This morning (Monday), we all met at the school and headed to Paris. First stop, Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. Very exiciting for the students to (a) see such a recognizable landmark up close and (b) get a view of Paris from the highest point in Paris, Montmartre being the only hill in Paris. Anyone who has seen the film "Amelie" or the Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie en Rose" knows about all the stairs there are to climb in Montmartre. The kids had a little free time to explore the famous Place du Tertre and dodge the numerous street artists anxious to draw/sell you your portrait.
From there, we had to back down all those steps to catch the metro over to the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. Just coming up out of the metro with the Arc de Triomphe looming in the background was enough to get everyone excited again and go into a photo-taking frenzy. We let them soak it in for a while before ushering them into the tunnel that goes under the 10+ lane rotary that goes around the Arc. Upon emerging under the Arc itself, we proceeded to climb 284 (painful) stairs of a narrow spiral staircase up to the top of the Arc, where one can really appreciate the large boulevards which radiate out from the Arc, giving its location the nickname of "Etoile" (star). Of course, when the students discovered that they could see both the Sacre Coeur and the Eiffel Tower from there, there was another photo-frenzy. After enjoying the view, albeit somewhat foggy, it was back down to the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc - representing all the soldiers who died and went unidentified in all the conflicts since WW1.
For some reason, the kids seemed to think that the Champs Elysees would be a good place to shop -- the most luxurious, expensive shopping street in the world. So we let them make their way down the avenue on their own, mostly window-shopping (you hope!). By the time we met them at the other end, the weather had turned even foggier and quite cold, so we hopped the metro over to Boulevard Haussman where there was some real shopping to be done in the Galleries Lafayette, Printemps, and the many boutiques in the area. If you're lucky, you'll have a nice Paris souvenir from your child when he/she gets home!
Our final stop - the Opera Garnier, the setting for the Phantom of the Opera. With instructions to meet us on the front staircase at 4:45, about half of the kids made it on time. The rest trickled in, doubtless delayed by the weight of all their purchases. We then had the pleasure of introducing them to Paris public transportation at rush hour. Fortunately, everyone understood that they needed to get on the train, no many how many native Parisians they needed to trample to do so, and stay on it until Sucy. Unfortunately, only about 5 kids were actually agressive enough to shove themselves into the first train that came through the station - we waved good-bye from the platform (confident that they would have no problem getting to Sucy) and awaited the next train, and the next. Eventually, everyone was able to stuff him/herself into a metro car and all made it back to Sucy on time.
Tonight, thankfully, there are no events/activities planned by the teachers - therefore, we get to take the night off to rest our poor aching feet and maybe even go to bed early. The students are with their hosts and will have a variety of low-key activities with the families.
It would seem that all the host families have really gone out of their way, as did you, to make our students feel comfortable. I know that some of our students are shy or overwhelmed by being surrounded by French all the time. I hope that they will nevertheless show/tell their host families that they are happy to be here and they are not bored!!
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