La première classe et un voyage à Montrichard!

Today, we had our first French class with our native French teacher. It truly reminded me of Mme Sunquist as elle parle français tous le temps! She is immersing ourselves very quickly so we can practice practical and useful sentences that may even help us when we are in Paris this weekend. 

After class, we explored Pontlevoy and enjoyed the fact that everything was just a short distance from the Abbey - got to love the small town atmosphere! I learned that the French natives are much more friendly in the small cities - they actually will say <<Bonjour>> to you! We explored the grounds of the Abbey for a little while and created some potential group photo poses...

For our first excursion, we journeyed to Montrichard, which is just 10 minutes from Pontlevoy. We stopped at château de Montrichard and took some photos. Then, we were given some time to walk around the town. Unlike the U.S., most businesses typically are fermé on Mondays or Tuesdays and are open on the weekends. They usually pick a slow day (something that I learned in high school French & finally got to experience today). 

Everything got more chilly and chilling when we entered the Caves Champignonnieres, an excursion we decided to add when we realized Montrichard was basically closed for the day. What an impressive hidden treasure! The reason behind the caves was to use the limestone and build all of the castles on the Loire Valley! They dug & dug and now, 100 km long and 7 stories wide, there is an underground cave and plenty of room to harvest mushrooms. How innovative the French are, c'est vrai? The mushrooms that they naturally harvest in these caves (due to perfect humidity, temperature, and darkness) are used at the restaurant we dine at across from the Abbey. Notre chef said that his father used to harvest the mushrooms as well, so he wanted to continue his family tradition. C'est mervielleux! 

 

Well, time to read The Life of Monsieur de Molière while eating un pain au chocolat. Oui, c'est la vie! (Pictured below for your viewing pleasure!)