Wednesday was a pretty typical day for us; classes in the
morning, amazing lunch, and working on the family show in the afternoon. We’ve
now gotten Nineth a violin and Charlie a guitar. We’re still trying to figure
out getting the electronic keyboard from the music store to the building where
we have classes.
On Thursday morning, I took all three of my culture classes
to the Halles Saint Martin, which is a market like a farmer’s market, but
inside a building with permanent stalls and a covered area outside for
temporary stalls. Inside, mostly food is sold (fruits, vegetables, cheeses, two
butchers, a caterer, a Vietnamese caterer, a baker and a fish monger), while
outside are non-food items (second-hand clothes, toys, fabric, yarn, old vinyl
records, used books, even mattresses).
The real treat was the lady who made crèpes.
I didn’t take my camera with the first two groups because
it was raining really hard. But by the third group, I wasn’t worried about
expensive camera equipment anymore.
Thursday was another sports day. I really didn’t think it
could get better, but these kids are amazing. First, there was a full-on,
full-tilt soccer game. Then it turned into various volleyball exercises. Then
the kids discovered that there were gymnastics mats available. That released
all kinds of creative juices. I will let the images and videos speak for
themselves.
Friday was our excursion to the village of Locronan, the
city of Quimper and the amazing site of Pointe de Pin-Hir.
Our first stop was in the ancient village of Locronan.
France has a system of honoring its historic villages. Locronan has been named
“Petite Cité de Caractère” and one of the “Plus beaux villages de France” (one
of the most beautiful villages of France). The oldest commercial building in
Locronan dates from 1624, but there has been a settlement here since the 1200s.
The church of Saint Ronan was constructed between 1424 and 1480 and has been a
pilgrimage site ever since.
But our big deal was visiting the boulangerie “Le Guillou”
that has been owned by five generations of the same family. A gentleman there
showed us how the famous Kouign amann
is made. It’s literally a half pound of dough, a half pound of butter and a
half pound of sugar mixed and folded over and over to make a light, flaky,
rich, sweet pastry that has no compare in the world. We all bought a small
piece, but Maddie bought a whole one!
We pick-nicked in a small garden there then headed for the
city of Quimper, named a “ville fleurie” (a flowered city). It really is
beautiful with a beautiful cathedral at its heart. Unfortunately for us, it is
the “Cathédrale Saint Corentin,” which made our Corentin feel kind of special.
Unfortunately, it began to rain pretty hard. Our kids were
hearty souls and persevered. When we are on excursion like this, the students
are allowed to wander about as long as they are in groups of at least three.
They are usually in larger groups and don’t go far afield. I was with a group
of six that decided to get a coffee (under umbrellas on the outdoor terrace) then
to visit the museum of fine art.
We were given free admittance because several galleries
were closed because the hard rain was producing roof leaks. Unfortunately for
me was a gallery of contemporary photography.
Aside:
In just two weeks, I’ve shot over 800 photographs. I will make all of my images
assessible to everyone at the end of the program. I hope that the students will
contribute to that shared folder. Some of these students are very talented
photographers and are creating amazing images.
Our last stop was the amazing Pointe de Pen-Hir, a rocky
outcrop rising high above the Atlantic Ocean with amazing vistas of crashing
waves and colorful rock formations. Unfortunately, we only had 30 minutes
there, but our resilient students made the most of it.
Saturday was our optional excursion to Océanopolis, the
aquarium of Brest. It is divided into biomes; the way of the otter, the polar,
the tropical and the waters of Bretagne. The students loved the otters, the
penguins, the sharks, the rays and the eels.
Every year, I try to find better ways to photograph the
students enjoying this experience, but it’s difficult. The people areas are
dark and the animal areas are lighted. I’m not allowed to use a flash. So, I
never get really good pictures of the students. But I have great penguin
images.
That put a great period on a very, very busy week. I can’t
imagine next week, as we have two excursions – one to a manor house on
Wednesday, and a visit to the city of Saint Mâlo and the amazing Mont Saint
Michel.
À la crèpérie
Crèpes are the best!
Outside les Halles Saint Martin
Yum!
You can also get jam and honey there.
Crèpes Suzette
Merci Madame!
