Home Sweet Home

We have landed in Charlotte and it is time for our week together to come to a close. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have shared this adventure with our students and our blog readers. I'm also grateful for the support of tr MGSD for helping make this trip possible and of course the parents who entrusted those kiddos to me for this week. Learning about the world through student travel is an experience like no other and I am blessed to share this with so many young people! Until our travels take us beyond the classroom again...-Mme Waid

“On earth, one sees all kinds of things.” - The Little Prince

Cleared customs

We have cleared passport and custom checks and are now waiting for our connecting flight. We are estimated to arrive at 4:25. We will need to collect bags and all students will need to be checked out to a parent or approved transporter before leaving the airport. Looking forward to seeing you all and will update when we are on the ground again!

On the ground in Atlanta

We have landed in Atlanta...next up customs!

Movies!

We are waiting to take off and the kids are all excited...new movie selections for April including Frozen, Annie, exodus, the Hobbit, Horrible Bosses, Hunger Games, Interstellar, Taken 3, Into the Woods and more...I don't think there will be much sleeping...

But really this will be the last update until Atlanta!

Airport!

We are here at the airport checked in and waiting to board. We have said our goodbyes to Froggy who gave us French bises kisses and wished us good travels. The kids are in good spirits, but tired, thought not too tired to keep shopping in the airport shops!

Next update will be in Atlanta or if I have time to finish the favorite memory before we take off it will be that one :)

The best part

My favorite experience, memory or place we visited was....

Emily: Paris, of course! The atmosphere was like no other

Karen: I loved it all!

Melanie:  Eiffel Tower and St. Malo

Anne: All of it

Katherine: My favorite moments was the ones when we would walk into a beautiful castle, or get to the top of a beautiful view, and my breath be taken by France's beauty. That's what I'll miss the most. 

Heather: Seeing the Eiffel Tower and putting a lock on the lock bridge  

Liliah: My favorite places were all out in the country. My favorite moment was walking through the Mont-St-Michel by myself being totally quiet, just taking pictures and soaking it in. 

Xavier: Meeting Gunette and Lea on the Normandy Beaches 

Claire: karaoke on the bus, and la bomba on the metro

Greta: spending time with Claire bear and talking Spanish to everyone 

Steven: I really enjoyed the food

Emory: I loved the castles and architecture

Jordan: Getting to meet Froggy's wife and kids!

Krista: Paris and the food 

Samantha: getting to hold Froggys cat

Rebecca: Paris and the going up in the Effiel Tower

Hem: walking in the beautiful city of Paris

Blaine its 6 and I'm tired 

Jack: aimless roaming through different parts of Paris

Ally: Eating pasteries while walking through the small streets  

Michelle: Eating. 

Chief Tate: standing on Omaha Beach

Kevin: Froggy's house

Ms. Tippett: surviving my first trip full of teenagers on the chaperone side of things :)

Mme Waid: feeling like I was back home again and an excellent excuse to eat gluten!

 

Return to Paris, Sacre Coeur and Joyeux Anniversaire Parts 3 and 4

We had an uneventful return to Paris, minus a stop on the side of the road for Froggys wife to drop off a wallet that had been left behind. We hit rush hour traffic for the holiday weekend so it took some time to get to the hotel on the outer eastern side of Paris. 

We headed off for the Montmartre district of Paris via metro. This is a very popular place with tourists and so we cautioned the kids to be on guard against pickpockets. At the end of the trip they have such a sense of confidence now it can be easy to be distracted. 

Froggy had to make a detour to pick up an iPad that had been left behind at one of our hotels- fortunately another Explorica group was staying at the same hotel and headed to Paris so he arranged to make the pickup. We are lucky to have a tour director who looks after our kids so well!

While he was doing that Chief Tate led the charge up the huge hill of Montmartre toward the basilica that overlooks all of Paris from the northern edge of the city. It's perhaps even more stairs than at Mont St Michel- and tonight we did it in the rain!

Once up too we paused for a view of the city, but the rain made it rather hard to make much out. We headed behind the basilica to Place du Tertre. This is a quaint little square of souvenir shops, restaurants with terraces, and artists painting portraits and city views. 

We sat in the square for dinner, which was a delicious boeuf bourguinon and potatoes. For dessert we had a berry sponge cake concoction. 

