Paris Day 1!

Dear families,

Tears were shed this morning at the train station in Caen. We gathered as a group at 8:30 for a final goodbye to host families, pictures, expressions of gratitude, and so on. After hugs and the like, we took a group picture, and boarded the first train to Le Mans. After our layover, the group boarded its first TGV, or train à grande vitesse, one of many such high-speed trains that connect metro areas all across France. It was such a smooth ride that your kids may not have noticed that we were traveling to the French capital at 180 mph!

As many students and families (and faculty) were shoved into this photo as possible!

Travel sometimes necessitates the flexibility required to sit next to a bicycle.

But our group is still prepared to travel in style!

Arrived at Montparnasse Station, we were hit with a full view of the Eiffel Tower the second we got outside. It was a spectacular shock; students had chills and were giddy, struggling to comprehend that they had just stumbled upon one of the world’s most iconic monuments, the iron incarnation of the city of love and lights. As the dizziness of it all subsided, we boarded our bus and made our way to the hotel. Along the way, our driver and new guide Stéphanie gave us a mini-tour of the city, including views of the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde!

After settling at the new hotel near the center of Paris, Stéphanie gave us a walking tour of the Marais, a trendy neighborhood nearby, and other accessible sites of interest. Beyond soaking in the joys of one of the most beautiful cities on earth, we were blown away by yet another marvel: Notre Dame, regrettably still under renovations slated to be completed before the Summer Olympic Games in 2024. After some time spent poking in shops selling Paris’s finest tourist traps, we made our way to a nearby Greek restaurant. The moussaka and squid were particularly excellent.

From the Place des Vosges, a stylish public square that was enormously popular in the 16th & 17th centirues.

Statue of Louis XIII, the far less famous father of the Sun King, Louis XIV.

The side view of the Cathedral from the southern bank of the River Seine.

Several comic book and graphic novel artists have work displayed on the construction site barrier.

And now, please enjoy the rhetorical stylings of Zarion Beavers, rising fourth former from Rex, Georgia, as he reflects on his experience up until this moment…

“Hello there! Do y’all remember the first day of school? You’re nervous and worried if you’ll make any good friends, or if you will be lonely for the rest of the school year. Yeah, that was me three weeks ago. I’m thinking in me head, “What if they don’t like me?” “What happens if I say something offensive?” “How will I talk to them and understand what they’re saying?” And when we finally get to Caen (mind you, all of us have to use the restroom), we go to the entrance of the train station and we see our host families, and we walk right past them to go to the restroom. Great first impression.

“Once I’m finally done with the restroom, I walk into the lobby, thoughts still racing, and I see Mr. Herath talking to my family. I finally meet the people that are letting me stay in their house for three weeks and the greetings went better than expected. Luckily for me, my host sibling spoke pretty good English. We went back to the house and we chilled for the first day and had a great dinner. And just like that, the Caen experience began.

“Three weeks flew by really quickly. I would go to classes, get a little better by the passing days, go back to the high school for lunch, go on a cool excursion, and then go back to the high school and be welcomed with open arms by my host family. After dinner, we would always have our evening Brawlhalla games (we being me, my host sibling Pierre, and his little brother Louis). We would play for 30 minutes and then go to bed. At first I would get my butt handed to me, but with the passing days I got so good that I went one night where I didn’t lose a single game. The weekends were great. I would sleep in, get breakfast, go back to my room for a little bit, and then we would go do something. The first weekend, I saw Pierre and Louis compete in a pingpong/ table tennis competition, and Pierre got third and Louis got fourth. For the second weekend, we went bowling, and the first round I whooped everyone, but then in the second round Pierre put on his serious gloves and beat everyone. For the third round, he kept the winning streak going and had 117 points. Man was a monster that day. On the first Sunday, I cooked for them and learned that they eat omelettes for dinner and not breakfast. (They enjoyed the omelettes.) On the second Sunday, I cooked fried calamari, fried shrimp, and potato wedges. (They also enjoyed that dish.)

“Did you know French people love bread? They eat the stuff for petit-déjeuner, déjeuner, and dîner. But not gonna lie, the bread here is to die for. The croissants here are so fresh, fluffy and flavorful, the triple F’s you want. The monuments, museums, and abbeys we went to were very interesting, and even though I couldn’t understand most of the things, I still had a great time. The Mount-Saint-Michel was really big, beautiful, and it made everyone get their steps in for the day. Also learning about William the Conqueror was really cool, and going to his abbeys and castles was great.

“But all things must come to an end. Today when we were boarding the train and saying our goodbyes, I was excited to go to Paris but sad to say goodbye to Pierre and his mother. I plan to keep in contact with him so when I do come back to France, we could possibly hang out and have fun. I can’t wait for our next excursion tomorrow and can’t wait to give my mom the host family’s gifts for her!”

Sunset this evening on the River Seine.

Doing Paris in three days won’t be easy (or even remotely possible). Tomorrow might even be more intense than the Mont-St-Michel…

With excitement!

Konrad, Alfred & Janine