Summer Exploration 2007

When asked to write a memorandum of our trip to the wonderful town of Amboise, no one in our group knew quite what to say. There are of course the small things to mention, the fact that there are wonderful bakeries on every street corner, or that school has finally become a positive place to be. But then there are the amazing things, such as passing by a castle on your way to school every morning, or learning French… in French. There is nothing to be taken for-granted here, everything seems magical.

We have visited Chambord, Cheverny, Chenonceau, Blois, and Tours. We have walked through gardens that are over 500 years old, live in a town that has a history of almost 2000 years, and we still have Paris, the gardens of Villandry, the wonderful market every Sunday morning (it's the most amazing thing any of us have ever seen), and caves to look forward to.

Our most recent (again, amazing) experience was yesterday when we made cookies. It was a struggle trying to convert all of the ingredients intro grams and milliliters and we even ended up guessing on a few things. The cookies turned out wonderful and our host-parents call it the "American Cake" and they all loved it. It's the experiences like that that make this town feel like the wonderful home that it is.