Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday morning - each student attended 3 classes at Lycee Christophe Colomb to get a sense of the similarities and differences between our schools.  Reactions varied widely, as some teachers seemed to run a very tight ship while others were less able to keep their students' attention.

After a quick picnic in the school lunch room and the usual bus/train commute to Paris, we were at the Musee d'Orsay for our 1:15 tour.  We spent about 1.5 hours with a tour guide covering the basics of art history from classicism to impressionism, including viewing some of the most famous Renoir, Monet, and Degas paintings that we had studied in class.

The afternoon was finally sunny and not too cold, so some students opted for a stroll along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, while others decided to go by metro.  The students from the quiet suburbs of the South Shore are now getting savvy about (a) avoiding pickpockets (unfortunately one or two learned the hard way despite our warnings), (b) taking public transportation, and (c) successfully visiting the Eiffel Tower without being convinced to buy any number of mini-Eiffel Towers, light-up Eiffel Towers or red/white/blue Eiffel Towers made in China and peddled by dozens and dozens of street salesmen whenever the police are not looking.

Everyone made it to the 2nd floor of the Tower for an excellent view of Paris and most, if not all, negotiated the Disneyworld-class line to catch the elevator to the tippy-top.  It was worth the wait because the weather was fairly good and the view was great -- every place that we had already visited in Paris was visible from up there as well as all 30+ bridges that cross the Seine from Left Bank to Right Bank.

Fortunately, getting back down was somewhat less of a hassle than getting to the top, because we had dinner reservations at a floating restaurant right at the base of the Eiffel Tower - with ring-side seats for the hourly spectacle of thousands (millions?) of twinkling lights all over the Tower and reflecting off apartment windows all around the area.  Granted, the menu was somewhat of a disappointment compared to years past, but this was made up for by the fact that dinner included a "Paris by-night" boat ride up the Seine and back, passing so many major landmarks magically lit up for the evening.  Thankfully, the boat was enclosed so that we did not freeze.  This different and special view of Paris really seemed to enchant many of the students - some of them would like us to leave them here!!  (Don't worry, we won't.)



Thursday -- Maison de Victor Hugo, Place des Vosges, Centre Pompidou

Today started at the house, now a museum, where Victor Hugo had an apartment for 16 of the most prolific years of his writing career (although most of his years as a writer were prolific).  Not only is the visit of his former home fascinating, with stories and artifacts of his life with his wife, 5 children (only 1 of whom did not predecease him, though she was in an insane asylum) - oh, and his mistress who never lived far from the family home, even when Victor Hugo was exiled to the Ile of Guernsey (where he wrote Les Miserables) after the coup d'Etat of Napoleon III.  This last detail shocked the students much more than it did Adele, Victor's wife, or Juliette, his mistress, muse, secretary, and editor.

Fortunately, the Hugo home is located in the absolutely charming Place des Vosges in the Marais district of Paris.  It was also (relatively) warm and sunny, so it was a perfect opportunity to have a picnic in the park and wander the small streets and look into the shops.  It was also a good day to walk instead of taking the metro to the Pompidou Center.  There we had a tour of the Museum of Modern Art as well as a taste of street art in the form of people making elaborate chalk drawings on the ground, clowns, musicians, magicians, and other street performers.

To end our day in Paris, one by one our students were drawn into a singing fest with one of the street guitarists - they were joined by members of another student group who were nearby -- quite an impromptu little jam session.

Thursday evening, our last evening in Sucy:  Several different groups went bowling, played pool, or went out to dinner.  Hopefully by now (7:30 am Paris time) everyone is all packed because we are meeting at the high school in one hour.  We have allowed plenty of time for the tearful goodbyes and lots of picture taking.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed that our return trip is many times smoother than our trip over here.

See you on the other side of the Atlantic!