In preparation for our follow up meeting in a few weeks I have assembled some ideas from three articles including my own:
From International Study and Experiential Learning: The Academic Context
Lynne Montrose
“Experiential learning sends students out of the classroom into a world that is complex and interconnected, challenging their prevailing world view and their ability to take responsibility for their own learning. In experiential learning it is the student who determines intentional, measurable learning objectives.”
“Experiential education involves the student in a concrete experience, adds pre-determined educational outcomes, and engages the learner in critically analyzing the situation in order to form new knowledge that can be utilized the next time a situation is encountered. What makes this an educational enterprise is not so much the activity in and of itself, but the analysis of the activity through personal reflection, discussion, writing or projects that help the learner transition from the experience to integrated meaning and finally to subsequent understanding.”
From Global Citizenship: The Human Face of International Education
Kirsten Sheppard
“The impact of international education is hard to determine because each experience is so personal in nature. No one person starts at the same point or finishes with the same outcome. For many students one experience abroad, regardless of duration, can last a lifetime. For some, the experience begins long before they actually leave their homes. For others, it may be only a snapshot in time away from home.”
“What does it take for international education to have the desired impact? How can we ensure that international experiences provide students with global perspectives, appreciation for diversity, and intercultural understanding?”
From Granada Reflections
Linda Smith Tabb
“I think that in addition to preparation, some kind of debriefing after the trip is equally important. It is a good thing to share the feelings upon returning as people all have to somehow process what they have experienced in some way. Sharing this experience with others, and perhaps acknowledging how we all differ in a group, could be very valuable. One way of measuring the impact of a study abroad experience in addition to mastery of course material, the development of critical thinking skills, and language proficiency, could involve the sharing during this debriefing of a creative work, such as an essay, video, film, music or artwork (Gillespie 2002). Asking students to express themselves in their own individual medium will help them to be able to recognize what about the trip touched them uniquely, and also help to gauge how they engage with culture, and will hopefully encourage them to want to make this type of trip an ongoing presence in their personal lives.”
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Postscript
Yesterday on the Lex bus back to Champaign, some of the students were asking how to best manage their sleep schedule in the next days. I shared that I always adapt quickly when traveling east. Europe is easy. You stay up as late as you can the first night, get up at a normal time the next day, and the adjustment seems to sort itself out. Going west is quite another thing. I told them that I always wake up at about 3 a.m. the first night, and that it just seems to take me forever to get it right again after that. So, like clockwork today, I awakened at 3:09 a.m.
It was strange not to spend the end of my day last night updating the blog with commentary and photos. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and insights with all of you, and I hope you have enjoyed checking it each day of our journey. You have probably gathered by now that I love to write. In addition to keeping you all updated, this blog serves as a permanent record of our trip and is essentially my travel journal. Many of the students kept travel journals on the road, and this written remembrance is an important part of learning and a way of processing an experience.
I wrote in a journal every day when I took my "gap year" between college and graduate school, and traveled literally around the world with a backpack on my back for many months. I found the journal was a way of expressing my feelings and impressions and was a form of catharsis for me. My journal was for me only. In a time before Internet and inexpensive phone cards, writing also served as a way to keep my family updated on my travels. I wrote my parents a postcard religiously from every place I went so that they would know that I was fine. When I got home all of the postcards were in a collage on the wall of our kitchen. I know how much it meant to them to have ongoing and regular confirmation that all was well and it was originally for that reason that I created the blog. The postcards also gave them a chance to visit the places vicariously. I still have that collection of postcards and now I wonder where my journal is...?
I am somewhat old fashioned in that I believe that most things worth having involve a combination of risk, sacrifice and hard work. And the things that I value most are not things at all - my family, my health, my education, and my memories of experiences, especially my travels. We live in a culture of instant gratification. However, I also believe that for the most part there are no shortcuts in life. I speak the languages that I speak because I worked hard at it over the course of many years. I continue to work on them daily by reading newspapers, websites, watching foreign news broadcasts, speaking to people who speak the language at home and abroad. I will never stop working on my languages and I continue to add new ones every few years. Working on language is something we all do every day with our own language. We just do not think about it. It is all around us, we use it every day, and it is not stagnant but evolving all the time. I qualified the concept of shortcuts because I do think that there is a shortcut involving languages. There is no question that being in the country where a language is spoken does facilitate language learning more quickly, but only if the learner is truly engaged in the experience and is willing to take risks. Just asking for something at a store can feel like a risk. The more someone truly immerses oneself and notices the surroundings, the more this shortcut aids the process.
I hope this trip has made language learning relevant to them and that they recognize its value, and how much richness it brings to life. I hope this trip will be for them a memory that they carry with them on their life's journey and look back with fondness on the times that we shared. It was indeed a truly delightful trip to France.
It was strange not to spend the end of my day last night updating the blog with commentary and photos. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and insights with all of you, and I hope you have enjoyed checking it each day of our journey. You have probably gathered by now that I love to write. In addition to keeping you all updated, this blog serves as a permanent record of our trip and is essentially my travel journal. Many of the students kept travel journals on the road, and this written remembrance is an important part of learning and a way of processing an experience.
I wrote in a journal every day when I took my "gap year" between college and graduate school, and traveled literally around the world with a backpack on my back for many months. I found the journal was a way of expressing my feelings and impressions and was a form of catharsis for me. My journal was for me only. In a time before Internet and inexpensive phone cards, writing also served as a way to keep my family updated on my travels. I wrote my parents a postcard religiously from every place I went so that they would know that I was fine. When I got home all of the postcards were in a collage on the wall of our kitchen. I know how much it meant to them to have ongoing and regular confirmation that all was well and it was originally for that reason that I created the blog. The postcards also gave them a chance to visit the places vicariously. I still have that collection of postcards and now I wonder where my journal is...?
I am somewhat old fashioned in that I believe that most things worth having involve a combination of risk, sacrifice and hard work. And the things that I value most are not things at all - my family, my health, my education, and my memories of experiences, especially my travels. We live in a culture of instant gratification. However, I also believe that for the most part there are no shortcuts in life. I speak the languages that I speak because I worked hard at it over the course of many years. I continue to work on them daily by reading newspapers, websites, watching foreign news broadcasts, speaking to people who speak the language at home and abroad. I will never stop working on my languages and I continue to add new ones every few years. Working on language is something we all do every day with our own language. We just do not think about it. It is all around us, we use it every day, and it is not stagnant but evolving all the time. I qualified the concept of shortcuts because I do think that there is a shortcut involving languages. There is no question that being in the country where a language is spoken does facilitate language learning more quickly, but only if the learner is truly engaged in the experience and is willing to take risks. Just asking for something at a store can feel like a risk. The more someone truly immerses oneself and notices the surroundings, the more this shortcut aids the process.
I hope this trip has made language learning relevant to them and that they recognize its value, and how much richness it brings to life. I hope this trip will be for them a memory that they carry with them on their life's journey and look back with fondness on the times that we shared. It was indeed a truly delightful trip to France.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Quotable quotes
We are patiently waiting for the Lex shuttle at O'Hare International Terminal by door 5E. Here are some quotes from the trip.
After Tom spilled Nutella ice cream on himself and Jen tried to help, he replied in a loud voice, "You blot it, NOT rub it in".
Mme. Smith Tabb was trying to come up with a French McDonald's dish, and blurted out "how about Chicken McDuckets?"
