CA French Exchange 2009

Tuesday June 9, 2009

2009-06-11T12:08:00.007-04:00

The exterior of Notre Dame

at Place Ste. Michel

Michael Papich's reflects on the day

Those of us who did not go on today’s bike ride had the pleasure of visiting two very famous sites in Paris: Le Palais du Justice and the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Palace was not only the former home of royalty, but it was also a prison that even stored Marie Antoinette at one point! The building itself was carved with bold, fluid cuts to form various pillars that all moved together to support the rest of the structure. The Notre Dame Cathedral was much larger than I could have imagined and the outside was covered in highly detailed carvings and in the center was an enormous violet stained glass circular window. The inside had more windows and was really wide. After we walked around the streets of the Latin Quarter, with its authentic French restaurants and old-timey streets and met with the bikers at La Fontane de Saint-Michel, an enormous and detailed fountain in the middle of the street. We then headed for the Eiffel Tower, and after some trouble getting in, we climbed up its many metal stairs and got an impressive view of the city we would be leaving the next morning. All of these impressive sights were an excellent end to a long, thrilling, and historic two weeks and three days in France!

at the top of the world (or the Eiffel Tower)

on the way back down

Yate's thoughts on our last day in Paris

On the last full day in Paris we had a really fun time. My group woke up and did the bike trip around south Paris which was fun and we saw cool Parisian architecture. Unfortunately rain put a little bit of a damper on the biking but overall I enjoyed it. After this, a few of my friends and I ate lunch at a small restaurant called “Le Chat Qui Peche” which oddly means “The Cat Who Fishes.” This was a delicious meal. After this we took a nice long hike to the Eiffel Tower and after a difficult situation, we were able to climb it. This was a icing on the cake to a wonderful Exchange trip.

Monday June 8, 2009

2009-06-11T11:26:00.008-04:00

entering Pere Lachaise

Walking through Pere Lachaise

Visiting with Balzac

at Place de la Bastille

Meggie's take on a busy day in Paris
Today was a very wet day in Paris! The morning was pretty clear and comfortable, but by the afternoon, everyone was pretty soaked to the bone. We woke up and ate the hotel’s provided breakfast and then broke into two groups. One group was going on a bike ride tour of the city first and then visiting Le Centre Pompidou. The other, which was the one I was in, was supposed to visit a famous cemetery called Pere Lachaise and then bike ride in the afternoon. Pere Lachaise is an extremely well known cemetery. People who made notable achievements during their lifetime, like Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Balzac, are commonly buried here. Pere Lachaise is a big place, so we spent our time looking at a ton of gravesites. After leaving Pere Lachaise, we headed for Place de la Bastille. It was pretty cool to see this since we learned about the French Revolution this year in history class. For lunch, we headed to an area called Le Marais. It has tons of little shops and cafes. By this time, it was raining pretty hard. Sadly, it was hard enough that we had to reschedule our bike ride for the next day. We made the best of it though and had some free time before going to Les Invalides. We saw Napoleon’s tomb and spent a little time in the gift shop. Because of our change in plans, we also visited Notre Dame. The cathedral itself looks pretty impressive from looking at the outside. Inside, it is beautiful. The stain glass windows are amazing. When it was time to meet up with the rest of our classmates, we went to Sacre Coer, another beautiful cathedral. This one was different than Notre Dame, but it was definitely beautiful in its own way. It was also good to get out of the rain for a bit before splitting up to go to dinner at Montmartre which is just beside Sacre Coeur. The rain prevented us from being able to see the Eiffel tower after dinner, so we planned to visit it the next day and headed back to the hotel for the night. Despite the fact that we were all soaked, today proved to be a great day!

waiting to go into Centre Pompidou

favorite parts of Centre Pompidou

Georgia talks about the end of the day

When we decided to not visit the Eiffel Tower tonight because there was a lot of rain, it was kind of disappointing. But, we had time to visit some shops around our hotel. A group of us went to the supermarket and had a lot of fun looking at all the foods there. We bought some chocolate covered waffles to eat back at the hotel. We got in a really long line, but we joked about the waffles, talked about how good the food is here, and made up a song about baguettes.

