My Host Family

My host "family" in Tours, Annick and Johny, lived in a 3 story, 4 bedroom stone house in the Old City part of Tours, a 5 minute walk from school and a 3 minute walk from the main square, Place Plumereau. They were not married, but each had two children from a previous marriage. Annick had a daughter, Delphine, who was 35 and married (with a 3 1/2 year old daughter Lulu) and a son, Damien, who was 32 and engaged. Johny had two sons, aged 36 and 34.

For the first two weeks of my stay they were on vacation in Italy, so the students were taken care of by their friend, Lily, who was not accustomed to hosting students, and didn't make a lot of effort to speak clearly, or slowly, or in simple structure. She was a divorced, lonely grandmother with somewhat of a cold personality, was very particular about wanting things done her way, and picked at or made fun of us for small things (very much in the same way my late grandmother did). Since I was new and Yuichiro, the Japanese student, never spoke, dinners consisted mostly of Lily and Barbara (the Swiss girl) speaking and the rest of us listening. Dinnertime was not especially enjoyable since I was unable to contribute or understand much.

When Annick and Johny returned I was greatly relieved, because the two of them emanated warmth from the first day I met them. They enjoyed speaking with the students, and I had very little trouble understanding them. Of course, as time passed, I learned their quirks and their secrets, too.

Annick's history was especially sad. She had been happily married to her husband, a man she was in love with, had two beautiful children, and had built a good life for her family. One day (sometime during 1999 from what I can tell) her husband tripped and fell down the stairs in their house, went into a coma, and died. She never recovered from the tragedy. Although she made an effort to be happy, you could see her sadness, and she spoke of her husband and the accident often. She and Johny have been together for 5 years, but she told me on several occasions (when it was just us) that she lived with him because she didn't want to be alone, and that she didn't love him the same way she loved her husband. It was also the reason she hosted students, for the company.

Her husband had collected miniature soldier figurines his entire life, and (besides the fact that they're worth a lot of money) she couldn't bear to put them away after he died, so the house was filled with thousands of little toy soldiers, in the living room, the stairwell, the bedrooms, the landings - anywhere a glass case could be attached to the wall. People in Tours who had visited the house always described it as "the house with the little toy soldiers".

The stairs really were quite trecherous, especially at night when it was dark. The three stories wound around each other in spiral formation, so the widths of the stairs were different as you went around the corners, and there were no railings to help keep your balance. It's a mystery to me why Annick continued to live in the house that killed her husband, but after I learned the story I paid extra careful attention to my footing, and never went up or down again without turning on the light. (I also waited to post this story until I had moved out of the house, for fear of jinxing myself. I am safely in Paris now.)

Annick was retired from her job as a radiation assistant at a hospital, but Johny still worked a full time job in finance. After a few weeks I came to the conclusion that I didn't really like him. He had the big man on campus, macho personality of someone who thoughts he was really smart and good-looking, but in reality he wasn't very intelligent at all. I had been told he liked history, so I had bought a book (in English) on outlaw tales from Oklahoma as a welcome present. Before I gave it to him I slyly asked if he spoke English, and he said he didn't speak very well, but could read and write it because he used it often for work. A few days later when Annick and I were alone I double checked his story with her, and she kind of wistfully laughed and told me it wasn't true, that he doesn't really know English at all. The book promptly ended up on the coffee table display in their living room.

I was the only student at their house for about a month, which to be honest was a little bit lonely. During my last two weeks we got first a 27 year old Japanese girl who was a complete beginner and didn't speak any French or any English, and then a 32 year old Swiss guy who already spoke pretty good French. This was the most enjoyable time with the family, because at dinner there was lots of conversation and the attention could be deflected away from me if I was tired.

Overall, my stay with them was enjoyable. The food was fantastic, the house big and clean, and the location unbeatable. When I said goodbye to Annick on my last day I was genuinely sad to leave her, her house, and the little life I'd built for myself in Tours.

My front door, number 13, on the right of the picture.

Lily, Annick's friend who took care of us for the first two weeks. In the background you can see the only existing picture of the elusive Yuichiro.

Our happy little family. Me, Michael the Swiss guy, Johny, Annick, and Hitomi, the Japanese girl.

Lulu, Annick's granddaughter.

The treacherous stairwell, beginning on the 3rd floor at the top of the house just outside my bedroom.

First curve in the stairwell.

Beginning of the stairs from the 2nd floor landing.

Curve of the stairs as you approach the ground floor.

Ground floor entrance.

Huge case of toy soldiers in the living room

Second case of toy soldiers in the living room.

Case of toy soldiers in the hallway.

Upon request, I made "American" food for the family one night. They asked for food that was typical of my area of the country. I didn't want to perpetuate the stereotype of burgers and fries, plus, we don't really make burgers and fries at home much, so I decided to go Tex-Mex and made beef and bean chili, with sour cream, yellow cheese, onions and tomatoes as toppings and raw carrots and celery as the starter.