Sarah said, "Lots of things smell better than onions; I am one of them."
Tristan was wearing a dress shirt to dinner on our last night revealing his chest hair, Sarah suggested he "button up or shave it."
Jen commented when discussing the itinerary, "Today, tomorrow, the next day and THEN we travel."
At dinner, Tristan commented there are some things about Rocamadour that you need to discover yourself and Erica said, "Can you at least show us where the town is next time?"
Heard on the streets of Paris (not one of our group), "I have just kissed five men, five men!"
....Oh Champs Elysees....
After Tom spilled Nutella ice cream on himself and Jen tried to help, he replied in a loud voice, "You blot it, NOT rub it in".
Mme. Smith Tabb was trying to come up with a French McDonald's dish, and blurted out "how about Chicken McDuckets?"
Sarah said, "Lots of things smell better than onions; I am one of them."
Tristan was wearing a dress shirt to dinner on our last night revealing his chest hair, Sarah suggested he "button up or shave it."
Jen commented when discussing the itinerary, "Today, tomorrow, the next day and THEN we travel."
At dinner, Tristan commented there are some things about Rocamadour that you need to discover yourself and Erica said, "Can you at least show us where the town is next time?"
Heard on the streets of Paris (not one of our group), "I have just kissed five men, five men!"
....Oh Champs Elysees....
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Arrival in Chicago
Our plan if all goes well is to take the 5:10 p.m. Lex after we land and clear customs in Chicago. If for whatever reason this is not possible because of delay, I will make every attempt to begin the phone chain by phoning my husband as soon as I know that this is the case.
TGV Boarding a success!
I am hoping that my figurative language about the “travel bug” was not taken literally by anyone. Fortunately everyone has stayed well and there have been remarkably few complaints about anything including any minor illnesses or gastric upsets. The main moans and groans have involved our accommodations which by European standards have been amazing. The hotel rooms in Paris are notoriously small even by French or European standards. That is just the way it is. Our second hotel was big, modern and luxurious but they were disappointed that it was outside of town. The new hotels like that are always outside of town because that is the only place where a new property of that type could be built! Every inch of these old towns is taken. Our third hotel had rooms that were all completely different. The hotel had two different adjacent buildings and one was more updated than the other. Some had a huge loft with beautiful provençal fabrics and appointments. Others may have had a smaller room without air conditioning on a ground floor. Frankly I never used my air conditioning even if I had it but many Americans just expect it as a matter of course and so it can be a surprise not to have it in a hotel. Many hotels large and small adapt buildings of all sorts and turn them into hotels and bed and breakfasts and each and every space is utilized in some manner, so there is no “cookie cutter” set of rooms. Properties such as these are less common in the U.S.
I am writing this on the bus from Sarlat to Bordeaux as the sun hits us for the first time today. We left Sarlat very early today to make our way to the train station to catch the TGV train to Paris for our last night of the trip. We boarded the bus at 7:30 a.m. and although I know that most of them would have preferred a later morning, they all seem to have gotten quite used to the routine and understand how to function in a group. Our group dynamic will be tested today when we eventually get to the train station and have exactly three minutes to board the train together with all of our luggage. We are setting up a teamwork strategy to do this and it will require organization and consciousness of time constraints.
From what I hear the weather we are currently experiencing with rain, cool temperatures and overcast skies has been more the norm this year in Europe. I have enjoyed the cooler temperatures and have loved sleeping with my windows open, something I rarely am able to do in Illinois in the summer. If you follow the international news, you may have seen that there is a good bit of flooding in England right now. Our cluster of beautiful days was an aberration in an otherwise somewhat nasty summer here. We seem to be due for more of the same today as the metro is predicting rain in Paris. Everyone seemed to pack for the changeable weather and take it all in stride.
Passing by us are rows and rows of sunflowers, something I associate with France, particularly in the south in Provence. They are grown as a crop here and are used for their oil. They are beautiful to see by the side of the road and the word in French describes them even better than our word ~ tourne-soleil ~ they turn towards the sun and do so in unison. There is still so much lovely unspoiled countryside in France and I love to just sit and look out the window of a car, bus or train. The buildings and homes are different in the different regions as styles are largely dependent on local building materials and the topography of the area. There is also something comforting about seeing buildings that have withstood the test of time, passed down from generation to generation. The individuality of each structure characterizes the manner in which it was built.
We arrived in Bordeaux and had about 45 minutes to explore. It is quite a lovely town with wide avenues and wide walkways along the Gironde River. It is quite well known for its famous wines. We were able to get a small taste of the place and then we headed for the train station to await the boarding of our train for Paris. The line that runs from Bordeaux to Paris is the fastest of the TGV lines and the journey takes about 2 and a half hours. We had gone quite a ways south and west from Paris slowly throughout the week and this opportunity to take this type of high speed train is a unique experience. Getting on the train in a large group is quite an event. We had a luggage chain set up to get all the luggage loaded in the luggage compartment and the rest of us boarded the train and were told where to sit. It is quite a quick three minutes. The TGV does not wait for anyone and the line is fined if it does not run on time. The teamwork paid off and we were on the train with time to spare. That five minute passing period is going to start looking very long after that experience!
Our trip on the TGV was enjoyable. Most of us bought sandwiches either at the train station or on the train itself. After we arrived in Paris we were picked up at the train station and traveled by another bus to the hotel. We checked into our rooms and then had about two hours until our scheduled dinner. Most students went out to the Galeries Lafayette, Rue de Rivoli or other areas to shop for last minute purchases and souvenirs. Our last dinner was an excellent meal, a tomato tart, chicken cordon bleu with a delightful sauce and saffron rice and creme brule for dessert.
We depart for Chicago tomorrow. Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) airport is not one of my favorites. It is somewhat chaotic and everything takes long periods of time. We are allowing an hour to get there and three hours before the flight for the check-in. The adventure is drawing to a close and it has been close to flawless. I told them that it was the first time I have been in France when there was not a major strike of some kind. I have been here during air baggage employee strikes, metro line strikes and the most painful of all museum strikes. One time I was here for 2 weeks and never got to go to any museums because they were all closed because of the strike. So I am glad that none of these types of things got in the way of our fun.
I am writing this on the bus from Sarlat to Bordeaux as the sun hits us for the first time today. We left Sarlat very early today to make our way to the train station to catch the TGV train to Paris for our last night of the trip. We boarded the bus at 7:30 a.m. and although I know that most of them would have preferred a later morning, they all seem to have gotten quite used to the routine and understand how to function in a group. Our group dynamic will be tested today when we eventually get to the train station and have exactly three minutes to board the train together with all of our luggage. We are setting up a teamwork strategy to do this and it will require organization and consciousness of time constraints.
From what I hear the weather we are currently experiencing with rain, cool temperatures and overcast skies has been more the norm this year in Europe. I have enjoyed the cooler temperatures and have loved sleeping with my windows open, something I rarely am able to do in Illinois in the summer. If you follow the international news, you may have seen that there is a good bit of flooding in England right now. Our cluster of beautiful days was an aberration in an otherwise somewhat nasty summer here. We seem to be due for more of the same today as the metro is predicting rain in Paris. Everyone seemed to pack for the changeable weather and take it all in stride.
