le dernier jour

Bonjour (or bonsoir, depending on when you are reading this). This is Hannah Ticoras taking over the blog for our last day in Quebec (the city) and Quebec (the province) whose name (Quebec, Quebec), I agree, is very confusing. This, I guess is hypocritical, but c’est la vie.

This morning’s wake up was difficult for everyone after a late night on the ferry and the Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec. Spirits were rising as we got on the bus after a quick breakfast this morning.

Our day started at Montmorency Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in North America at a whopping 276 feet. For comparison, that’s like if you stacked a MTA bus (nose to tail) on top the Barclays Center, and then stacked THAT on top of Niagara Falls (172 feet). Pretty dang tall.

View from the top of the falls!

Monmorency dumps about 10 thousand gallons of water per second over it’s falls (parse compared to the ~757, 500 gallons per second over Niagara), BUT we were able to see it from two beautiful views: from the top and the bottom. (Take that Niagara!)

Photo from the top (very water-y).

Photo from the bottom (very mist-y).

Usually, there are panoramic stairs that allow visitors to gain access to a full side view of the Falls, as well as a tram that takes you up the side, neither of which we took (the stairs were closed to renovation). However, this did not stop our kids from running AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to the roar of the water, resulting in many, many damp children.

“No regrets!” they exclaimed, as they emerged dripping from the water. And it didn’t seem like there were any at all.

No regrets here.

Nor here.

The mist off the falls is famous, gaining the name le «pain de sucre» for the icing sugar effect the freezing mist has on the surrounding rocks in the wintertime. Imagine the First Peoples that discovered this waterfall, and the surprise of the Europeans when they arrived to explore and colonize this land. One cannot help but be awestruck.

On the way to our next destination, I asked our tour guide, Chuck, to explain the difference between the words chateau, maison and chez, all of which I had heard used to describe places where people live.

“Chateau is a castle,” he explained, like the Chateau du Frontenac we saw yesterday. Maison, that’s just a house. And Chez, well, that basically means at. So it means you’re at someone’s place. Like if I were to say Chez Gaston, that would mean it was Gaston’s place. Which is why many restaurants use this in their title, including the place were are going to, Chez Marie.”

Chez Marie, located in the Château-Richer region and housed in a stone house dating back to 1652, is a bakery and boutique owned for 90 years by grandmother, and now granddaughter Marie Mercier (they share the same name). Each day, Marie bakes bread for hungry travelers and groups alike, smothered in, you guessed it, maple butter. We ate our mid-morning snack amongst wooden benches and old hockey memorabilia, an experience that can only be described as delightfully Canadian.

Serving up bread at Marie’s Place!

Before heading to lunch, we visited the St. Anne’s Basilica. Though the current Basilica was built in 1922, sacred chapels and churches have existed on this site for over 350 years. We were lucky enough to catch the end of a mass, and heard beautiful organ music as people left.

The main alter at St. Anne’s

 

The ceiling is all mosaic … incredible.

The stained glass surrounding the edge of the chapel commemorates other cities which have churches dedicated to St. Anne or, her daughter, St. Mary. The style of the font was very cool and struck me as distinctively of the Art Deco movement.

Geeky art moment with the stained glass.

Lunch was a quick one, as we still had 2 museum visits and final shopping time to budget in. Our first museum was the Albert Gilles Copper Museum where we learned the process of mining copper from the ground, saw beautiful art from around the world, and witnessed a demonstration of the necessary technique for making intricate designs. We also learned that the U.S. is the 4th largest purchaser of copper worldwide!

Learning about copper!

Next stop was Le Museé de la Civilisation, a wonderfully modern museum situated on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. Students had a choice of 4 exhibitions, most notably one titled C’est nostre historie about the past and present lives of First Nations and Indigenous Peoples in the Quebec region. Students made connections to their prior knowledge of Indigenous People’s in the Americas from their Humanities curriculum in 7th grade, and observed the challenges and victories that still face Indigenous Peoples to this day. An video installation titled Living in the City: The Art of the City demonstrated this beautifully. Created by an Indigenous man living in Montreal, the video depicts various people rowing boats down roughly drawn streets, highlighting the disconnect between the two cultures. The students picked up on this disconnect as well, noting that the separation between the native land and the city makes things challenging, especially when there are more jobs in the city.

With a final bit of time of shop and socialize in Old Quebec, we stopped off for our final dinner at Café De Paris. Our appetizer of veggie soup was accompanied by a accordion player who miraculously played the most uplifting version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah that we have ever heard. (Mark and I both agreed that this cover is our favorite). After dinner found us back at our hotel, packing and searching desperately for that one lost sock.

