It’s been a little over 24-hours since my arrival in Tours (yesterday afternoon); however, the short amount of time did not prevent me from experiencing Tours.
When I arrived I lugged my two 50 lb. suitcases, carry-on bag, and book bag off the train through the train station, down what seemed to be one of the roughest and rockiest sidewalks, and finally to a lovely woman’s house. The walk took me about 35 minutes with all my extra “stuff,” though it could have taken 15 minutes at most without “stuff.”
I am staying with a woman named Jacqueline. I met her online (not as creepy as it seems) through a housing website called leboncoin.fr. She had posted an apartment that was quite nice and relatively affordable—needless to say, I was interested. I sent her an email explaining my situation (being an American, a teaching assistant in Tours, etc.), and she respond saying that the apartment was already rented, but she would be more than happy to assist me. Between all of our emails, she gave me some banking and housing advice and, ultimately, offered to house me for a few days in her place as I got situated. So, that’s how I am here, in her house!
When I got to Jacqueline’s house she showed me around (not too large of a place) and explained to me that this used to be her husband and her house until the were divorced years ago. She said that she bought his half of the house from him and turned the house into eight mini apartments/studios. She has her own space and rents of the rest! Jacqueline is a librarian at a high school nearby, so she likes supplementing her income with the additional monthly income. Anyways, we had a wonderful conversation about our experiences abroad (hers involved greyhound buses, sleeping in train stations, losing her luggage, and not know English, while in the United States), as well as our families. She also shared a variety of information with me (i.e. maps, books, guides, transportation timetables, etc.)—she had prepared a basket of things that would be useful for finding housing and getting situated in Tours. Jacqueline has since left for the weekend to assit her aging parents.
Yes, I have the house to myself. The first night, I got acclimated with Tours (in general) by going to the grocery story (Monoprix) to buy some food for the weekend…I did not want to eat all her food, though it appeared she purchased food for me. I got some pasta, pesto sauce, carrots, grapefruits, orange juice, and the best purchase a recyclable grocery bag. In France, they do not give out grocery bags, so I splurged and spent 0,95 . I had pasta for dinner…and will eat it until it is gone!
This morning I woke up around 11AM (oopsies!), so my housing search and Tours exploration started later than anticipated. The night before I had sent out a ton of emails regarding housing in hopes of finding a place to live…I wanted to set up appointments to visit, etc. I left the house around noon-ish, headed for a variety of places that assist students with housing; however, all were closed! I went to the tourism center, purchased a detailed map of Tours (4,50 ); I figured it was a wise investment seeing that I will be here for 9-months! Meanwhile, I had received a phone call from a woman who is a good friend of one of my Wooster friend’s host mother in Tours (follow?). Anyways, she has an apartment that is of great interest to me. They are currently renovating the entire space…bathroom and bedroom are done…kitchen is still being worked on. They said that it should be ready in 10days. I am really excited about this place, though it is the only place I have physically seen (I have seen tons of places online). It just seems right! The price is very reasonable and the space is gorgeous…it is less of an apartment and more of a house! I’ll keep you all posted on this…because I think this one might be it! Plus, the “landlords” are teachers and offered to help me with resources, etc.
So, Tours…it is beautiful, though FREEZING now! It was about 55* today…a lot cooler than I am used to. Basically, it seems cooler because the temperature dropped from 70* to 55* in the course of one day.
Tours is huge! Jacqueline said that the population (inclusive of suburbs) is probably about 300,000 people….and according to wikipedia, there are about 180,000 people in Tours-proper. There are a handful of main streets, one of which I have walked down a few times. Rue Nationale is a main street with lots of shopping and leads right to the city center (see picture). I do not think that I will find myself twiddling my thumbs here.
That’s all for now….time to go eat some pasta.
-Alex
