Photo Essay - Spring Sprung

This time of year bees, butterflies, (chocking hazards on the bike - haha!) and beetles are buzzing around everywhere to announce the arrival of Spring.  These two cities (Tours and Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire) are in full bloom right now.  This photo essay represents the best I could do at capturing this seasonal beauty.  The pictures come from my backyard, the flower market, and random walks and rides around town.  Highlights include poppies growing out of stony roadside walls, a sunset behind the gym, and a twenty foot guard dog.  Haha - Enjoy!

French Milestone #3

This evening I celebrated International Day of the Woman with a whole stadium at the Tours vs. Sète professional men's volleyball game. A few guys from my men's regional team were seated up in the stands together like a good volleyball mafia family, so we watched together as TVB won handily.

We caught the tram back to Saint-Cyr and bantered the whole way.  Now, granted, #1 these guys are joksters (most of the time they're laughing anyway because they'll laugh at almost anything), #2 they are accustomed to my accent and humoring me, and #3 it isn't always easy to differentiate whether they are laughing at me or with me, but - audience aside - I'm pretty sure I was on fire tonight.  I made a couple of well-timed zingers that genuinely made this whole group of native french guys laugh out loud.  Ahhhh - felt so good!  Group laughter is a new high for me - so I thought I'd share!  :)

Alright, that's all for now.  More later!

Home Is Wherever I'm With You

Here is a cheesy slideshow of the precious time Billy and I spent together in France! *

Slideshow from Amy Moor on Vimeo.

* These photos were put in chronological order for the most part, so it's a total coincidence that this song weirdly corresponded to a bunch of the shots...  Also, I tried to use photos that we didn't already photobomb you with on facebook, but I was not entirely successful, so sorry for the dupes. 

For the best results, watch all the way through with your eyes glued to the screen.  For those of you who want a *real* challenge, try watching without blinking.  It's only five minutes!!  You can do it.  If you're new to this kinda thing, your goal is to stay in the room.  That's a super nerdy bikram yoga joke.  Haha!  :)

Castle Country

First things first!  The bike shop in Tours had a whole range of contraptions with two wheels.  After we wiped our drool off of the race bikes and asked about their rentals, they rolled out this lime green dream.  I couldn't stop laughing at the thought of Billy riding with upright handlebars and pedals with no clips...  Haha!  Seeing this clunker, at least, gave me hope that I might in a million years be able to keep up with him.  We laughed all the way home.  It was so good to be back on bikes with Billy.  I've seriously missed riding with him so much.

As soon as we got home we started planning day trips to the nearest castles to our east and west.  We spent the next three weeks exploring castle country on a beautiful bike route that spans from Nevers to Nantes.  The well-marked La Loire à Vêlo signs kept us pedaling in the correct general direction AND on the right route (for the most part - ha!).

Chenonceau is the one in the bottom right.

We narrowed our desired destinations down to lunch in Montlouis (round trip 30km/20mi), crepes and castle tour in Amboise (30km there only), Valentine's day lunch in Villandry (20km/13mi there only), and a half day to check out Chateau Chenonceau (heeding warnings about the hilliness of the route to Chenonceau we opted for the train).  Actually, Montlouis turned out to be the only place close enough to do a there-and-back (the only restraint being how long we could stay in the saddle if you know what I mean...).

Don't those seats look comfortable?!

Thankfully, all of these locations were conveniently served by the SNCF (a local train which is a cross between Amtrak and BART).  I was really amazed to discover that, apart from Villandry, train lines picked up five minutes walking from most of these castles and stopped service smack dab in the middle of beautiful downtown Tours.

Even though we took the train to Chenonceau, we still took our bikes with us that day and it's a good thing we did because our train back was delayed.  So, that evening, instead of freezing our butts off at the (outdoor) station, we made our way east past Chateau Chissay and went all the way to Mont Richard and back (another 20km/13mi).  So, just as a side note, yeah...  No banks in these parts.  Not even an ATM.  Do all those people bank in Tours?  Off shore accounts?  Shoe box under their bed?  We may never know.

Almost as awesome as being back on the bikes and taking trains through the scenic Loire River Valley were the looks we got when we told people that we have been riding our bikes to these places.  Haha!  Priceless.