44 kids, 5 adults, 1 bus driver and a tour guide. All in all, this trip has been fantastic. Traveling to new places can be stressful and blissful and existential and exciting and earth-shattering and overwhelming and life-affirming. This trip was all of those things. If I am left with one understanding, it is of the importance of the amalgamation of the old and the new. Listening to 7th graders from Brooklyn discuss their ideal tax bracket structure while descending hills in Old Quebec. Witnessing natural wonders like the Montmorency Falls while questioning the role that Britain and France had on Indigenous People who lived there. Getting half a bus to dance to a pop song from 2003 after leaving a 350-year-old Basilica (thanks to our tour guide Chuck for that).

Growing is about learning, and learning is all about making connections, about forging new paths while not obfuscating those that came before. I hope that this trip was a new path for our students, and that it introduced them to histories, cultures, and ways of life outside of their own and that, ultimately, it helps them to make their own story of the future.

I also cannot wait to see my cat.

One breakfast and 10 bus hours away from all of you in New York. Wish us luck and safe travels. Bonne nuit!

Quebec City!

Quebec City, Days 1 and 2

Yesterday morning we awoke at the crack of dawn (fine… more like 7:00), showered, ate a quick breakfast, and boarded the bus for the 2.5 hour drive north east towards the capitol of Quebec, which is confusingly also named Quebec. (Think of the way that we live in New York, but also in New York. It’s like that). After a quick stop for lunch at a truck stop that had some surprisingly mediocre coffee, we continued north east through flooded fields of corn, a reminder of the recent rains that have pummeled the region and left spring nearly a month late in coming. We pulled into Quebec and headed straight for the Chateau Frontenac, which was built from 1893 to 1924 in five distinct phases, each highlighted by the slightly differently colored bricks. (As an aside, these bricks were obtained virtually for free by the Canadian Pacific Railway, as they were brought to Canada for little purpose beyond adding weight to ships bringing good from places like Scotland and England. Effectively, they were largely seen as a waste product of the burgeoning shipping industry which could be repurposed with little trouble.

From here, students had the opportunity to do a little lunch hunting on Rue Sainte-Jean, home to what is inarguably the greatest poutine in the world (anybody who says otherwise is itching for a fight) at Asher, where many of our kiddos popped in to try this Canadian treat. Some even bucked all tradition and went for the poutine with chocolate and marshmallows. Surprisingly, it was not awful. After a short walk through the Old Latin Quarter, past the former campus of Lavalle University, we moved down towards the Place Royale, which has been referred to as the Cradle of Canada, the home of Notre Dame (again…), and, somewhat interestingly, a bust of Louis 14. As it happens, Louis 14 played a pivotal, if controversial, role in the development of French Canada by offering to pay the dowry of some 300 young women, known today as les Filles du Roi, if they would relocate from France to Quebec and find a husband. Of course, the assumption was that these women would spend much of the rest of their lives bearing children, and it was not abnormal for a family to have upwards of 15 children, in part as a result of pressure from the Catholic Church to increase the family size and as a result the size of population of French speaking Canadians. Our guide took time to explain that it was this sacrifice, in part, that was honored by Canada the celebration of Women’s Day, a holiday celebrated internationally to honor the sacrifices women have made, advocate for gender equality, and celebrate the successes of women in the arts, science, and other professions. 

 

A bust of Louis XIV in Place Royale.

Notre Dame des Victories in Place Royale.

Of note is the fact that the Place Royale has not always held the honored place that it does today in Canadian life. During the 1960s and 70s it fell into disrepair, and there was talk of demolition. Instead, it was restored, and during excavation evidence of Native settlements as old as 5000 years was discovered, further highlighting the role that Native Canadians played in helping to shape what is today Quebec City. 

Then, after checking into our hotel, we boarded the bus and drove approximately 45 minutes outside of the city to a Cabane a Sucre, namely Érablière du Lac-Beauport. Here, we learned about the ways that maple water, extracted from one specific variety of maple tree is harvested (with a taille, chalumeau, and tubular today instead of the traditional bucket in a tree), cooked, and refined from maple water into taffy, syrup, and butter (which isn’t actually butter but is absolutely amazing). One of the major take-aways here, again, was the role that Native Canadians played in the discovery of the maple water. According to legend, a hunter shot an arrow and struck a tree while searching for food. Later, he returned to the same place to find a squirrel licking the water coming from the notch the arrow made. He collected some of the maple water, brought it back to his camp, and included it in his dinner. The rest, well, is delicious history.