Passing by us are rows and rows of sunflowers, something I associate with France, particularly in the south in Provence. They are grown as a crop here and are used for their oil. They are beautiful to see by the side of the road and the word in French describes them even better than our word ~ tourne-soleil ~ they turn towards the sun and do so in unison. There is still so much lovely unspoiled countryside in France and I love to just sit and look out the window of a car, bus or train. The buildings and homes are different in the different regions as styles are largely dependent on local building materials and the topography of the area. There is also something comforting about seeing buildings that have withstood the test of time, passed down from generation to generation. The individuality of each structure characterizes the manner in which it was built.
We arrived in Bordeaux and had about 45 minutes to explore. It is quite a lovely town with wide avenues and wide walkways along the Gironde River. It is quite well known for its famous wines. We were able to get a small taste of the place and then we headed for the train station to await the boarding of our train for Paris. The line that runs from Bordeaux to Paris is the fastest of the TGV lines and the journey takes about 2 and a half hours. We had gone quite a ways south and west from Paris slowly throughout the week and this opportunity to take this type of high speed train is a unique experience. Getting on the train in a large group is quite an event. We had a luggage chain set up to get all the luggage loaded in the luggage compartment and the rest of us boarded the train and were told where to sit. It is quite a quick three minutes. The TGV does not wait for anyone and the line is fined if it does not run on time. The teamwork paid off and we were on the train with time to spare. That five minute passing period is going to start looking very long after that experience!
Our trip on the TGV was enjoyable. Most of us bought sandwiches either at the train station or on the train itself. After we arrived in Paris we were picked up at the train station and traveled by another bus to the hotel. We checked into our rooms and then had about two hours until our scheduled dinner. Most students went out to the Galeries Lafayette, Rue de Rivoli or other areas to shop for last minute purchases and souvenirs. Our last dinner was an excellent meal, a tomato tart, chicken cordon bleu with a delightful sauce and saffron rice and creme brule for dessert.
We depart for Chicago tomorrow. Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) airport is not one of my favorites. It is somewhat chaotic and everything takes long periods of time. We are allowing an hour to get there and three hours before the flight for the check-in. The adventure is drawing to a close and it has been close to flawless. I told them that it was the first time I have been in France when there was not a major strike of some kind. I have been here during air baggage employee strikes, metro line strikes and the most painful of all museum strikes. One time I was here for 2 weeks and never got to go to any museums because they were all closed because of the strike. So I am glad that none of these types of things got in the way of our fun.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Rainy days and Mondays
Like my son John, my first trip to France was when I was 14 years old and I was utterly charmed. Thus began my lifelong love affair with France, and Europe, and the wider world. If you keep up with teen culture, you know about My Space. Yesterday John let me take a peek at his page. One of the features of the homepage is that there is a place to write where you currently are and your "mood". John as you know is in France. His mood is "impressed". France really is impressive and I am reminded each time I visit how much I feel that way.
How can a country the size of Texas be a major world power? How could a culture with a 35 hour work week and guaranteed 5 weeks of vacation pull this off? This is a place where their fast food would be sold as gourmet fare and where the rest stops on the motorway are nicer than most fancy gift shops in the U.S. And how can a food obsessed country have such thin people? I know that Americans have stereotypes about the French, but honestly I think they are truly some of the most gracious people as a culture that I have encountered anywhere and nowhere is politeness and general civility more valued and practiced. Yes, it helps to speak the language, but I think that you will hear many positive things about the French from your children and that is a good thing!
This is my first time in the Perigord region of France. It is off the beaten path and it is such a wonderful part of the country. For a start it is beautiful and dramatic. It also is the place of confit de canard and foie gras - delicacies sought after all over the world. Sarlat is as quaint as it gets full of winding cobblestone streets, cafes and boutiques. Rocamadour is a pilgrimage town with the reknown black virgin and stations of the cross set up a hill to which the town clings. We have sampled both today as well as the local delicacies for lunch.
Today, a Monday, brought our first real rainy day, but as many of us were expecting much rain on this trip, it seemed incidental. We toured Rocamadour in the morning and then have had a free afternoon to explore Sarlat this afternoon. I think shopping has been a big part of most of our afternoons. We had another swimming pool here at this hotel, but the rain brought cool temperatures and so most likely no one will be swimming today. I cannot complain about the weather. I have never experienced temperatures this cool in Europe in the summer, even in Sweden, so I think we are so fortunate.
This evening we pack up and leave early tomorrow to drive to Bordeaux and then board the TGV at lunchtime bound for Paris. Spirits are high and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and testing out their French more and more as the days go by. I am fairly certain that many have caught the "travel bug" which can be an incurable chronic illness. I apologize if I was the one who exposed them, but I just couldn't keep it to myself...
How can a country the size of Texas be a major world power? How could a culture with a 35 hour work week and guaranteed 5 weeks of vacation pull this off? This is a place where their fast food would be sold as gourmet fare and where the rest stops on the motorway are nicer than most fancy gift shops in the U.S. And how can a food obsessed country have such thin people? I know that Americans have stereotypes about the French, but honestly I think they are truly some of the most gracious people as a culture that I have encountered anywhere and nowhere is politeness and general civility more valued and practiced. Yes, it helps to speak the language, but I think that you will hear many positive things about the French from your children and that is a good thing!
This is my first time in the Perigord region of France. It is off the beaten path and it is such a wonderful part of the country. For a start it is beautiful and dramatic. It also is the place of confit de canard and foie gras - delicacies sought after all over the world. Sarlat is as quaint as it gets full of winding cobblestone streets, cafes and boutiques. Rocamadour is a pilgrimage town with the reknown black virgin and stations of the cross set up a hill to which the town clings. We have sampled both today as well as the local delicacies for lunch.
Today, a Monday, brought our first real rainy day, but as many of us were expecting much rain on this trip, it seemed incidental. We toured Rocamadour in the morning and then have had a free afternoon to explore Sarlat this afternoon. I think shopping has been a big part of most of our afternoons. We had another swimming pool here at this hotel, but the rain brought cool temperatures and so most likely no one will be swimming today. I cannot complain about the weather. I have never experienced temperatures this cool in Europe in the summer, even in Sweden, so I think we are so fortunate.
This evening we pack up and leave early tomorrow to drive to Bordeaux and then board the TGV at lunchtime bound for Paris. Spirits are high and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and testing out their French more and more as the days go by. I am fairly certain that many have caught the "travel bug" which can be an incurable chronic illness. I apologize if I was the one who exposed them, but I just couldn't keep it to myself...
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Alone in their thoughts
We departed the Loire Valley today to head to the Dordogne Valley. The road is winding, the distances seem longer than they are because of the type of roads we traverse for parts of the journey, and today’s fare was heavier than most. After a stop to collect lunch provisions, we arrived at our first destination and took a lunch break before walking into town.
Solemnity has its place and if it exists anywhere, it exists not just in our hearts and minds, but also in those places that have suffered collective events that mark them. There are few places that are memorialized in a manner such as Oradour-sur-Glane. Situated in the Massif Central outside of Limoges, it is what is referred to as a martyr village. The event that happened here and the evidence left is very powerful. The town is left exactly like it was from the day of the event. Pots are left on stoves, bicycles and strollers rusted out remain in homes; the tramway line and electrical lines are still intact.
The following testament comes from Madame Marguerite Rouffanche, the only survivor from the church. Over the years following the massacre she gave her statement many times to different people, including the court in Bordeaux in 1953. She died in 1988 at the age of 91 and is buried in the cemetery at Oradour. The men were all shot execution style after the women and children had been put into the church. What happened in the church is revealed to us in Mme. Rouffanche’s own words.
