I cannot believe it's already October. September absolutely flew by.
This week has been much like the others so far-- a little lazy time, a little class time, a little travel time. It's nice.
Last Thursday we (finally) had an actual class that we had to attend all day. This was Services Marketing-- the one we had to write a paper and make a presentation for. For most of the morning, our teacher talked about himself and the basics of marketing (which was good for me because I've never had a marketing class). That afternoon we started presentations. There were 8 groups who had to present and each presentation was supposed to be no longer than 15 minutes plus a short question and answer afterwards. This shouldn't have been hard, but let me tell you, some of these groups presented for around 25 minutes (I timed them), then had 15 minute Q&A's. It took forever to get through every group! Thankfully, our group got to go second (we stayed within the time limits, by the way), so we didn't have to wait until the next morning to present.
Friday, the teacher had to leave town early, so we had to show up to class early so we could get everything done. The last two groups presented, and then he just talked and talked and talked. Later, two "lucky" groups got to do a second presentation (that wasn't even for a grade, but every group had to have one ready just in case he picked your group). That afternoon we took the exam for the class. It was two essay questions taken from a video we watched about Cirque du Soleil (super easy).
Friday night I got to Skype with Annie and Gracie. I've talked to my parents a bit since I've been here, but I've only chatted with my sisters briefly on Facebook before now. It was so good to see their faces! After living with them all summer and seeing them everyday, it's hard to not see them at all. We talked for a good hour. It was early, early morning for me and only late afternoon for them. I'm still not used to the huge time change. I'm so thankful for the technology that enables me to keep in contact with people.
We had planned all week to go to Tours on Saturday. We made it there by about 3:00 in the afternoon. There were no trains scheduled for a more convenient time, so we took what we could get. (We didn't however, have any train mishaps-- although that may be because Alois was in charge of transportation on this trip.) This time it was only three of us-- me, Lizette, and Alois. Joe decided to go to Bordeaux for a church thing.
Tours is bigger than Poitiers and everything felt roomier. Like, in Poitiers, the streets are super narrow especially in City Center, but in Tours city center, the streets were very wide and open. There were also more trees everywhere. It was nice to see the leaves changing and falling.
We started walking in the direction everyone else was walking (this is often our strategy) and the crowd took us to the Tours Hotel de Ville (Town Hall). There was a wedding or a protest (maybe both) or something going on out front, so we crossed the street to get a better look at the building. It was magnificent. The building itself is pretty, but what makes it great is that it's adorned with bright flowering plants, and a fountain across the street. The buildings around it are curved to give attention to this building. The whole setup was really great-- there were so many different aspects reflecting the beauty of this place. It wasn't just visually appealing; it felt beautiful. (I'm not sure that makes any sense, but I'm sticking to it.)
We walked around the corner from there to a street where shops lined both sides. I hadn't seen this many pedestrians since coming to France. There were so many people. There was train system that ran down the middle of the street, so there was quite a bit going on. It's always so fun to see the different stores and what's available. We didn't stop at any of them because we didn't have time, but I could have spent the whole day on this street.
We made our way to Cathedrale Saint-Gatien de Tours. (I hope you don't tire of reading about Cathedrals, because I don't think I'll ever tire of visiting and writing about them.) The facade of this one was so spectacular. There were extremely intricate details on every inch of it. And it had flying buttresses! Ever since I learned that term in art history class, I've been fascinated by them and wanted to see them in person. I don't know why, but I love this feature on cathedrals. There were several rose windows and stained glass everywhere. The organ was gorgeous. So far, this has been the biggest church I've been to. The ceilings were tall, and the columns were clean and white. I love the feeling of being in the middle of that history. I like to touch the walls and wonder about the hands that built them and marvel at the handiwork on every column and beam. Whoever designed these cathedrals were thorough and I think (judging from details here and there) they had a sense of humor about them.
Cathedrale Saint-Gatien de Tours was the highlight of the day for me. I loved it! At one point Alois laughed at us and said, "You girls look like tourists!" Well, Alois, for the next 8 months, I plan on being a tourist as often as I can, thank you!
We went to the river from there. We decided to cross it in search of an abbey that was built in 372. When we got there, we discovered that we had in fact walked to a boarding school. The place was completely empty, but the chapel was open, so we went inside. It was tiny, but still beautiful. There was a door in the hallway that was cracked open. We found the stairs! (In every cathedral, I look for access to the upper floors-- I would kill (figuratively) to have a chance to go up there. Especially up to where the organ sits! Sometime this year, I'll make it up to one of them!) Lizette and I figured, there was no one around, so we might as well take the stairs. On the first floor, it took us to an art classroom and another hallway. On the second floor there was empty rooms... and a door that led to the balcony of the chapel! It wasn't locked, so we took this as permission to go on in. We felt so sneaky. Honestly, it probably wasn't a big deal, but it was a fun little adventure. (We wrote our names in the dust, took a selfie, and headed back down.)
It was quite a walk out to the abbey, so once we got back to city center, we only had about 40 minutes to get back to the train station. Once we arrived, we had time to go to McDonalds for a quick dinner before boarding.
Sunday was a pretty relaxed day for me (of course). I cleaned my room a bit and took care of some stuff I had been putting off. I know I've mentioned that the big cathedral here is right across the street from my residence, and I think I've mentioned that there is a small cathedral a few streets behind the big one. If I hadn't, now you know. The reason I tell you that is because this small cathedral is one of my favorite places in the world to sit and think and write. It's called Eglise Sainte-Radegonde. That "e" on the end of Sainte means that it's a woman saint.
Radegonde was a born a princess. However, she was captured on a raid by her kingdom's enemies and taken to be the King's wife. As queen, she was very kind and was always tending to the poor and sick. It is said that she wished for martyrdom. Eventually, she was released from the King and given permission to become a nun, and later founded a nunnery. Her sarcophagus is actually in the church beneath the altar, and visitors can go down to see it. I don't know what exactly it is about this place, but I just love to be there. It's not as well known, or even as pretty as the other cathedrals in Poitiers, so there aren't a lot of visitors. There is a bench along the walls, and I like to sit there. It's quiet and cool, but comfortable. It isn't as well preserved as the others, but it still has so much beauty and character. I was excited when I learned the history of its namesake. I think it's a beautiful story. All of that to say that I spent a good chunk of Sunday afternoon in the cathedral with pen and paper and it was wonderful.
Monday night I went to the Mark Bible Study again. Unfortunately, the past two Mondays, I had completely forgotten about it until it was already over. This week, I really wanted to remember, so I set an alarm to remind me. I'm glad I went. They were in Mark 5, where he talks about the woman who touched Jesus' garment and the little girl that was healed. I'm so thankful that there's someone here who is willing to host weekly studies!
I only had one real class plus French class this week. Tuesday afternoon our Market Research class met to present our survey questions and conduct a mock focus group. It was actually fun to talk about our topic and hear what the other groups came up with. Right after class, we had to go to French. Our teacher is really funny. Not purposefully, just in how she leads the class. It would be interesting to go to a class like this for foreign students learning English. I'd like to sit in on one to see what they teach and how they teach English. I wonder where they start and where they go from there.
Today (Wednesday) Lizette and I are meeting with two Russian girls to plan a trip we're taking later this week. (I'll write about it next Wednesday!)
Have a good one!
Je t'embrasse,
Sarah
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