A display illustrating the discovery of maple water.

We also listened to some traditional Quebecois fiddle music, ate meat pies with maple syrup, danced, and made frozen taffy desserts by pouring hot taffy onto a popsicle stick and rubbing it in some snow. We congregated around a beautiful fire, enjoyed our desserts, and headed home, exhausted, but full and happy. 

Learning about Maple Sugar production.

Playing spoons!

A lovely fire.

Day Two began bright and early, as we headed towards Académie Sainte-Marie, a public secondary school in the Beauport neighborhood of Quebec. We were greeted by a group of students involved in an intensive study of English, and immediately ushered into teams of both Americans and Canadians. Over a series of games involving idioms in both languages, songs, and a scavenger hunt, we got to know a little bit of the way that our Quebecois friends experience school and language acquisition. We played soccer during a break, exchanged Instagram handles (our students were writing each other this evening once we returned to the hotel!), and conversed in both French and English for the entire morning.

Soccer. Erm… Football is universal.

A short table tennis break.

The visit was, honestly, a massive success. Afterwards, BHS students kept mentioning how much they enjoyed it, and we’re already scheming with Ms. Desbiens from ASM for next year. One of the pieces that stood out was just how much the ASM students practice English. They have 9 periods of English instruction per week, in addition to their other course load. However, it’s a testament to the work being done at ASM, because the entire production was planned and executed by the students in lieu of their final project. If that isn’t real world knowledge application, I don’t know what is.

After a short lunch in the Petit Champlain neighborhood in the old town, we went on a short walking tour of the fortifications that surround the city, and took in this view:

Honestly, it was stunning. Here, we could see the narrowest point of the Saint Lawrence river, which, in Algonquin, was called “kébec” (yes, I had to Google the spelling), and translates roughly to “where the river narrows.” For a river that is over 70 miles wide in parts, it is astonishing to see it seem so small.

Then, after a short dinner, we closed out the night with a gorgeous sunset ride on a river ferry to the Île d’Orléans to take in the view.

It was a stunning end to a busy day, filled with new friends, history, a few chances to grab a gift for family members, and, importantly, a look into what makes this city so wonderful.

Bonne Nuit.

 

Notre Dame That’s A Huge Pipe Organ.

In our last full day in Montreal today we managed to re-enact one of the early 2000s cult classic documentary films, Marc Singer’s Dark Days. Except without any real darkness. Or living in abandoned tunnels. Or any of it, really. In truth, we were able to experience part of the Montreal underground in all of its confusing, labyrinthine glory. Montreal has over 30 km of linked underground commons, commerce, and passageways (check out this insane map for a sense of the sheer scale of the underground), in a nearly constant state of growth and expansion since the first sections were made in 1962 with the construction of Place Ville Marie (named for the original French name for the settlement which would later become Montreal). Place Ville Marie, as an aside, cuts a remarkable cross-shaped silhouette from Mont Royal, in reference to the city’s deep Catholic roots. All that said, the underground did not disappoint in its size (though we had secretly hoped to find some mutants or something), though the section that we found ourselves in was filled with a lot of the same shops that one would expect to find in a decent mall in the New York area or just somewhere on Fulton. Still, the indoor fountains were a welcome touch, and the skylights throughout helped the space maintain an open feeling, despite being nearly five stories below ground at points.

Afterwards, we split into a few groups for lunch, wandering through the city’s side streets in search of lunch. (I may have convinced a few adventurous souls to try omasum in their pho…). We perused a few shops, then headed to Notre Dame for a look at the incredible space. We began with a short tour of the historic church, first constructed in the 1600s but later demolished to make way for the one that sits on the grounds today. Construction began in 1824, continuing until 1843 with the raising of the second tower, but the interior, all made of wood — largely because that was the most plentifully available resource — took another 17 years of hand carving and painting (in so much gold leaf!) to complete.