“At about 2 p.m. on the 10th of June 1944, German soldiers burst into my home and ordered me to go to the fairground together with my husband, son, two daughters and granddaughter.
A number from the town were already assembled and men and women were flocking in from all directions. They were followed by the schoolchildren, who arrived separately. The Germans divided us into two groups, women and children on one side and men on the other. The first group that I was in was taken under armed guard to the church. It consisted of all the women from the town, especially mothers, who entered the House of God carrying their babies in their arms, or pushing them in their strollers. All the schoolchildren were there as well. We must have numbered several hundred.
Crammed inside the church, we waited in growing anxiety to see what would happen next. Around 4 p.m. a few soldier, about 20 years of age brought into the nave, close to the choir, a large box, fro which hung strings, which trailed to the ground. When the trailing strings were lit, the device suddenly exploded with a loud bang and gave off a thick black suffocating smoke. Women and children, half-choking and screaming in terror, rushed to those parts of the church where the air was still breathable. It was thus that the door to the sacristy was broken down under the irresistible pressure of a terrified crowd. I followed them and at down on a step. My daughter joined them. The Germans saw that people had escaped into the room and cold-bloodedly shot down everyone who was hiding there. My daughter was killed where she stood by a shot fired from outside. I owe my life to my closing my eyes and feigning death.
Firing burst out in the church (from an entrance door), and then straw, firewood, and chairs were thrown in a heap onto the bodies lying on the flagstones. I had escaped the slaughter unwounded and took advantage of a cloud of smoke to hide behind the altar. In that part of the church there were three windows. I went to the middle one, the biggest and with the aid of the stool used to light the candles, tried to reach it. I don’t know how, but my strength was multiplied. I heaved myself up to it as best I could and threw myself out of the opening that was offered to me by the already shattered window. I fell about 10 feet.When I looked u; I saw that I had been followed by a woman, who was holding out her baby to me from the window. She fell down next to me, but the Germans alerted by the child’s cries fired at us. The woman and child were killed. I myself was wounded as I made my way up to a nearby garden. I hid amongst some rows of peas and waited in terror for help to arrive. That was not until the following day at about 5 p.m.
There are not many places where the ravages of war can be so vividly seen by the ruins of what used to be a thriving town frozen in time and left as is. I have seen the bombed ruins of the cathedral in Coventry, England. In this city the cathedral has been left as it was after the bombing and the rest of the town was rebuilt around it. Here in Oradour the entire ruins of the town are a stark memorial and both the cemetery and the museum contain physical artifacts and remembrances. Students may learn about wars and see them as abstract historical events. This experience is one that helps them to understand the very real costs of war, and to put into context what happened during WWII, and also why the beginnings of the European Union were formed after this war and how absolutely essential it was to this continent that another war of this type not be fought here again. To me, it is amazing how far the relations have come between France and Germany. Today they are more tightly aligned than one could ever imagine after seeing the remains of this town.
The students kept silence throughout their visit in the town which feels in many ways like a shrine. I think they were powerfully moved. The bus was silent for quite some time which is most uncharacteristic of this group. The emotions of an experience such as this take some time to process.
Our next stop was Limoges and we toured the Haviland porcelain factory and found out about how the porcelain is made and got to make purchases in their showroom. After this we drove to a service station to get some gasoline. Our 15 minute stop turned into a one hour stop when the bus driver’s credit card did not work and when he tried to phone his boss found out that he is in Morocco on holiday. In general Sundays in France are days when it can be difficult to get things done. We have had issues with this driver from the start. He seems to have no clue what the route is and this has been an issue for Tristan pretty much the whole way. He has had to try to double check the route on numerous occasions. Let’s just say that he gets us there safely every day – no problem there – but it is a bit sporting at times as we go in circles or have to turn around and go back the other way. For some reason this seems to be a somewhat common thing in Europe. I have had more than one trip when the driver seemed to not be acquainted with the area. One trip I was on in Sicily the travelers pretty much staged a mutiny and bought our own maps and plotted the route each day. We are not at that point yet…but it is most unfortunate that he seems fairly clueless.
We are currently in the bus heading to Sarlat, our ultimate destination today. I do not think that any of the students have taped the bus delay event on their cell phones, so I do not think that it is likely to be posted on You Tube.
I am now posting in the lobby of our new hotel and we are off to dinner soon. I will most likely be posting photos later on this evening. We are all tired tonight....well let me correct that....the adults are tired tonight. Your children tend to sleep some on the bus so they are all energized unlike us!!!
Solemnity has its place and if it exists anywhere, it exists not just in our hearts and minds, but also in those places that have suffered collective events that mark them. There are few places that are memorialized in a manner such as Oradour-sur-Glane. Situated in the Massif Central outside of Limoges, it is what is referred to as a martyr village. The event that happened here and the evidence left is very powerful. The town is left exactly like it was from the day of the event. Pots are left on stoves, bicycles and strollers rusted out remain in homes; the tramway line and electrical lines are still intact.
The following testament comes from Madame Marguerite Rouffanche, the only survivor from the church. Over the years following the massacre she gave her statement many times to different people, including the court in Bordeaux in 1953. She died in 1988 at the age of 91 and is buried in the cemetery at Oradour. The men were all shot execution style after the women and children had been put into the church. What happened in the church is revealed to us in Mme. Rouffanche’s own words.
“At about 2 p.m. on the 10th of June 1944, German soldiers burst into my home and ordered me to go to the fairground together with my husband, son, two daughters and granddaughter.
A number from the town were already assembled and men and women were flocking in from all directions. They were followed by the schoolchildren, who arrived separately. The Germans divided us into two groups, women and children on one side and men on the other. The first group that I was in was taken under armed guard to the church. It consisted of all the women from the town, especially mothers, who entered the House of God carrying their babies in their arms, or pushing them in their strollers. All the schoolchildren were there as well. We must have numbered several hundred.
Crammed inside the church, we waited in growing anxiety to see what would happen next. Around 4 p.m. a few soldier, about 20 years of age brought into the nave, close to the choir, a large box, fro which hung strings, which trailed to the ground. When the trailing strings were lit, the device suddenly exploded with a loud bang and gave off a thick black suffocating smoke. Women and children, half-choking and screaming in terror, rushed to those parts of the church where the air was still breathable. It was thus that the door to the sacristy was broken down under the irresistible pressure of a terrified crowd. I followed them and at down on a step. My daughter joined them. The Germans saw that people had escaped into the room and cold-bloodedly shot down everyone who was hiding there. My daughter was killed where she stood by a shot fired from outside. I owe my life to my closing my eyes and feigning death.
Firing burst out in the church (from an entrance door), and then straw, firewood, and chairs were thrown in a heap onto the bodies lying on the flagstones. I had escaped the slaughter unwounded and took advantage of a cloud of smoke to hide behind the altar. In that part of the church there were three windows. I went to the middle one, the biggest and with the aid of the stool used to light the candles, tried to reach it. I don’t know how, but my strength was multiplied. I heaved myself up to it as best I could and threw myself out of the opening that was offered to me by the already shattered window. I fell about 10 feet.When I looked u; I saw that I had been followed by a woman, who was holding out her baby to me from the window. She fell down next to me, but the Germans alerted by the child’s cries fired at us. The woman and child were killed. I myself was wounded as I made my way up to a nearby garden. I hid amongst some rows of peas and waited in terror for help to arrive. That was not until the following day at about 5 p.m.
