Day 4: On the TGV from Nice - Paris

Agenda:

1.       Grocery shop for picnic food for our 5 hour train ride on the TGV to Paris
2.     5 hour TGV to Paris, whizzing by typical French villages, countryside, and vineyards vineyards vineyar..wait, there’s a river! vineyards.
3.       Arrive at the Gare de Lyon in Paris
4.       Drop things off at our hotel in the 10e and walk to Montmartre

So far we have been lucky with the weather—beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine. Today, however, the skies turned gray and drizzly, probably because she knew we were leaving. The brave Helen woke up at 6 (or maybe even earlier,,) to take a quick swim in the (freezing but refreshing) Mediterranean sea with Mme Yeo. You only live once, and what an amazing thing to remember—doing something so wonderfully crazy but worth it, because when else are you going to be able to wake up and do this?

After an active morning, we went to the supermarket Casino and the corner boulangerie to buy lunch for our train ride. Some of us ended up getting baguettes or tartes sales (savory quiches)—a la nicoise, pissaladiere (caramelized onions, olives, and anchovies), Lorraine, saumon. After les courses we headed back to the hotel, packed our valises, and walked 5 minutes to the Gare de Nice to catch our TGV, or Train a Grande Vitesse to Paris!

And here I am now, on the TGV trying to catch up on updating our day-to-day activities. Most of the kids are sleeping, having finished their pique-nique. Some of them are taking in the French experience of riding the train through the rose vineyards and fruit orchards of Aix-en-Provence. Some are catching up on homework or reading. I have some planning to do, since the day after tomorrow we will have a free day in Paris, and there are a million and one things that I’d like them to see and experience on foot. Alors, a bientot!

Day 3: EZE! FRAGONARD! MONACO! WANDERING THROUGH ALLEYS!

Agenda:

1.       Excursion to Eze village
2.       Walk-through visit of the Fragonard perfume factory
3.       Viewing of the changing of the guards in Monaco
4.       Free time to explore Nice

Most of us had a better sleep last night, and although our hotel receptionist said la meteo predicted rain, it was a sunny, beautiful day. Our private coach arrived right on time, at 9 am, and we boarded the bus for a beautiful, 40 minute drive along the Mediterranean coastline. We learned along the way Princess Grace (Kelly) had died in a car accident along this route long ago, and that Elton John has a house in the hills right above the blue coastline (he apparently just arrived a few days ago, but we didn’t hear any notes of “Benny and Jets” floating from above). Our driver, Sebastian, stopped along the way to let us off for some photos as the views were breathtaking and the colors of the Mediterranean really popped.

In about 20 minutes we arrived in Eze, a small village perched atop a rocky outcrop with panoramic views of the sea. The kids had fun discovering the small alleys, and I wish we would have had more time to really explore all of the nooks and holes that Quincy could fit into for a photo!

Five minutes away was the Fragonard perfume factory where we learned about les nez and the process of making quality, natural perfume. Did you know it takes 3 tons of flowers to make just 1 kilo of perfume? After our guide explained the process of extracting the flower essence (drop by drop), we tested our nez to see if we could identify 8 scents. Helen was incredibly fast at identify her mystery jars—she may just be one the 15 nez in the world that can identify over 1000 different essences!

After leaving the factory, we continued on our way to Monaco, trying to get there in time for la relevee des guards (changing of the guards). Marc had mentioned wanting to arrive by 11:30 so that the more petite of us could find a good spot in front of the throngs of tourists also there to see la relevee. Malheureusement, we were a bit too late and finding a spot meant fitting ourselves between other tourists or holding our cameras up to film the tradition that happens once per day at 12 pm. Allison W. and Regina found some nice German tourists who let them stand in front to take photos. Merci, les allemands!