Sunday June 7, 2009

2009-06-11T10:22:00.010-04:00

On the bus to Paris

Maia reflects on her experiences in France

Today was filled with mixed emotions. As we packed our bags, memories, and reflections filled our minds. On one hand, I couldn’t imagine leaving my host family. On the other, I couldn’t believe I was going to Paris. So I tried to focus on the positive. I looked back on this amazing experience and realized the things I’ve done. Two weeks have changed my life. The smells, people, food, music and things I’ve seen are unforgettable. I’m so fortunate to have met all these amazing people who I hope I will see soon again. As we end one chapter of our lives, we begin another. I leave Tours with new friends and memories that will stay with me forever. Love you all! Bisous.

Miriam and Maia show us our hotel in Paris

on the metro to the Louvre

Going to see the Mona Lisa

CA Alums are everwhere!

At the Arc de Triumph

Dinner on Champ d'Ellyse

ending the evening with a boat ride on the Seine

Alex reflects on the day

Everyone on the bus was filled with excitement and anticipation as we approached Paris. The signs grew larger and the distance markers smaller. Finally someone spotted the top of the Eiffel Tower and the excitement started to boil over the brim. Loud voices were filling the small space the bus held for us; this was accompanied by small utterings of excited squealing and cheering. We arrived at the hotel and everybody put their bags in their rooms and we headed out quickly to start our Parisian adventure. We visited the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa, Pharaoh Ramses, and the Thinking Man. We then hopped along to the Arc de Triumph and took some sweet pictures. We ended the night with a boat ride on the Seine.

Saturday June 6, 2009

2009-06-06T17:28:00.003-04:00

Nous partons à Paris! (we're off to Paris!)

While we are in Paris, we will have limited internet access. I will be posting written and video segments when we get back to North Carolina.

Friday June 5, 209

2009-06-05T12:47:00.006-04:00

Introduction to Chambord

Dylan's thoughts on the day

My favorite part of today was the visit to the Chateau Chambord this morning. Even when I could only see it from a distance, it looked very majestic. And when we could finally see it up close and go inside it was truly massive. The first thing you notice as you walk in is the huge spiral staircase; if you and somebody else walk up on opposite sides, you’ll see each other at each window, but you’ll never meet. It was pretty cool. Interestingly enough, almost none of the rooms in the castle were fully furnished. Even though, it was still interesting to look at. It’s a shame the original owner of the castle never got to use it. I know I would have enjoyed as much of it as I could – it looked like something out of a movie! After a walk around the castle, we went out into the gardens for lunch, which was a great place to eat. The castle visit made for a very good morning. It made me wish we could have visited more of them.

Michael L. and Dylan in the spiral staircase

Dylan showing a room at Chambord

Introduction to Chenonceau

Sabrina's takes us through the day

Today we went to two castles: Chateau de Chambord and Chateau de Chenonceau. Chambord was really pretty. It’s a huge castle. There is a set of spiral steps that rotate around each other which is really cool. My favorite part of the castle was a room with 3 beautiful medival dresses. Ellyse, Meggie, Cate, Liz and I took jumping pictures in the middle of the courtyard. It took us a while to get a good picture because Ellyse was never on time, but we finally got a good one. My friends and I are a lovely picnic lunch by a pond and afterwards talked for awhile. The bus ride to the next castle took about an hour. Some people slept, others talked, and Hillary and Alex sang the whole time. We got to Chateau de Chenonceau – this chateau was beautiful from the outside and had really pretty gardens which were a lot different from the gardens of Villandry. Overall the two chateaus were really beautiful and it was a great day!

The gardens at Chenonceau

Thursday June 4, 2009

2009-06-04T17:19:00.009-04:00

Miriam shares a little about her mornings...

