Week 3

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 two excursions this week, which is unusual.

On Wednesday, we started at Pointe Saint Mathieu, which is called “Le Bout du Monde,” the end of the world. It’s true that west of this point, there are just a few islands until you get to North America.

There are ruins of an ancient abbey at the point. As is often the case in France, the modern exists with the ancient. The abbey was built in the 11^th century and accompanying church were destroyed in an attack by the British (les sales anglais!) in the 1500s. They weren’t rebuilt. Today, at one end of the ruins is a lighthouse and at the other, a modern radar station. There is also a monument to soldiers who died in the two world wars.

And, like much of this northern coast, there are rocky outcroppings with the Atlantic splashing dramatically among them. Our students seem to want to go there first.

This part of the coast was also part of Hitler’s Atlantic wall of defense. So, there is a pathway that leads among old gun emplacements.

Somehow, Shanena, Aiko and Brooke got off the path and onto private property and got chased by a dog. How does this happen? They’re teenagers, I guess that' s how.

Then we were off to the small town of Le Conquet, which translates to “The Conquest.” But I could never figure out what conquest was involved. But for us, lunch was involved.

It’s a beautiful small town situated right on the shore. We ate our lunch overlooking a beach, watching kids play there.

Then we were off to Chateau Kerougadz, a restored manor house that originally dated from the 1600s. Their website said that they offered unguided visits. We discovered very quickly that that was not the case. Since we did not have a reservation, our visit to the chateau was abbreviated. Still, according to my FitBit, we walked nearly 19,000 steps in the course of the day.

Since we were to have a big day on Friday, we didn’t do sports on Thursday. Instead, we watched a French film, Les Choristes. It is a really amazing film. Even the students who had seen it in their French classes were enthralled. If you have not seen this film, I urge you to see if before your student returns home. It’s probably available on Netflix. Amazon Prime seems to want to sell you a DVD.

Friday, we left really early, 7AM, to head to Saint Malo, a city on the English Channel with almost the strongest tides in Europe. They’ve even built a hydroelectric dam to harness that power.

We visited the old city on the bay encircled by ancient walls. Much of the city inside the walls was destroyed by allied bombing during WWII. But the city was rebuilt in the style of the 18^th century.

I gave the students a challenge. The first to find the statue of Jacques Cartier and show me a picture would receive an ice cream. Cartier was the person who “discovered” Canada. He departed from Saint Malo.

Of course, Kenneth’s group was the first. They pretty quickly figured out that if they followed “Rue Jacques Cartier” it would lead them to the statue.

When we have visits like this, we teachers like to give the groups of students a bit of independence so they aren’t always with us. So imagine our surprise as Corentin, Jane and I were walking atop the ramparts, when we saw a group of our students running toward us. It was Kenneth’s group.

The students toured the city and ate their lunch in front of the ancient city gates.

Then it was off to Mont Saint Michel. If you do not know what this site is, it is worth Googling it. There is too much history for me to present much of it here.

It’s a granite island that has held a religious site since 710 AD. We walked all the way up to the abbey at the top, which dates from the 1200s. I don’t know how many steps there were to get to the abbey, but I know that this old man wasn’t the only one sweating and out of breath.

We had an amazing visit through the abbey and the small town around it. All too soon, we had to head back to Brest. The bus ride was almost three hours, but Corentin lead a rousing game of Lou-Garrou, that took up much of the time. It’s a game of the imagination that involves, were-wolves, sorcerers, mayors and lots of other figures. Corentin could become a film or theatre director if this linguistics thing doesn’t work out.

I don’t know if I have expressed this to you families, but in 13 years of teaching French to high school students, this work is the most important thing that I do.

In my regular teaching, out of 80-100 students each year, I might actually reach four or five - actually make a difference in their lives.

With IUHPFL, I feel that I make a difference in the lives of each and every one of these students. These are the best language students in the state of Indiana. And I have the privilege of working with them for five straight weeks, all day long.

And these students make a difference in my life. They inspire me.

So, thanks for making all of this happen for them.

First...

Second...

Brooklyn demonstrates.

Almost everyone is getting it.

Just follow Aiko!

Nineth has it down.

Everyone is trying...kind of.

Jane leads yoga.

Brooke demonstrate defensive tactics.

She's a beast!

Someone is showing attitude...

And form!

The shoreline at Pointe Saint Mathieu.

The ruins of the abbey.

The lighthouse.

The explorers.

Not sure what the girls found so interesting.

Voilà mon chip!

Inside the ruins.

Imagine the grandeur that was.

Interior.

The students began to explore.

Good place for reflection.

A monument to those who
died for France in the wars.

More smiling faces.

Smiling faces

I've trained them to seek the camera.

In front of the 12th century doors of the church,
all that is left of it.

Pigeon always gets into the act.

Abagail lends a hand.

More reflection.

Emily is actually on top of a German WWII
bunker.

A little nap after lunch.

I think I woke them up.

Harmon is happy with the
purchase of a huge bag.

On the streets of Le Conquet.

In front of the château.

In the courtyard of the château.

This was Friday morning where we gathered to
board the motor coach for our trip. Jane
called it an "Instagram moment."

In front of the ancient doors of Saint Malo. (I don't know why 
I chose a spot with a huge shadow.)

The streets of Saint Malo.

More street scenes.

There are ships and boats all around the city.

A dike protects the harbor.

As do cannons.

Monsieur Cartier.

The cathedral in the center of
the city, rebuilt and rededicated
in 1972.

We kept bumping into the students.

They're happy with Corentin's directions.

Lunch time!

Yum!

Ice cream.

More ice cream.

And more ice cream.

The Jacques Cartier group.

Le Mont Saint Michel.

In front of the famous Mont Saint Michel.

Note the seagull.

This has become a thing.

At the very top.

In front of the church of the abbey.

It wasn't really cold.

The light was just beautiful...so were the kids.

I did not pay the seagull to pose. (And even though Pigeon
looks like a duck to me, I've been informed that he is,
indeed, a pigeon.)

Poppies are everywhere in Northern France

Some people don't seem pleased about the wait
for the navette back to the motor coach.
It really wasn't that long.

High tide in Brest when we
returned.