More photos around Tours and our apartment

The remains of a chateau along the banks of the Loire.  The river is flanked on one side by these high white cliffs, which some people have built their houses into (maisons troglodytiques)

"Where is Brendan?  Brendan is here."  All French kids learn English by cassette, and one of their first lessons is finding a guy named Bryan : "Where is Bryan?  Bryan is in the kitchen."  One of the teachers at lycée Bayet, upon seeing my picture posted in school, started asking everyone (including me), "Where is Brendan?  Where is Brendan?"

By popular demand, here are some of our French cooking successes.  First, beef tournedos with crème fraiche and green peppercorns sauce, with sautéed chanterelle mushrooms on the side.  Next, salmon with the leftover crème fraiche, fennel and zucchini on the side.  

Our apartment window from the street.

Tours Centre

This building looks really out of place in Tours, but beautiful nonetheless.

Basilique St. Martin from another angle - this is the one we can see from our apartment. Enjoying the sun in Place Plumereau.

Making our knock-off version of Apples to Apples. We played with the guys sitting next to us.


Brooklyn looms large in the French mind too, apparently - we haven't been here yet to find out how authentic it is. One of the teachers here asked me, "C'est vrai que tu viens de Brooklyn?" I don't know who told him that, but he was really disappointed to find out that I wasn't. The French really like police serials, and Law and Order (titled "New York" on TV here) is on a lot, along with really terrible Hasselhoff and Bruce Willis movies from the 90s (all dubbed into French, of course).

Stuff We Eat in France

- Cuisses de canard aux tomates
(Duck legs sautéed with wine and cherry tomatoes)

- Carrott, apple, potato stew with ham

- Brioche with butter and blackberry jam

- Madeleines

- Carrottes rapées
(Shredded carrotts with vinaigrette)

- Baguettes

- Chèvre

- Camembert

- Figs

- Steak tartare

- Lapin avec moutarde
(Rabbit with mustard)

- Crèpes

Our apartment

Our living room.
Our window and balcony look out on rue de la Scellerie, a commercial street two blocks from rue Nationale, the main street of Tours.

Our kitchenette.

Our bedroom - the wall beams on the left are probably several hundred years old.

A look down the street towards rue Nationale and the basilica.

Our first dinner - salade, jambon de Bayonne, baguette, and galettes - a sort of ham and cheese crèpe.

Chinon

The castle in Chinon.
We visited Chinon on a Sunday, so it was pretty quiet. Everything here is closed on Sunday, and people generally stay in.
This neighborhood near the castle in Chinon had very old cars and very old people.
Looking out over Chinon from near the castle.


An old style boat, typical of the region.

First pictures

Rue Nationale on Saturday afternoon, when everyone goes out to do their shopping.

Church in Quartier Paul Bert in Tours Nord.

View of le Pont Mirabeau and the Loire River.

Decorative doors in Quartier Paul Bert in Tours Nord.

Another view of the Loire from the pedestrian bridge.

Rue Colbert, a quiet pedestrian street with many brasseries, cafés and shops. A nice spot to spend the afternoon sipping coffee. Many of the buildings date to the 16th century or earlier.

The Hôtel de Ville in the heart of Tours.