Week 5

Wow! So much has happened since we returned from Normandie. By the time this is posted, the stagiaires will all be home with their families. But I think it is important to post about our last ten days in France, which have been absolutely full of activities, so much so that I haven’t been able to post.

Monday evening of our last week in Saumur, the onsite coordinator (Marie-Odile) and the teachers (Isaiah and I) sponsored a “Soirée disco”. This was a disco-dance night to celebrate our last week. Host families were invited, but we didn’t expect much participation. But the stagiaires came!

This is exactly Isaiah’s kind of thing. He loves 80s and 90s French music. He loves to dance. He spent a few hours preparing the music for the dance.

At first, he thought it was a disaster, because the stagiaires went for the food first. Well, this had to be outside the auditorium (at Saint Louis, where it was held) so we didn’t have to incur a cleaning expense.

But once the “gouter” was finished, the stagiaires were down for it. There was dancing and rocking out to the old music! Everyone who participated really enjoyed the evening.

Lots to eat for the "gouter"!

Everyone was into it!

The next couple of days involved us trying to keep to a regular schedule of classes and sports, but the thing in everyone’s mind was the family show. The show was on Thursday night. Wednesday and Thursday were spent in preparation. The order of events was set, and we all rehearsed like crazy.

Wtatt explains the intricacies of table tennis.

It actually became everyone against Wyatt.

The queen serves.

No net, but still volleyball.

Really big “Merci” to Sophie and to Jaidyn who mastered the technical parts of lights and sound in the Amphitheatre.

In the end, everything came together. I’m posting some still photos here. There will be a full-length video forthcoming in the next few days. Look back at this space.

The show was so good! The students performed several songs. There were individual performances, the play and the ending song. The families really enjoyed the performance.

In attendance was the mayor of Saumur, Jackie Goulet, the mayor of Saumur-Saint Hilaire, Marcus (whose last name I don’t know), and Madame Lavielle from the retirement home we visited.

The reception afterwards was really wonderful. It was a final opportunity for the families, students, teachers and our coordinator to socialize, share ideas and thoughts as well as general good feelings. It was a beautiful crown to a successful summer.

Aux Champs-Élysées

(Sorry, no pictures of the play, since I was in it. But it will be in the video.)

Friday was le 14 juillet, the French national holiday. We had planned a boat ride, but the water levels of the Loire River were too low to permit it. There was a military parade followed by a reception by the mayor of Saumur. Students spent the holiday with their host families. That night, there was live music in front of the city hall and a fireworks display over the river.

Sara and Ashley enjoy the parade.

Monsieur le Maire

Les feux d'artifices à Saumur