Today we are going to the zoo, but I thought that it would be sufficiently covered in the videos. So instead, I am going to focus on a typical French breakfast. My family always has around three different types of bread: baguette, mishe (a brown French sourdough) and sliced brioche. To go with all of that bread, you need a lot of spreads. I usually cover the majority of my bread with Nutella (only the best chocolate-hazelnut spread ever) and the rest with butter and raspberry jam. My “brother” and “sister” dunk their Nutella-covered baguette in bowls of milk – one thing I have not tried yet. We also eat little yogurts, nectarines, and kiwis. The best part, for me, is when we have the cake made by my correspondent’s mom - the yogurt cake and raspberry cakes are relatively light, but delicious and perfect for breakfast. The only challenge I encounter during breakfast is keeping up with them – they eat really fast because they’re French and they love food, but I think they’re just really fast!

Everyone on the bus excited to visit the zoo

Visting with the penguins

The white tigers

At the bird show with Ellyse...

Today we all went to the zoo. It was such a fun day! My favorite animals were the gorillas. There were three babies in the cage with the rest of the adult gorillas and it was so much fun to watch them interact. My friends and I spent about 30 minute just watching the gorillas. There was one baby gorilla who was hanging on to his mom’s leg while she was walking/swinging around. It was so cute. When we finished watching the gorillas it was time for us to go see a spectacle. It started out with a bird show. The brids would fly really low, near out heads and we would duck in fear of them accidently colliding with us. My favorite bird in the show was the bald eagle because it reminded me of home and it was the only bird that had its own little solo performance. The next part of the show was the seals and sea lions. I was amazed by all of the tricks they could perform and how well trained they were. The spectacle was definitely one of my favorite parts of the zoo.

at the petting zoo

the end of a long day

Wednesday June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T17:37:00.008-04:00

Alex talking about his morning snack

Liz showing us flats of mushrooms

Some toxic mushrooms!

Alisha sharing her thoughts on the day and the view

Today was a tiring but eventful day. My favorite part was stopping at the top of a hill to take pictures of the beautiful view. The slight breeze kept me cool on such a hot day and the scene of the beaches and towns from the top of the hill made it worth the tiring day. I took many pictures with my friends ans stood in the breeze to watch below. At that moment there was no place I would have rather been. The peacefulness made me forget my worries and home was the farthest place I wanted to be. It seemed like everyone else enjoyed being there too. Some people were climbing a rock wall and taking pictures and others were enjoying the view. Some people even attempted to carve their name in the wall. I feel like I could never do something like this in Cary, so I’m glad I had this experience in France.

Emma and Nick with the horses

Tuesday June 2, 2009

2009-06-02T13:23:00.007-04:00

After a long weekend with their families, our students were back at Ste. Ursule for a day of classes...

Thoughts on the day from Michael Laverick

Today we had regular courses at Saint Ursule. At the start of the school day, we had a history class about the Second World War. This class was taught by one of the history teachers. He had made a nice PowerPoint and had prepared some handouts (In French), for us to study. We all took notes and personally, I enjoyed his class. Mainly he talked about the concentration camps in Germany, and Pre-War plans for those camps. He also talked about the changes that were directly linked to the war. The rest of the day was spent in individual classes, and after lunch, we all had a PE class in the park, where some new friendships were made the with French students. Good Day for now!

The afternoon at Education Physique Sportive (the French version of PE)

My favorite part of the day was definitely when we went to the PE class becaus

Cate telling us about her favorite part of the day...

We we all got to pick different things to do. Whether that was walking around the stone pathway, playing soccer or just throwing frisbee; people thouroughly enjoyed themselves. I think it was a nice break from the classes we had during the morning, because those seemed to last forever. Some of us talked about how we had not excercised in a while so I think the opportunity to do that was greatly appreciated. Despite the fact that we had to travel by bus to get to our PE class I think that it was about the same as the PE classes at CA.

Student competition at EPS

Friday May 29, 2009

2009-05-29T07:48:00.009-04:00

Sam & Emma talking about Musee des Beaux Arts

Dylan & Liz sharing their thoughts...