After Monaco we headed back to Nice and said au revoir to our driver, Sebastian. We headed once again back into the center of Nice to finish up souvenir shopping or exploring side streets before dinner at a restaurant right on the Promenade des Anglais. We had the traditional ratatouille followed by porc a la moutarde with pasta, and we finished with une tarte aux pommes et chantilly (whipped cream).

By the time we left the restaurant, 11 of us headed back to the hotel, while 3 of us (Kaili, Helen, and Marina) headed back to Vieux Nice to get lost one last time in the winding alley-ways lined with trendy and traditional bars, restaurants, (closed) stores, and a crepe stand, complete with a Frenchman wearing a beret and scarf (we decided he was doing this for show—there were many tourists in town because of Easter Sunday and the Monday off in Europe). After the long wait for a simple but delicious crepes beurre-sucre, caramel sale, and nutella, we took our time walking back to the hotel through la Coulee Verte, the greenspace that Nice recently created to beautify the city and what was once a moche, gray bus parking lot. 

Please excuse missing accents! I'm working on a small, slow computer without an easier way to add them + save time!!

Day 2: Musées Matisse, Chagall, et les plaisirs de Nice

Note: photos will be added as soon as the slow internet connection can upload them! For now, here is the posting and photos can still be viewed at my Instagram page: mlle.louie

Jetlag. Most of us suffered from this to some extent last night and it was not the most pleasant experience of our otherwise wonderful trip abroad.  Adjusting to a 9 hour time difference meant waking up once, twice, or three times last night. Mme Yeo woke up at 2, 3, and 4: 30 am. I woke up at 3:30, and again at 4:30 am, and couldn’t fully go back to sleep so I stayed up thinking about the day and minor logistics of the trip.

After our buffet breakfast (we had a choice of croissants, toasts avec de la confiture, fruits, jambon, yaourt, chocolat chaud, jus d’argrumes [citrus], oeufs, et café), students went upstairs to grab their things for a day in and around Nice. We met downstairs around 9 am, and our courier, Marc, explained our agenda for Day 2:

1.       Walk to the open-air marché at the Cours Saleya in Vieux Nice
2.       A visit to the Musée Matisse which is located in an 18^th century Italian-style house.
3.       A visit to the Musée Chagall, French painter born in Poland who has works of art all over France (l’Opéra Garnier in Paris, la Cathédrale de Metz in the Lorraine region of France)
4.       Grocery shopping at the Monoprix on Nice’s main avenue, Jean-Medecin
5.       Picnic lunch at the beach
6.       Some free time to shop and explore Nice

Travelers discovered les délices du sud at the outdoor market, and we saw many Mediterranean fruits, vegetables, spices imported from north Africa, soaps, artisanal crafts, and nicoise specialties. It was a neat place to stop for souvenirs that one may not necessarily find in the typical tourist shop.

After that we caught the No. 15 bus for the Musée Matisse. When we got off we explored the Gallo-Romaine ruins right outside the ochre-colored 18^th century Italian house with trompe-l’oeil balconies painted on the exterior. It was a neat experience, being in something that felt so old with a story to tell about the beginnings of France.

The Matisse museum was interesting in that it showed the progression of his earlier paintings to his more abstract, Fauvisme style that included bright, shocking colors (for his time period). We then headed to the Chagall museum which I think most of the kids enjoyed. The work on exposition included large, fluid, colorful paintings—many of which depicted religious themes. We saw un essai of his stained-glass work that was later incorporated into 2 panels of the Metz cathedrale, which my French “maman” introduced me to last summer. Without her, I would not have experienced and learned half the things I know about French culture that I know now! Merci, Patricia.

After our museum visits, we headed back into town for some grocery shopping at the busy Monoprix, just off of the Place Massena. Some of the travelers ventured outside of their comfort zones and tried some new things they saw at the store (Zach ordered a feuilleté au fromage), and some opted for the traditional French picnic lunch of baguette, fromage, & jambon. We walked down to the plage where we found a nice spot (though pebbly—the pebbles are called galets) facing la Mediterranée.

