Week 3, Feeling Hot Hot Hot!

Hey all! We hope you're having a great weekend!
If you haven't checked out the last 2 posts about our excursion to Normandy yet, then please do. We have some great photos to share!
Wednesday,  June 26, was a regular full day of school. We started the morning practicing the French and American national anthems because we will be performing these in the coming few weeks.
After classes, we headed to the food court of LeClerc to get lunch because the school canteen was unavailable. Here's what each of us ate...of course, the vegetarians of the group got a variety of veggies instead of the fish :)

       

Post lunch, the students had their study hour and then we did afternoon group activities of theater and music to prepare for the end of the program show. Sports was cancelled because of the heat.
This week, France, and many European countries, are experiencing a major heat wave with temperatures reaching over a 100 degrees. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were supposed to be the hottest days, so we decided to make Thursday a half day and cancelled classes on Friday.
All students were asked to drink lots of water, stay out of the sun and generally keep cool. Many students went to the movies, others stayed home and relaxed, overall, everyone is safe and enjoying the unexpected long weekend. The temperatures are going to get cooler in the coming week so hopefully we can bid adieu to the heat wave soon.
Wishing all of you a lovely and cool weekend!
Until next week!

Normandy Day 2

Hope you enjoyed the last post about our visit to sites of the Normandy Landings during World War II and then our visit to 'Mémorial de Caen'.

Tuesday morning, we woke up bright and early, had breakfast at the hostel and we were off to visit the magnificent Mont Saint Michel. We got a few beautiful glimpses of this incredible site from the bus and we couldn't wait to get there.
Once there, we had to wait for shuttle buses that take us to the foot of the Mont Saint Michel and because it was peak tourist season, we had to wait a while. The students decided to eat some or all of their picnic-lunch that the hostel had packed for us. Here are a few pictures of us waiting in line.

                     

We got to the foot of the monument and were stunned by the structure as well as the landscape around us. Mont Saint Michel began as a small pre-romanesque church almost 13 centuries ago on top of this huge rock and over the years, transformed into this.  Even now, during high-tide, the sea water comes in quite high and surrounds this monument and makes it into an island.
Once in, we hiked up the narrow pathway lined with boutique souvenir shops and reached the entrance of the church. We made our way further up the main terrace of the church and took in amazing panoramic views around us.

After a tiring but good visit, we took the shuttle back to where our bus was parked and then we headed to the port city of Saint Malo in the state called "Bretagne" (Brittany). We walked the ramparts and got beautiful views of the ocean. We also got some sun which made our short visit even more special.

 




We walked through the streets of Saint Malo and enjoyed some ice-cream from one of its best ice-cream place. Soon it was time to head back to the bus and head back to Saumur.

 
We got back to Saumur around 8.30pm where host families had come to pick up the students. Tired but happy, everyone headed home.
This trip to Normandy was a truly enjoyable experience, despite long waits and crowded sites!
Check out the next post to see how we spent the rest of the week in Saumur.
Au revoir!

Normandy - Day 1

Bonjour!

This week began very early for all of us because we met in front of the school at 7am and then left for our two-day excursion to Normandy. We stopped en route to stretch our legs and then we were off again to our first destination, the American Cemetery.

 As you can see from the photos, it was a really rainy day but we managed to make the most of it anyway. At the American Cemetery, the students spread out in groups to explore the sight. This visit was a reflective one because it made everyone think about the second world war and all the lives lost.

After this visit, we made a brief stop at Omaha Beach where the students decided to wet their feet in the Atlantic!

 

 

Then we headed to Pointe du HOC which was another important site during WWII and we got a chance to visit a bunker. 

Our last stop before heading to the hostel was the museum "Mémorial de Caen", an incredible museum about WWII. We began our visit with a short but very impactful film about the war which included several real videos and photos of the period. After this, students were given some time to explore the museum on their own. 

We then headed to our hostel at around 7pm where we had dinner and then the students were showed their rooms. We had divided the students in to 3 groups of 6 and all of them had a great time together.


Since the beach was right by the hostel, we all decided to head to the water after dinner. Despite the rainy winds, the students ran towards the water and had a great time frolicking in it!

We got back to the rooms around 9.15pm and we asked students to come downstairs for an important meeting at 10pm. So after their showers, the students came downstairs and saw the surprise we had laid out for them! It was Julia M's birthday the next day so we decided to have a little party with non-alcoholic champagne ;) and some yummy candies. Despite a rainy day, we all had a really great time and the students got to know each other better, enjoyed some lovely historical sites and even got to enjoy the ocean!

Stay tuned to know how we spent Day 2 of our excursion!
Ciao!