Week 6 - Departure and Paris

Sunday morning, we all bid “au revoir” to our host families and headed for Paris. There were more than a few tears shed. Students were leaving the families they had known for six weeks – families that would be a part of their lives forever.

I was used to capturing the tears of departure, but Marie-Odile assured me that we also did a photo of each student with their host family in front of the bus. I present those below.

Katie and les Hereau

Jaidyn et les Bertron

Johan et les Orrico

Kayla et les Herault

Maddie et Caroline Rabault

Sophie et Sandrine Beaugrand

Ellie et les Chaplet

Mary avec Béatrice Mahieu

Paola et les Penot-Hummel

Verl et les Gaffard

Ailyn et les Ragueneau

Wyatt et les Fazi-Mancuso

Isaiah et Marie-Olile

Isaiah, Marie-Odile et Monsieur Michel

Mireille et Monsieur Michel

Estelle et Anne-Élizabeth Duflot

Meredith et les Nau

Andra et les Yviquel-Danieau

Ashley et les Lebrun

Sara et les Quetey

Dorothy et les Creuzet

The families as we departed.

On our way to Paris, we stopped in the city of Chartres. Originally, we thought we would have our picnic lunch there, but it was 10AM. So, we visited the magnificent cathedral there. It took so long to build the cathedral (starting in 1194) that architectural styles changed during construction. Thus, one tower is Romanesque while the other is Gothic.

The cathedral is known for its over 350 amazing stained glass windows that tell the stories of the bible. The interior has been cleaned in the last few years. Now, instead of a dark gray color, the interior is bright with the sand color of the stone apparent.

Every Catholic dhurch in France has candles.

The stations of the cross.

The bright interior with the 
stained-glass windows.

The two towers

Our next stop enroute to Paris was at the Palace of Versailles. There isn’t really a picnic ground at the palace, so we walked a few blocks to the city hall and ate on the grassy lawn behind.

The palace is huge with tons of people. It is almost impossible to stay together as a group. Thus, we let our students do the self-guided tour in groups of at least three. I usually go ahead to the hall of mirrors to try to catch our groups as they pass. I wasn’t quite as successful this year, but I caught a few groups.

In the courtyard

In front of the king's apartments

Also in front of the king's apartments

In the famous hall of mirrors

The hall is always crowded.

The architecture is amazing!

I've been to Versailles over 15 times, so I
paid the extra 10 Euros and visited the gardens.

Very formal

An iconic image

Latona's fountain

After checking into our auberge, Kellerman, in the 14me arrondissement de Paris, we celebrated Sara and Dorothy’s birthdays which were that day. Then we went to the “Bateau Vedettes” for a touristic trip on the Seine River. We happened to take our trip at the same time as the group from Saint Brieuc, so there were some welcoming embraces.

The tour was fantastic, our guide informative, and our captain took a bit farther down river than was usual. We disembarked at nearly 10PM, having not been able to eat beforehand. (The Métro was really crowded.)

There aren’t many restaurants in France open at 10PM on a Sunday evening – even in Paris. We found a middle-eastern restaurant willing to serve all 20 of us. It was good food, but we were all grateful to return to the auberge.

The birthday girls (Ailyn's was in June).

There were misters along the banks of the Seine.
Guess who HAD to run through them!

Yes, we're looking at you!

Ready to go!

From the front, damage is
not apparent.

From the side, there's no doubt that major work is underway.

Some really important structures have
been put in place in the last few weeks.

An hôtel particulier, a mansion on the Île Saint
Louis, some of the most expensive property in
Europe - starting at 20,000 Euros per
square meter.

King Henri III proposed the Pont Neuf, the first
stone bridge in Paris in 1578. The faces are his
ministers who doubted him.

The Musée d'Orsay

The Assemblée Nationale - the French version
of the house of representatives, across from
Place de la Concorde

La Dame de Fer

The boat cruise doesn't usually include the Île des Cygnes,
but the captain wanted the Americans to see the Statue of
Liberty replica with the Eiffel tower in the background.

Katie

I've never been as cool as Johan 
in my whole life.

We began Monday morning with a walking tour of Montmartre, the big hill in Paris that was home to the impressionists. Since I love Montmartre and have been there many times, Isaiah let me lead the tour. We got to all the sites I thought were important – without walking up the steep steps in front of the basilica. Some students visited the basilica of the Sacred Heart (le Sacré Cœur), and a few even went to the top to see the panorama. Lunch was on their own (in groups) before we headed to the Louvre for a three-hour visit.

The Louvre has strict rules as to who can guide tours. Neither Isaiah nor I qualified. I know my way around the museum having visited many times. (Of course, they keep changing things around just to confuse me.)

