When Is Home? feat. Tours
Not a lot of people know of Tours, a city in central France between two rivers. I moved to Tours for my masters in urban planning without knowing what to expect. I'd studied French previously and in my language classes, we would always talk about making a group trip to France. The plan never materialised. A few years later, the opportunity to spend a fully-funded year in France presented itself and I said 'Why not?'. I caught a flight, went to Paris, took a TGV and arrived at Tours. It was a long day fraught with misunderstanding and nervousness about a language I hadn't practised in seven years.
I had only ever lived in Chennai which is fairly large and urban with a population of around 4.5 million with box-like buildings everywhere. In Tours, it is possible to cycle from one end of the agglo to another in half an hour and it's population is 134,978. The buildings were all small, built in tuffeau, castles dotted the region and most of the city was sandwiched between two rivers - the Loire and the Cher.
It was this small scale that made me fall in love with Tours immediately but it took me a while to get used to the French way of life. I didn't call it home in the beginning. I don't know when the transition happened. But somewhere along the way, I started referring to my small room as home.
Maybe it was because studying urban planning exposed me to facets of the city that I would not otherwise know. Maybe it was when, I could, at some point of time, take visitors around and give them a tour. Maybe it was when I could tell friends little things that they didn't know about the city yet. Maybe it was when I could cycle everywhere without looking at a map. Maybe it was all the really friendly people who broke all French stereotypes of being rude. Maybe it when I learnt to canoe on the Cher and bathe in the Loire. Maybe it was when I helped friends paint and move into their new houses.
The moment that is stuck in my head though is when I came back from a trip and getting out at the station made me smile and feel like I was home. In the time that followed, this warm feeling would wash over me everytime I arrived at the station, so much so, that even coming back from Paris felt like coming home. Tours was my European anchor.
Over time, I would go on to make some of the most memorable experiences in and around Tours. Once, I was at the museum with a friend and when we were asked which department we were from, my friend replied for both of us '37'. It was true, I did feel like I hailed from 37. No questions asked, just a smile and an 'enjoy yourself' after. Demonyms in France are a real thing - the people of each city are called something and they take great pride in it. Paris has parisiens and parisiennes. Lyon has the lyonnais. Strasbourg has the strasbourgeois. And then there's the plain weird ones like the pictaviens from Poitiers and my personal favourite the bordelais from Bordeaux. In Tours, we're Tourangeaux. I don't know when it happened but Tours adopted me as it's very own Tourangelle.
Were you nervous the first time you traveled abroad by yourself? I've lived in many places, all of them domestic to the US.
Now that I think about it, more excited than nervous. I still love the excitement (and nervousness?) that comes with moving. In an ideal life, I would move to a place, live there for 2 years and then leave for another.
I love Tours, and have a close friend who lives there who I visit sometimes. And there is Leonardo's home in Amboise!
I'd go back to Tours and pick my life right back up anyday! Love the city and its people.
Yes, I was so surprised the first time I visited his house in Amboise! It was a long cycle ride from Tours but definitely worth the trip. The trip back had me huffing and panting for breath though.
@manouche, you love the cardio :) And the culture, of course.
Haha, I do! Especially when there's a purpose to it that's not restricted to the four walls of a gym. My newest venture over the past month has been salsa dancing. SO much cardio and so much fun.
I don't know if places have adopted me, but the people have always adopted me wherever i stayed. Sometimes even an overnight stay meant being adopted and for a night that was home.
Loved the pictures and the description. I would love to cycle through Europe (and France in particular), but language and cost has kept me away. Maybe one day!
The people are sometimes the best. But there's something in the air and in the soil of Tours that welcomed me.
Thanks for stopping by! Sorry, I've been inactive for about 2 weeks and never got around to taking up the positivity challenge.
Tell me when that one day comes! I'd love to go back and cycle in France and if you come with me, you won't have a language problem so that's half the struggle.
The air and soil thingy (and cheap beer and petrol!) I feel every time I go to Goa. But I am from there, never lived there though, so not sure if Goa counts.
I tagged 7 people for the positive thing. Not one person posted :D I guess my positive influence is not great!
Oooo. Sounds like a plan. That would be super cool. Which other languages you speak? Will make plans for all those countries :p Jokes apart, I have never had a problem with language, even though I know only two. English and hindi. Communication works through being humane. France is the exception, where I have heard horror stories of being cold shouldered for speaking English!
Sure! How.is it that you've never lived there? Would you call yourself Goan?
It's not that the positive influence is not great, i was just incredibly busy these past weeks.
I speak Tamil (obv), Bombay Hindi, French and a smattering of Korean. I won't lie, France can be difficult for non-French speakers but it's wonderful to cycle in.
My family decided to leave goa 170 years ago! Yeah, i mostly call myself confused though. Food and culture has more Goan than north indian in it! But there isn't a feeling of belonging anywhere. Thus confused works best!
Ha. Tam bram speaking bambaiya hindi must be quite amusing to hear :D
There was this tam bram French professor in Elphinstone college in Bombay. I wonder if you studied under her tutelage there. If you studied in Bombay.
ok
I'm happy with my tags :) I haven't posted anything in two weeks so I don't expect too many votes on this one. Thanks, anyhow.
It's a lovely post--I've been looking for your blog. You returned in style.
Thank you! I have been quiet for about 2 weeks and it's nice to be back.