The French National Team

The husband of my coach is the Head Coach of the National-Championship-winning professional men’s team in Tours and also Head Coach of the Female French National team (who has been practicing here this week to prepare for their World Championship qualification matches against Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands).  So, I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday watching the women’s French National team trainings that have been open to the public at the Palais des Sports in downtown Tours.  These ladies totally rock and inspire me by the way they play the game.  Their power and speed is just astounding!  They don’t make mistakes.  Here is me with my two favorite powerhouse players, both outside hitters:

These girls make the ball go BEAM!

Ready to Wear

Today I went shopping for warm winter clothes in downtown Tours (Thanks, Meghan!).  I bought a pair of boots with fur lining, some (fabulous) bright green fingerless wool gloves with mitten flaps, and navy blue low top Asics (not especially warm, but will *for sure* help me go undetected as a foreigner in far more social situations - that is - until I open my big American mouth to talk or laugh abnormally loudly).  Haha!

Since today was the first day of real winter weather (ie in the negative numbers, fyi -1°C = 30°F, ex see breath, check, frost doesn't melt, check, need visible confirmation that fingertips still exist, check), this cash gift from my beloved sister arrived just in the nick of time.  And guess what?!?  I only paid...  drum roll please..........................................................  75 euros!  Ah yes, because today I was welcomed into French hand-me-down heaven.  Here they call it Prêt à Porter (Ready to Wear).  One step inside this particular thrift shop and I knew immediately that I had struck second hand store gold.  In fifteen minutes flat I found three completely unique (basically new) items that fit like a charm.  The price was right, but - being the huge cheapskate that I am - that didn't stop me from haggling anyway and getting everything marked down another 15 euros.  Sold!  I wore the boots and the gloves out of the store and a huge dumb smile on my face for the rest of the day.

I'm so warm! ...and, I tell ya, it's getting harder and harder for peeps to pin me as 'not from around here'!  Double score!

Random Ramblings - Part II

The *Right* Right of Way

After getting (almost) run over several times, it has been explained to me that the right turn *always* has the right of way here.  So, for example, say you're driving fast down a straight road, but you're approaching an intersecting street on your right.  If and only if there is a vehicle barreling down that street about to make a fast and completely legal right turn onto the street upon which you are driving, it's your responsibility to prepare to stop.  

Video Killed the Radio Star

You don't have to be attractive to be on TV here.  There *are* lots of attractive people on TV here, but it certainly does not appear to be a universal rule like it is in the States.  There are loads of normal looking people on TV.  Makeup, lighting and airbrushing are used sparingly.  This has not affected how disinclined I am to watch TV.  When I do, every other commercial is for cheese or chocolate.

Slowly Into Winter

This morning, like every Wednesday morning, I rode down to the Les Halles Farmer's Market.  Most of the leaves are fallen now.  The bare trees revealed a low haze over the Loire river valley, rendering the morning sunlight cold and wintry.  Since we've been working on blocking this week and I don't have gloves, my Wednesday morning ride turned into a (much needed!) cold air ice bath for my hands and fingers.  Haha!

I'm getting to know my way around here pretty well and now I can't even remember the last time I was lost.  I'm also finally building up a rapport with the local farmer's market merchants.  They recognize me now and greet me with a more familiar generosity in their eyes.  Today, two of my favorite people - mushroom lady and artisan tomato man - weren't there and I almost cried because I look forward to our exchanges so much.  I've become quite appreciative of their tiny acts of kindness and their willingness to engage a lonely stranger.

All romance aside, though, the farmer's market is just a great place to practice my french and increase my food vocabulary.  I've become quite adventurous lately, asking random people questions about the different vegetables and their favorite preparations.  For example, just today I took a chance and bought a quarter of a huge warty looking pumpkin with instructions that involve peeling, boiling, draining, and mashing with milk, cinnamon, and sugar.  Doesn't that sound delicious?!?

Disney Was Right... It's A Small World!

