the rendez-vous times. Now I get that he wanted to be absolutely clear about meeting times and not everybody is at the same niveau (level) in terms of language but seriously, the guy looked like Flava Flav. It was hilarious. I kept waiting for him to bust out “yeah, boooooyyyyyyy!”

- People still live in one of the chateaux we saw! Le Château de Cheverny has belonged to the same family for over six siècles (six centuries) and they still live there today. The family (two parents, two youngish kids) live in one wing of the house and on the troisième étage (third floor) which isn’t open to the public. I now get Pride & Prejudice though! You know when Elizabeth goes to visit Pemberley with her aunt and uncle and it gets all awkward because Mr. Darcy's home and she didn’t know it? I always thought it was weird to tour somebody’s house like that but I did the same thing today! (Minus the whole tall, dark and handsome, though proud gentleman unfortunately. Zût!)

- Unlike Cheverny, Blois, Amboise, and Chenonceau felt and looked like legit castles. Alaa kept translating châteaux as castle and it didn’t sound right. We use chateau in English but now I know why he kept using ‘castle.’ Chenonceau even had a moat! Like I said, legit castles…..

- At Amboise, we saw le Château Royal and le Château du Clos Lucé, Leonardo Da Vinci’s house where he spend the last three years of his life. In Clos Lucé, I was walking in front of a Japanese tour group that was led by a French tour guide speaking English and a Japanese tour guide translating the English into Japanese for the group. As neither woman was a native English speaker, their conversations were amusing but also painful at the same time to listen to, especially the enthusiasm of the Japanese tourguide. The French woman mentioned that the house was originally acquired by Charles VIII as a royal residence for the French monarchs. “Ooohh , Charles VIII, the Lionhearted?” I even winced when I heard that one…..All the Frenchwoman could do was say “No, don’t say that” and keep moving. The whole tour just seemed painfully awkward for all parties involved but it was quite entertaining for me.

I am going to lunch today at Lycée Hôtelier (hotel management school) where I have been instructed to speak to the student servers in English (so they can practice) but talk to their teachers at the table in French. It should be tasty! Plus, c’est gratuit!

Since I'm posting in the morning, bonne journée!