Experiences from Tours, France I – Buying a laundry detergent

Today is Sunday, the 9^th of January 2011 and our 4^th day here in Tours, France. The experiences we’ve had thus far have been mixed…excitement at the adventures we know we could have here and trepidation at the language barrier and cost of things. We’re making conscientious efforts to learn the French and we’ve made some strides but alas, not enough to see us through a simple task of grocery shopping. We have been making comparisons between our life here in Tours, France and our life in Iowa, USA. In the long run, it may not amount to much because we will be in France for just 6 months…but 6 months is not “just”, because it’s half a year of our lives.

When we arrived in Tours on Wednesday, the 5^th of January 2011, we stayed at hotel Criden (www.criden-tours.com), 65 Blvd Heurteloup until Saturday, 8^th. Hotel Criden is located in the centre of Tours, or what I suppose is “downtown” in the States. One thing that struck us the instant we got here is the fact that “all” the buildings are built with “bricks/blocks” and have 16^th century feel and look to them, whilst most homes in USA are built with “wood”. The sense of fashion of the French stands out everywhere we have been thus far…you can feel that people thoughtfully choose what they wear. And before I forget, I have to mention this…there is too much smoke in the air. People here smoke a lot; I can say that 6 out of 10 people we pass on the street are smoking. We noticed this because we have an 8-month-old baby girl and we don’t want to expose her to cigarette smoke.

The pride with which the French speak their language is infectious.  Because our French is not good and we’re still learning, we have difficulty having a conversation with anybody. When we go out to buy food, make bank transaction or do groceries, we usually say something like “Je parle un peu le Francais”, ie, “we speak little French”, if the conversation is becoming hard to follow and enquire if they speak or understand English. Though we find out later that some of them understand English because they understand and answer us when we say something in English, they always tell us no, they don’t understand English. A funny incident that we laugh about when we remember is the fact that we went out to buy laundry detergent and ended up buying fabric softener. We came home to do laundry and realized that our clothes weren’t getting washed. Buying a fabric softener instead of a laundry detergent is not a total loss. So we’ve resolved that henceforth when we go out to buy anything, we will take along our French dictionary and French coursebook so we don’t end up buying body lotion instead of liquid soap.

The cost of things here when compared to the cost of things in the US is still befuddling to us. For example, we bought 2L milk for € 2.55 but in the US, we buy a gallon of milk for less. And talking about meat and chicken, we don’t even want to think about the price when we purchase them. So our resolve is to eat half the quantity of what we usually eat in the US and cut down on our meat and chicken. After all, we will be back to the US in 6 months. The fact that things are expensive here is also reflected in the apartment we live in now. It’s a 25 m² apartment with the living room/bedroom and kitchen not bigger than our former living room in the US. And it costs € 570, more expensive than our former two-bedroom apartment in the US ($590).

But life here in Tours, France is good. Despite the fact that houses have 16^th century look, the inside is very modern. Actually, our current apartment has a more modern feel than our former apartment in the US. But a dishwasher is conspicuously absent in our current apartment. And all over the town, you see the sense of modernity around. We are yet to begin our adventures of visiting the many Chateaus (castles) here in Tours. The city of Tours is beautiful; you’d appreciate the beauty if you have a thing for architectural beauty. Plus one person recommended we visit the South of France before leaving, because it’s quite different and nice over there. We intend to do that and if time/expense permits, go to as many countries as we can before getting back to the US.

To France

On January 4th 2011, my wife, 8-month old daughter and myself set off from our apartment in Ames, Iowa to Tours, France because I was the recipient of a Chateaubriand fellowship. This fellowship award is the result of a collaboration between my supervisor at ISU and a research team at INRA, Tours.

We had packed 3 big bags, two carry-on bags, a diaper change bag and a backpack for computer. We also brought along a sling and car seat for my daughter. We had packed so much that we wondered if we were going to be able to make it from Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris to Tours, France. We flew from Des Moines airport to Chicago O'Hare airport and from there to CDG, Paris. The flight was peaceful and without any incidences. At CDG, we collected our bags and made it to the TGV train station to wait for our train to St Pierres des Corps. From CDG to the train station at CDG, a lovely chap and a policeman helped us at different points with our luggage. Everybody didn't want to speak English even when we explained with much difficulty in the French that we are now learning to speak it. Suffice it to say that we are still wondering how we could have moved all that luggage whilst carrying our daughter in her car seat.

At the CDG TGV station, we encountered French/English-speaking Canadians (Matt & the girlfriend) who were on the same train to the same final destination, Tours. They were also going to be in Tours for 6 months, just like us, but they were going to study at the Francois Rabelais University. They proved helpful in getting our luggage onto the train and during the transfer from the train at St Pierres des Corps to another train that took us to Tours.

We were met at the train station by the person who was going to supervise my work and a student of his. They also helped us with our luggage to our hotel, where we were going to stay temporarily until we found an apartment. To recapitulate, the essence of this somewhat detailed account is to indicate how God was faithful and helped us every step of our journey. He is still being faithful in many ways that we cannot begin to recount.