http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Folkids/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Folkids en-us Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:48:20 +0000 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:48:20 +0000 Another successful overseas trip with Folkids. No loss of personel no lasting illness and a good time was had by all. We still need to do some more fund raising and then we start working on our next trip overseas possibly Korea. You can keep updated by going to Tom MacKenzie's site. Just google and you will find it easily. Till then Happy Travels to all http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-57957.html Back to where it all began. After landing in Paris and moving on quickly we are now back to spend a few days in the city of lights. We did some of the typical tourist things Eiffel Tower Notre Dame Dining on the Left Bank and some not so usual things like doing the Charlie and the MTA tour of the Paris train system and walking around the airport hotels trying to find our own at 1 in th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-57952.html Took the train from Brussels to Paris to Marseille travelling through some beautiful countryside. After arriving we were split up far and wide with some of the group staying in the city and others like myself staying out in the countryside. Next day we had a tour of the city and saw the local sites. Two of us went on a short boat ride out to some of the islands out in the harbour while http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-57950.html Just a real quick note to say that we are home in Vermont. No internet access for the last week or so but once I readjust I will post some pics and some info about our time in France. We saw and did some great things and put in our miles on the trains. More later gotta sleep. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-57553.html I am finally catching up. We are at the point in the trip now where its difficult to remeber what happened when and where and with whom. Brain drain would be a good word for it. We have now been in Dilbeek for a couple of days and have setteled in with our host families so now it is time to leave tomorrow for Marseilles. We had a walking tour of Brussels on our arrival day. I didn't take any http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-56119.html A few of us slipped away for a quick two hour tour of the lovely city of Brugge. Wonderful buildings with canals running through town. We called this our No time for Rubens tour since we had no time to do any of the things that we would have liked to do but found plenty to bring us back some day. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-56036.html Went to the coast to Oostduinkerke which is in between Dunkirk and the Netherlands for a day of fun and sun. The bad news is that it was very cold. The good news is that we had the beach to ourselves. Luckily kids don't feel the pain of a cold ocean although a lot more time was spent burying each other in the sand than swimming. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-56034.html Here are a few pics of us having fun at the carnival and at the Folk Music museum. The museum is a hands on affair where you can learn about the music that was popular during World War I. We also did a musical show and a dance workshop there and of course had a wonderful meal. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-55866.html Well we have been dancing with seniors dancing with juniors and dancing with anyone willing to join in. Everything from pushing wheelchairs at a senior center to leading around dozens of schoolchildren. The kids have been troopers. We had one full day at a school where we had six sessions of teaching. It was exhausting just to watch them but their youthful energy pulled them through. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-55570.html After settling in on Saturday morning with our host families we all got together in the evening for some dancing. At the rate they are learning our dances we will be soon adding a number of our host families children to our group. Later that night A few of the adults have been hit with a fast moving virus. The amount of time between bratwurst and bathroom was minimal. Luc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-54803.html We left the school at 5pm arrived in Montreal at 740 Waited in line after line and finally got on the plane and sat for about an hour. The flight was uneventful with just a little turbulence. Three movies lots of dialogue little action but it passed the time. Lovely continental breakfast even though for us it was 4 in the morning. Jumped off the plane in Paris and waited in more line http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-54540.html Its starting to sink in to the kids that we are actually going to go in two days. We did a last rehearsal last night and will do one final performance for their classmates on Thursday before heading up to Montreal and the flight to Paris. From there its right to the train for a short ride to Lille then on to Heule Belgium. Today is a packing day and a day to tie up the loose ends. Th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-53702.html Folkids of Vermont is getting ready for another trip overseas this time to France and Belgium. This is my tenth trip with the group that has taken me from Canada to China and many places in between. We will be doing home stays while in Belgium which is always a great experience for the kids and adults alike. The itinerary for France is still being worked on but will include the touristing o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-52743.html