Emma's favorite part of her day...
Today we all went to Musee de Beaux Arts. My favorite part of the museum was getting to see an exhbit that is only together every 80 years. It was called "Le Jardin des Glliviers" "Le Gusification" and "La Resurection" by Montaigna. All of the paintings were very beautiful, but I liked the ones that had huge globs of paint smeared all over the canvas. I also got to each lunch in the center of the city, which was probably the most fun part of my day. We ate in the park where it was very sunny and pretty. I ate a tomato and mozzarella sandwich, which was very tasty.

Yates and Carolines thoughts.

boys will be boys...

at the end of our museum visit

Jordan's thoughts on the day -
Hey Parents. We are all having a good time in France. For today’s activities we went to the Museum of Tours and to classes.
So first we went to the Museum for me, it was hard to understand the tour guide. Although we couldn’t tell what he was saying, the art was very beautiful. The most outstanding pieces of art were three pieces about Jesus on the cross and his revival. The middle painting of Jesus on the cross had stunning detail. Not to mention that these three specific paintings are only ever together every 80 years (the last time was in 1939). Also on the 2nd top most floor there were some stellar ceramic plates and sculptures. They all had designs of animals and plant scenery. In the end everything was incredibly beautiful and creative.
We went to the museum in the morning and in the afternoon we all went to classes. My group had lots of fun talking to each other and trying to understand the teachers. During all of the classes we had fun even if we didn’t understand everything perfectly ; it was still a good experience.

Thursday May 28, 2009

2009-05-28T01:37:00.021-04:00

Sam talking about his expectations about the cave

Sam and the dragon part II

Maya talking about the caves and the petrification process

lunch on the La Cher river

Thoughts on the day from Cailey...
As we left the caves, I could feel my stomach growling. I was so glad when the bus pulled over and Madame Walden explained that we were to eat lunch now. I stepped off the bus and quickly wrapped myself in my jacket. The temperature, although warmer than the caves, was still a bit cool. As I looked at our picnic spot, I got incredibly happy. We were to eat in a grassy area next to a bubbly river. I took in the sight as I hitched up my backpack. We headed down as a group toward the grassy area. My friends and I headed to the stone picnic benches that sat near a couple of small saplings. As I got out my lunch, I looked up to the river to see a cute stone bridge. We all sat munching eagerly as the site filled me with happiness. All around France, sights like this one are to be seen. As a couple of us were talking at lunch; everything in France is either crazy cute or super beautiful

Harry giving us an overview of the gardens at Villandry

Today was certainly eventful. Les gardens at the Chateaux Villandry were absolutely fabulous. To tell the truth, they are probably the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen (sorry Dad). At the same time, though, the gardens were tranquil. It was very pleasant to just sit there, looking over the gardens, and think. Think about what you ask? I'm supposed to be having a great time in France, and here I am sitting and contemplating life and its meaning. Well, truth be told, I AM having a great time, but it's also important to think and these gardens are, by far the most peaceful, symmetric, and thought provoking place we've visited. And so I did.

students enjoying the "play area" at Villandry

Wednesday May 27, 2009

2009-05-27T17:24:00.013-04:00

Futuroscope from Josh's view...

Today, I went to Futuroscope. It was different from the other parks I've been to, but it was a lot of fun.

I wore jeans today thinking it would be cold like the day before, but it was hot. Some of the attractions were cool looking playgrounds, so they required energy and in the hot sun made me sweat. This lead me to one of my favorite attractions called mission: éclabousse. éclabousse means splash and that is why I loved it. We had a big group of people that got on three different boats. I was in the middle so I got very wet. On each boat there were three guns to shoot water out of and one seat to drive. This ride was very different than any water ride I have ever been on because whoever is driving has a steering wheel and a gas pedal. There was a set course for us to drive but even so, we could stop when we wanted and also hit another boat in front of us. It was a great refresher because I stopped thinking about how hot it was, and started thinking about how wet I was getting with my camera and phone in my pocket. But don't worry mom, your camera is working, the phone too.

Charlotte's thoughts on the day...

