“So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you
So long, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen.”

We’re almost home!!!  Unless mother nature decides to wake up another volcano, we’re coming home tomorrow!  The thought of leaving our old and new friends as well as giving up the remaining amazing sights that France has to offer, has made for a sad day.  Spending the first half of the day going to classes with them was kind of sad.  Walking to the mall before we headed to the Eiffel tower was kind of sad.  Knowing that we were walking through Paris the last time was kind of sad.  Taking the elevator up to the second level of the Eiffel tower was kind of sad.  Well, that wasn’t really that sad but walking down almost 700 steps was.  Alright, enough of the sad comments.  The eiffel tower ended up being a lot of fun and a new experience for some .

After the Eiffel tower, we made our way to the Mayor’s office at the town hall for a quick meet and greet.  The Mayor spoke some kind words and Mrs Bonventre did the same.  Sorry for the short post but sleep is calling my name… Enjoy the pictures and we’ll see you tomorrow!

Bonjour people and welcome back to one of the last few posts for the trip.  The heat wave has come to an end and the temperature reached a dismal 70 degrees today.  Hey, I’m not complaining though!  :0)  Our second to last day in Paris, brought us first to the one and only Louvre Museum.  This massive and impressive sized museum used to be a royal palace.  Today, the building is separated into 3 wings of different collections.  We had an hour long guided tour of the south wing and saw about 10 major pieces of art.  That’s 10 pieces in one hour.  Can you imagine how long it would take to try and see every piece of art?  Of course the Mona Lisa was a stop on the tour, but every tour guide that we have had in the past, didn’t know what the big deal was.  To be honest, they do have a point since it is only one small painting in a collection of tens of thousands of other works.  Due to the notoriety and fame that this painting gets, the Mona Lisa is the most recognizable painting in the world.

After spending another hour on our own, trying to see another .0001% of the museum, we made our way to the “artsy” part of paris, Mont Martre.   Many famous painters like Picasso and Dali started painting at this location and then made their way into Paris once they started to become more well known.  There’s not much here in terms of monumental landmarks except for the Sacré Cœur Church, so we gave the kids a history lesson and then some time to get their last minute souvenirs and gifts.

Tomorrow we spend the first half of the day at the school attending French classes and the second half at the Eiffel Tower.  Immediately after, we head directly to the Mayor’s welcome reception for our annual meet and greet.  I will try my best to do another update tomorrow, but if I can’t, the last post will be after we return!  Thanks for reading and see you soon!

Good Morning, Evening or Night…  Time has been flying by and we have done so much since we have arrived in Paris.  It almost seems difficult to keep track of how many days we have been here and now it’s almost time to go!

Today, we had a jam packed schedule with 4 events.  The first stop on our list was to Notre Dame.  This cathedral is always one of my favorite places to visit and the history behind the architecture, statues, literature and media always make for an exciting visit!  During the French revolution, Notre Dame was damaged very badly and the heads of the royal statues on the outside walls were decapitated!  It wasn’t until several decades ago, the heads were found buried in someone’s back yard and are now hosted at the Cluny museum.  In the mean time, the statues at Notre Dame have been refitted with new heads.  Victor Hugo, author of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” made the cathedral so popular, it was restored and is presently one of the most visited monuments in Paris. As another bonus, we all walked the 400 plus steps to the top of the cathedral towers and saw some spectacular views.  I still have yet to find Quasimodo, but someday I’ll catch him!

After Notre Dame, we stopped at the church of Sainte Chapelle.  This petit church  is located next to the Supreme Court of France and is heavily secured.  Going through airport security seemed like a breeze compared to this place.  Sainte Chapelle is very well known for several reasons.  First, it was originally built in the 13th century to house the crown of thorns and a piece of the cross.  King Louis IX thought it would put France on the map if it owned a major, holy artifact at that time.  The King paid almost double for the artifacts than for the cost of the construction of Sainte Chapelle.  He came close to making France go broke because of this.  Second, this cathedral is known for it’s beautiful stained glass windows.  There are so many pictures depicted in the glass that it manages to tell the stories the whole Bible.  It was also architecturally amazing that the church remained strong and sturdy with all the stained glass instead of stone walls.