Interestingly, we learned that the front altar did not always exist as it looks today. Originally there was a window in the space, but because Notre Dame faces east, early masses resulted in the blinding of the congregants. The result was to block up the window and replace it with the altar that is there today, which limited the light severely. The solution was to install rose windows (pictured below with the organ) in the ceiling, which could only be done because the church was made from wood, and the ceiling did not have a capstone as in many of the European cathedrals. One other interesting bit: the priest did not deliver the message from the front, as in most Catholic churches, but from a raised lectern in the middle of the church. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, were the topics of the stained glass windows throughout the church. Rather than depict Christian history, as most do, the stained glass here depicted instead the history of the church in Montreal specifically, beginning with Maisonneuve dragging a cross up Mont Royal, to the nun Jeanne Mance who founded the city’s first hospital, to Kateri Tekakwitha, a member of the Mohawk tribe, and the first Native saint. The history of the place was undeniably rich, and uniquely focused on a portion of the story that is Montreal in a way that was unexpected. Still, for many of our students, one little piece of information stood out: the pipe organ, one of the largest of its kind, is made up not only of the pipes that were visible to the naked eye, which numbered perhaps a few dozen, but also another five rooms worth of pipes, totally more than 7000 individually constructed, bespoke pieces. I suppose there’s a metaphor here about there being more to places than meets the eye, something about history, but I’ll leave it for you to mull over, just as our students have throughout the trip so far.

Mont Royal is Montreal is Mont Royal. Or something like that.

Day Two in Montreal was nothing short of a whirlwind, with a few improvised moments, and my second favorite view of the trip. Our day ended with a trip up Mont Royal, the place which, as we learned on a tour this morning from a lovely woman named Cecile, was where Jacques Cartier, in 1535, climbed up to get a better view of the Lachiene rapids on the Saint Lawerence River. He named the hill (seriously, it’s a hill — highest elevation: under 800 feet) Mont Royal, in the name of the King of France, and, according to our lovely guide, it was that name which eventually became Montreal.

The mountain (hill) itself looks down not only on the modern downtown and Vieux Montreal beyond it, but also, on its slope towards the city, McGill University, which we will be visiting later this week. McGill, founded fur and timber magnate James McGill in 1821 on the grounds of his enormous estate (his home had over 100 rooms and would become part of the early campus), is one of four premier universities located in Quebec. With a population of 2 million, nearly 200,000 of those are students, and it was evident as we drove through Le Plateau, a neighborhood build consisting of young students. Coffee shops and thrift stores abounded, and it felt every bit the way one wishes the Village felt today.

Later, after driving through some older neighborhoods (all with their staircases outdoors so as to allow for more interior space), we arrived in Vieux Montreal. This section of the city dates back over 400 years, though it is no longer used as a port of any real activity. Instead, the waterfront houses a science museum, an IMAX theatre, a giant ferris wheel, and some adventure activities such as zip lining.

I treated myself to some poutine (which was promptly devoured by a swarm of our young women) from one of the food trucks lining the port while some of our kiddos treated themselves to a ride up the ferris wheel, with its enormous views of the city, the islands of Sainte-Helene and Notre Dame (which, our guide informed us earlier, was constructed from the dirt and rock removed from beneath Montreal during the construction of the underground city. There are over 30 km of connect underground spaces beneath the city, some descending several stories below the city, housing everything from barbershops to groceries to movie theatres. (There’s even a grocery beneath our hotel!). These spaces grew largely out of a need to stay out of the elements during the winters here, and have expanded to an incredible degree. We’re going to explore some of them on Monday.

After a short rest at the hotel we headed up Mont Royal, just as the sun was setting on the city, grabbed a photo, and headed back down to get some much needed shut eye.

Lots more later. Time to get ready for the day.

 

So we’ve arrived…

After nearly a million years/miles on the road (okay, it was only 8 hours or so), we arrived at the New Residence Hall at McGill University, our home away from home for the next few days. We met Chuck (more on him tomorrow), got our kiddos assigned to their rooms with little to-do, and marched off (in a bus, driven by Brian… more on him tomorrow, too) to Vieux Montreal and a little bistro called Papillion. The food was cooked prepared by these guys:

Chicken, pasta, pretty standard fare, and a fine chocolate mousse for dessert. But, in truth, today was about the drive, meeting new friends, and learning a little about Montreal. For instance, as we drove up boulevard Saint-Laurent, the road which divides East and West Montreal, our guide Chuck informed us that we were literally driving through history. Because new communities formed by settling further and further up from the old port, up toward Mont Royal (more on that tomorrow, too), we could make some observations about the rough time frames during which immigrant communities arrived in Montreal with relation to each other. For example, because of the extremely close proximity of Montreal’s China Town to the port, we can see how early Montreal’s Chinese community began to coalesce. In fact, according to Chuck, there is currently a movement in Quebec to ensure that the contributions of the Chinese immigrants are more fully recognized. Pretty cool, really. I’ll be dragging kiddos through this neighborhood later this week, and eating some spectacularly good Vietnamese food. In French.

