Au revoir Paris!

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Wake-up call at 2:45 am; Some students were ready to roll in 15 minutes as they slept in their traveling cloth; We might have stressed a little too much how ready they had to be! Although Natalie and MacKenna are staying a little longer in France, they woke up to help out their friends get ready. At 3:30, a long line of 23 sleepy travelers rolled their luggage to the corner of Amelie street (once again, the charter bus was too big for our street). By now, they should be ready to board their last plane for Portland (I am also staying a little longer in Paris).
Again, I want to stress how great and well behaved students were all along the trip. As chaperons, we have received only compliments about their behavior from hotel and restaurant staff.

Last day in Paris....

Our last day in Paris was packed and very hot. Wake-up call for every one at 7:15, and everyone made it to breakfast today. We left at 8:30 and headed for Le Louvre. This time we took the Metro the entire day, much more stressful for the teachers. Luckily, Heath who can tower over everyone was a giant help counting the kids in and out the subway, holding the doors until everyone was safely in or out. Jinhyun was our navigator and made sure we took the right line, got off at the right station. To reassure you, none was left stranded on any platforms even during rush hour.
At the Louvre, it was actually fun to see our students recognize some of the art we had studied in class. We were lucky that the Mona Lisa was very accessible as sometimes the crowd is so large it is impossible to get a glance at it. You can see in the picture how good our situation was. Le Louvre is a gigantic place, but we somehow managed to stay close and have a good look at some of the art work.

Our second adventure was to get lunch at the Champs-Elysées, shopping and check out the Arc de Triomphe. The last event was Le Sacré Cœur and its quaint French artists neighborhood, and after a long and complicated Metro ride, we made it to Hard Rock café. At 9:00, we returned to the hotel and kids are packing their luggage, and hopefully getting a few hours of sleep - wake-up call is 2:45 a.m. You will be picking up very sleepy, tired kids tomorrow!

All in all, the trip has been wonderful, kids have taken care of each other were well.

Paris!!

Well, we made it to Paris. Our hotel is well located, in a quiet and narrow street (our bus driver was not able to make the last turn!), and a nice walk away from the Eiffel Tower. Our first task was to find a way to feed a crowd of 30 (most restaurant are quite small and very crowded). So we broke into 4 groups and hoped to find a way to meet somehow. Well we did it. We then had a nice walk to the lighted Effeil Tower, we were not alone! It was quite crowded, but festive. We managed to all go to the Seine, we even picked up Emma's dad on the way. We took a very pleasant cruise on the Seine enjoying the monuments, the crowd strolling on the "quais", dancing, playing music, eating, and, well, kissing. We headed back to our hotel (another nice, but probably tiring walk).
Next morning, up at 7:30, ready to roll at 8:30, we walked (again!), to le Musée d'Orsay. Students were happy to see some familiar paintings, and enjoyed the architecture of this fine museum. We walked (again) to le quartier latin for lunch, and visited Notre Dame de Paris.
We finally took the metro (yeah!) back to the hotel after some shopping. Students were able to practice their Metro skills. For dinner, we had a picnic by the Eiffel Tower, went up to enjoy the view and headed to bed. Students should all be sleeping, but Tina is still making the rounds!! Tomorrow: Le Louvre, Sacré Coeur, Les Champs Elysées.
Kids are doing great, very polite and respectful.

Saint-Malo...

We made it to Saint Malo (our hotel is the big yellow building) - Quite a different setting from our first location. Slated roof houses are made of granite, pink hydrangeas adorn their front. Kids were delighted to see the ocean and it took them less than 10 minutes to make it to the water (low tide). They found the water warm and jumped in (well, most of them). We had a superb dinner au Restaurant du Commerce. Erin said the salmon was the best dish she had ever had, and I would agree with her. The sauce was light and quite tasty.
After dinner, we had a long walk around the ramparts of the fortified town. We made it back to the hotel at around midnight.
Today, we will head to Mont Saint Michel (45 minutes away), and after a short visit, we will head to Paris which is apparently quite hot (90°).

Châteaux.....

After a visit to Chambord, we arrived at out hotel late, but delighted by the site. We swam in the pool (refreshing), and students played in the park of the château (fun to fight the bugs) while grownups relaxed on the terrace with a glass of red wine. In short the castle life.
The next morning we headed to Chenonceau (a smaller, but well furnished chateau), a 45 minute ride from Chateau de Razay. The group in the picture is standing in the Great Gallery, a ballroom that crosses the Cher river.