I woke up at like 5:50am Saturday morning so I would have enough time to eat and shower before heading to our meet up point for the bus. I guess I got up a little bit too early because I just sat around for a while waiting to leave. I told Chaniece that I would meet her at the metro at 7:20 because we had to be at the bus by 8 and I wanted to be early because the last time we went on a group outing I was late and felt bad. I texted Chaniece before I left telling her I was leaving because it takes her a little while longer to walk to the metro than it does for me. I got to the metro at 7:20 and she wasn't there. I decided to call her to see where she was and she's like I'll be right there, I'm making a sandwhich. I was like HURRY UP!!! exact words. I saw Chaniece coming down the street and I just gave her the death glare. We ended up being early for the bus, so I guess I was panicking for nothing. When we got on the bus we sat in the middle because we figured that the group of girls that were already sitting in the back were going to talk a lot and we both were pretty tired. It was around 8 when Sean and Costello started counting people. Costello decided to call out our names because I guess he thought it would be easier. He calls off some names and he gets to this guy named Adam, who wasn't there. I don't know who it was but they were like, Adam isn't here and Costello goes, well that's not surprising but in his funny Costello tone of voice. I started laughing so hard. I think people thought I was crazy because not very many people heard him say it. Adam ended up showing up. Ha. Everyone came on the trip except Jordan and Brian. Not sure why they didn't come, but their loss. We got on the road and Costello said that we would be at our first chateau. I tried taking a little nap on the bus but the bus driver was being a Chatty Cathy and the girls in the back weren't being super loud, but I could still hear them over my iPod. I think I fell asleep for like a half hour tops.
We arrived at Chambord and started walking towards the entrance. Chambord is amazing. I first visited it when I was a junior in high school when the French class came to Paris on spring break. We walked into the chateau and had to wait for Costello to get us all tickets. Once we got our tickets we all too
k a bathroom break before entering the actual chateau. We gathered around this fire place so Costello could give us a history of the chateau. As we're walking there, me and few other people are joking around with Sean and we didn't realize that Costello had started talking. He called Sean's name and when Sean didn't answer he called it again, and again. We were all laughing. Sean was like oops...guess I'm in trouble. He's so awesome. Anyways Costello tells us some stuff about the chateau. I don't really remember what he said. It was loud in there and he was using his quiet voice so I couldn't hear anything and then I just spaced out truthfully. I do know that Francois I built it and lived there for a long time and his symbol is a salamander so there's a bunch like little salamanders on the ceilings, walls, stair cases...stuff like that. I don't know why he's a salamander. What a dumb animal to be. If you're going to pick an animal to represent you, at least pick something fierce like a cheet
ah or something cool like a gazelle....not a salamander. The chateau is also famous for its double helix staircase. It's basically 2 staircases that wrap around each other, hence the double helix name....it's pretty sweet looking. Costello let us explore the chateau alone. I was with a few people wandering around but we got seperated. I made my way up to the top of the chateau where it opens up to this huge balcony thing. I found a bunch of IPP girls and Sean, so of course we had to have a photo shoot!! After goofing around for a while I headed back downstairs to look at a few more rooms before heading back to the bus. There really isn't much in the rooms of the chateau which sucks. I'm not sure why they don't have beds and chairs and stuff like that like they do at other chateaux. I walked outside and ended up meeting up with a few people. We walked to the little market that they had set up. I was with Sean, Kirsten and John at the market and we all bought something. Kirsten had me get something for her because she already bought something from the same women and didn't want her to think she was a total pig buying 2 pastries in the span of 2 hours. HA. So I bought hers. I got a chocolate beignet and it was DELISH!!! I also had to pose for a picture in front of the chateau to replicate the same picture I took junior year. Except in this photo it wasn't raining, and I don't have my pink umbrella. We all got back on the bus and then hit the road to our next chateau.