Anywho, we’re all exhausted. Delirium has set in for some of our kiddos (they still aren’t quite settled in… all the excitement total junk food on the bus…), and I need to sleep.

Bonne nuit,

Mark

These kids…

I always knew that going to visit the middle school here in France was going to be my favorite day, because it’s the day where the kids get the biggest taste of the differences in our two worlds outside of their experience in their host family. They arrived at school yesterday morning, and after a quick briefing from myself and Mr. Isakson, they were sent into classes in groups of two, three, and in some cases just one student on their own. They observed two hours of classes, so two different classes, some French classes, some PE classes, some history classes, some science classes. I was thrilled to hear from most of the teachers in the break between the two classes, that a great number of our students readily participated in the lessons, and even tried to speak French, and those need a Francophones were trying to help their non-native friends understand and participate as well.

In between classes in France, kids have a 15 minute break in an area called la récré, where they can relax, use their phones, and talk to their friends. This is also the only moment of the day when they can use the restroom, a big difference for our students as they’re used to being able to be at liberty and all of their classes. The 15 minute pause between classes, was also a huge shock for them, as there used to the hustle and bustle of three minute class changes at home.

After classes, we headed to the cafeteria for my favorite moment of the day, French lunch! Seeing our kids faces light up at the offerings of what they had to eat, being able to choose between a caramel cream for a fresh piece of fruit, fish or fried chicken, potatoes au gratin and salad, having to go fill up a pitcher of water to bring to the table so they could all serve you all together, and even having a sauce station for their food was just too much! They had so much to say about that!

After lunch we did a debriefing in our American style, in which the kids were in a circle and passed talking piece around while another student noted the conversation on the board. The commentary on diversity, teacher-student relationships, the willingness of students, the pedagogy of how students learn, which is incredibly different from our stylet BHS by the way, were incredibly thought provoking and astute for students their age. After our discussion, the principal and vice principal came in to give a discussion on the school, the expectations of student behavior, and the separation of church and state that exists in France. Our kids were surprised to learn that in this MS, drinking, eating and using cellphones is strictly prohibited, to the point where if any of those infractions occur, a parent needs to come to school for a meeting with the administration. They learned that students have two hours of classes followed by a ten minute recération, then two more hours, followed by an hour pause for lunch, then two more hours, followed by a fifteen minute recréation, and then the final two hours of the day. At Jacou, students are only allowed to use the restroom and talk to other students during recréation, they are not allowed to leave campus without an adult to accompany them, and the rules of discipline are strictly enforced by a vie scolaire, or student life, administration. They had so many good questions and in particular about about laïcité, or the separation of church and state. In France, not observing or making space for and representation of religion in school, is part of the daily norm. Their ears really perked up at this, and they immediately began asking questions such as, “what if a student is Muslim and they want to wear a hijab,” “what if a teacher is,” “what if a student needs to leave for prayers on Friday afternoon, then what?” One student also asked the most pertinent question marking the lack of diversity in the school, and wanted to know how the admissions process worked and why there weren’t very many students of color. Seeing the emphasis they placed on respecting the values of other traditions made me feel like we’re really doing something right as a community. However, they were shocked to find, that from the French perspective, not observing any religious holidays or codes, was, from their point of view, also representative of equality. It’s a conversation we continued to have long after the meeting.

We then took a nice 25 minute jaunt to the tram and headed in to Montpiliar for our walking tour of the town. We allowed the kids about an hour and a half of free time to explore, buy souvenirs, buy ice cream, and just be in France on their own. We situated ourselves at a central location and had a great time watching them run back-and-forth and figure out how to do things on their own. We then proceeded to our walking tour, which ended with a trip up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Montpilier which had fantastic views of the entire town. We also learned that this arc was actually the original that the arc we saw in Paris was modeled after. It made those two days in Paris seem all worth it all over again. We left them at host families for the night and most of them are off already on their activities for the day.

Tomorrow we’ve given the option to come into town and do brunch with myself and Mr. Isakson, but we also left the option open to spend the day and families since we missed the first two days. I’ve been thrilled to see, as I am now a member of the French parents WhatsApp, parent messages everywhere in every language :), that most of them will be staying in their French families tomorrow. It just makes me that much more proud of the work that we’ve done and the way that that we’ve prepared them that they’re not only willing but excited to spend another day in an exchange family without their friends or their teachers. I am so proud of them and so proud of the work that we do in this program, thank you for all that you give us and them and for believing in this project. It’s the reason why we do what we do. Have a great day everyone!