Soccer ball whisperer
Girls have moves.
Grand battle
Don't mess with Anna
Tall guys don't always win.
Girl Power
Oh! Oh!
Moves!
Impeccable!
Don't mess with Theryn!
Je l'ai!
À moi!
Oh, la la!
Charlie's on it.
Anyone can tumble, right?
Yup!
Some of us are more elegant.
It just takes upper arm strength.
And a lot of it.
See?
Handstand? No problem.
Walking on your hands, oh wow!
Apparently, Lucy tossing is now a sport.
Corentin said he wasn't good at gymnastics.
But Jane still has her moves!
Removing baguettes from the oven.
The gentleman who has given this demonstration for years had the day off, but came in just for us.
Just a half pound of salted butter...
A half pound of sugar...
Amazed looks from the kids.
Fold it into a half pound of dough.
Make it look nice.
Spread a little flour to make things work better.
Roll it out before passing it through the machine.
Any questions?
In front of the church of Saint Ronan
Crazy in front of the church of Saint Ronan
Saint Ronan in his crypt
Everyone who could had a Kouign aman.
In Locronan
Looking good in Locronan
Lunch time
They found a store that sold hand-made, stuffed ermines, the animal that is the symbol of Bretagne.
Lunch together
More lunch
And more lunch
In Quimper, the main square is named Saint Corentin.
He pointed this out several times.
Even in the rain, some people just have it.
Lucy: (in French) "Is there a coffee store?" Monsieur Michel: (in French) "A store that sells coffee to make?" Lucy: (still in French) "No a store that sells coffee to drink?" MM: (in French) "Do you mean a café? They're everywhere in France. Look around." This became the joke of the day. "Magasin café?"
Yes, it rained in Quimper.
Some people didn't care.
We had coffee, at a café, on the covered terrace, but we still needed umbrellas.
On the Pointe de Pen-Hir. It was kind of windy.
Just chillin'.
Évie, too.
This is so cool!
Sun, sea and me!
Charbie in her rock sofa.
A young man as strong as the symbol of French liberty just beyond him!
It's a place of rugged beauty.
An amazing experience.
And we're off again!
On the path of the otters at Océanapolis.
The otters are darn cute.
The otters seem to pose for the camera.
The penguins seem to be posing just like the stagiaires do.
The French have no sense of personal space.
In the tropical biome.
A fresh water ray.
The seals are always a hit.
Lucy, waiting for the seals to do something besides being cute.
It's been a long week.
The view outside my apartment of the port and the Brest inlet.
My gosh, it’s only Wednesday, and we have already done so much! Classes stated pretty well, with only four stagiaires getting lost on the way to school. (I found them.) Lots of information was shared and lots of questions asked. Questions are like gold nuggets to a teacher. These students are making us rich! Lunch was an adventure. We dine in a cafeteria that offers meals to residents of the various buildings in the Aile group, special groups like ours and the general public. The meals are really good and the portions are a bit overwhelming. They get their choice of a starter (shaved carrots, a slice of cantaloupe, radishes, potato salad, and on and on), choice of dessert, salad or cheese, and a choice of one of two main dishes with a side dish. No one goes hungry. Monday, several students chose as a starter what may have looked to them like bologna. But, it was “pâté de tête,” what my grandfather would have called “head cheese.” He loved it, our teenagers, not so much. Today
Week 3 has been incredibly busy. We started off, after classes, working on the family show. Aiko and Brooklyn have come up with choreography for the closing song, Cette Année Là. And it seems to be going quite well. The students are signing up for spots in the program. I hesitate to name names for fear of leaving someone out, but I’ll try. I know that Nineth is going to perform on the violin. Eli and Abagail are doing piano (electric keyboard) performances. Charlie is doing a guitar performance. Eli and Anna Charbie are doing a piece from Eugène Ionesco’s La Cantatrice Chauve (basically because I begged). There’s going to be some lip synching. I really don’t remember what all else, but it is shaping up to be an hour and 45 minutes of performance. The host families will love it. Tuesday, we did sports as usual. I haven’t included as many photos. I don’t want families at home to get the idea that sports is all we do in the afternoons. And sports is defined very loosely. We had tw
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