Yesterday, I was walking down the wrong aisle in the grocery store looking for bar soap and some people passed by casually speaking English.  I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around as quickly as I could and just shouted at them "Are you American?!?" like any sane, but slightly lonely and desperate person might.  The couple was Canadian.  Oops?  They were collecting a lost-luggage-esque assortment of items along with an American woman who lives here in Tours.  When I told her I was here playing volleyball, she told me that she met Kelli Smith (THE marathon winning, ass-kicking wife of TVB star middle blocker David Smith) at this very same supermarket under the exact same circumstances (ie totally randomly).  It's a small world after all  ...and it was about to get even smaller.  After chatting for barely five minutes we discovered that we were both invited to the same Thanksgiving dinner.  What?!?  After we picked up the parts of our exploded heads, we said our goodbyes and I found the bar soap at the end of the aerosol deodorant aisle.

I hope you are all looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I know I am!  :)

Fun with Verbs!

Here are some of my favorite new verbs in French!

faire valloir - to make the most of
focaliser - to focus
mener - to lead
mouvoir - to drive, propel, move
parachever - to perfect
parvenir - to reach, succeed in
percer - to break through
planer - to soar
pointer - to sharpen, aim, check off
potentialiser - to increase the effect of
pourchasser - to pursue
rentabiliser - to make profitable
surélever - to heighten, raise
tâter - to feel out
taper - to bounce
turbiner - to work, toil
valoriser - to increase the value of
vivifier - to invigorate

... and last, but certainly not least!!
zozoter - to lisp

Their word for LISP is even meaner than ours!  Isn't that crazy?!?
Je zozote
Tu zozotes
Il/elle zozote
Nous zozotons
Vous zozotez
Ils/elles zozotent

...SO MEAN!

Roundabouts

Today,I rode my bike for an hour and a half to Hopital Trousseau and back.  For some reason, I couldn't get this song out of my head!

Haha - YES!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure why, but in general - and for some unknown reason - I really do feel safer on my bike here.  In terms of circulation, there are lots of differences between here and the States...  Here's ten off the top of my head:

1.  Widespread use of roundabouts in lieu of stop signs (keeps traffic moving albeit a little chaotically)  :)
2.  Pretty much everyone drives stick shift
3.  Traffic signals appear BEFORE the intersection at eye level on the right
4.  Corners and intersections are yields because there's maybe like two stop signs in this whole country
5.  Roads are narrow and curvy for the most part
6.  Street names mostly appear on sides of buildings if they appear at all
7.  Signs are results based, so destinations are more prominent than street names
8.  Parking on the sidewalk, or halfway on the sidewalk is not only totally acceptable, it's encouraged
9.  Bike routes are super well marked (and cyclists observe red lights and traffic laws)
10.  There is no turn on red lights.  So, if you have a green, it's a sure fire thing you will not be run over!

Today, I had an amazing visit with a cardiologist!  I got an EKG (cool) and we talked a little about my diet.  I told him I've been crunching some numbers (nutrition post on the way) and it looks like I'm getting more than enough protein, but not nearly enough carbohydrates...  He said I should be eating more complex carbs (like pasta and rice) and then specifically recommended (wait for it...) CHOCOLATE!  That's right!  Not a piece of fruit, not a power bar, or a hard boiled egg, or a bagel!  Chocolate.  I thanked him and told him that shouldn't be a problem...  Haha!

Come to France to play volleyball and get prescribed chocolate and carbohydrates...  Life's not too shabby right now!  Seriously though, if you know me well, you know that there's no way I'm going to take any recommendation from any one (even a fancy French cardiologist) at face value, so I'm doing some research about diet and nutrition that I'll be sure to post about as soon as I've finalized my findings - wink wink!  :)

That's all for now.  More later!

Living Simply!

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but the President of Saint Cyr sur Loire Volley Ball is also the head honcho at Simply.  I went to Simply in Tours for the first time on Monday to shop.  This was the closest thing to an American grocery store I've seen yet!  The prices were all really low and the organic section was HUGE.  They have tofu, coconut milk, soy sauce, pesto, fresh and dried pasta, sliced and bakery style bread (mmmm... I got a whole grain loaf with walnuts), a whole range of cheeses (Yes, of course I splurged and bought goat cheese), fresh and canned fruits and vegetables (canned beets has been the best find yet in that department), ready-made soups, salads, sandwiches, Q-tips, band aids, deodorant (yay!)...

