Fromaladie

We are on the Land Tour (LT from now on). I'm going to explain the title of this entry. Fromage= cheese Maladie= sickness. Fromaladie is the over consumption of French cheese and the awful feeling that comes after that consumption. The whole group is experiencing it and it feels like eating a sack of rocks.

We are currently visiting the Loire region. We visited Chateau Blois and Chateau Chambord yesterday and then ate at a beautiful restaurant and drank lots of wine and ate lots of cheese and then we arrived at the hotel which is super nice and I love it and I'm very contente that we are staying here again tonight (it is in Tours). Oh, I know that Chateau Chenonceaux is my favorite castle of all time. If I become the next Bill Gates I will buy it from the French government and hold parties there for my friends and family and of course people could still take tours but they won't have to pay anymore- I want this to be free for the world!

Today, we sort of got to sleep in, meaning 7:45 and then we left for Chateau d'Azay le Rideau. I like the Renaissance castles because they all have moats. I love moats. I guess when you're an American you think castles don't really exhist- they are only in Disney movies. I do however, want to know where all the "closed off" doors lead to- I usually try to open them hoping someone has forgotten to keep them locked and secure, but so far no luck.

Back to the fromaladie- the food is à la profusion (tons tons tons of it) and so is the wine but we have requested that from now on the "cheese plate" be cancelled because if we didn't demand this we would all come home weighing at least 500 pounds. Today we had Kir Pétillant (my favorite drink) and then Feuille de Saumon Fumé maison et ses toasts, Cuisse de Canard à l'orange (amazing!) et ses Pommes Noisettes (little balls pototoes that are fried and delish) then Brie and un lit (bed) de salade then an Omelette Norvégienne Vanille Café au grand Marnier(not an omelette but an ice cream cake covered in merange and then lit on fire). So imagine how you would feel after eating all that (it is extremely rude NOT to finish your plate in France). In the end, I've decided I'm going to start being rude. I can't do this anymore (and its only the 2nd day!)

Tomorrow we are visiting Périgeux. Google it!

I do have one complaint. Traveling with a group of people with MULTIPLE personalities and mutliple levels of maturity is not always "amusant." The next time I come to France (I'm hoping this will be after I graduate college as a "cadeaux" to myself, even if I have to take out another student loan) I would prefer to come with just one other person (and 4 tops).

Je vous aime et je vous embrasse.