There are not many places where the ravages of war can be so vividly seen by the ruins of what used to be a thriving town frozen in time and left as is. I have seen the bombed ruins of the cathedral in Coventry, England. In this city the cathedral has been left as it was after the bombing and the rest of the town was rebuilt around it. Here in Oradour the entire ruins of the town are a stark memorial and both the cemetery and the museum contain physical artifacts and remembrances. Students may learn about wars and see them as abstract historical events. This experience is one that helps them to understand the very real costs of war, and to put into context what happened during WWII, and also why the beginnings of the European Union were formed after this war and how absolutely essential it was to this continent that another war of this type not be fought here again. To me, it is amazing how far the relations have come between France and Germany. Today they are more tightly aligned than one could ever imagine after seeing the remains of this town.
The students kept silence throughout their visit in the town which feels in many ways like a shrine. I think they were powerfully moved. The bus was silent for quite some time which is most uncharacteristic of this group. The emotions of an experience such as this take some time to process.
Our next stop was Limoges and we toured the Haviland porcelain factory and found out about how the porcelain is made and got to make purchases in their showroom. After this we drove to a service station to get some gasoline. Our 15 minute stop turned into a one hour stop when the bus driver’s credit card did not work and when he tried to phone his boss found out that he is in Morocco on holiday. In general Sundays in France are days when it can be difficult to get things done. We have had issues with this driver from the start. He seems to have no clue what the route is and this has been an issue for Tristan pretty much the whole way. He has had to try to double check the route on numerous occasions. Let’s just say that he gets us there safely every day – no problem there – but it is a bit sporting at times as we go in circles or have to turn around and go back the other way. For some reason this seems to be a somewhat common thing in Europe. I have had more than one trip when the driver seemed to not be acquainted with the area. One trip I was on in Sicily the travelers pretty much staged a mutiny and bought our own maps and plotted the route each day. We are not at that point yet…but it is most unfortunate that he seems fairly clueless.
We are currently in the bus heading to Sarlat, our ultimate destination today. I do not think that any of the students have taped the bus delay event on their cell phones, so I do not think that it is likely to be posted on You Tube.
I am now posting in the lobby of our new hotel and we are off to dinner soon. I will most likely be posting photos later on this evening. We are all tired tonight....well let me correct that....the adults are tired tonight. Your children tend to sleep some on the bus so they are all energized unlike us!!!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Joyous Journey
The Loire Valley seldom disappoints. It is just such a beautiful part of France and in my opinion a must-see if one wants to understand some of the magnificent and fascinating history of France and Europe in general. We toured two of the most famous chateaux today and they are just amazing. For the students in French III who spent time this spring doing projects on the chateaux, this was particularly special. I had them in the computer lab using websites to take virtual tours of the various chateaux. Many of them recognized the rooms from those tours and their excitement as they turned a corner and saw a familiar piece of furniture, or tapestry, or ceiling was just incredible. The use of the Internet and new technologies should revolutionize education if it is used in creative ways, and I think that its applications are just beginning to be realized by many. I am always looking for new and exciting ways to use it, and this blog is part of that effort to break down old barriers of time and space and challenge the conventional wisdom on learning.
Speaking of learning, there is just nothing like experiencing the types of things your children are experiencing. It will change them in ways expected and unexpected, and it will continue to provide them with a set of memories that are well worth the sacrifices and inconveniences that have preceeded them. I really do believe that travel changes lives and that is why I have wanted to share it with my own children in their lives and feel the reponsibility and privilege of sharing it too with your children!
Today we had a glorious buffet breakfast fit for a king...how fitting as we were to head to this royal realm of the chateaux. We drove to Chambord. We were greeted by Rachel's grandmother who lives just down the way from the chateau! She had biked down and was able to spend some special time with Rachel and gave her what must have been the most personal and informative tour of the chateau. We explored the many rooms and grounds and then had lunch at the cafes there. After a stop at a biscuit shop with wonderful cookies of every sort and description, we headed down the road a piece to Chenonceau. It is probably the most photographed of all the chateaux and its gardens are lovely as well. We were not the only ones with this idea today. Saturday is a big day for touring the "patrimoine" in France. Chambord has rooms that are just so massive that it doesn't really feel crowded. Negotiating Chenonceau required some wiggling, but was worth it. After this we got a tour of a winery and learned about how wine is made, and then had a few minutes to walk around the town of Amboise. While in Amboise some visited the bookstore to purchase the Harry Potter book in English and alas it was sold out. To my amazement, it seemed as if they took it pretty well. The French version does not come out until October. The kids were puzzled, but I explained that she cannot write it in multiple languages, so obviously it has to be translated after the English version comes out first. Hey, secrecy is secrecy, right? One cannot release that many copies to various translators and actually expect to keep a secret.
We will be having our dinner soon and packing up tonight. I know they will not want to leave this hotel and neither will I. The rooms and common areas are really great and the food is quite good. We will be having another travel day tomorrow and I do not know what the Internet situation will be like as we get into a more rural area. I am glad you are enjoying the blog. Oh, and by the way, Tristan, our tour manager is fabulous. Everyone loves him. He has a sparkling personality, is incredibly knowledgeable and keeps us laughing.
I am looking out my window of my hotel room and seeing the first raindrops of the trip. There were clouds looming this afternoon, but not a drop on us!
Speaking of learning, there is just nothing like experiencing the types of things your children are experiencing. It will change them in ways expected and unexpected, and it will continue to provide them with a set of memories that are well worth the sacrifices and inconveniences that have preceeded them. I really do believe that travel changes lives and that is why I have wanted to share it with my own children in their lives and feel the reponsibility and privilege of sharing it too with your children!
Today we had a glorious buffet breakfast fit for a king...how fitting as we were to head to this royal realm of the chateaux. We drove to Chambord. We were greeted by Rachel's grandmother who lives just down the way from the chateau! She had biked down and was able to spend some special time with Rachel and gave her what must have been the most personal and informative tour of the chateau. We explored the many rooms and grounds and then had lunch at the cafes there. After a stop at a biscuit shop with wonderful cookies of every sort and description, we headed down the road a piece to Chenonceau. It is probably the most photographed of all the chateaux and its gardens are lovely as well. We were not the only ones with this idea today. Saturday is a big day for touring the "patrimoine" in France. Chambord has rooms that are just so massive that it doesn't really feel crowded. Negotiating Chenonceau required some wiggling, but was worth it. After this we got a tour of a winery and learned about how wine is made, and then had a few minutes to walk around the town of Amboise. While in Amboise some visited the bookstore to purchase the Harry Potter book in English and alas it was sold out. To my amazement, it seemed as if they took it pretty well. The French version does not come out until October. The kids were puzzled, but I explained that she cannot write it in multiple languages, so obviously it has to be translated after the English version comes out first. Hey, secrecy is secrecy, right? One cannot release that many copies to various translators and actually expect to keep a secret.
We will be having our dinner soon and packing up tonight. I know they will not want to leave this hotel and neither will I. The rooms and common areas are really great and the food is quite good. We will be having another travel day tomorrow and I do not know what the Internet situation will be like as we get into a more rural area. I am glad you are enjoying the blog. Oh, and by the way, Tristan, our tour manager is fabulous. Everyone loves him. He has a sparkling personality, is incredibly knowledgeable and keeps us laughing.