Anyways, Simply is the best (and I'm not just saying that because they are our biggest sponsor)!  :)

Snuggling Up To French Women

Wednesday morning!  Yay!  Today was the outdoor market Mecca at Les Halles. I rode down in the misty morning light and immediately got in line for the same fruit booth I went to last week and the week before to get a refill on apple/pear juice and the seasons best apples, pears, peaches, and plums.  I've witnessed a large spectrum of acceptable behavior at French farmer's markets so far...  Sometimes people fill their own bags, but still wait in line to weigh and pay.  Sometimes people wait in line for just the bags and pay when they're done picking out what they want.  Sometimes people wait patiently in the whole line with their empty bags and then order their household fruit and vegetable consumption in terms of kilograms per week from the overworked farmer behind the table.  (Me?  I'm getting used to the kilometers and degrees, but I still think of fruit and vegetables in units - 2 plums, 4 apples, 2 pears - like a French kindergartner.)

Today, I got out my empty bags from last week and eagerly started filling them up with deliciousness.  It wasn't long before I started pissing off the woman in front of me who did not hesitate to scold me for touching all the fruit.  Here is a rough translation of what was said in French + make sure to add a terrible American accent to my part...
Her - "If you squeeze all the fruit, you're making it bruised for everyone behind you in line."
Me - "I never squeeze the fruit."
Her - "That's right.  Don't squeeze it."
Me - "I don't."
Her - "Good.  You shouldn't."
I continued to pick my fruit out awkwardly when it became obvious that this random French woman never wanted to think about me or see me ever again.  We don't know each other so that shouldn't be too difficult...  Not a great start - culturally speaking!

Next stop:  garlic, onions, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes!  I quickly find myself in line behind another French woman who had the exact same haircut as the Shih Tzu in her arms (no joke).  I tried not to stare, but her fingers were all over the place!  She'd take a stroke of her precious pet, then fondle the onions, pet pet, sift through garlic, pet, ew...  I was starting to understand what I might've looked like to French Lady #1.

Done!  Cue French Lady #3...  A well-dressed woman with straggly white hair handed me a flyer and instead of my normal, "non, merci" I welcomed the flyer and looked her straight in the eyes and genuinely asked if this flyer would tell me where I can find some friends.  We stood in the middle of the market for a second laughing like insane people and then she said, "Maybe!  You never know."  I walked away pretty pleased with my joke of the day...  The flyer was for an antique fair.  Wah wah  :)

Practice was great last night!  I had a terrible stomach ache beforehand (probably because of the anti-inflammatories I've been popping like red hots), but as soon as I got with my team - it was like magic - my stomach pain just went away.  Seriously, I was sitting alone in the gym doubled over with pain and as soon as my team arrived and we started talking and laughing - GONE!  I love practicing with my team!

Me, Myself, and Bike!

Without my strict regimen of yoga, karate, agility, running, stairs, weights, rock climbing, and swimming, I must admit that I haven't really felt like myself lately (though this feeling might also stem from the fact that my digestive tract has been fermenting a fetus' weight in baguette and croissant dough for the last 3 days).  Oy!  This blog has really helped me to cope with my feelings of being culturally displaced and lonely, and when THAT doesn't work, the pastries always do (Haha!).  :)

In all seriousness though, my foot is feeling way better, so it's time to quit the sweets and ratchet up my training again!

On Saturday morning, I went to the Jour des Associations in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire where, once a year, all the local clubs get together in one big room and do show and tell.  It was really cool to see all the different displays of what's going on here.  There was a table for rock climbing, karate, the pool and the library!

In the afternoon, a friend of the club took me out to coffee (At Lavazza, they offer cappuccinos with and without whipped cream - GENIUS!) and then he gave me his own personal bike!  I rode home and immediately signed up for the first group ride I could find - haha - YES!

On Sunday, I rode into town early to discover that downtown Tours had been taken over by the annual flea market.  Cool antiques and stolen stuff from all over Europe was displayed up and down the streets.  It was a real feast for the eyes!  Furniture, china, porcelain, chests, lamps, dolls, birdcages, records, photos, books, woodwork, paintings, cigar boxes, just everything...

At 3pm I met up with some local cyclists for a guided tour of all the streets in Tours named after famous doctors.  Cool, right?  Most of the riders were in their 60s (fit as fiddles and sharp as tacks) - a very tightly knit bunch.  They shit talked motorists almost as much as Billy and me!  I felt immediately in my element.  It was nice to get accustomed to how people ride here (very cautiously, but without helmets mind you).  I feel so happy to be back on a bike and riding everywhere all the time again!  I started feeling more like myself right away.

