Équipe Brest 2022

At last, we boarded the coach for a trip directly to the Palace of Versailles, the home of French kings from Louis XIV to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It’s an over six-hour trip, so we made a few stops along the way. Sleep and songs and games and snacks helped pass the time until we drove up to the gold-adorned gates of the palace. The palace is one of the most visited tourist attractions in France, so there were a lot of people – many fewer than pre-COVID times, but still a lot. It becomes quite impossible to keep a group of 19+ people together as we visit. Ultimately, I park myself in the hall of mirrors and photograph each of our groups as they pass by me. We gathered ourselves in the courtyard outside the king’s bedroom before departing. Our ultimate Paris destination was the Auberge de Jeunesse Kellerman in the 13 th arrondissement of Paris. We got ourselves settled into our room assignments. Then it was off to dinner. The 13 th (neighborhood) includes “Chinatown,” ...

Saturday morning early saw the families and students gather at Moulin Blanc for our departure. As was expected, there were many tears. The students had grown close to their host families for over five weeks. The attachment is real and in many cases life-long. Of course, there were smiles as well. It's been a great summer after all... Pas de larmes! On les aime! Boys band, part 1. Well, maybe. The host families don't cry... Who says the French don't hug? Boys Band part 2 A pelouche makes everything better! Alla, Gilles and Lucy The host dog has to bid farewell! Au revoir! Gang de filles! Yet another pelouche Food dispels tears.  It's not adieu!

I mentioned to several of you at the airport that there would be two more blog posts. It will actually be several. We did so much in our last week that it would be too much to fit it into just two. The last will be a video compilation of the family show. (Adobe premiere takes some time.) On Monday of our last week, our schedule went as normal; classes in the morning, lunch and activities in the afternoon. After activities, there was the usual items: a student needed a recharge for their mobile phone, another needed bus schedule updates, etc. We teachers had reports and evaluations to attend to. Tuesday was a bit different. For culture/literature class, we went back one more time to Les Halles Saint Martin, a marketplace for food and other things. The boulangerie was open, but fruit stands and the creperie were also popular. Afternoon sports was our last visit to the beach. Unfortunately, I have no pictures as I stayed behind to work on the program magazine. Your students each hav...