k a bathroom break before entering the actual chateau. We gathered around this fire place so Costello could give us a history of the chateau. As we're walking there, me and few other people are joking around with Sean and we didn't realize that Costello had started talking. He called Sean's name and when Sean didn't answer he called it again, and again. We were all laughing. Sean was like oops...guess I'm in trouble. He's so awesome. Anyways Costello tells us some stuff about the chateau. I don't really remember what he said. It was loud in there and he was using his quiet voice so I couldn't hear anything and then I just spaced out truthfully. I do know that Francois I built it and lived there for a long time and his symbol is a salamander so there's a bunch like little salamanders on the ceilings, walls, stair cases...stuff like that. I don't know why he's a salamander. What a dumb animal to be. If you're going to pick an animal to represent you, at least pick something fierce like a cheet
ah or something cool like a gazelle....not a salamander. The chateau is also famous for its double helix staircase. It's basically 2 staircases that wrap around each other, hence the double helix name....it's pretty sweet looking. Costello let us explore the chateau alone. I was with a few people wandering around but we got seperated. I made my way up to the top of the chateau where it opens up to this huge balcony thing. I found a bunch of IPP girls and Sean, so of course we had to have a photo shoot!! After goofing around for a while I headed back downstairs to look at a few more rooms before heading back to the bus. There really isn't much in the rooms of the chateau which sucks. I'm not sure why they don't have beds and chairs and stuff like that like they do at other chateaux. I walked outside and ended up meeting up with a few people. We walked to the little market that they had set up. I was with Sean, Kirsten and John at the market and we all bought something. Kirsten had me get something for her because she already bought something from the same women and didn't want her to think she was a total pig buying 2 pastries in the span of 2 hours. HA. So I bought hers. I got a chocolate beignet and it was DELISH!!! I also had to pose for a picture in front of the chateau to replicate the same picture I took junior year. Except in this photo it wasn't raining, and I don't have my pink umbrella. We all got back on the bus and then hit the road to our next chateau.We arrived at Amboise about an hour ish later. We had free tim
e for lunch so everyone split up and tried to find a place to eat. A lot of places were closed because it was a holiday (the end of WWII). Me, Kirsten, Martha, and John all decided to eat at this little place that sold a bunch of different things. I got a sandwhich. It wasn't that great. After we were finished eating we went to this little grocery store that we saw as we were coming into town. I really wanted some candy, but they didn't have the kind that I usually get (the look like tongues and they are sour and taste like strawberries) so John and I decided to split this bag of sour candy called Frites. They are pretty good, not as good as the tongues but it did it's job. We made our way up to the chateau and had to wait again for everyone else to join up with us and then had to wait some more while Costello got our tickets. We walked in the court yard of Amboise and met up with our adorable tour guide. She was so sweet. What a cute French girl. I think Sean was a little smitten with her :) We weren't allowed to take pictures while she was giving the tour. I learned that Leonardo Da Vinci either used to hang out at the chateau or he lived there, or near there or something because he's burried there. So I got to see his grave. That's was pretty cool. It's in this really pretty church. Amboise looks a lot different than it used to when it was first built. It was really damaged through out the years because of war. It really suffered a lot of damage during WWII 
because that part of France was occupied by the Germans. Henry II and his wife Cathrine de Medici lived there for a long time and raised there kids there. This chateau had a lot more stuff in the rooms. There were a lot of paintings and beds, etc. The only problem about the tour was a bunch of people kept trying to creep on our tour and the guide kept telling them that it was a private tour for students and asked them to move along. They didn't listen. After the tour ended we went to the top of the chateau and went outside to look at the amazing view. Amboise is on a hill that over looks the entire town as well as the Loire river. It's pretty sweet. After we hung out there for a while me and Chaniece and Alex hunted down the bathroom, checked out the gift shop which was over priced and then went back to the bus. We hit the road and headed to Tours where we would be spending the night.
