Les Martlets en France

Nine anxious students, faces glued to the bus window, peered out to catch a glimpse of their French families – families that would be hosting them for six nights and five days during the home stay of our trip to France. As we pulled up in front of the school in Meudon, France, a suburb outside of Paris, silence permeated the bus. Most of the students had been exchanging emails and pictures for the past four weeks, so they recognized their families. Would they like me?  Would I like them?  Is my French good enough?
 
We prepared for the spring trip to France for several months, going over the itinerary, what to pack, what to expect in the home stay, learning about the French customs and culture and the monuments we would be seeing. This spring, nine students, my daughter Ellie and I boarded a Westminster van for Boston, then a plane to Paris. After a quick greeting by Carinne our guide and Sylvain our bus driver, we were off to Chambord, the chateaux built by François I. About 30 minutes before our arrival at Chambord, Carinne gave the students a thorough history lesson on the French kings and queens. After a couple of hours touring this very large residence sécondaire of François I, we were back on the bus to rest and shower before our first French dinner in Tours.

Conversation in French
Lively conversation dominated the dinner table that night; no one would ever have guessed that we had just arrived that morning. I turned to the two most experienced French students, Damali Slowe ’06 and Jen DiMauro’06 (both AP Literature scholars) and said, “I want you to go chat with Carinne and Sylvain.” Horrified looks answered my request. “What do you want us to talk about??”  “Anything,” I said, “Just chat.” Well, 45 minutes later, they hadn’t returned to my table . . . and their table blended in with all the other tables of French conversation in the restaurant.

Living History
Chenenceaux, the “residence” of Diane de Poitiers and then later Cathérine de Medici and one of the most beautiful examples of Renaissance architecture in France, was our first stop the next day. At one point during the tour, one of Mr. Charlie Griffith’s AP Modern European History students exclaimed: “I’m living my history class right now!” After a tour of the chateau and the grounds, we were off for a different example of French architecture in the medieval town of Loches where we visited the fortress that at one point protected the town. As it was time for lunch, we split up in this quaint town to look for a bite to eat and quelle surprise! we all ended up in a patisserie for dessert. . . . We visited le donjon for a couple of hours, touring the cells and courageously entering a cage where they used to keep prisoners. Afterward, some of us climbed to the top of the fortress for some spectacular views of the French countryside. After Loches, we headed to the town of Vouvray to learn all about the process of making wine and sparkling wine.
 
The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast of patisseries and baguettes, we boarded the bus to return to Paris, stopping first at Chartres, the great gothic cathedral. We had lunch in town and then Carinne led us on an incredibly thorough tour of the cathedral, pointing out the flying buttresses and the other examples of gothic architecture. She explained the portals, the stained glass and the sculptures. We then headed to Paris for a boat ride on the Seine before meeting our French host families. After all of the students were matched up with their families, my daughter Ellie and I headed into Paris to stay with friends until the end of the home stay.

Tempus Fugit
Five days flew quickly by and on Wednesday morning I headed to Meudon, the same place where we first met the French host families the week before. Now I was the one peering nervously from the window, hoping that I would see nine happy faces greeting me. Almost an hour later, the Westminster students were still saying goodbye to the families and friends that they had grown very close to over the week. One of our students, Eliza Mandzik’09, lived with a family with four kids, the youngest of which (18 months old) was crying, “Eliza!” with outstretched arms as we boarded the bus.
 
During the next hour, the bus was filled with excited chatter about their families, what they had done, what they had experienced, the similarities, and the differences. I could not get a word in as they talked about the different food, the differences in schools and classes (they did have to go to school for a couple of the days they were there!). All in all, I could not have asked for more. These nine Westminster students were the best ambassadors of our school that I could have imagined. Their open-mindedness, their sense of adventure, their desire to take a risk was well rewarded in the adventure of a lifetime. Several of the students are planning on going to France in two years when we offer the trip again; their only hope is that they can stay longer!
 
Participating students included Jen DiMauro ’06, Damali Slowe ’06, Emma Anquillare ’07, Corrie Ferguson ’07, Caitlin Hodson ’08, Hannah Sharah ’08, Corey Starbuck ’08, Randi Crawford ’09, Eliza Mandzik ’09, and Ellie Deveaux.