Southern France

Hello to all families and friends.
Yesterday we spent a beautiful but hot day in Lyon...the gastronomic captial of France. It added about five lbs to my hips. Breakfast was croissants, baguettes, jam, butter, fresh fruit, yogart, sliced ham and a delicious cheese (don't know what kind, but it was rich); We took a sightseeing ride through Lyon, stopping at a beautiful church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. We saw the combination of old and new architecture and crossed over the Rhoan and Soane rivers. Please excuse my spelling of these as it is difficult to spell because French does not spell easily phonetically;
Then stopped at an amazing indoor market that puts Whole Foods to shame! We sampled various meats, duck pate surrounded in a pastry, herbed cheese,. too much to mention. Some of us stopped to buy a dessert that wasvery rich.

Then on the bus for more touring and to lunch for Flam, a very thin crust with another cheese and ham, or veges, or mushrooms. It ended with a chocolate and cheese crusted dessert: egads....all I'm talking about is food! But as they say When in France do as the French do....or is that Rome???
We then took the rest of the day for a long bus ride to Frejus and Saint Raphel.
We all met our host families about 8:00 and settled in for a good night's rest. We met in Frejus on the Mediterranian sea this morning for a half day of swimming and learned a game called petanque. Nini our delegation manager beat me. It is played with small metal,heavy balls. You throw a small ball,smaller than a ping pong ball and heavier. Then you stand behind a line and pitch it out trying to hit the small ball. Some thought it was for "old folks" ha ha....guess it suited me fine!

All left with smiles to spend the next two days with their families.

I apologize for not keeping you more informed, but internet scarcity and late nights have prevented it;

We are watching out for all of your children and keeping a carerful eye on them to make sure they are eating ok and drinking a lot of water and trying to quell any homesickness, of which there has been little. All the students are meshing together and love Derrick and Kristen; Actually there have been a few McDonald,s runs when dinners were a bit light for the boys!!!!

Bye for now....time for a little nap after all that swimming.....Julie

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