Crunchy Leaves

You know, you miss your family and your friends every day, but sometimes its the little things in life that really sneak up and grab you. Today I was walking from the bus stop back to my house, wading through a pile of fallen leaves, when the feeling hit me. One of the things I love about Wartburg this time of year is watching the trees turn and the leaves fall. There is one big tree behind the Complex that is the brightest color orange you can imagine, and its silly, I know, but I miss that tree. I've walked by it almost daily for two years now, and this year I won't be there to watch it change. To top that off, homecoming is this weekend, and I have so many great memories associated with that weekend in the past. I'm bummed I'm going to miss it.

At the same time, I've been keeping busy here. Last weekend the IES students all went on a tour of the castles along the Loire. Some of them I saw during May Term, but a handful were new to me. We started at the Chateau (French for castle) de Serrant. (Here's their website if you're interested in visiting it: http://www.chateau-serrant.net/anglais/accueil/accueil.htm) It is considered to be the best furnished of the more than 300 castles in the Loire Valley. Every time the castle has been sold, its furniture has been sold with it. The last man that bought if founded a society of bibliophiles in France, so you walk into the castles library and want to cry. It was like the library from Beauty in the Beast come to life. The main parts of the castle itself were interesting enough, but what was really neat were the tunnels, dug by the German army during World War 2, from the house to one of the outbuildings. They still contain the original electric wiring (sans current, of course) that the German's put up.

The next stop was Azay-le-Rideau, though we actually had a pretty decent sized lunch break before our actual visit to the castle. I bought a croque monsieur (I make them better!), a coke, and joined Alison, Caitlin, Derek and Christine for a little impromptu picnic. After we were finished eating, the general consensus was that we were still hungry, so we bopped into a nearby patiserrie for baked goods. I'd had a kind of rough week, so Alison and I both decided to splurge and get two apiece. I got a very delicious carmelized pastry something that is really hard to explain, and what resembled either a giant peach or the backside of a very small child. We wandered through the back streets of the little town until we were supposed to meet, then got our tickets to go into the castle. I decided to take some time for myself, and wandered around looking at the different rooms in the castle. It was pretty small, but had some neat windows (see photo). After I was done touring the inside I took a really nice stroll around the grounds. A little stream that winds into the Loire runs right behind the castle, and through the trees you could see a second "little" manor. I had a really nice time just sitting on my bench, watching my fellow Americans toss a frisbee around, listening to the river.

The next castle we went to is the place I want to live in when I grow up. Its called Villandry, and I want it for my own. It has the absolute most gorgeous gardens I have ever seen....even better than Versailles. We didn't get to go into the castle itself, so I guess I can't claim that part, but the gardens were beautiful and the view was great. They were laid out in patterns, and the whole first part was made with vegetables! Not something you'd expect, but cabbage can be artful. There were pears on the trees that were bigger than any I've ever seen before, and they were SO tempting. There were arbors with big fat grapes hanging down, a little lake, fountains, even two "scenic viewpoints".

I've still got a lot more to type, but I'm going to try getting some sleep. I've got a pretty open day tomorrow so hopefully I'll fill you in on the rest of the neat stuff going on in my life then!