Today, I went to the Jardin Botanique.  It was really misty and empty.  Beautiful opportunity to reassess my goals for the season.  Tomorrow, I have a weight lifting date with another player on the team.  I'm very excited about this - in a super nerdy way!

That's all for now.  More later!

WEEKEND

The treasurer of Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire Volley Ball invited me to stay with him and his family in the countryside North of Tours this past weekend.  Beautiful family, beautiful home, beautiful food, ahhhhh...  It was really nice to unplug and unwind!

On the first night we ate fajitas for dinner with tortillas and guacamole and everything!!!!  OH MY GAWD!  So nice!  So tasty!  Mmmmmmmm...  We ate so well!  Four and five course meals all over the place.  Unfortunately, because I was constantly caring for my sore foot, when I wasn't eating everything in sight, I was kindof a big bummer.  :(

On Sunday, we went on an outing to Château-La-Vallière, but because of my foot I didn't make it too far (ouch!).  Our first stop was a little lake where they foraged some blackberries and played volleyball while I laid back and just enjoyed the sunshine and the breeze.  Next stop, we went to go visit a friend of the club and his family, who - guess what? - is loaning me his bike until May - Yayayay!  We ate rhubarb tart and talked and laughed and I almost understood something he said once... I think...  Ahahah!

The rest of the weekend was spent sword fighting from the couch and playing games with the sweetest little boy in the world, the Treasurer's eight year old son.  We completed an entire "Ou est Charlie?" book, he whooped me repeatedly at Memory (a matching game), he learned how to shuffle cards, and we watched cartoons ("Shiva" is Legos in French!).  

The Treasurer got the ball rolling for my transfer paperwork, insurance, and - drumroll please! - we went to visit an apartment that looks like a keeper.  All in all, it was a super fun and productive weekend.

That's all for now.  More later!

Our Schedule!

Here it is:
http://www.ffvbbeach.org/ffvbapp/resu/seniors/2013-2014/index_2fd.htm

We're Reveil Sportif de Saint-Cyr!  Yay!

Yoga In Europe

Maribor, Slovenia

Hotel Habakuk
11AM everyday
Language: Italian*
Level of Difficulty: Easy flow, poses, breathing exercises, and meditation.  Level was tailored to the group.
Location: Outside of town.  Best if you're already nearby (Ex Hotel Arena, Hotel Dras, or Hotel Habakuk).

*Teacher speaks five languages fluently and customizes her instructions based on the group.

Vienna, Austria

Bikram Yoga Wien Schottering
Daily Schedule Online Here
Language: English and German.
Level of Difficulty:  It's your basic bikram beginner series.  26 postures, 105 degrees, 45% humidity.  So, in other words, it's hell here too.  ;)
Location: Downtown Vienna.  Easy access to metro and bus lines.  15 minute walk from the center of town.

Tours, France

Ella Fit
Tuesday 9:30AM, Thursday 6:15PM, Friday 6:15PM
Language: French
Level of Difficulty:  Advanced, but not cardiovascularly. This class was difficult on a metaphysical level*
Location:  Tours proper, but more specifically, Les Halles.

*Can't quite describe it...  This teacher was extremely in touch with the intangible.  He really encouraged us to LET GO and explore our curiosity and acceptance of the unknown.  He kept saying stuff like "sense this, experience it as if it's for the first time and the last time", and we'd be doing something as simple as ankle circles.  Ahaha!  This was really good for me, but I miss the challenge of Bikram.  I'm gonna have to get into Paris very soon...

Good Finds and First Official Practice

Today, I set out on foot again, this time really determined to find this farmer's market and post my personal chef flyers around Tours.

Good finds:

1.  Simply - grocery store right on the bus line where I know I can buy Nutella, the coffee capsules I've been using non-stop at the house, and also price out shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste against the organic brands here.

2.  Farmer's market - one farmer!  That's right.  The farmer's market was comprised of one farmer.  I bought six apricots, four carrots, two lemons, two gigantic summer squash (one green, one yellow), and a bunch of chard (which would spend the rest of the afternoon wilting in my bag unfortunately) - all for just five euros!!!!  We spent a while talking and he told about his family (his wife and daughter) and how he grows his produce.  Really beautiful stuff.  I gave him one of my personal chef flyers.  He said his wife works on the radio and that he can pass that along to her.  Woohoo!

