Parkway North and West France Abroad

It has been awhile since we lasr wrote, as we have been on the road and exploring much of the time! After leaving Rennes, we had a full day of visiting three wonderful chateaux in the Loire Valley (pictures coming soon); Chenonceau, Chambord, and then Blois, where we also saw an evening sound and light performance at the chateau there. The next day we travelled to Versailles and spent several hours gazing at the opulence and splendor around us, and NOT enjoying the huge crowds. We then moved on to Paris, where the students very quickly learned how to navigate the metro, and we are having a fantastic time sightseeing from one end of the city to another. We can't believe that we only have one day left, but I think that we will be ready ... read more

Bonjour tout le monde! It's hard to believe that 5 days have already passed since the journey began with this group of students. It was a wild beginning to the trip, with a 3 hour delay at the St. Louis airport and BARELY making the flight from Chicago to Paris (the airline held the plane for us for about 25 mins because we were such a large group). But it gave us an early insight into how our students would deal with and adapt to unexpected changes; all were amazingly good sports with zero complaining! Some students played cards, a small group did a couple of "laps" around the terminal, others read or listened to iPods, some chatted with us, and all adapted well to the unexpected delays. It bode well for the trip as a ... read more

Mlle. Bridwell put together a wonderful pique nique for the West/North Abroad group, and we had a super time! Students jumped right into the introduction activities with gusto, and we learned the names of group members from each school within just a few minutes. The relay activities were definitely hilarious to watch, and it looked like they were fun to take part in as well. There was snack food a plenty as we headed "a la bouffe" in mixed groups to get to know each other better as we ate and chatted. The final scavenger hunt was filled with laughter, a few wrong turns, and finally the joyful discovery of the "tresors" hidden by Mlle. Bridwell. Thank you to everyone who was able to come and enjoy the beautiful day at Faust Park! ... read more

We are just a few weeks away from our visit to France. I'm getting excited like I always do before an oveseas trip, and it will be doubly fun to be with students as they discover the beauty of actually being in France for the first time. We have our next meeting in mid-April; it will be a picnic so that the students from both schools can get to know each other before we embark on the journey together. We will update the blog as much as possible during the trip and add pictures whenever we can!... read more