Tours, Je T'aime.

I just said goodbye to Ashley and Sara.

I said goodbye to Jane, Paisley and Blake two weeks ago.

And so the Fellowship of the Ring, though eternally bound by friendship and love, was ended.

We now go our separate ways, journeying without one another across the globe, but each retaining the wonderful moments of the past semester in their hearts and minds forever.


I guess I should probably explain what i've been doing for the past few weeks shouldn't I? I haven't even had the time to go through my pictures yet, but this being my last evening in Tours, I find it appropriate to write my goodbye letter instead.

For those of you that are curious, I left two weeks ago to spend some time with my much missed family in the Netherlands! I've waited literally my entire life to make my pilgrimage to my grandfather's childhood home in Oijen. And I did it, I saw the place where ten people were a family. I saw the place where it all began, the vast amount of warm and loving people that are making their way across the world and doing fantastic things.

I stayed with my mother's cousin Anja, her husband Freddy, and their stitch loving daughter Carli. Though Carli is nine and doesn't speak english, we quickly bonded over our love of our favorite blue alien! The town of Oss and the countryside surrounding it is absolutely beautiful, what with the endless plains of grass and numerous dykes. I made Anja make me a family tree, too. Now I know important things.

Now one thing I want to make clear to my readers is that the Netherlands are not just Windmills, Tulips, and Wooden Shoes. They make wooden wheels too.

My Grandpa's house in Oijen

The Outhouse

The Kitchen

Anja in the Kitchen!

The Netherlands: More Sheep than People

We got to see Carli at School!

Anja asking the teacher if Carli can skip school.

 I kid, Anja and Freddy and Carli do not live in early 19th century Holland. They live in Oss and Carli does not go to school by candelight. his was at the Open Air museum with a bunch of reconstructed houses from all over the Netherlands reconstructed with original materials! Me and Carli got to feed lams. It's like disney world, I swear. You can talk to real wheel makes and go watch the Blacksmith do his job in his forge.

So cool! Then we went to Floriade, the world's largest horticultural expo which is in the netherlands once every ten years! Tulips for days. I unfortunately don't want to risque putting up too many pictures because I think Pierre will blow up, but Anja and Freddy can attest that I took more than two hundred pictures of flowers that day.

Alright, here is a tulip picture:

 Like I said, I have hundreds of pictures that I haven't even gone through yet, so I guaruntee you this is not my best work, but if we're friends on the ye olde facebook, then stay tuned for some flower power.

The days with the family were absolutley amazing, and I can't wait until they come and visit America so I can show them new and awesome stuff!

So, Anja Freddy, and Carli left me at the Amsterdam train station when I found Keith and his friend from high school, Greg, and then we took off!

Now please keep in mind that with a small budget, it's hard to do a lot. Through Amsterdam we mainly walked a lot. We tried to get into Van Gogh/the Rijksmuseum but the crowds were absolutely insane. Just walking around the city was beautiful though! We were lucky with great weather, and just chilling out along the canals was enough for a great time!

We then had some trouble flying to Venice. We lost Greg for a while, but then we found him at our campground, which is the same one that my soulmate Emily stayed at during her time in Venice coincidentally!

Now Venice for me was... interesting. The architecture and the canals are gorgeous, but the city itself was crowded and devoted to tourism. Not the most fun just walking around and seeing nothing but crowded streets.

So eventually we went to Rome and it was beautiful, too. We saw everything there is to see from the outside. I do want to go back to Italy one day with a larger budget and visit Florence to see the art masterpieces and go to Rome again to visit the Vatican with some more depth.

I know, this blog isn't much fun without pictures, but just wait, they will come.

But after staying away from France for two weeks toting around a heavy duffel and sleeping in a different bed almost every night, it was nice coming back to Tours, ready to go home.  

When I left Tours two weeks ago for the Netherlands, it didn't seem like goodbye, but returning on Tuesday morning made me realized how much the city had meant to me. Tours might not only be the center of the Loire valley, but it has also become our home away from our home away from home. 