e for lunch so everyone split up and tried to find a place to eat. A lot of places were closed because it was a holiday (the end of WWII). Me, Kirsten, Martha, and John all decided to eat at this little place that sold a bunch of different things. I got a sandwhich. It wasn't that great. After we were finished eating we went to this little grocery store that we saw as we were coming into town. I really wanted some candy, but they didn't have the kind that I usually get (the look like tongues and they are sour and taste like strawberries) so John and I decided to split this bag of sour candy called Frites. They are pretty good, not as good as the tongues but it did it's job. We made our way up to the chateau and had to wait again for everyone else to join up with us and then had to wait some more while Costello got our tickets. We walked in the court yard of Amboise and met up with our adorable tour guide. She was so sweet. What a cute French girl. I think Sean was a little smitten with her :) We weren't allowed to take pictures while she was giving the tour. I learned that Leonardo Da Vinci either used to hang out at the chateau or he lived there, or near there or something because he's burried there. So I got to see his grave. That's was pretty cool. It's in this really pretty church. Amboise looks a lot different than it used to when it was first built. It was really damaged through out the years because of war. It really suffered a lot of damage during WWII 
because that part of France was occupied by the Germans. Henry II and his wife Cathrine de Medici lived there for a long time and raised there kids there. This chateau had a lot more stuff in the rooms. There were a lot of paintings and beds, etc. The only problem about the tour was a bunch of people kept trying to creep on our tour and the guide kept telling them that it was a private tour for students and asked them to move along. They didn't listen. After the tour ended we went to the top of the chateau and went outside to look at the amazing view. Amboise is on a hill that over looks the entire town as well as the Loire river. It's pretty sweet. After we hung out there for a while me and Chaniece and Alex hunted down the bathroom, checked out the gift shop which was over priced and then went back to the bus. We hit the road and headed to Tours where we would be spending the night. Before we got to the hotel, Costello told us another one of his horror stories and told us not to drink too much tonight so we don't get raped or murdered. He's just looking out for us. I like the way he tells his stories. He adds dramatic pauses and everything. We got to the hotel and me, Jacqueline and Chaniece decided to be roomies. The room was pretty small, the bathroom was smaller than small, but we had a flat screen tv. After lounging around for a little while, we decided to join a party that was going on next door. There were like 20 of us in this little hotel room playing a game called Celebrity. It's really fun. You think of a celeb, or a character, or basically any one for your neighbor to be and then you usually write it on an index card and then put it on the person's forehead so they can't see what they are. We didn't have index cards so we used post-its and they put it on our shoulders. It was a lot of fun. Chaniece picked mine, I was Minnie Mouse. It took me forever to guess. Erin was sitting next to me and I picked her to be Nick Jonas. It was such a fun game. At 7 we all got ready for dinner. I put on my black jeans, heels, and a cut top and if I do say so myself I looked pretty smokin! ha. Everyone met downstaris in the lobby and then we all walked to the restaurant together. I don't know what the restaurant was called but the food wasn't that good. We got the tiniest salad, and like 3 little pieces of chicken with some sort of sauce with potatoes, which mine were cold. We also got dessert, which wasn't half bad. We were all hanging out talking and I was like I'm going to need a snack later, that wasn't enough food! We left the restaurant around 9:30 ish and we all headed to this part of town that had a bunch of bars. We found this one bar after walking for like 25 minutes and decided to sit outside because there were too many of us to sit together inside. I wanted to sit at this one table, but there weren't any chairs left. Luckily, Alla came to my rescue and grabbed me a chair and placed it between John and Katie, before she sat the chair down she goes, "just creating opportunities!" Hahaha....oh Alla!!! Thanks girl! We all had such a good time. We all got our drinks, I got a beer and it was pretty good. It started with a G. I should probably remember these things, but it was a long night. We played a drinking game that I don't remember the name of. I guess it really isn't a drinking game, we just made it one because we're college kids and that's what we do. You had to name a movie or an actor and the person sitting next to you had to name an actor from that movie and a movie that the actor was in. For example, someone said Meg Ryan, the person sitting next to them would say You've got Mail, the next person would say Tom Hanks, the next person says Saving Private Ryan, the next person says Matt Damon, and so on and so forth. It's a really fun game. If you don't know a movie or the actor you can challenge the person and they have to name another movie that the actor was in or another actor in that movie. It's a really fun game. I was doing pretty well. Then we decided to play "How many Harry Potter characters can you name" game. I didn't do too well...shocking I know. I knew the easy ones but some people were so good and had names that I didn't even know. After that we played another game. I got up to use the bathroom after our photo shoot ended, because everyone loves to take pics when they are drunk....and when I came back from the bathroom everyone had moved inside. I got another drink (a beer cocktail...I don't know what it was called or what was in it but it was DELISH). When I finished my drink with the help of Jacqueline, she, Diane and I left. We got back to the hotel around 12:40ish. I knocked on our door because Chaniece was in there but she didn't answer so I had to call her phone. I think she was sleeping....oops! I didn't get much sleep that night, but I don't think anyone really did. Except for Sean and Costello. I think Sean would've come out with us, but he really isn't allowed to drink with us. Plus, Costello was there so he obvs couldn't go out with us. We had breakfast at the hotel the next morning. I was really tired.