 

The best day

After a GLORIOUS 8 hours of sleep we were up and off to meet our Frenchies for the day to head down to Nîmes and les Salins d’Aigues-Mortes for a fabulous day of history and science!

Nîmes, a city in the Occitanie region of southern France, was an important outpost of the Roman Empire and is known for  Roman monuments. Yesterday we visited the Arena of Nîmes, a double-tiered circa-70 A.D. amphitheater still in use for concerts and bullfights and the Maison Carrée, a white limestone Roman temple around 2,000 years old.

Phillipe, one of the French chaperones and Art Teacher, is a super fan of history, as is yours truly, so he had already prepared a whole walking tour with historical stops. We spent the morning ambling around visiting sites. We learned that The city derives its name from that of a spring in the Roman village. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COL NEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the “colony” or “settlement” of Nemausus, the local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici. Veterans of the Roman legions who had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns, at the end of fifteen years of soldiering, were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes. In order to cultivate culture and ensure the Roman longevity of the city, the arena was erected for games and sporting events. The reason why such monuments still stand, is because they have stood the test of time and been able to evolve their purpose over time. The Maison Carrée for example, has served as the seat of government, the city archives, a housing facility and now a museum on the history of Nîmes. In addition, Nîmes is known for it’s sports. Many students were enticed by the history of the Gladiators. We finally arrived at our lunch destination, Jardins de la Fontaine. Below is pictured Les Quais de la Fontaine, the embankments of the spring that provided water for the city, the first civic gardens of France, were laid out in 1738–55.

After lunch, we hopped back on the bus to head down to Les Salins of Aigues-Morte. In 791, Charlemagne erected the main tower in the city center (photo below) amid the swamps for the safety of fishermen and salt workers. The purpose of this tower was part of the war plan and spiritual plan which Charlemagne granted at the Benedictine abbey. At that time, the people lived in reed huts and made their living from fishing, hunting, and salt production from several small salt marshes along the sea shore. In 1240, Louis IX, who wanted to get rid of the influence of the Italian navy for transporting troops to the Crusades, focused on the strategic position of his kingdom. He wanted direct access to the Mediterranean Sea. He obtained the town and the surrounding lands by exchange of properties with the monks of the abbey. Residents were exempt from the salt tax which was previously levied so that they can now take the salt unconstrained. The walls around the city are incredibly well preserved and the land surrounding Aigues-Mortes are the salt marshes from which sel de mer balaine (http://www.labaleine.fr) a salt we all know and love, comes from.

Our next stop, was a tour of said lovely salt marshes in a fantastic white train that drove around the entire property for an hour, well a little more than because a particular student dropped their iPhone on the trail along the way and a we needed to wait for another train to go pick it up!! Luckily, it was found and we headed on to the museum. We learned that fleur de sel, flower of salt, is a salt that forms as a thin, delicate crust on the surface of seawater as it evaporates. It has  been collected since ancient times and is used as a finishing salt to flavor and garnish food. The name comes from the flower-like patterns of crystals in the salt crust. It can only be collected when it is very sunny, dry, and with slow, steady winds and is thus produced in small quantities. Because of this and the labor-intensive way in which it is harvested, it is the most expensive of salts. We got to see the fleur de sel up close and the marshes around Aigues-Morte are particularly stunning in that because of how pink they are! Pink salt marshes are more common than you would think, but this one was particularly special because it has pink flamingos wading in the water and they match in color!

Tired, salty and ready for dinner. We headed back home on the bus to be greeted by our host families. I find such joy in seeing our kids run to greet their French parents or walk off into the sunset with their correspondents. All the awkwardness of the beginning of both weeks simply faded away and everyone heading off in their own directions as if it was something they had done for years before. The joy of the exchange is seeing how one they get over the hump, our kids can learn to find common ground despite language barriers, despite intercultural differences, and still bring joy, laughter and light to all those around them. This blog doesn’t really suffice to explain all the tiny moments spent with individual small groups talking about life and the world around us, to me, that’s what weighs the most, and it’s what they’ll take with them after we go.

Have a great night all!

SB

Mont…zzzzzz…ellier!!!