After lunch the travelers went off in their groups to do some shopping on the Avenue Jean-Medecin or explore the narrow, criss-crossing alleys of Vieux Nice. We finished the day with dinner at a restaurant off of the main street, where we had soupe à l’oignon, lasagnes au saumon, and moelleux au chocolat (warm chocolate cake with a soft center, surrounded by a drizzle of crème anglaise). Not a bad ending!

BONJOUR DE NICE, FRANCE!

We made it to la belle Côte d'Azur! The flight was not so bad with a short layover in New York. We were able to stretch our legs and get something to eat at JFK (the airplane food was "bof", Air France will have a nicer meal, but for now we are enjoying our time in France). Keeping this short and sweet tonight as it's 10:20 pm and we didn't stop since getting off the plane at 12 pm. The travelers are learning and absorbing so much here it's amazing. The weather couldn't be better, and our courier, Marc is very knowledgable, warm, and friendly.

Highlights included walking the Promenade des Anglais, stopping on the beach, a meandering walk through the alleys of Vieux Nice, and a hike to the cascade du Château. We also saw what a French cemetery looks like (interesting cultural comparisons here), and were reminded of the lasting impact that WWII had on France--did you know sirens still go off regularly every 1st Wednesday of the month at 12 pm, since the war ended? Hopefully they won't ever need to be used again. 

We finished the day (jetlagged but happy) at a French restaurant where we had a 3 course meal of salade, coq au vin, et tarte au citron. Some travelers were given the special treatment for no particular reason (?) and were treated to 2 extra desserts (which were of course generously shared with the group)!

Everyone is exhausted now and it's time to some sleep, finally! 

I'm typing on my phone so I can't post photos easily, but they can be found here: https://instagram.com/mlle.louie/#

Bonne nuit!

NICE-PARIS 2015: Departure dans 1 jour!

BONJOUR! ET VOILA, ON Y EST!

Flight is confirmed. Suitcase and carry-on are packed and organized. Copies of itineraries, mini city guides, maps, survival French (not that any of you will need this, but it's good for review in the plane), and my box of band-aids for your hopefully non-existent blisters or other boo boos are ready to go. Anything I'm forgetting? Hope not.

(Also, not that students need to worry about this--but my sub plans and all copies are already made, printed, and organized (thank goodness for post-its and binder dividers)! Classes were given direction on what to do when I'm gone (*tear*, au revoir les enfants!), and I am quite proud of the film worksheet I came up with for Frozen and Le Petit Nicolas--which involves a scavenger hunt on wordreference! OUAIS!)

With this last (important) detail in place, I finally feel ready to leave and perhaps get to enjoy the trip with all of you. No, I'm not much of a worrywart...

I have to say, this is never something I imagined doing when I entertained the thought of teaching 4 years ago. Some of you were my very first students as a teacher, some of you I have gotten to see grow from French 1 to 2, or French 2 to 3--which has been incredible, and some of you just blow me away with how easily the language comes to you when I think about my own high school experience learning the language. No one ever pushed my class to parler en FRANCAIS!, to get outside of our comfort zones, and the idea of going on a trip to France only existed in films for me.

To be able to do this with my own students now, on the other side of the "fence" so to speak, is truly an experience I have no words for. I am glad Mme LaBarre and past French teachers here have done these trips and encouraged me to do the same.

While I have a million and one things I'd like for you to experience just as I have, I know that France will mean something different to everyone, and I hope you discover what that is by the end of this adventure.

Merci pour votre soutien du programme de français, et pour votre enthousiasme pour la langue, culture, nourriture...française en classe et au-delà de l'école.

There is nothing more priceless than seeing your hard work and education pay off in real, tangible, eye-opening ways.

Hope you're all squealing with excitement now, it's hard keeping it under control today!

How fitting, today's Google Doodle is in honor of the inauguration of la Tour Eiffel.