Three hours isn’t really a lot of time for the Louvre. However, on not much sleep and 20,000 steps, many students began to tire. So, we tried to take it easy the rest of the day.

We visited the Sainte Chapelle, the small chapel Louis IX had built to house the crown of thorns and a piece of the “True Cross,” that he picked up on a crusade to the holy land in the 1200s. It is also known for its towering stained-glass windows.

Several students wanted to visit Shakespeare and Company, the English-language bookstore across the river from Notre Dame Cathedral. We others rested in a nearby park while they shopped. Students are at various restaurants in the neighborhood. We headed back to the auberge early that night.

On the steps of the Sacré Cœur

Life imitates art - at least Verl
imitates art.

Sara's feet gave her trouble the whole time
in Paris.

Katie as 16th century sculpture.

Light reflected from the pyramid.

Again, Verl imitates...

This is a museum within the 
Louvre.

The amazing architecture of the Pyramide du Louvre

Is it a selfie if Monsieur
Michel takes the 
Picture?

Group photo!

La Sainte Chapelle

This once housed the relics.

The ceiling

Architecture of the Palais de Justice, which 
surrounds the Sainte Chapelle.

Our students passing time in the park by Shakespeare & Co,

Chillin' on the platform, waiting for our train.

Our Tuesday began at the Jardin des Plantes, a huge garden that features a zoo, a museum of evolution and another of minerals. We had our picnic lunch there.

From there, we walked to the Grand Mosque of Paris. It was probably the first time any of us had visited a mosque. It is absolutely beautiful. Only the faithful can enter the worship part of the building, but the rest was open to us.

Because the Muslim religion requires modesty, our girls who wore shorts and/or bare midriff tops were offered colorful wraps. Our girls looked nice in them, if a bit mis-matched.

From there, we went to the Panthéon. Built as a church, it is now a mausoleum for some of the great statesmen, scientists, authors, and artists of France. There are some women buried there (Marie Curie) and even an American (Josephine Baker).

Our day was made complete with our ascent to the top of the Eiffel Tower (thanks to the hard work of Marie-Odile). Getting there involved a Métro trip across two thirds of Paris and a crowded walk of about 10 minutes. However, passing through security and the ticket kiosk and getting on the elevator was the smoothest I have ever experienced.

It’s always crowded getting to the top, but experiencing the views is totally worth it. In the past, I have usually ascended at night. But this late afternoon ascent was stunningly beautiful! The students were very excited. There were more than a few selfies created!

We did a quick detour to see the Arc de Triomphe and the top of the Champs-Élysées before we headed back to the Kellerman area for dinner, then to the auberge for packing and do-do (sleep).

At the zoo at the Jardin des Plantes

Verl?

No idea what the animal is, but he's cool.

Checking out the neighbors

The main garden with the museum of evolution
in the background.

The great hall of the Grand Mosque

We were free to move about.

"Don't take my picture! I don't match!"

The gardens of the mosque

The tower from which the call to 
prayer is broadcast.

Katie liked the flowers and maybe the wrap.

The ceiling of the Panthéon

A monument to one of the revolutionary governments.

Voltaire

Josephine Baker

Marie and Pierre Curie

Resistance Fighter Jean Moulin

Writer André Malraux's dog rests at his side.

The famous author, Victor Hugo

Playright and author Émile Zola

Memorial for Antoine de Saint Exupery, whose body
was never recovered.

Looking up at the 1re étage

This is way more orderly than it looks.

Going up!

And up!

Looking west

Andra

Tight quarters on top!

Looking north

Find the Arc de Triomphe.

The Grand Palais and the Petit Palais.

Les Invalides with the Église du Dôme. Can you spot
Notre Dame?

I spy...

Ailyn

Looking south to the Champs de Mars and the
École Militaire

I think Dorothy likes the Métro

Aux Champs-Élysées...

According to my Fitbit, we averages 24,220 steps per day for our two and one-half days in Paris. That is about 11 miles per day. In Saumur, I averaged about 15,000 steps per day. That’s about 6.5 miles. I’m so proud of these students for all that physical effort. And it was not cool in Paris. It was nowhere near as hot as last summer, but it was not cool.

Wednesday morning, we got to the airport in plenty of time. And thank goodness, because it took all the time we had. I won’t go into detail about all of our delays. Suffice it to say, overweight baggage is not worth the time or the money.

We got to fly Air France back home. The up side to that was cabin stewards who spoke French to us and good food!

This summer, the students have made life-long friends with their host families and with one another. I know that I will never forget this group of young people. And I will always have friends in Saumur!