Équipe Saumur 2023: Week 1

The big thing for week one for us was the visit to the mayor’s office. We got all dressed up and walked through the city center. We were early, probably because I have a thing about being late. So, we stopped on the steps of the theatre to practice, once again, the singing of the Marseillaise (the French national anthem) and the Star-Spangled Banner.

I can only imagine what the Saumurois (citizens of Saumur) thought of a group of American students, all dressed up, standing on the steps of the theatre singing the Marseillaise for no apparent reason. But it is kind of the French way to just shrug their shoulders (in a unique French way) and to go about their business.

We arrived at the city hall and were greeted by an attaché to the mayor. She showed us to the hall of marriages. (All marriages in France must be civil marriages before they are religious.) There we met one of the mayors of Saumur. Saumur is divided into areas. Each has its own mayor. And there is a mayor over all of Saumur. We met with the mayor of Saumur-Saint Hilaire.

We got to enter the hall of the delegates, and to sit in their chairs, like we were important. He presented us with a discussion about all the sports activities available in Saumur. And there are a lot of them. From soccer to horseback riding to rowing to bicycling to SCUBA diving, there’s a little bit for everyone.

There was also a presentation by a handicapped basketball player who told us all about the opportunities for sports in Saumur for handicapped people. It was all very interesting.

We then got to meet with his honor Jackie Goulet, mayor of Saumur, friend of Marie-Odile, our onsite coordinator. He welcomed us warmly. The students sang both the Marseillaise and the Star-Spangled Banner for both mayors and the host families who were in attendance.

We then had brief speeches by both Sophie and Andra. They did incredibly well. We then shared fruit juice and snacks before heading back to school.

I’m not sure how the students feel about the school lunches here, but from my point of view, every day is an experience of new, different, wonderful flavors. I eat more here at lunch than I ever do at home. Of course, here we have an hour and 20 minutes for lunch.

We’ve begun already to work on the family show that we will present at the end of the program. The coral group is working on Aux Champs Élysees by Joe Dessin. After being presented with numerous scripts of plays for two, three or four people, the theatre group has decided to write their own play. It’s going to be a murder mystery, but of the absurd sort. I have been really impressed by the way they have taken this concept to themselves and already made important decisions.

As theatre director, I have one monologue and one dialogue I want students to present. I also hope to convince some of them to do tongue twisters as between act presentations. We will see.

Friday morning, we did a tourist walk through the city and saw some very pretty sites; a couple of churches and some beautiful views of the city.

And on Friday, we had a birthday. Ali turned 17! We had a cake for her. Everyone seemed to like the intense chocolat cake I found at a local pastry shop.

The end of school in France is this coming week. Institution Saint Louis, where we have classes, is a Catholic school with students from first grade though senior year. There must be a thousand students on campus daily. And the grounds cover about 10 acres. As of this week, there will just be us – 18 American students and two teachers. Of course, there will be administrators and the people who cook for us. But the campus will be strangely silent.

I can’t wait to hear how the students passed the weekend with their families!