No photos today - I have been downloading camera cards like made from the kids yesterday to free up space on their memory cards, and I have filled up my harddrive and can't download any more photos from my own camera today. No worries - I will post again once we are back in the states and I can download to a larger hard drive.
Bittersweet today as we headed into our last day here in France. From our hotel in Caen, we headed toward Rouen, which is about halfway to Paris. Rouen is a large port town even though it is not on the sea, but on the Seine. It is the closes port to Paris. During the World Wars it was heavily bombed and the center of town was greatly damaged. They have rebuilt it in the medieval manner in which it was first built. There's a lot of half timber houses that are a combination of wood and cement, and it looks like a swiss village a little bit.
We started of with a walking tour into the center of town, where we passed through the fresh market, selling all kinds of fresh fruit, vegetables, cheeses, seafood and meat. Right outside the market area is the square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the 1400s. We talked about how the king betrayed her and she faced an unfair trial and saw the memorial to her bravery and courage. Next we walked up the cobblestone streets to the cathedral. Along the way we learned about how the houses had a narrower base at the bottom to cut down on the taxes and allow for more room at top, and the gutters down the middle of the street where the sewage ran.
The cathedral is rather gothic, and has two spires of uneven height. The front façade is being renovated right now so it wasn't quite as dramatic as the others we'd seen. This cathedral has been bombed and also through the hurricane of 1999 that ripped off a bell tower and put it through the roof of the cathedral. It's also where Monet painted his first Impressionist works of the sun playing off the front of the cathedral.
After our tour we let the kids loose to find some lunch and to shop. The kids loved being able to go into "real" French stores that actual French people shop in, not just touristy shops. Almost everyone had a bag of goodies when we got back on the bus. A lot of people stopped for macarons, which are all the rage right now sort of like cupcakes in the US are. We even saw them made into wedding cakes. The kids also got to choose their last lunch on their own. Some got sandwiches, others did make a stop at McDonalds. Mr. Waid and I popped in to see who we could catch, and found 5 of them, and several others admitted they had been there too. They said it tasted even better than at home. Perhaps it's because the French equivalent of the FDA strictly prohibits preservatives and other additives in food so everything here is always very natural and fresh.
Then it was another shortish bus drive down to Versailles. This is the grand palace started by Louis the 13th, finished by Louis the 14th, lived in and enjoyed by Louis the 15th and where Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette were arrested and returned to Paris during the French revolution in 1792 We waited in line for the bathrooms (Versailles has only 3 sets of toilets for 15,000 vistors!) and then picked up our tour guide Frédéric. "Fred" is a history teacher here in France and the kids were enthralled at this history lessons as he showed us around the outside grounds of the palace. The gardens had started to bloom and the fountains were on as well. It's so immense and vast and the kids were all struck by the hugeness of it all.
Then it was inside to the King and Queen's apartments, the famous Hall of Mirrors and the other drawing and waiting rooms. It was massively crowded, as Easter weekend is one of the biggest travel weekends of the year in France, and so we didn't have quite as much time to fully take it in as we would have liked. But the kids definitely got a feel for royal life!
Back on the bus and back into Paris, straight onto the Avenue Foch, the widest boulevard in Paris and one of the wealthiest. Prices start at about 20,000 euros ($30,000) per square meter (3 feet). Orane told us that only people from Qatr and other wealthy nations can afford to live here now. We drove past the Arc de Triomphe where there was a small ceremony going on at the tomb on the unknown solider and then got off the bus for dinner.
The kids were thrilled to find out they could choose their dinner tonight, as it was a cafeteria-style restaurant (but with better food). Many had beef tips, a few had chicken, others had roast pork or turkey. Everyone was just happy to see a meal without ham! It was back on the bus then and onto the hotel near the airport for tomorrow's early flight home.
The kids are excited to be heading home, but many of them said they would love to stay here for longer. Right now they are missing their families, mom's cooking, friends, and comfy beds. But I think everyone is leaving with a fondness for France and it's people, and memories of a trip that is unforgettable. I am so grateful to all of the parents who have entrusted me with their children and allowed me the privilege of showing them the world. Every student has told me how much it opened their eyes, made them appreciate what they have, brought history to life, and some told me it was life-changing. My first visit to France changed my life - and I'm so excited to know that these changes are happening in my kids too. They are so grateful for the opportunity to be here, to see the beaches of Normandy, to meet the French people in the small towns. They have been so wonderfully behaved, so gracious and kind and patient and excellent ambassadors of Mooresville High School.
We have had 2,000 visits to this blog since we left for our trip a week ago - and I hope that many of those who have followed our journey will be inspired to take a journey of their own. I am signing off for the night, in hopes of helping my husband pack our suitcases under the 50 pound weight limit!
À demain et à la prochain!
Mme
No comments:
Post a Comment