We celebrated our last two birthdays - Emily and Steven. I think a Parisian dinner is a nice way to spend a birthday!

Froggy finally rejoined us after dessert, mission accomplished. We gave the kids about 45 minutes to visit the church, spend their Euros, or grab one last crepe before heading home via the metro for the last time. 

We had an early night of bed checks because tomorrow we are up at 4 am (10 pm eastern time) before breakfast at 5 am and transfer back to the airport :(

Honfleur

Honfleur was settled by the Vikings and is known for its cod fishing in the Middle Ages and was also the base for several explorers. In the old town you can see the restored buildings that housed salt for preserving the fish. It was famous in the 19th century for the Impressionist artists who came here to work and paint the beautiful harbor town. Unfortunately it is raining pretty heavily so the full beauty wasn't quite visible!

The church in the center of town is the only one in France made of wood. It is actually formed like an upside down boat. 

Chief Tate lit a candle at the memoria for fallen war soldiers. 

We had some free time to grab lunch and explore the little town. It is so picturesque!

The rain doesn't stop us! We are headed back to Apris tonight for hotel checkin and dinner in the Montmartre district. Sorry parents but you have some kiddos who want to stay here...

Une surprise

Froggy and I have been planning this surprise for several days! It is quite an honor indeed for our group because Froggy invited us to his home for a cheese tasting and to meet his family. This is truly a special and above and beyond experience- it is such an honor to be asked into their home as it is rather out of the French character to be so open. The kids had no idea and we're just thrilled when we told them on the bus as we rolled into town!

Froggy lives in Beuzeville, which is a small town about 15 minutes from Honfleur. Froggy's wife kept his two boys (ages 6 and 9) home from school this morning for the event. They greeted us at the gate in pirate costume and we had to give the password: grennouille (Frog!)

The house is very typical of the Norman fashion- in fact very much like the home I stayed when I was young not far from here. A large you a surrounded by a stone wall with exposed wooden beams inside. It is small, typically French with an open air patio for eating and a tie floor. The kids met the chickens and the rooster, and played a little soccer with Oscar and Arsène. 

Zezette had prepared a fantastic array of Notmandy cheeses for us to try, along with French bread, biscuits (cookies as we call them), tea, apple and pear juice. The kids all tried the five cheeses, many of them enjoyed it!

After we had some time to spend "en famille" just enjoying their hospitality!

It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to experience real French family life!  This is something you can't find on any tour and indeed a first for me a teacher tour guide!  

What they will miss most about France

As we prepare for our last day of touring, today I have asked the kids to blog about what they will miss most about France. Here is what they had to say

Emily: The rainfall showers and Froggy!

Liliah: The food and FROGGY

Krista: Crepes and Froggy 

Michelle: Anything food related 

Emory: Included tax so price is even

Steven: all the food 

Greta: This wonderful group I met, learning the accent, and the awkward fashion I saw. 

Claire: exploring

Anna: food, good food

Karen: the architecture and food and Froggy

Melanie: exploring the beautiful country

Heather: the food 

Katherine: All the sights to see, the amazing food, and of course our awesome tour guide Froggieee. 🐸😘

Xavier: the girls

Samantha: meeting random people and food 

Jordan: Paris and Froggy!!

Jack: The fashion of France finally got to me

Blaine the food and Froggy 

Hem: spending most of my money on food

Ally: honestly, what won't I miss about France?

Chief:  I will miss all the expresso cafés and the French pastry shops OMG! 

As for me...I will miss seeing the kids discover and enjoy  the France I fell in love with...and of course the macarons!

Joyeux Anniversaire Part 2!

We are checked in to our hotel and enjoying a calm night in before our last touring day tomorrow.

Tonight we celebrated Blaine's birthday at dessert! Joyeux Anniversaire!

For dinner we had chicken in a mushroom gravy with risotto, green beans and diced fried potatoes. We had a fantastic chocolate cake with vanilla cream sauce for dessert. 

Tonight we are doing a lot of re-packing and prepping for tomorrow. In the morning we will drive a few hours toward Honfleur. This is a little fishing town with an artistic feel to it. It was one of my favorite towns I visited as a young girl when I spent a summer in Normandy and I can't wait to share it with the kids!