3.  Bike shop - I tried out a bike that was only 93 euros, but it was too small for me and the handle bars were all whack.  Everyone likes to ride upright here...  Bleh!  In one shop I met a guy from Poland (whose household employs a personal chef from Thailand!!)...  He works as a specialist in the whisky and spirits industry.  He's in Tours learning French and researching the wine industry.  Not a bad lead...  I gave him a flyer!

4.  APARTMENT!  There is a really, really perfect apartment for rent in Les Halles (an amazing area on the perimeter of downtown Tours) that I checked out today.  The manager showed me around and it really seems like exactly what I need (except that there's no bedding, cookware, laundry, etc., hmmm...)

I returned home triumphant today.  After a week here, I finally feel like I'm organizing my life and settling into France in my own lazy-American-accent-driven sorta way.  :)

I went shopping to the little organic market and got home at around 4pm ready to cook!  On the menu today?  Quinoa with almonds and raisins, sauteed salt and pepper carrots, and roasted garlic and rosemary summer squash (in hindsight, I'll admit I should've roasted the carrots and sauteed the squash...).  I guess they have a convection oven here, so it cooked the shit outta that squash in twenty minutes flat!  We didn't eat until after practice (11pm-ish) anyway, so I planned on blaming any faults on the microwave...  Hehe!

Tonight, was our first practice with the entire team.  There were ten girls in all.  Maggy sat us down all together.  We introduced ourselves and listened to her philosophy.  Looking around, it felt like a team we can invest in and be proud of!  If we miss a practice, the girls agreed, we have to bring snacks for the entire team (Isn't that awesome?!?!  I love them!).  I have been tasked with coming up with a pre- and post-practice cheer for our team - OH MY GOD THE PRESSURE!!!!  Anyway, we had a hard practice (a lot of running and passing and jumping).  I'm going to be sore as hell tomorrow and I can't even imagine how the other girls must be feeling right now...  Ey!

Here are a couple of fun words I've encountered recently and their meanings:
piquer - to sting/to be spicy hot (like food)
grignoter - to snack
clignoter - to blink
une cloque - a blister
la sueur - sweat
respirer - to breathe
transpirer - to sweat
s'égoutter - to drip
pleuvoir - to rain
la tonnerre - thunder
le coup de foudre - lightning

...and YAY, yoga tomorrow, so I'm quick studying body parts vocab - you had it coming!  ;)
to stretch - s'étendre
head - la tête
back - le dos
neck - le cou
chest - la poitrine
shoulder - l'épaule
shoulder blade - l'omoplate
arm - le bras
armpit - l'aiselle
elbow - le coude
wrist - le poignet
hand - la main
finger - la doigt
stomach - le ventre
belly button - le nombril
hip - les hanches
leg - la jambe
knee - le genou
calf - le mollet
ankle - la cheville
foot - le pied
arch - la voute plantaire
heel - le talon

That's all I can think of for now!  More later!

Musee des Beaux-Arts

I never made it to the market on Sunday!

Today, I set off on foot to find a farmer's market.  I didn't get lost per se (haha!).  I just went in a direction and tried to take in all the details (the sights and sounds and smells) of my surroundings.  There's something about the way laundry hangs out to dry here, the way hedges grow behind mossy stone walls, the narrowness of the streets and the way they weave through the town that just gives the impression that the people came first, then the homes, then the roads.  I can't quite describe the architecture, but it's uniquely French.  Structures are built with a concrete creativity.  The patterns in the bricks, the contrasting colors of the shutters and the doors, and the artistry of the rot-iron fences display restraint, but still seem at ease with the cycles of natural life around them: the rust, the rot, the browning branches...  It's hard to put into words, but I will take some pictures eventually to show you what I mean.  I already have a portfolio of entrances coming together in my head.  Blah blah blah there is beauty everywhere here blah blah blah!

I ended up snaking through the circuitous streets and staircases of Saint Cyr only to arrive smack dab in front of an organic beauty salon that I google mapped yesterday as a possible place to ask about hot yoga.  It was closed - boo!  So, I crossed the bridge into the center of town and stumbled into the Musée des Beaux-Arts.  For five euros I was able to roam freely through the gardens and up and down the magnificent staircases of this impeccable building.  I admired the permanent installations, but really enjoyed the exposition and the artwork of Olivier Debré.

