Home Sweet Home

Sadly, this will probably be our last blog entry, as we made our way back home to Michigan yesterday afternoon.

We had an extremely early wake-up call as we had to leave the Abbey by 5:30AM to make everyone's flights out of Paris. George, an intern at the Abbey, drove us in the Abbey's minivan (had it not been so early, it would have been a hilarious scene since everyone had bags underfoot as well as on their laps to fit everything!) - and we made it all safely to the airport. After one last excursion to the "Picasso of pastries", Pierre Hermes, to pick up some of his famous macaroons, we were off.

The flight was uneventful, and although we stopped having access to the movie-player about halfway through because too many people were using it, everything mostly went well. (I have to say Air France has wonderful meals!) We were all happy to arrive in Detroit, where all of our friends and relatives were eagerly waiting to pick us up.

We will certainly all miss the Abbey and its serene setting, as well as the friends we made while we stayed there. It has definitely, as Peter wanted it to, given us "memories to last a lifetime!"

Au revoir!

Last Week in Pontlevoy

We can't believe that these are our last few days living in Pontlevoy and working on-site at the Abbey. We have loved everything from the beautiful grounds to the friendly students and staff here. After Peter's departure on Monday, we've been working hard to make significant progress on our project before departing from the Abbey on Saturday. We realize there are several things that we can only research here (and not in Ann Arbor), so we're definitely focusing our attention there. On Tuesday we visited Cheverny, a beautiful Chateau that remains in the original family tree. The grounds were truly beautiful and they had a very entertaining dog show which amazed us all! The tourism research group interviewed the Director of the Chateau, the Marquis de Vibraye, which was an honor (and extremely helpful!).

Today we researched some of the local tourist attractions including several local wineries in the Loire Valley area closest to the Abbey. It is amazing how many wineries are within 2 hours of Pontlevoy. We also visited the Mushroom Caves in Montrichard which we did not expect to be chilly and humid! We loved learning about how the owners grow the mushrooms and how much they could sell them for in the grocery stores.

Upon returning back to the Abbey we prepared for a fantastic barbeque thrown by Charles. We originally thought it would only be us at the BBQ, but were pleasantly surprised when students, friends from town and teachers showed up (and Nelson our favorite dog!). It was a great event to have some delicious food and hear more about the experiences of both students, townspeople and teachers.

We cannot believe that tomorrow is our last full day here at the Abbey. We've truly enjoyed our time in the small town of Pontlevoy and will miss everyone we've come to know here over our 3 weeks.

The Departure of Peter and Robbie

It's our last week in France and we're desperately trying to fit everything in before we go! Monday was our last day with Peter, so after going over some of our work plans with him in the morning, we took some pictures of the group as well as the Abbey grounds. Monday was also the most gorgeous day we've had since we arrived - over 70 degrees F and sunny! So after the workday, we met some of the students outside to get some sun on the Abbey lawn and kick the soccer ball around. Little did we know that there is a wonderful family-owned winery just a 3-minute walk out the back gate of the Abbey! We did a short wine-tasting before dinner with the owner, Cecile, who introduced us to wonderful Pontlevoy wine, and surprised us with the mouth-watering jellies they make using the wine. (We returned the next day to purchase several bottles each to bring home after we discovered we can check cases on the plane!) Our day ended with one of the best dinners any of us have ever had at the Chateau de Chissay, a restaurant sculpted into the caves that are partially integrated with a beautiful home on a hill.

After saying a sad goodbye to Peter (going back to work) and Robbie (going on vacation), we realized how much the weekend had improved our understanding of our approach to our project and continued to work on it on Tuesday. Later in the day we traveled to Cheverny, where we had an appointment to interview the owner, the Marquis de Vibraye, who has made his former home a wonderfully-run tourist attraction. He was incredibly knowledgeable, and we were surprised to learn that the chateau has been in his family for more than six centuries!

We've also found an amazing new friend who loves to play catch named Nelson (AKA Poulain) who is one of the nicest, most intelligent dogs we've ever met. He lives across the street next to Le Commerce, and frequently comes over to the Abbey grounds to play. We'll miss him when we're gone!

Weekend Fun - Amboise, Tours & more

After working hard all week, we were eager for the weekend to arrive so that we could explore more of what Pontlevoy and the surrounding cities have to offer. We spent Friday writing a portion of our final paper and we finished around 5pm in order to properly welcome our faculty advisor, Peter, who was arriving that day from Michigan. While Brendan B. had traveled to Eastern France to meet up with some friends and Jen worked on her master's project, the rest of us decided to meander over to the town bakery to pick up some bread for the weekend. Just as we were exiting the Abbey gates, we ran into Peter and Robbie who just returned from the train station. Eager to transition into the French lifestyle, Peter accompanied us to the bakery and then we all sat down at Le Commerce to have some wine and snacks, and to discuss our experiences at the Abbey so far.

On Saturday morning we got into our car and expertly navigated our way to Chateau d'Amboise (en route to Tours). The Chateau was set way up high over the city, so the view was fantastic! We also stopped for some delicious crepes on the way out of Amboise - a very fun and quaint town. After arriving in Tours we shopped around the city and then rested up before dinner. We ate at a charming French restaurant on a cobblestone alleyway/street which had just about any kind of ethnic food you could want. After dinner we definitely wanted to experience the nightlife in Tours, which we accomplished by wandering down the cobblestone streets towards Place Plumereau - a square surrounded by restaurants and bars on all sides. We topped the night off with 2euro cones of french fries which really hit the spot.

We arrived back to Pontlevoy from Tours this afternoon and were eager to see a conference that was set up at the Abbey. We did manage to cook some lunch in the kitchen and enjoyed eating it outside in the sunny weather. This week is our last week in Pontlevoy and we're definitely planning to make the most of it!

Chateaux

Yesterday was the first day we were able to escape from our online research and visit one of the nearby chateaux, which are such a large tourist draw in this region of France. (Although we are not suffering for lack of fun! We watched The Dark Knight on a projection screen in a room supported by flying buttresses that has been converted into a hangout for the students.) Chenonceau is known for being the residence of royalty and is characterized by its unique structure, which spans the river Cher. It is basically impossible to take pictures as gorgeous as the aerial ones on their webpage, but we attempted to capture our visit with photos of the beautiful home and gardens. There was a beautiful copper kitchen display in the basement of the structure, but the arches over the river was really the most striking part of the visit. There were two very well-kept gardens on each side of the chateau itself, and a restaurant that we heard serves hamburgers and Budweiser in high tourist season!

Tonight we also went to the debut of an art exhibit at another chateau, Chaumont, which has several buildings that were very interesting to explore and a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside and river. They also have a very large park that is open to the public - this is definitely my favorite chateau so far! The art debut had some hors'd'ouevres and wine, and afterward we went to Le Commerce to meet up with the local students and townspeople and have a great time!