I am looking out my window of my hotel room and seeing the first raindrops of the trip. There were clouds looming this afternoon, but not a drop on us!
Friday, July 20, 2007
For you Harry Potter fans
Fortunately the only places that have the midnight sell parties are U.K. and U.S. This had become a bone of contention for some of the kids. Thanks to the Internet, my son looked this up and found that actually there were no midnight parties in France so the fact that I would not let them go to one was actually a moot point! Phew...
Travel day
Today was another ambitious day. Everyone did a great job of getting packed up and getting an early wake up and breakfast. We left Paris at 8:00 a.m. and headed to Versailles, which is about an hour away. It was cooler and overcast today, more so than I think we expected. We did however dodge the rain in the vicinity of Paris and Versailles somehow!
I think everyone was just amazed at the sheer mass of Versailles and its grounds. It is difficult to even capture it in pictures. The visit went well and then we had sandwiches, crepes and ice cream on the grounds for lunch.
We then headed another hour to Chartres which is a lovely cathedral town with what I think is the most interesting of all the French gothic cathedrals, bar none. We drove into nicer weather and there was sunshine and welcoming warmth. I have no photos of Chartres as both of my camera batteries gave out on me. I was not able to recharge until we got to the new hotel. The stained glass in Chartres is worth the trip alone, but the outside has just as much value as the inside. The story of how the windows were preserved during the war is quite incredible and then when you realize just how much stained glass there is it is such an astounding labor of love for a community to choose to do this. We had some free time to explore the town as well.
We then had a two hour drive to Amboise. We arrived here at about 7:15 in the evening, got checked in and settled and had our dinner shortly thereafter. Our hotel is outside of town in the country. Everyone is really excited about the great hotel we have here. It is modern, large and has very nice amenities including swimming pool, miniature golf, tennis courts, wireless internet (yeah!), and huge rooms and bathrooms. They have a nice restaurant with an incredible view where we will be having breakfast and dinner both days of our stay. Quite a treat!
Tomorrow we will visit the chateaux of Chambord and Chenonceau and then take some time in the town of Amboise. The Loire Valley area, referred to as "Touraine" is one of the most beautiful in all of Europe and these two chateaux are representative of what is dotted all over this region of France. We may also get a chance to peek into Amboise chateau and I am going to do my darnest to find Leonardo da Vinci's grave! He is buried here in Amboise. I'm on a roll. I found Claude Monet's grave yesterday hidden in an obscure corner of a church gravesite in Giverny. Also many want to look for the British version of Harry Potter and I have scoped out a bookstore that has it! I guess they will remember where they were when this book came out!
Everyone is having a blast as you can probably tell. Lots of laughs, lots of photos, lots of earnest journaling, lots of food and lots of high spirits! I may even have managed to sneak in lots of history, culture and language...but don't tell!
I think everyone was just amazed at the sheer mass of Versailles and its grounds. It is difficult to even capture it in pictures. The visit went well and then we had sandwiches, crepes and ice cream on the grounds for lunch.
We then headed another hour to Chartres which is a lovely cathedral town with what I think is the most interesting of all the French gothic cathedrals, bar none. We drove into nicer weather and there was sunshine and welcoming warmth. I have no photos of Chartres as both of my camera batteries gave out on me. I was not able to recharge until we got to the new hotel. The stained glass in Chartres is worth the trip alone, but the outside has just as much value as the inside. The story of how the windows were preserved during the war is quite incredible and then when you realize just how much stained glass there is it is such an astounding labor of love for a community to choose to do this. We had some free time to explore the town as well.
We then had a two hour drive to Amboise. We arrived here at about 7:15 in the evening, got checked in and settled and had our dinner shortly thereafter. Our hotel is outside of town in the country. Everyone is really excited about the great hotel we have here. It is modern, large and has very nice amenities including swimming pool, miniature golf, tennis courts, wireless internet (yeah!), and huge rooms and bathrooms. They have a nice restaurant with an incredible view where we will be having breakfast and dinner both days of our stay. Quite a treat!
Tomorrow we will visit the chateaux of Chambord and Chenonceau and then take some time in the town of Amboise. The Loire Valley area, referred to as "Touraine" is one of the most beautiful in all of Europe and these two chateaux are representative of what is dotted all over this region of France. We may also get a chance to peek into Amboise chateau and I am going to do my darnest to find Leonardo da Vinci's grave! He is buried here in Amboise. I'm on a roll. I found Claude Monet's grave yesterday hidden in an obscure corner of a church gravesite in Giverny. Also many want to look for the British version of Harry Potter and I have scoped out a bookstore that has it! I guess they will remember where they were when this book came out!
Everyone is having a blast as you can probably tell. Lots of laughs, lots of photos, lots of earnest journaling, lots of food and lots of high spirits! I may even have managed to sneak in lots of history, culture and language...but don't tell!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Early morning tomorrow
Well, visions of sugar plums (or maybe profiteroles, creme brulee, glace a la vanille, petit pain au chocolat) are dancing in their heads. I however am burning the midnight oil. I have put some photos up on the blog. If you left click on them it enlarges the image so you can really see it!
Tomorrow we have 6:30 wake up call and leave for Versailles at 8:00 a.m. We tour both Versailles and Chartres cathedral on our way to the Loire Valley. We check out of this hotel and will check into our second hotel outside Amboise.
We will trade the pace of the city for the country life. We got a taste of France outside Paris today as Giverny is in Normandy and has a very different feel than Paris. The architecture changes completely and really you could be in the south of England. The homes are tudor or stone and the rolling countryside is so pastoral.
This was my first visit to Giverny and it is well worth the trip. Everyone had free time this morning. Musee D'Orsay was my plan and then one group went shopping and another group took the cognate "coiffure" to heart.
Tomorrow we have 6:30 wake up call and leave for Versailles at 8:00 a.m. We tour both Versailles and Chartres cathedral on our way to the Loire Valley. We check out of this hotel and will check into our second hotel outside Amboise.
We will trade the pace of the city for the country life. We got a taste of France outside Paris today as Giverny is in Normandy and has a very different feel than Paris. The architecture changes completely and really you could be in the south of England. The homes are tudor or stone and the rolling countryside is so pastoral.
This was my first visit to Giverny and it is well worth the trip. Everyone had free time this morning. Musee D'Orsay was my plan and then one group went shopping and another group took the cognate "coiffure" to heart.
Monet and the lottery
Chas, how did you know that???
Turns out we can thank the lottery for Claude Monet’s wonderful impressionist paintings. Monet won 100,000 francs in the 1891 state lottery (those were the days when a franc was a franc), making him financially independent. That allowed him to roam the countryside and create paintings based on what he saw
Turns out we can thank the lottery for Claude Monet’s wonderful impressionist paintings. Monet won 100,000 francs in the 1891 state lottery (those were the days when a franc was a franc), making him financially independent. That allowed him to roam the countryside and create paintings based on what he saw
Transports
In less than a 24 hour period we were on a plane, the RER train, a boat on the Seine, the metro line, a tour bus and a city bus! I like it that they are experiencing all types of transportation including what the locals use!
Ok photo fans...we have a dynamic group of kids and very little free time...I am posting again from an internet cafe, so I do not have my laptop with me. Just finding time to post has been a challenge. Hopefully at some point I will have both Internet access and the laptop at the same time!