Today we went to a very popular park in France called Futuroscope. It's not a true amusement park because there aren't roller coasters, but there were a lot of other really cool things like simulators. My group went to a lot of simulators which were really cool, but I have to say that my favorite attraction was one called "Danse avec les Robots" or Dance with Robots. Once inside there are what are supposed to arms of robots that are coming out of the floor. Where the robots hand would be is were the passengers sit. In the middle of all the arms there is a giant cylindrical screen where various types of dances are being projected depending on what music is playing. The arm of the robot moves with the music. There are three levels from which to chose for how much the arm moves, flips you upside down, and spins you in circles. One is the lowest level and three is the highest with level two in between. I chose to go on level three my first time through. Level three is the most intense with the most movement. The first time through the music that was playing was Richie Valens' La Bamba. Once we had the safety restraints over our heads the ride began. It was really awesome. The arm flipped and turned in ways that I never would have expected which kept me even more on the edge of my seat. It only lasted a minute or two, but it was enough to get the adrenaline pumping.

After we got off we ran back outside to get back in line. Luckily for us there were hardly any lines because the French schools aren't on summer break yet. I went on the ride only one more time, but a lot of others went on it upwards of five times. Danse avec les Robots was definitely a hit, and tomorrow I can't wait to see the beautiful gardens at the Chateau Villandry!

Tuesday May 26, 2009

2009-05-26T16:50:00.024-04:00

Kara's thoughts on our first day at Ste. Ursule...

Today, we went to classes.

I went to English and Spanish class. We played Trivial Pursuit in English. Each team had an American to help them. The problem was it was the British version (and none of us were), so some of the questions were really hard! It was fun though. Oh, they all thought my name was really strange, and sometimes they would ask us to repeat the question with a French accent. The next class I went to was Spanish. They learned about the imperative and immigration in the United States. She talked about how the conditions that the Mexican immigrants faced were very bad. So it’s a problem (c’est une problem). After classes, we ate lunch. I ate at school…oh my lord, the lunch line is SO long.

The chef of the cafeteria is very nice though. In the afternoon, he showed us how to make chouquettes which are these small, fluffy pasteries. They were delicious!

}

It was really hard to walk away from the tray of them!
Our correspondents were able to joins us to eat them.

Sam’s thoughts on the day...

Today was quite a fun day, but two particular things stood out – baby foot which is fooseball and the class I went to. With baby foot, Pierre and I played five games and won them all. It was kinda cool beating the French students because I was no good.

During the French class today, I got to help narrate a play (with Dylan) for Martin and Quintin. Speaking French with the French students is fun!

Monday May 25, 2009

2009-05-25T17:20:00.006-04:00

The day in Tours from Hillary...
Bonjour from France! My stay has been wonderful so far. Today was such a busy first day! everyone is almost over the jet lag. Alison had to be at school at 8am, so after a breakfast of bread and yogurt, we met at Ste. Ursule.

The group of Americans (who I was so happy to see) visited the cathedral of Tours. It was so pretty and I was wondering how long it took to build that building of such intricacy. After, we walked back to school and waited for the others to come at 10am. At 10 we were given our groups for the French classes, then we toured the school. The school could fit in Cary Academy 20 times probably, and the school is so old compared to what we know! We visited a class like advisory where they meet once a week and the teacher tells them what's going on around school. Ellyse's student, Guenola, does drama at school, so I asked to see the stage...if you could call it that. It was basically a room with a carpet where the actors perform and some cardboard scenery. I couldn't help but compare it to the theater in the Fine Arts center! We ate lunch at school, then had a tour of Tours!

We went to the candy store where a man showed us his secrets of making hard candies and prunes with candy. We also got to taste other great candies. The tour was very long, but very thorough. We went to la Basilica St. Martin and saw the famous hotel, but my favorite place was la place plumereau. There many young people go to enjoy food and relax in the streets lined with shops. I bought a water and talked with my friends, then more walking. We walked from 2-6! Alison's mom picked us up at 6 from school and took us to a grocery store (it was more like walmart to me) and we bought a lot of food for my lunchbox. I have no clue what any of it is :) We then went to the bakery to get warm bread there, they can't stand day old bread! After dinner, Alison's dad wanted to show me the outer banks of NC on the computer. He couldn't believe I've been there because he watches a TV show set there. Tomorrow we have a big day, so I'm going to sleep. I love you all (especially my dad, mom, emily, william, and taffy)

