French Exchange 2010

Friday night and it is time to think about packing those “valises” again!
It has been so very hot again this week!
We loved the chateaux in the Loire Valley. Chenonceau and Chambord were both stunning. Our guide, Claire, was wonderful and gave us our information in French! We stayed in the Youth Hostel in Tours, which was an experience again! Thursday we went to Nemours to witness the excitement of Stage 5 of the Tour de France. Incroyable! The number of giveaways being thrown from the caravane, proved to be quite exciting for some of us and we endured many hours in the hot sun before the riders arrived! Even the tar was melting on the roads!
Thursday night stayed hot all night and so did today-especially in Paris.
We did a bus tour ride past the Paris monuments and then had lunch and visited the tourist area of Montmartre.
Now it is time to say “Au revoir” as tomorrow morning we meet at Charles de Gaulle Airpport for our flight home.
Madame Macindoe

Tuesday,our last week here in France! The weather continues to be hot. After a very busy weekend, we met at the station Monday morning and went to Paris. The windows of Notre Dame Cathedral were stunning! We walked through the Latin Quarter and many of us bought more boks in the Shakespeare Bookshop. What shall we do with the increasing weight of our suitcases?!!!! Our meeting place became the fountain in Place de St Michel and off we went for a couple of hours at the sales and more bookshops and cafes. Later in the afternoon we went to the Pompidou Centre to try and understand the weird and wonderful modern art. Many students are off to Euro Disney today and tomorrow we head to the Loire Valley, the chateaux, the Tour de France. Allez, Cadel!!!
Madame Macindoe

France so far has been absolutely wonderful. There are people on bicycles, baguettes, flowers, shutters and I even heard a piano accordian, but that could have been because it was a pretty touristy area. I saw a bin full of flowers and took a photo, and my french family called me a tourist, but then again, it’s so easy to look like a tourist here! Most of us have our cameras out the whole time. The best thing I have seen has been Versailles. It was the most amazing place I have been to in my life. It was easy to imagine the halls filled with gorgeously dressed French arisocrats and royalty- La Reine Marie-Antoine et Le Roi Louie XIV. Going to Lyon with the whole group has been another highlight. The view from the hostel kept us all awake. Normandy was green and the cows looked like the cows from milk advertisments, and we saw little villages and war memorials. We saw the sea again at Omaha Beach, and we went to an Australian cemetary at the Somme battlefields. We went to a little primary school with a huge sign that said NEVER FORGET AUSTRALIA, because the school was a gift from Victorian schoolchildren. Around the school were other little Australian things like Aboriginal paintings and Kangeroos next 10km signs. I felt pretty special. In Paris we saw the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay, they were my other favourite experiences. Pretty much the whole thing has been splendid, thats why I have so many favourite experiences. We all do. Everyone is having the time of their lives and getting on really well, trying to remember details, sleeping on the buses, eating croissants, speaking French, and loving every second. A plus tard mes amis en Australie!

Well it’s Saturday in Verneuil and it is still warm. But it is now raining! Thursday we went by coach to Normandy and explored the battlefields and beaches of WW2. Our guide, Hélène, was an absolute character and certainly kept us entertained and marching on and off the bus all afternoon. We had quite an adventure staying in Caen and negotiating the tram to find our cafe. After being well fed with carbonara and ice cream, we tried to sleep well under our sheets made of paper!! After a visit to the War Memorial and a visit to William the Conqueror’s tomb on Friday morning, we set off to see the beautiful village of Bayeux. We loved the Tapestry and then went to find another baguette, pastry or crepe for lunch.
Last night was the official Reception at Notre Dame School. Despite the incredible heat, poor Mr Johnston endured wearing his suit for most of the official proceedings. We were very proud of Nathan Buhrmeister’s excellent speech in French. Thankfully the tables were moved outside for the dinner afterwards.
Bon Weekend to all who are enjoying the sales in Paris, Versailles or Parc Asterix.
Anne Macindoe

Incredibly hot again! What were the highlights today? Was it the wonderful ice cream at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower? Was it the fascinating tour at Roland Garros? Maybe it was the fact the sales have started today! It might have been the views from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It might be that every student has become confident in using the Metro Train in Paris and is able to find their way easily (well usually)!! The students continue to amaze us with their stamina and their ability to enjoy every moment. They are even remembering to offer seats to adults on the Metro! What a great group they are!!

Madame Macindoe

Well, I think we chose the hottest day yet to tackle the Eiffel Tower! Our day began at Roland Garros and our tennis fans came into their own as they were able to answer the quiz questions posed by our wonderful English guide! We had a tour of the press area and a few students stepped up for a post-match interview. I’d love to tell you what they said but I was too busy looking at pictures of Roger Federer! We then had a look in the locker room and learned about the mystery of the missing number 19 in the ladies locker room. Madame Macindoe got a lovely surprise when she opened one of the lockers – perfect size for Madame Howgate to hide in! Finally we got to step onto the famous Philippe Chartrier court – smaller than expected but still impressive. So, next stop Eiffel Tower along with several thousand other tourists! We were a little late so we had to negotiate our way in with the security guard. Once in we were packed in like like sardines into the lift and then up, up and away! The view from the top was as amazing as expected and we were able to pick out the sights we had already seen. It took a while to get down due to the sheer numbers of people and then we stopped at Trocadero for a rest! Back on the metro and home to families hot and weary! Early nights all round as we have another big trip planned for tomorrow to the Normandy landing beaches and Caen. A quick cake update – far too hot today so Mrs Kenner and I sampled the ice creams at the base of the Eiffel Tower, along with a few eager helpers! Rest assured our cake research will resume tomorrow! As always our official photographer , Andy, did us proud with some great shots so we hope you like his selection so far.The photos take ages to upload onto the blog so big Thanks are due to Andy for his great work. I hear you have just had the coldest day for several years, we’ll do our best to bring back some sunshine! Everyone is still doing really well and as I said to a number of students today: – missing my own children is really hard but made that little but easier by sharing some great times with this group of students who are fantastic! More updates soon…………..

What an amazing day!!!! As we viewed the huge number of graves in Thiepval, students sat quietly in awe and just looked. At Villers Brettoneux, we saw 100s of graves to mark where Aussie soldiers had fallen. We had great difficulty obeying our guide, Estelle, (who still didn’t have a voice)! And we stayed twice as long as we should have! In the village, the directeur of the primary school gave us a tour and we saw the museum. Several students remarked that today has been the most amazing and memorable of the trip so far!!

Madame Macindoe