This guy is a serious PIMP.  He paints outdoors with a broom!  I whispered words to myself such as, "formidABle, SUper, GENial" and really meant them.  There were maybe seven or eight huge wall-sized abstractions of emotion and poetry on canvas.  In the same room with his work was a mobile hanging over a brightly painted piano.  I walked meditatively through this room for a while thinking deeply about Billy, his work, and our life together.  I can't say I wasn't moved to tears...  :)

The museum closes down for lunch at 12:30pm so when the clock struck noon, the volunteers were almost shooing me out the door.  Haha!  Maybe, also, I looked a little lost or out of place in my gym clothes, but I seriously got asked 3 or 4 times if I was looking for the exit - LOL.  I bought another batch of postcards (which went out already) and asked at the front desk of the museum if there was a farmer's market (un marché en plein air) in the area that day.  Snobby pants said it wasn't until tomorrow...  I spent the next four hours wandering the cobble stone streets of the artist quarter.

Good finds:

-Creperie - Seriously smells like heaven...  I can't wait to go!

-Printshop - YES!  Finally printed/photocopied/prepared flyers for being a personal chef.  

-Women's fitness center - Ella Fit! - where they're giving me my first yoga class FREE on Wednesday

Made my way back home by bus, and, in the evening, met with the entire staff of the Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire Volley Ball Club.  The leadership asked me to coach the men's team.  The two guys I've met so far on the team really love the sport of volleyball, so I'm looking forward to it being a fun and rewarding experience.

First practice with the entire N2 team tomorrow...  More later!

Open Air Market

Sunday morning!  The sun is shining!

Here's my vocabulary lesson for the day!

Vocabulaire Alimentaire:

water - l'eau
sparkling water - l'eau gaseuse
orange juice - le jus d'orange
coffee - le café
milk (whole, skim) - le lait (entier, écrémé)
wine - le vin
salt - le sel
pepper - le poivre

basil - le basilic

ginger - le gingembre

cinnamon - la cennelle

oregano - l'origan

parsley - le persil

dill - l'aneth

cilantro - la coriandre

mint - la menthe

vanilla - la vanille
garlic - l'ail
honey - le miel
sugar - le sucre
bread - le pain
eggs - les oeufs

granola - le muesli

yogurt - le yaourt
rice cake - la galette de riz
grapes - les raisins
raisins - les raisins secs
apple - la pomme
pear - la poire
peach - la pêche
lemon - le citron
lime - le citron vert
avocado - l'avocat
beet - la betterave
corn - le maïs
lettuce (iceburg, romaine, butter) - la salade (la laitue iceburg, romaine, batavia)
peppers (green, red, yellow...) - les poivrons (verts, rouges, jaunes...)
potato - la pomme de terre
spinach - les épinards
rice - riz
pasta - le pâte
almonds - les amandes
hazlenuts (very popular here) - les noisettes
walnuts - les noix
organic - bio

Words that are the same (or close enough that you can just get away with saying them in English with a strong French accent - haha!):
apricot - l'abricot
banana - la banane
carrot - la carotte
cereal - la céréale
cumin - le cumin
nutella - la nutella
onion - l'oignon
orange - l'orange
quinoa - le quinoa
sauce - la sauce
tofu - le tofu
tomato - la tomate

Things I haven't seen yet, but I want to know how to say as soon as I do see them (haha!):
swiss chard - la bette
brussel sprouts - les choux de Bruxelles
sweet potatoes - le patate douce

Favorites:

peanuts - les cacahuètes
peanut butter - le buerre de cacahuète
pineapples - les ananas
grapefruit - le pamplemousse

In general, I've been very satisfied with the quality of the food here in France!  The organic market down the street has tortilla chips and avocados!  :)

Anyways.....   Today, I'm working on a flyer to advertise myself as a personal chef in some of the more hoity-toity areas around downtown Tours.  Ideally, I'll find some rich artists who can pay me handsomely to make delicious organic vegetarian meals for them a couple times a week.  

Oh oh - the title - today is the open air market in downtown Tours, so I'm off to go scope out some good spots to post my flyers next week.  

That's all for now!  More later!