Jour 11 Giverny

Quel beau temps! We are so lucky; today's weather was perfect for visiting the gardens and house of Claude Monet.  Many of us are familiar with the impressionist movement, the artist Claude Monet and his paintings of the water lilies.  Monet once said, " all my money goes into my gardens, I am in raptures." And so were we.  How could you fail to be charmed by the explosion of colors dancing on the water of the pond and the seemingly haphazard arrangement of exotic and common flowers in his garden? 

We split into groups, but don't worry, you won't miss a thing!  As you can imagine there were numerous large groups, from nursery school to seniors.  We loved hearing the little ones chant the colors of the flowers in French as they passed us two by two holding hands.  The French instill art appreciation at an early age, and we had fun reciting the colors with them! Then it was on to house tour.  Although many of the paintings on the ground floor are reproductions, the two bedrooms upstairs contain original art work including a Renoir in Monet's bedroom.  Look at the dining room room and the kitchen: Monet only used 8-9 colors on his palet; can you identify 2?

Monet purchasing the neighboring land with its meandering stream the following year.  To the dismay of the community he dug the pond, now famous for his water lilies.  

Lunchtime! The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Déjeuner sur l'herbe -Édouard Manet et...

Picnic on the grass...Auks

  

OR...la dame aux coquelicots par Claude Monet ET students in the poppy fields par Auks

Quelle belle journée!  We bid au revoir to our French teacher from St Vincent and our driver and guide. Everyone signed the cards, and kudos to Seth, Maryellen and Katie who expressed our thanks, en français bien sûr.  

But the day is not over. The group is heading into town for a dinner organised by their hosts.  Bon Appétit et à demain !

Day #10: Le Mont-Saint-Michel

We awoke this morning with great anticipation for our trip to Mont-Saint-Michel.  Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it truly lives up to the hype--there's nothing quite like it.  

In route to the Mont, we heard about the rich history from our guide, Fabien.  The story of the Archangel arriving to instruct the Bishop of Avranches to build a church on a rock is a touching one.  As you can see below, the view from afar is just as stunning as the view from just below the abbey.  Since the construction of Mont-Saint-Michel, the site has served as a religious site, a prison and a home to many.  The population has dwindled over the years, and is currently holding steady at 36 inhabitants, many of whom are monks or nuns.  There are also several hotels on the Mont, so the population certainly fluctuates from week to week, season to season.  You can see from the photos that we were visiting at low tide, so the students got the opportunity to see the bay area, famous for the salt grass-eating sheep, religious pilgrimages, and dangerous quicksand!  Mont-SaintMichel is known for having the highest tides in Europe, and is truly a "merveille" at high tide when the abbey is completely surrounded by water.  It was a rare 85 degrees and sunny today at the Mont--our students were blessed to avoid the infamous Normandy mist!  Before beginning our ascent to the top, we stopped to take a few photos: 

The trek to the top of the Mont is no small feat--350 rather uneven steps stand between tourists and the top; but once you reach the gorgeous views of the bay, the cloister, music in the chapel and the seemingly infinite spaces of worship, you forget all about the 28 floors you've climbed and 10,000+ steps you've taken today!  Once we reached the top, we took a group photo, and I implored Gabby to recreate a photo that I take each time I visit Mont-Saint-Michel--island in hand!  We were also treated to some spiritual music as one of the religious orders finished their mass.

On the way down, students were able to do some shopping and buy lunch on the one and only commercial street.  

It's important to remember that Mont-Saint-Michel was and is a town.  There is an old school house, a cemetery, and even a post office! Here are some photos of the town from the remparts:

On our way back to Senlis, Mme Cooper pulled a few strings and had our driver stop at the Biscuiterie de Mont-Saint-Michel, where students purchased all sorts of edible goodies from the region.  I said to Mme Cooper, they must anxiously await our visit every 2 years....they did quite a good business today!  The visit to the Biscuiterie was extra special for me, as students presented me with the most thoughtful gift for my birthday, which they picked out in Montmartre just a few days earlier.  (They must know me well, because I love art & Paris!)  Since arriving at Archmere, I have always been grateful for the sense of community and friendship, and I certainly felt that even more today--thank you for raising such thoughtful and giving people...I truly felt spoiled to celebrate my birthday amongst our wonderful students in one of my favorite places.

My gift: a painting of Sacré Coeur

Speaking of gifts, Lauren kept busy during our 4 hour bus ride back to Senlis.  She drew an incredibly detailed representation of Mont-Saint-Michel to present to her host dad for his birthday...once again, I am in awe of our students, their many gifts and their generosity.  Tomorrow we're off to Giverny with our French correspondants!  It's supposed to be a beautiful day!

Jour 9 on découvre la Normandie!

We began this morning at 7h, met our guide Fabien, and to our delight, our chauffeur Dider from our last exchange. The first highlight was the rest stop minimart where new exotic flavors of potato chips and fruit candies awaited.

From there we headed to Omaha Beach and a chance to wade in the ocean on this side of the Atlantic.  Not everyone understood our desire to bring back a little bit of history in a bottle. But no one can remain indifferent to the beauty of the beach and the importance of this site.  

Next stop was the American Cemetary.  Fabien gave a brief history of the battle before we each spent some time walking among the seemingly endless rows of of crosses and stars of David.  There was an almost overwhelming sense of peace and solitude in spite of the number of visitors.  This quote above the statue at the entrance set the tone.

THIS EMBATTLED SHORE,PORTAL OF FREEDOM HALLOWED BY THE IDEALS THE VALOR THE SACRIFICES OF OUR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN. 

The time capsule containing articles and artifacts from DDAY will not be opened until 2044; an event that these students intend to follow very closely.

Next stop...Pointe du Hoc where the Rangers scaled cliffs 30 meters high on June 6th.  Both the allied air and naval forces had bombed the site days before making the climb even more precarious.  The numerous craters left behind attest to the intensity of the bombing.  We explored les "bunkers" and the craters; some of us arriving at the bottom faster than others!

The views were truly breathtaking and underscored the enormous difficulty facing the Rangers.  Many of the students have studied the Battle of Normandy and have seen the film Saving Private Ryan, but standing on this ground adds another more personal perspective.  Stomachs rumbling, we headed back to Caen for a traditional fondue with Roblucon, followed by crèpe liégeoise,glace,crème brûlée or pêche Melba.  Bon Appétit!

Didier, our driver had exceeded his allowable number of hours on the road.  So he headed for the hotel and we took public transportation back to town.  A quick check in at the hotel then off for a balade to the Château before crashing at 12, that's 24h for you Francophiles  If you look carefully, you will see the two towers of the Abbaye aux Hommes of William the Conqueror in the background. 

Bonne nuit et à demain!