Students spent the entirety of the weekend with their host families and they did a variety of activities. Some visited Versailles, many went to Disneyland Paris, a few strolled around the cobblestone streets of Montmartre, and all enjoyed getting to know their host families more. Today’s post recounts a visit on Saturday, March 7, to Montmartre by Hannah Wheaton ’16, and a visit on Sunday, March 8, to Versailles by Nathalie Danso ’17 and Claudia Woods ’17:
On Saturday, my host sister, Audrey, Elise, her grandmother and mother, and Elise’s host sister, Emma, and her mother and father went to Montmartre, a section of Paris on a hill. The climb up was not easy, but the view was well worth it. On top of Montmartre, we went to the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart). As soon as you walk in you see the dome is a large fresco of Jesus staring at you. Walking around the Basilica there are ornate mosaics and thousands of lit candles.
We sat for a bit and then after we went to small restaurant where we had croque monsieurs and frites (I had mine with mayo, the French way). We walked around Montmartre and saw the only vineyard in Paris, which is tiny! After we descended from Montmartre, we passed by Moulin Rouge. I had never heard of it before, a bit surprising to the group because I love musicals. Afterwards we had a sleepover which is not very different than in America. We ate pizza and chocolate, watched a scary movie, and stayed up a little too late. – Hannah Wheaton
Elise Turrietta and her corres, Emma, visiting Sacre Coeur in Montmartre over the weekend.
On Sunday afternoon I went to the beautiful gardens of Versailles with my host family. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed sitting down on the grass with our friends, Nathalie, Alex(French), Philippine(French), and Marianne, my host sister! Beforehand, we explored the bedchambers, dinner hall, and more inside the building (which Nathalie will be blogging about as well) 🙂 I also went to visit my 2 aunts in Paris and enjoyed speaking with them and learning more about French culture and the strong Lebanese community in Paris. It was wonderful to catch up with them after several years of not seeing them and even more wonderful for my Mother. (As a young child my mother would visit her father’s sister in Paris as well and I am recreating the tradition). They handed out homemade treats and we bonded over tea and Arabic bread. Later that day I had breakfast for dinner with Marianne in her bedroom while we watched Pitch Perfect. The day could not have been more beautiful. I am enjoying my host family thoroughly and am loving Paris! Merci! – Claudia Woods
Versailles, with its beatiful gardens and ornate rooms, was definitely one of the most memorable places I have seen so far. Almost every inch was covered in gold leaf and the rooms almost all had painted ceilings. Luckily for us, there weren’t as any people as usual. Near the entrance there was also a sign banning selfie sticks which is something some of the other tourists sights should consider doing. Portraits of the architects and the inhabitants lined the walls. This trip was particularly interesting because we had just finished learning about the French Revolution in our Modern European History class before we came to France. Seeing what we had learned about in class first-hand was a great experience and made the events somehow seem more real. The “Hall of Mirrors” was one of the most magnificent rooms I have ever seen. The entire wall was lined with mirrors on one side and windows on the other. On the ceiling there were paintings with gold borders separating them from one another. The enormousness of Versailles was something I never could have imagined, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to visit such a famous and beautiful historical place. – Nathalie Danso