I know that all of the kids have taken tons of photos! Since for me so many of the sights it is the eighth or ninth time I have seen them, I have been handing the camera to John who takes fewer photos than most of your kids. Erica just told me she has taken over 600 photos :) I sat in front of Tom on the evening cruise and I think he took 50 shots of the Eiffel Tower lit up that night.
We went up the Eiffel Tour yesterday afternoon and I had never done it on a totally clear day. You could see so far and it was great to have that orientation of the city. After dinner we went to the Louvre. It is the one night it is open and it was the least crowded I had ever seen it. I think they are having such a uniquely amazing Paris experience! The weather has been glorious; all the sights open (no strikes) and just a seemingly blessed set of perfect circumstances.
They are enjoying the food. Tonight we will have choices with vouchers to get anything we want and that will be fun for them although I think so far all have enjoyed the preset meals.
In a half an hour we leave for Giverny (Monet's Garden). Tomorrow we depart Paris... More later!
Ok photo fans...we have a dynamic group of kids and very little free time...I am posting again from an internet cafe, so I do not have my laptop with me. Just finding time to post has been a challenge. Hopefully at some point I will have both Internet access and the laptop at the same time!
I know that all of the kids have taken tons of photos! Since for me so many of the sights it is the eighth or ninth time I have seen them, I have been handing the camera to John who takes fewer photos than most of your kids. Erica just told me she has taken over 600 photos :) I sat in front of Tom on the evening cruise and I think he took 50 shots of the Eiffel Tower lit up that night.
We went up the Eiffel Tour yesterday afternoon and I had never done it on a totally clear day. You could see so far and it was great to have that orientation of the city. After dinner we went to the Louvre. It is the one night it is open and it was the least crowded I had ever seen it. I think they are having such a uniquely amazing Paris experience! The weather has been glorious; all the sights open (no strikes) and just a seemingly blessed set of perfect circumstances.
They are enjoying the food. Tonight we will have choices with vouchers to get anything we want and that will be fun for them although I think so far all have enjoyed the preset meals.
In a half an hour we leave for Giverny (Monet's Garden). Tomorrow we depart Paris... More later!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Internet access limited as well as free time!
This is a very quick posting at an Internet cafe where we have about 5 minutes before I need to dash. The internet is "en panne" (out of order) at the hotel, thus no postings. All has gone quiet well! Easy flight and on time! All got their luggage. Hotel is in a quiet neighborhood.
We all managed to stay awake until almost midnight last night which is amazing. I usually don't make it that long myself, but this group was so excited that we maximized our time!
One highlight was a boat cruise of the Seine at night with amazing views of the Eiffel Tower and all its evening sparkle. We took a bus tour of Paris this morning and went in Notre Dame cathedral and did souvenir shopping.
Yesterday we walked to Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb. I negotiated a free group entrance for us! Charles I know you are smiling. My husband knows I always negotiate amazing deals in coutries where I know the language!
I think I can speak for them all. We are having a marvelous time. The weather is amazing: sunny and cool. We are very fortunate! All is well.
We all managed to stay awake until almost midnight last night which is amazing. I usually don't make it that long myself, but this group was so excited that we maximized our time!
One highlight was a boat cruise of the Seine at night with amazing views of the Eiffel Tower and all its evening sparkle. We took a bus tour of Paris this morning and went in Notre Dame cathedral and did souvenir shopping.
Yesterday we walked to Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb. I negotiated a free group entrance for us! Charles I know you are smiling. My husband knows I always negotiate amazing deals in coutries where I know the language!
I think I can speak for them all. We are having a marvelous time. The weather is amazing: sunny and cool. We are very fortunate! All is well.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Lex adventure
Well it was an interesting ride up to Chicago O'Hare. We shared our bus with a group of Lincoln's Challenge alumni. For me as an educator, I knew too much and quietly listened as the young men were revealing their lives to us. If you do not know it, Lincoln's Challenge is sort of a program of last resort. The students that cannot make it work in the regular public school or even in an alternative school often end up at Lincoln's Challenge. These young men had just finished and were going home for the first time after their stay there.
Well from what I could gather we had several parents of children, several ex-convicts, notably one who had been arrested for a carjacking in Chicago. My life long street smarts were on overdrive as I considered my role in making sure that the kids were in good hands. No naptime for me! I was also able to guage the amount of streetsmarts some of them have and it reminded me that growing up in a small town is a sheltered existence and some may need a bit of a primer on being in a big city!
By the end we were all singing songs together. I guess I was reminded at how fortunate our kids are. I listened as one of the young men told me about how he had really messed up his life. He thought he was going to go to college and play football and now he has two children by different mothers and is not sure what he will get to do with his life.
We have had an easy time so far at the airport. We got to the Air France check in line and we got right through it! We checked our luggage and went to the food court in the International Terminal and got our last American fast food for awhile. Then we went through security and we are currently sitting at the gate. Our plane is here already and being serviced and everyone is, as the teens would say, "pretty chill". They were amazed at how easy it all was in the airport. I am glad that this so far has been a very easy, positive experience.
Well from what I could gather we had several parents of children, several ex-convicts, notably one who had been arrested for a carjacking in Chicago. My life long street smarts were on overdrive as I considered my role in making sure that the kids were in good hands. No naptime for me! I was also able to guage the amount of streetsmarts some of them have and it reminded me that growing up in a small town is a sheltered existence and some may need a bit of a primer on being in a big city!
By the end we were all singing songs together. I guess I was reminded at how fortunate our kids are. I listened as one of the young men told me about how he had really messed up his life. He thought he was going to go to college and play football and now he has two children by different mothers and is not sure what he will get to do with his life.
We have had an easy time so far at the airport. We got to the Air France check in line and we got right through it! We checked our luggage and went to the food court in the International Terminal and got our last American fast food for awhile. Then we went through security and we are currently sitting at the gate. Our plane is here already and being serviced and everyone is, as the teens would say, "pretty chill". They were amazed at how easy it all was in the airport. I am glad that this so far has been a very easy, positive experience.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Weather conditions in Paris, France
Although we will not be spending all of our time in Paris, this extended forecast gives you some idea of what you might expect. Be sure to prepare for rain by bringing a small umbrella and/or light windbreaker. I ALWAYS pack both!
Note how late it stays light at night! So far the temperatures are fantastic. When I was in Spain last summer I almost melted. It was over 100 degrees every day and we were in a place with no AC. This summer's Europe trip is looking more pleasant!
Paris, France
Current Conditions last update 5:22 PM 72°
Clear
Sunrise: 6:03 AM
Sunset: 9:50 PM
Barometer: 29.95" Hg Feels like: 73°
Humidity: 77%
Wind: CLM 0 mph
Tonight
Lo 66°
M/Cloudy
Sunset: 9:50 PM
Tomorrow Sunday, July 15
86° | 69°
Cloudy
Extended Forecast
Mon, Jul 16 - 79° | 57°
T'Storms
Tue, Jul 17 - 70° | 51°
Cloudy
Wed, Jul 18 - 72° | 52°
M/Cloudy
Thu, Jul 19 - 72° | 54°
Rain
Fri, Jul 20 - 68° | 51°
M/Cloudy
Sat, Jul 21 -69° | 55°
Rain
Sun, Jul 22 - 71° | 51°
M/Cloudy
Mon, Jul 23 - 68° | 56°
Rain
Note how late it stays light at night! So far the temperatures are fantastic. When I was in Spain last summer I almost melted. It was over 100 degrees every day and we were in a place with no AC. This summer's Europe trip is looking more pleasant!