After breakfast we hit the road for our next chateau: Chenonceau. Chenonceau was built over the
water and is really pretty. We walked through this cool forest to get to the chateau. Once we got to it we were greeted with this amazing view. Sadly, they were working on the front facade of the chateau so it was covered up by a lame cloth. I really like Chenonceau. Costello talked about the chateau for a while before we went inside. I really don't remember what he said about it. Sorry. If you really want to know its history you can Wikipedia it. We took a group picture before everyone went their seperate ways to explore the chateau. Me, Chaniece, Jacqueline, John, Alla and Krista all took pictures outside the chateau. Jacqueline took this picture of us and it seriously could be a post card for the chateau, that or a Christmas card. It's so adorable!! I had trouble getting up this wall to take a picture so Jacqueline had to give me a boost. It was pretty funny. We entered the chateau and looked around. My favoirte part of the chateau i
s the kitchen which is in like the basement right above the river. It has these arched windows that look out over the river which are really cool. Everyone and their mom was in the kitchen I swear. It was nuts. After the kitchen we went to the long gallery that used to be a hospital during WWII I believe. After looking around some more rooms, we got lunch in the cafeteria. I got a cheese burger and fries. It was pretty good. We saw Costello eating by himself, so me, Alla, John, Jacqueline and Krista decided to join him so he didn't have to eat alone. We learned about his daughter and how she went to Smith College (which is a really good school) and is now going to grad school at Duke. She's pretty smart. Everyone talked about what they are doing after graduation and stuff like that. It was a good time. After lunch we hit up the expensive gift shop and didn't buy anything. Everyone got back on the bus and we started heading for our last chateau.
water and is really pretty. We walked through this cool forest to get to the chateau. Once we got to it we were greeted with this amazing view. Sadly, they were working on the front facade of the chateau so it was covered up by a lame cloth. I really like Chenonceau. Costello talked about the chateau for a while before we went inside. I really don't remember what he said about it. Sorry. If you really want to know its history you can Wikipedia it. We took a group picture before everyone went their seperate ways to explore the chateau. Me, Chaniece, Jacqueline, John, Alla and Krista all took pictures outside the chateau. Jacqueline took this picture of us and it seriously could be a post card for the chateau, that or a Christmas card. It's so adorable!! I had trouble getting up this wall to take a picture so Jacqueline had to give me a boost. It was pretty funny. We entered the chateau and looked around. My favoirte part of the chateau i
s the kitchen which is in like the basement right above the river. It has these arched windows that look out over the river which are really cool. Everyone and their mom was in the kitchen I swear. It was nuts. After the kitchen we went to the long gallery that used to be a hospital during WWII I believe. After looking around some more rooms, we got lunch in the cafeteria. I got a cheese burger and fries. It was pretty good. We saw Costello eating by himself, so me, Alla, John, Jacqueline and Krista decided to join him so he didn't have to eat alone. We learned about his daughter and how she went to Smith College (which is a really good school) and is now going to grad school at Duke. She's pretty smart. Everyone talked about what they are doing after graduation and stuff like that. It was a good time. After lunch we hit up the expensive gift shop and didn't buy anything. Everyone got back on the bus and we started heading for our last chateau.Our final stop was at Blois. We got off the bus and then walked up to the chateau. Costello told us that it was a guided tour, which can be fun because you usually learn a lot. He didn't tell us tha
t he would be doing the tour. That's not quite as fun. Costello is a nice guy and all but I really didn't want to hear him talk about this chateau. I was really dragging at this point (I think everyone else was too) so a tour from Costello was the last thing we wanted. Blois is pretty cool. You can really see the 3 different phases of construction of the chateau because each is basically a different century and they used different materials in each century. It's very cool looking. We walked through the chateau, stopping every few minutes so Costello could tell us some fact. The coolest part about the history that I remember is that Henry III had his arch-enemy Henry I Duke of Guise killed in the chateau. They wouldn't let you into the room that he was murdered in. Lame...As we were leaving these people started dancing. Seriously they just broke out into some weird dance. They weren't just regular people though, they were actors recreating some dance of the period. It was weird. Costello didn't want us to stay and watch it so he made us cut across the dance floor. The guard that was ther saw a few people doing it following Costello he had already left and she got kind of pissed. Sean explained why we needed to leave and she's just like fine, whatever, leave. It was kind of funny. Once we made it out of there we entered into this giant hall. I guess some movie was filmed there. It was pretty cool. There was a giant thrown that a few people sat on and took pictures. Me, Colie and Chaniece went outside to look around after hitting up the bathroom. We wanted to get a snack before heading back to the bus but we couldn't find anything.