Liz's take on our first day...
Today we all arrived between 8 and 10am (depending on what time our correspondents had to be there). I got there at 10am and got my ID card for the school. After everyone arrived, we got to have a quick break. All of the French kids and teachers were looking at the exchange kids like when they were at our school After the break we went back to the classroom and found out our groups for the days at Lycee. I am in group 7. We also learned our schedule for each group. After that we split up into our groups and joined our French kids in their "vie de cours" class. After that we went to lunch. The food here is amazing! I think it may even be better than the food at CA. After lunch we had some time to chill before we went on our excursions. The boys, most of them at least, played basketball with the French guys. The girls sat around talking on the sidelines, making commentary on the game. At 2pm we stopped what we were doing and gathered to leave. Once everyone gathered, Mrs. Walden told us what we were going to do once we left the school. Our first stop was the confiserie - it was amazing! We got to watch the guy make these little hard candies and this other dessert, which was like apricot jelly in a prune. Hillary almost put her elbow in the melted sugar for the hot candies in response to the cook's dare. Harry, myself, and Ms. Downing all go to try pouring the liquid into little indents. It was very fun, but kinda hard.

After watching him make two desserts, we got to try them and this special kind of chocolate. It was all good, but REALLY sugary!

After that we went on a walking tour of Tours. We got to see some beautiful cathedrals, la Place Plumereau, Hotel de Ville, Les Halles, and even the crypt in the Basilica St. Martin.

It was so awesome and breath-taking at the same time. Les Halles was like a food market, indoors with air conditioning. Some people got pain de chocolat. After the tour we returned to Lycee and waited a bit for classes to end our our French kids to get out. After school ended everyone was herded out of the school. Everyone spent the afternoon with their correspondents. I went to Clem's friends house where we had some baguette with nutella and then watched "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (the French version of course) and a tennis tournament that was going on. Clem and myself got a ride home with her mom because it suddenly started raining and hailing. Then we went home and dinner and such. After such a day is it going to be easy to fall asleep tonight?!?!

Sunday May 24, 2009

2009-05-25T17:08:00.004-04:00

Nick Smith walks us through the first day in Tours

Today was the exciting day of the take off for our trip. We didn't' really feel any different until we realized our parents weren't watching us anymore. As we cleared security, freedom hit us all. It was a long and confusing, yet fun plane ride to Paris. With little to no sleep we all got onto the three hour long bus ride with high hopes.

Eventually everyone crashed on the bus only to be woken up by the screams of our fellow French enthusiasts as we entered the city or Tour. We were all utterly dazed from the jet lag and flying straight through Saturday, but we pushed on. It wasn't long before we drove up next to the oh so missed exchange students who looked absolutely joyed to see us; the feeling was mutual! We then were shown their school and then after a few customary pictures, we ate our first taste of French food. Most of us were hooked from there. After a long, memory recalling, lunch, we all said our "a demain"'s and headed off to our respected French student houses. Annabelle let me unpack and rest a bit before she told me she has school work to do (after all it was technically a school night for them). So, we walked, which by the way, is a lot more fun then driving in France, to Annabelle's partner's house. Guenola, Ellyse, Clemente and Liz all came over and we ended up going to see the older parts of Tour. We, of course, stopped to get some ice cream. I found it funny how the ice cream size with most scoops is called American. After that we all just lied down next to the Loire river and basically hung out for a good hour and a half. We started to heard back, sadly. Each person in our group slowly broke off to go their own way until it was me and Annabelle. We got home, watched some tennis and ate a fabulously tasting and put together meal and then I went upstairs to go to sleep. I think the earliest I've ever gone to bed - 8:45pm!

We've arrived!

2009-05-24T08:44:00.004-04:00

After a long flight, with very little sleep, we arrived in France!

The students and parents at Ste. Ursule hosted a welcome picnic for everyone. Once everyone was full, the students headed home with their French families.