Paris, France
Current Conditions last update 5:22 PM 72°
Clear
Sunrise: 6:03 AM
Sunset: 9:50 PM
Barometer: 29.95" Hg Feels like: 73°
Humidity: 77%
Wind: CLM 0 mph
Tonight
Lo 66°
M/Cloudy
Sunset: 9:50 PM
Tomorrow Sunday, July 15
86° | 69°
Cloudy
Extended Forecast
Mon, Jul 16 - 79° | 57°
T'Storms
Tue, Jul 17 - 70° | 51°
Cloudy
Wed, Jul 18 - 72° | 52°
M/Cloudy
Thu, Jul 19 - 72° | 54°
Rain
Fri, Jul 20 - 68° | 51°
M/Cloudy
Sat, Jul 21 -69° | 55°
Rain
Sun, Jul 22 - 71° | 51°
M/Cloudy
Mon, Jul 23 - 68° | 56°
Rain
Le 14 juillet
To celebrate their independence day, the French enjoy fireworks, picnics and many go to Paris to see the big parade which is much more military than what we do in the U.S.
Here is a link to the French news. If you get on the site, you can then wait for the show to come up and then double click on the small picture itself to get it to come up on the full screen of your computer.
http://jt.france2.fr/20h/
Here is a link to the French news. If you get on the site, you can then wait for the show to come up and then double click on the small picture itself to get it to come up on the full screen of your computer.
http://jt.france2.fr/20h/
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Travel quotes to inspire you!
Collected travel quotations
«Le véritable voyage de découverte ne consiste pas à chercher de nouveaux paysages mais à avoir de nouveaux yeux.»~~~Marcel Proust
«Muere lentamente quien no viaja, quien no lee, quien no oye música, quien no encuentra gracia en sí mismo»~~~Pablo Neruda
"So seize the day! Hold holiday!"~~~Song of the Harper, Ancient Egypt
"Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind."~~~Seneca
"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled".~~~Mohammad
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."~~~St. Augustine
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."~~~Mark Twain
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home."~~~James Michener
"All that is gold does not glitter: Not all those who wander are lost"~~J. R. R. Tolkien
"Half the fun of travel is the esthetic of lostness."~~~Ray Bradbury
"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe."~~~Anatole France
"To awaken in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world."~~~Dame Freya Stark
"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine. "~~~Caskie Stinnett
"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."~~~Lao-Tzu
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."~~~Robert Louis Stevenson
"Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."~~~Mark Twain
"I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself."~~~James Baldwin
"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.~~~Martin Buber
"No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby-so helpless and so ridiculous."~~~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign."~~~Robert Louis Stevenson
"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see."~~~Gilbert K. Chesterton
"Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going."~~~Paul Theroux
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away." ~~~Anonymous
"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."~~~John Steinbeck
"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.~~~Glenn Clark
"Your true traveler finds boredom rather more agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure."~~~Aldous Huxley
"Traveling carries with it the curse of being at home everywhere and yet nowhere, for wherever one is some part of oneself remains on another continent."~~~Margot Fonteyn
"Traveling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.'"~~~Lisa St. Aubin de Teran
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."~~~Oscar Wilde
"Old men and far travelers may lie with authority."~~~Anonymous
"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."~~~Georgia O'Keefe
"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag."~~~Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life."~~~Jack Kerouac
"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list."~~~Susan Sontag
Travel Poetry
Vacation
I love the hour before takeoff,
that stretch of no time, no home
but the gray vinyl seats linked like
unfolding paper dolls. Soon we shall
be summoned to the gate, soon enough
there’ll be the clumsy procedure of row numbers
and perforated stubs—but for now
I can look at these ragtag nuclear families
with their cooing and bickering
or the heeled bachelorette trying
to ignore a baby’s wail and the baby’s
exhausted mother waiting to be called up early
while the athlete, one monstrous hand
asleep on his duffel bag, listens,
perched like a seal trained for the plunge.
Even the lone executive
who has wandered this far into summer
with his lasered itinerary, briefcase
knocking his knees—even he
has worked for the pleasure of bearing
no more than a scrap of himself
into this hall. He’ll dine out, she’ll sleep late,
they’ll let the sun burn them happy all morning
—a little hope, a little whimsy
before the loudspeaker blurts
and we leap up to become
Flight 828, now boarding at Gate 17.
~~~Rita Dove
Reprinted from On the Wing, University of Iowa Press
«Le véritable voyage de découverte ne consiste pas à chercher de nouveaux paysages mais à avoir de nouveaux yeux.»~~~Marcel Proust
«Muere lentamente quien no viaja, quien no lee, quien no oye música, quien no encuentra gracia en sí mismo»~~~Pablo Neruda
"So seize the day! Hold holiday!"~~~Song of the Harper, Ancient Egypt
"Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind."~~~Seneca
"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled".~~~Mohammad
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."~~~St. Augustine
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."~~~Mark Twain
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home."~~~James Michener
"All that is gold does not glitter: Not all those who wander are lost"~~J. R. R. Tolkien
"Half the fun of travel is the esthetic of lostness."~~~Ray Bradbury
"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe."~~~Anatole France
"To awaken in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world."~~~Dame Freya Stark
"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine. "~~~Caskie Stinnett
"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."~~~Lao-Tzu
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."~~~Robert Louis Stevenson
"Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."~~~Mark Twain
"I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself."~~~James Baldwin
"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.~~~Martin Buber
"No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby-so helpless and so ridiculous."~~~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign."~~~Robert Louis Stevenson
"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see."~~~Gilbert K. Chesterton
"Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going."~~~Paul Theroux
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away." ~~~Anonymous
"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."~~~John Steinbeck
"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.~~~Glenn Clark
"Your true traveler finds boredom rather more agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure."~~~Aldous Huxley
"Traveling carries with it the curse of being at home everywhere and yet nowhere, for wherever one is some part of oneself remains on another continent."~~~Margot Fonteyn
"Traveling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.'"~~~Lisa St. Aubin de Teran
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."~~~Oscar Wilde
"Old men and far travelers may lie with authority."~~~Anonymous
"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."~~~Georgia O'Keefe
"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag."~~~Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life."~~~Jack Kerouac
"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list."~~~Susan Sontag
Travel Poetry
Vacation
I love the hour before takeoff,
that stretch of no time, no home
but the gray vinyl seats linked like
unfolding paper dolls. Soon we shall
be summoned to the gate, soon enough
there’ll be the clumsy procedure of row numbers
and perforated stubs—but for now
I can look at these ragtag nuclear families
with their cooing and bickering
or the heeled bachelorette trying
to ignore a baby’s wail and the baby’s
exhausted mother waiting to be called up early
while the athlete, one monstrous hand
asleep on his duffel bag, listens,
perched like a seal trained for the plunge.
Even the lone executive
who has wandered this far into summer
with his lasered itinerary, briefcase
knocking his knees—even he
has worked for the pleasure of bearing
no more than a scrap of himself
into this hall. He’ll dine out, she’ll sleep late,
they’ll let the sun burn them happy all morning
—a little hope, a little whimsy
before the loudspeaker blurts
and we leap up to become
Flight 828, now boarding at Gate 17.
~~~Rita Dove
Reprinted from On the Wing, University of Iowa Press
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