Hello all. This is my last blog post, covering everything I have done since mid-April. To catch you up on what is going on with life in Tours, I had my last exam a week and a half ago, then traveled, but now I am back with my host family, but just last night and tonight. I head up to Paris late tomorrow afternoon to stay in a hotel near the airport because the flight leaves on Friday morning. I am sad to be leaving Tours, but the excitement of going home has been winning the battle of my overall feelings about flying home. So now, here are my photos from my travels in the last month.
First the Davidson group went to Senegal.
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| The view of Dakar form our hotel |
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| My first baobab tree |
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| Dakar sits right on the Atlantic Ocean |
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| After meals, you have a small glass of hot, bitter tea |
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| This is part of a larger monument that is quite frankly ugly. Senegal is the point the furthest left/west of Africa |
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| This is the furthest west you can possibly go in all of Africa |
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| Ile Goree-small island that played a role in the slave trade |
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| Snad paintings made with different sands from around Africa |
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| All of the buildings are so colorful |
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| Le lac rose-- The Pink Lake, caused by a combination of the high salt content and bacteria |
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| Mounds of salt that will be cleaned and exported |
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| The group with the village chief of a small village near the Pink Lake |
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| The road to Mauritania |
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| My lunch was looking at me; fish/chicken with fries.rice was a very common meal |
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| The mosque in Touba, more inland in Senegal, one of the biggest in Africa |
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| They like symmetry there |
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| The name of our tour group- Teranga Tours. Teranga is a Senegalese way of thinking similar to hospitality, but stronger |
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| Leaving Toubacouta (south) it was really dusty for the entire ride |
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| The oldest baobab- 1800 years old |
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| Standing next to Leopald Sedar Senghor, first president of Senegal who also taught in Tours |
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| We went to the West African Research Center to hear two different talks about the food crisis and the movement "Y'en a marre" |
Now we go to Paris for 6 days.
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| Communist rally at the Bastille |
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| Marie Antoinette's farm area at Versailles |
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| Agneau--lamb |
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| Stegosaurus outside the natural history musuem |
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| Red pandas! |
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| The bridge form Inception |
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| The chandelier in THE Opera, like in Phantom of the Opera, which I hummed lightly throughout most of the tour |
Then I went to Amsterdam with Quincy and Greg
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| I love dutch architectured |
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| And I didn't know Amsterdam had canals until a couple of months ago. The red light district looks very similar, just add a little neon lighting and mostly nude women in all of the windows. |
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| Walking around the city was really nice |
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| It was really pretty there |
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| Standard dutch buildings |
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| There were a few of these spread out across the city, don't really know why |
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| We used CouchSurfing to find Tom. He and 10 others are "squatting" an office building. They have a contract with the owner so it isn't actually squatting. But it was really cool getting to stay with dutch people and talk with them. And this was our room. |
Then we went to Venice.
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| I knew Venice had canals |
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| The grand canal |
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| Rialto bridge, covered in tourists |
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| Clock tower in the big square |
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| Gondolas |
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| I want this house |
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| I also didn't know that there were large mountains so close. I think these are the Dolomite Mountains |
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| Church that costed money to go in any further |
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| I also love venetian architecture |
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| Typical street sign |
Then we took a train to Rome
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| Our campsite in Rome had african looking trees |
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| The Colosseum |
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| What we thought might be the Spanish steps without a guidebook or map |
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| Musei Capitolini |
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| SPQR- Senātus Populusque Rōmānus--The Senate and People of Rome |
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| Italia |
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| The front of the museum |
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| Roman architecture isn't too bad either |
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| Vatican City |
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| The actual Spanish Steps |
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| Pantheon |
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| Trevi fountain |
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| For the griz fans out there, this was the logo of the cafe Quincy andI went to at the train station before heading back to Tours. Fun story to go along with it, we were awake from 9 am until we got on the train because we didn't have a hotel. Also, hanging out in front of the Notre Dame from 1-4 in the morning means you get to see it without tourists everywhere. That was nice. |
And now you know everything I have done since I last updated. See you soon USA.
Au revoir France.
