Epilogue Part 2

Wednesday was museum day. In the morning, we had a guided tour of the Musée d’Orsay, thought of as the museum of Impressionism (although there is so much more). Our guide was exceptional and spoke in French slowly enough for us all to understand and explained difficult concepts simply.

We then picnicked in the Tuileries Gardens outside the Louvre Museum.

Our visit to the Louvre was a bit difficult, as their rules required us to stay in our group of 23 with Victoria as our guide when the museum was packed tight with tourists and the air conditioning wasn’t working all that well. Victoria is Parisian, but Parisians don’t go to the Louvre. So we were here and there. The students did get to see the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory, the Coronation of Josephine, the Raft of the Medusa and the Rape of the Sabine Women - all important artworks that they had studied in Culture Class.

But we cut our visit short because it was simply hot and miserable. We ended by passing through the foundations of the original fortress, which are interesting and cool.

From there, we saw the courtyard of the Palais Royale, with its striped columns and the wonderful gardens. The Palais was the home of Louis XIV as a child, when he was king but too young to rule. Afterwards, it was the home of Cardinal Richelieu, the second most powerful man in France after Louis XIV.

We lingered in a quiet square that had shopping and cafés. Our Parisian, Victoria knew of it, just off Rue de la Paix, a very touristy district.

After that, we saw the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera House, which is today home to the National Ballet.

Considering the state of the Métro in the late afternoon, we decided to walk to the Concorde Square with its Egyptian Obelisk covered in hieroglyphics and its famous fountains. From there, it was on to the Champs de Mars, the park in front of the Eiffel Tower. We picnicked there as our last meal together in France. It was fun and happy and sad.

Luc, Abby, Esti and Ava left us Wednesday evening to continue travels in Europe with their families. It was great when Abby couldn’t figure out how to speak English with her family!

Thursday morning we climbed aboard our coaches and headed for Charles de Gaulle airport to begin our trek home. The rule is that once the wheels leave French soil, the students can then speak English. Once we took off, a cheer went up…and they went back to speaking French. It was just too weird for them to make the switch that quickly.

Even when we arrived in Indianapolis, the students were still speaking French among one another and their teachers, while trying to speak in English with their families. I expect even now, the students open their mouths and have no idea what language will come out of their mouths.

This is my third year of teaching in this program. This group was the most dedicated to the honor code I have had. When English words slipped out, they were horrified and immediately apologized. They believed in the honor code and lived by it.

This was a truly special group of young people. My life is enriched by having had the opportunity to live and work with them. Their advancement in their language skills was amazing. But what I found truly amazing was their growth as people. They became citizens of the world. They now have friends and family on the other side of the world. And I believe that these kids will keep those links alive. They will go back to Brest. They will share their lives on social media with their host families and their friends from the program.

Thank you to parents for sharing your children with us. And thank you, stagiaires, for being the being the absolutely wonderful people that you are and for sharing a bit of you with me. Vous avez pris mon coeur.