t he would be doing the tour. That's not quite as fun. Costello is a nice guy and all but I really didn't want to hear him talk about this chateau. I was really dragging at this point (I think everyone else was too) so a tour from Costello was the last thing we wanted. Blois is pretty cool. You can really see the 3 different phases of construction of the chateau because each is basically a different century and they used different materials in each century. It's very cool looking. We walked through the chateau, stopping every few minutes so Costello could tell us some fact. The coolest part about the history that I remember is that Henry III had his arch-enemy Henry I Duke of Guise killed in the chateau. They wouldn't let you into the room that he was murdered in. Lame...As we were leaving these people started dancing. Seriously they just broke out into some weird dance. They weren't just regular people though, they were actors recreating some dance of the period. It was weird. Costello didn't want us to stay and watch it so he made us cut across the dance floor. The guard that was ther saw a few people doing it following Costello he had already left and she got kind of pissed. Sean explained why we needed to leave and she's just like fine, whatever, leave. It was kind of funny. Once we made it out of there we entered into this giant hall. I guess some movie was filmed there. It was pretty cool. There was a giant thrown that a few people sat on and took pictures. Me, Colie and Chaniece went outside to look around after hitting up the bathroom. We wanted to get a snack before heading back to the bus but we couldn't find anything.The ride back to Paris was a lot of fun. After a short nap, Chaniece, Colie and I joined the back of the bus in a game of mafia. The game is a lot of fun. There are 3 mafia members, 1 detective, and 1 doctor. These 5 people are determined by passing out cards. If you get a card that has been dubed mafia, then that's what you are. For example, the doctor is an Ace, so if you get that, you're the doctor. Anyways, for everyone else that is playing, if you don't get a mafia, detective or doctor card, you are a towns person. There is a narrator, which was John, and he tells everyone to close there eyes and make up this story about the mafia killing people. The 3 mafia members open their eyes (while everyone else has their eyes closed except for the narrator) and the mafia picks someone to die. They then close their eyes and the doctor (who was me) opens their eyes and picks someone to save, usually someone they thought the mafia killed. I closed my eyes and then the dective opens their eyes and picks someone who they believe is in the mafia. This is all done silently. Everyone else opens their eyes and John said who died and how they died. He came up with some pretty creative ways for people to die. Our story was in Paris so some people were beheaded of course! Everyone debates who's a mafia member. We then decide to kill that person but we never know for sure if they are a part of the mafia. You basically repeat the process until there are only 1 or 2 peole left. If the mafia is left standing then they win, if it's a towns person, they win. I sadly didn't manage to correctly guess and save anyone. I was killed because they thought I was a part of the mafia. John said that I fell into the Seine and drowned. Tragic. We started a new game with Erin as the narrator. Except this time we weren't in Paris we were in Hogwarts (we're a bunch of dorks!) The mafia were Death Eaters, the doctor was Dumbledore, and of course the detective was Harry Potter. I was a towns person. We didn't get to finish our game on the bus because we arrived back in Paris early so everyone who was playing, and Sean, went to the Luxembourg garden to finish our game. We all found chairs and put them in a circle and finished our game. I almost won but I was eventually killed because they thought I was a mafia member. They all suspected me 3 times in a row and wanted to kill me but I convinced them that I wasn't guilty and got them to kill someone else. I'm good like that. Ha!! We left and I got home around 8:30. Renee and I had dinner that night and I went to bed pretty early because I was tired.
Overall it was a really fun weekend! Sorry this post is so long. I'll probably post again tomorrow about what's been going on this week and about why I'm not in London right now.
Bisous!
ps: this was not proof read. Sorry in advance if there are errors. I'm tired
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