We did it! Hallelujah! Landed, finally and reunited with our French correspondents. After two days of Paris, we were up and off yesterday morning at 3:30 am. I must say, I was so impressed with all our young persons, walking downstairs off the elevator to see most of their shining faces ready to eat at 4am, was incredible. We’ve really put them through the ringer this week and they have come through with flying colors. While I know it’s been less than ideal for them to feel so exhausted, the conversations we have had surrounding fatigue, exhaustion, working through, adversity, responsibility and stepping up have all had a lasting effect on them. They haven’t really been “exchanging” with other people until today, but they’ve been ingesting so much more about life and it’s curveballs and how to handle what gets thrown at you. Bravo to them and many thanks to all of you for supporting us. I believe Mark said yesterday that it’s been like having our own cheerleading section across the ocean, and it really does feel like that. All of your messages, notes and jokes have been what has powered us through the last three days. So again, from the bottom of our sleep-deprived hearts, thank you!

After leaving the hotel, we proceeded over the footbridge to Orly Sud where we needed to catch a shuttle to Orly Ouest – a large source of my anxiety for the morning, I knew catching that shuttle on time was the decider if we’d make it on the plane or not. As we were coming down the bridge, lo and behold, the bus was rolling right up. I bellowed for everyone to “allez allez allez” and they followed in kind, little legs and suitcases wheeling away. I knew this was the sign from whatever place that everything was going to be ok yesterday, and I was right! Checked in at the airport, boarded and taken off on time, we were met by a small army of parents in cars who quickly whisked us off to the collège. Were were greeted by our correspondents standing at the school windows cheering because we were walking up. Again, having some French cheerleaders over here felt amazing. Everyone was so happy to see us, so many hugs, so many smiling parents and young people, it was like crossing the finish line at a marathon.

Once arrive, our sister school had prepared a petit breakfast of cakes and juice. We were welcomed by the Principal and Vice Principal of the school who gave a quick welcome speech, translated by a tired yours truly, and then we started to change for the day to set off to Lac du Crès. Putting our heads together as teachers, parents and administration, we decided the best idea for the day seeing the state of our kids, was to send some home immediately to sleep, to spend the morning with the rest of them doing exchange games to facilitate “getting to know you” again, and then to all head home for a nap before dinner. It was great to see how we started off with a French and an American side of the room and before 10 minutes, they were already playing games and laughing together. We set off with Madame Martinez, one of their physical education teachers, who had prepared our scavenger hunt.

We took a nice 30 minute nature walk to the local park called Lac du Crès, which is a nearby village to Jacou. Mme Martinez had arranged for our kiddos to do a sort of team building activity in which they had 40 minutes to run around the beautiful lake pictured below, and find 20 different “bornes” or stations which had different hole punches at each one. Once the kiddos were able to locate the bornes with their topographic maps, they had to match the corresponding number on the hole punch to the corresponding box on their paper and make a mark. They worked in pairs with their correspondants which made for some great exchange time and navigating of linguistic barriers. Despite the fatigue, all of the kids really seemed to enjoy the activity which then had a second and third “épreuve,” or challenge.

For the second challenge, the kids had to respond to 5 questions in French, however, the responses had to be written in English. This made for a lot of great gesturing for us to watch on our end as teachers. Finally, after completing that challenge, students had to run around the lake to find three objects, the feather of a duck, a sprig of thyme, and a branch from an olive tree (as they were surrounding the entire area).

The highlight of the day was post activity however, just watching them play together in the playground. AT on moment, all the adults looked around to remark the fact that every single group, with the exception of one small group of Americans, was mixed. French and English were flying left and right, children were shrieking with joy and having fun. It seemed to make all of the last two days fade into memory and remind me of why we do what we do. It’s been so nice to be “home” and finally get started on this journey of a million miles. Everyone headed home after for sleep, some for trampolining and others for lounging in the sun. We met back up for our family dinner, some having just woken up and ready already to go back to bed. We had a short but sweet exchange and most headed directly back home. Most decided the FISE would be too much for them and opted to possibly go another day during family time. I’ll post an updated schedule of our next few days here this evening.

We’re off to Nimes and les Salins today. Yay!

Photos to follow tonight!

Day 2 in Paris…

After a much needed sleep, we were off to the races this morning. Battle gear on, Mark managed to secure us a hotel, lunch, dinner and breakfast for today and tomorrow morning. Company move down to Orly sud. For those of you unfamiliar with Paris geography, Orly Sud is a good 45 min car ride, 1 h 15 bus ride. Some *cough* kids took advantage of their down time at the airport this morning to work on their school work, others also slept. It was like we had our own little BHS hovel in a corner of CDG. Taking it all in stride, we unloaded at the hotel, quickly switched gears and jumped on the Orly Bus for Paris proper. I particularly enjoyed this portion of the trip, since I needed to buy 30 tickets for a bus all at once and the kids all paid me and lined up to board the bus in seconds. No small feat to purchase tickets and load 30 of us onto a bus in a 4 minute turn around, I think we might be getting good at this air strike thing!