I wish I could've gotten a photo of the corner that Paisley, Keith, and I met up at every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday morning and everytime we took an adventure. I have no photo of Crepe man, who sells delicious desserts for cheap. I have no photos of Rue Nationale before the construction of the tram began. I have hardly any photos of the Institut Touraine, where we took our classes. I hardly have any photos of my host family, or the magnificent Loire river.


Pas de Soucis, though. Ashley probably has a lot and I have a few hours before I leave to get what I need.

I guess it's hard with a blog to relay everything that has ever happened to me here. Though the internet is ever connecting people across oceans, those of you that I haven't seen can't possibly know all of the amazing experiences I've had here. Thinking back, i've left so much out of these blogs. I bet most of you don't even know who Alain Maydat is, or even Olivier Dufresne.

I've learned so much this semester and met so many people.

I can never forget La Famille Du Puy (Isabelle, Albain, Francois-Xavier, Olivier), Isa's family with Yufu, Mathilde, and Elise, or Marie-Jose, Alain Maydat, Olivier Dufresne, Jean-Noel Billard, Patrique le Sommelier and Christine le Chef, Kevin, Joy, Hyein, Hilary, Kato Potato, Erin, Mary, Sierra,  USCHI, Clara, Andreas, Frances, Meghan, Blane, Fernando, Allison, Mauricio, Leonor, Isabella, Dr. Emhemed (I'm so sorry if I butchered the spelling on that), Sachio, Woojin, Irene, Claudia, Myong Joo, Geraldine and Betty, The Old Couple from Chicago, Thomas and Jennifer, Brice, Daniel, Matthieu, Alexia, Pauline, The entire Universite Francois Rabelais Model UN, Meryl, Les Augustins, Madame DeTarley, Bruno and Janine, The Bartender at La Cabane, The Cha Cha Pasta Lady, The Angry Security Guard at Monoprix, Balla, Ndaye the driver, John Beam, Sara Simon, Jane Morrison, Blake Candler, Carol Kruger, and Cosette.

Now, as I look around me trying to figure out the easiest way to shift weight at the airport, I find the friendship shell that Paisley found on the beaches of Saint Malo and an empty bottle of Vanilla Coke. There is so much I want to take back but I physically can't. All I can do is retain the memories of the senses, like eating lunch on the Loire with goat cheese, vanilla coke, and fresh local strawberries.

I really do love you, Tours. Consider this my declaration. Sure I've been saying how much i've missed mozzarella sticks all semester (which by the way I found in Rome), but I really do love the way you glitter at night, what with the city lights and stars at the same time. I love the way you hustle and bustle but still find a calming balance. I really love your wine and cheese. I really love your bread, butter, and all around cuisine. Your apple pie needs work. I love your rivers. I love your gardens. I love your destroyed buildings. I love your fountains. I love your playgrounds. Sure you can be incredibly moody, with your rain one day, 70 degrees the next day, then bitter freezing cold in the next one, but all in all you know when to make us smile.

Tomorrow I will walk down your streets for the last time and say my Ta-Ta's. I don't believe in goodbyes. I will say goodbye to the construction, though. The next time I see you Tours, I guess you'll be on the map, what with your shiny new tram. I just hope that when I come back, you will have come to your senses and reopened Cha Cha Pasta and preserved your charm.

Thanks for the circularity by the way, Tours. You know how much I like it. You know very well of how on the first day here, the Hobbits tried to break into the church by Ashley's house. It wasn't until today that we were able to look inside. The first and the last of many.

I really had no idea what to expect in December 2011. I just watched a lot of movies set in Paris to prepare myself. I just knew that what Me, Keith, Ashley, and Paisley were getting into was something completley new, and we had to be open to everything. And you know what Tours, we were. The only thing that any of us said no to really was Paisley saying no to meat.

Thanks Tours for a great semester. I'll see you again soon.

Also, readers. This isn't the end. Hold out for photos. There is still summer. 

The ships have come to carry us home. And now we sail across the sea, into the horizon, ready for another adventure.

Tot Ziens! Au revoir! Ciao!
Traveling Quincy

P.S: Oh yeah, did I mention I got hit by a taxi? It wasn't serious or anything, not even a bruise. But I lost the bet. Ashley was not the first to get hit.