Our third stop of the day was at the Latin Quarter.  Although we did not visit any landmarks, we passed by the Pantheon, Sorbonne University and the oldest church in Paris.  The term Latin Quarter, comes from the days when that area of Paris was full scholars that spoke Latin.  It is still true today that the Latin Quarter hosts the best university and best high school in Paris.

Lastly, tonight a dance party was held at the school for the students.  The French students came prepared with pastries, sodas, juice, quiches, and other assorted snacks.  Everyone had a great time and the teachers were also seen getting their groove on, on the dance floor.

Tomorrow, we head to this tiny museum that you might or might not have heard of, The Louvre.  Please check back tomorrow for another update!  Have a great day, night or evening!

Since Easter Monday is considered a holiday in France, a few other teachers and I decided to check out a castle near the outskirts of Paris.  Dr. Looney, I hope you are happy now with the pictures!  Interestingly, we had an adventure with Ms. Bonventre’s hat which flew on to the roof of the castle.  However, the good guys always prevail and victory was on our side!

We concluded our day by seeing an amazing ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet at the famous Bastille Opera House.

Here are a few photos from our Easter egg hunt that was held on Sunday!  Tomorrow we venture to one of my favorite places, Notre Dame!

Bonjour!  I’m sorry about the late write up today but yesterday we got home a little late after the evening boat ride in Paris.  As most of you already know, we are now two separate Shen groups traveling around Paris.  Yesterday, the East and West students visited the Musée d’Orsay, which houses a collection of art from mostly the 19th century.  The museum is a converted train station and was designed to be a work of art.  The students were able to learn about some of the history of different styles of art and see some important works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Cézanne, Renoir and Millet.  The students raved about seeing these art pieces up close and personal.  Unfortunately, this museum does not allow photography and therefore was not able to get pictures.  Our tour guide thought all the museums in France should not allow photography, but I was thinking that would make a very boring blog!

The second stop of the day for the East group was up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.  There are almost 300 steps to the top of the Arc and once you get to the terrace, the 360 views of Paris are amazing!  The West group climbed the Eiffel Tower to the second level and also had some pretty amazing views.  In the evening, the students, their hosts and their families gathered in Paris to take a boat ride on the Bateaux Mouches.  The boat ride tours Paris on the Seine river and all the major historic buildings can be seen lit up.  This tradition is something everyone looks forward to and never lets you down!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and we will be having an Easter egg hunt for the students and their families.  Stay tuned for more on that tomorrow.  Monday is also considered a holiday in France so we will not be meeting the students until Tuesday.  I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend and that the weather starts to warm up in Clifton Park!   À tout à l’ heure!!!!

Nothing.  However, we woke up in the wee hours of the morning to catch in a missed visit to Giverny.  Wake up call was at 5:30 am, breakfast at 6:30, and we were on the bus, headed to the house and gardens of Claude Monet by 7:00.  Fortunately, it was about a 3 hour drive so most of us took advantage and snuck in a nap.

Although the English and Japanese style gardens at Giverny looked amazing this year, we were only able to stay for about an hour.  We did get a chance to take a group picture on the famous green bridge, which was one of his most popular subjects.

Next on the agenda was a trip to the Palace of Versailles.  Many of the students were looking forward to this trip because their teachers had mentioned it many times during their history lessons.  Some of the bullets from today’s history recap from Ms. Bonventre and Ms. Mahoney were:

1) Louis XIV created Versailles to keep an eye on other high ranked officials.

2) Marie Antoinette wanted to eat cake and got her head chopped off.

3) It was considered an honor to clean Louis XIV’s chamber pot.

4) Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, in the Hall of Mirrors.  Germany had to pay restitution to France for all the damage that they had done (billions of dollars) starting in 1921, and the final payment was made on 10/4/2010.

5) The “s” is silent in Versailles.

Overall, the audio tour gave great information about all the rooms we passed by and the walk through the gardens was a blast.  At the conclusion of the day, we met up with our French hosts for the first time.  Everyone was excited to see each other and a few of the other students that came to America showed up even though they were not hosting.  This concludes our first 5 days in France and our first night in Paris.  I hope all is well in Clifton Park and that the weather warms up like it has here.  Until then, goodnight!

Helllooooooo everyone!   Once again, we were lucky to have another amazing day in Normandy.  The weather continues to be fantastic and summer like!  Even though we were prepared with sunscreen, most of us either got a great tan or a little burnt.

We started off the day with a quick walk to the dock near our hostel and got on a boat headed to the Chausey Island.  We didn’t know much about this island except for the fact that it was surrounded by hundreds of other smaller islands.  If I remember correctly, Chausey Island was a major point of conflict between England and France.  For many years, there was a dispute on which country had the right to own the island.  England claimed that they were the owners prior to 1764.  However, France was declared the true owners since 1499.  Brittany and Normandy also found conflict over Chausey over oysters!  I don’t think it was over whether they should be eaten cooked or raw.

Our tour guide, girlfriend of yesterday’s tour guide, took us around the island and showed us what was original and what was new.  There are currently 10 residents of Chausey Island that live there year round.  Interestingly, they turned one of the fortified structures into apartments.  Also on the island are some vacation homes of a few very rich people.  I’m not sure exactly how far we hiked, but we definitely burned off the delicious baguettes and butter for breakfast.  Unlike yesterday quicksand dangers, today’s only threat were furry little caterpillars (can cause rashes) and the sun.  Just like yesterday, we all made it fine! The island has a very large supply of granite stone and was actually a large contributor to the building of Mont St. Michel.  We also walked through several beaches and trails along the English Channel.  Throughout the day, it was pretty amazing to see how much the tide had risen and fallen within a few hours.  Between a couple of long hikes, we had taken an hour and a half boat ride around Chausey Island.  When the tide is high, one is able to see around 35 islands.  However, when the tide is low, one can see over 300 islands!

Tonight is the last night that we are staying in a hostel.  Tomorrow we head very early in the morning to Giverney, then to Versailles and finally Paris!

See you tomorrow!

Is it true that snow is coming to Clifton Park?  I’m truly sorry to hear that.  On another note, today we had temps in the 70s, with sunny and clear skies.

Today’s adventure begins at the monumental Mont St. Michel.  However, we took a quick stop at a beautiful little garden where we had an amazing view of Mont St. Michel from across the English Channel.  Once we reached our destination, we were greeted by our “tres gentile” tour guide, Florence.  Florence explained the whole history of Mont St. Michel and took our group from the base of the island up to the top, where the monastery is located.  The island itself is 80 meters high and the peak of the monastery is another 80 meters.  For more information on Mont St. Michel, check out http://www.mont-saint-michel.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/

After lunch and shopping time, we met up to do something that the Peace Program has never done before.  3km away from Mont St. Michel lies another island which once used to house an English fort and church.  Unfortunately for them, King Louis XIV decided to destroy the entire fortification and left nothing but dust.  Fortunately for us, due to the super high tides provided by the full moon and the sun working together, we were able to walk the 3km to the other island.  It was probably one of the most surprisingly fun things that we have done yet!  It was sandy, wet, muddy and full of quicksand.  Don’t worry, our tour guide said it was safe because the dead Englishmen would stop us from fully sinking in.  The 4km walk back was routed a little differently and our last leg included a trek through the salt marshes.  Overall,  we all got very muddy but it was an adventure of a life time!

Tomorrow, we conclude our visit to this area of Normandy with a boat ride to some islands.  Stay tuned for more information!

Thanks for all the comments!