Once in Paris, we took a jaunt up to Jardin de Luxembourg – located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was created beginning in 1612 by Marie de’ Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France, for a new residence she constructed, the Luxembourg Palace. The garden today is owned by the French Senate, which meets in the Palace. It covers 23 hectares and is known for its lawns, tree-lined promenades, flowerbeds, model sailboats on its circular basin, and picturesque Medici Fountain, built in 1620. After a bit of free time, hot dogs and ice cream, we headed up to Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame. 

The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris and is the centre of Paris known as “old Paris” it is the location where the location where the medieval city was refounded. Home to Notre Dame, I was crushed to see how many of our young ones weren’t familiar with Quasi Modo, please make them watch the Hunchback of Notre Dame some time soon, it will put our minds at ease 🙂 We gave the kids some free time on the island, most taking advantage to buy souvenirs and post cards, some just taking it all in and observing the fête du pain, festival of bread, also taking place on the island. What could be more French than air strikes, rail strikes and a bread festival, seriously, can’t make it up.

Up for the painfully early call of 3:30am, 4am breakfast and shuttle to Orly Ouest for our 7am flight. Clearly taking no chances here, Paris you’re great, but we’re tired of you. Landing around 8:15am local time where a small army of parents have gathered to collect us. I was so touched when Mylene told me they had actually even offered to drive to Marseilles (way further south) to pick us up if we could get a flight there. They’re thrilled we’re coming and we can’t wait either. Drop of bags at school and off to Lac du Crès for our scavenger hunt and much awaited soccer match. Correspondents will head back to school and parents will collect suitcases while we head downtown for gelato and the start of le FISE – fésitval international des sports EXTRÊMES. This will no doubt be a big highlight for a lot of our young ones. We have correspondents dinner already tomorrow and then, much though we love them, will be happily sending your little ones home to their host families for the evening and getting some much needed shut eye.

See you right back here tomorrow!

SB

 

 

Ici, on fait la grève…

What. A. Day.

Well, we made it! After an uneventful first flight, we landed in CDG around 5:45 am local time. Mark and Martine set off with the kiddos to be fed and collect bags, while I set off to do battle for hotel rooms, per diem and shuttles.

2.5 hours later…

We were on the shuttle bus to our hotel. Bags dropped in the conference room, as it was still about 10am local time and rooms weren’t ready and we promptly turned right back around, baggy eyes and all, on our first experience of the RATP (French MTA) system while also on strike, fun! Thankfully, we had very uneventful travel, mostly due to the fact that half our kids zonked out on the RER train to downtown Paris. Had some lovely conversations about social cultural norms and differences we were noticing already…

“Ms. Brooks, they have to open their own metro doors???”

“Mr. Isakson, there’s a menu to order food from on the plane???”

“What is that horrific noise, why is there no air conditioning…”

They weren’t all complaints I assure you, but some great observations about how people interact with one another and speak to one another in public spaces. All in all, it was a lot to ask of our young people on a day when they were incredibly exhausted and they did beautifully! We got to visit la Tour Eiffel, buy a couple cheap key chain souvenirs (suffice it to say, those hustling souvenirs on the street have “no game” in comparison to our NYC street vendors according to the kids), have a bit of free time around the tower, eat an ice cream, meet Laszlo’s extended family, walk to the l’Arch de Triomphe and made it back to the hotel to check in, take showers and gorge ourselves on French buffet hotel food. I was so thrilled they had gratin dauphinois that I made everyone next to me try it.

Tomorrow marks another day of sightseeing in Lutèce, the city of lights, hopefully with a trip to Versailles, the palace of Louis the XIV, Roi de Soleil, and one of my all time personal favorites. I’ve already regaled Lelani, Sarah and Jayleen with my favorite highlights of the palace, they politely obliged me, but then made a beeline for the dessert station:)

We do, unfortunately, need to change hotels again tomorrow, as our next outbound flight is from Paris Orly, and not Paris CDG. More adventure on the transit system awaits! We miss you all and are so grateful for all your support on this improvised first part of our journey.

Bonne Nuit!