5/30/25: Museums and Seine River cruise!

Bonjour from Abby and Yelena! 

We began the day with breakfast at the hotel and taking the metro to l’Orangerie, which held Monet’s water lily painting. They were breathtaking. It was so cool to look closely and notice each brush stroke that created these pieces. Many of us went back to the floor on which the painting was on multiple times, as there was just so much to see. 

Next, we headed towards the Louvre. Some walked through the gardens between l’Organerie and the Lourve and others took a bus. We grabbed some lunch in the gardens and much needed water, since it was VERY warm this day. We arrived at the Louvre and there were so many people! We waited in line outside which went pretty quickly and entered the Louvre. It’s overwhelming given how big it is! The group split up to go see different pieces of art, including the Mona Lisa! 

It’s hard to get a glimpse of her because of the huge crowd surrounding her. Many of us got a chance to see her, and we found the experience of being in the Louvre to be incredible and of great insight, especially from an artistic perspective.  

 

Later on in the afternoon, some of the group headed back to the hotel and others ended up exploring different areas of Paris. It was incredibly hot outside but we powered through! We had dinner on our own, and were looking forward to the boat ride later in the evening. 

There was some mix up regarding the boat ride, but we all ended up on the boat which was all that mattered at the end! We had the most fun waving to others while moving alongside them on the boat, and we also got some wonderful photos of the Eiffel Tower in the process.

Paris vs. Rouen - 5/29/25

Bonjour! Simone and Sydney here to tell you 2 parts of the same day: one in Rouen and one in Paris :)

Bonjour! This is Simone and I’m so happy to tell you about what our group did in Rouen!! We got up bright and early to catch the train to Rouen, so the first thing we did when we got there was find some coffee from a local coffee shop (which was so good that we went back there for lunch!) 

After getting coffee, we walked around and explored the city and were so surprised to discover that today was the Fête de Jeanne D’Arc (the Festival of Joan of Arc), which is a medieval/renaissance festival with a huge market, shops, and performances/demonstrations! We walked through the festival and shopped around while trying to find the famous Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen. We actually thought that the first beautiful church-looking building we saw was the cathedral until we looked it up and saw that we were totally wrong. When we saw the actual cathedral, we were blown away! It was so beautiful. 

After the cathedral, we headed back to the cafe from this morning and got some lunch. While at lunch, we found out that there was a cat cafe nearby, so we decided we had to stop by after we finished our lunch. 

Then we headed to the Musée National de l’Education (National Museum of Education) and saw lots of interesting exhibits, including a model of what French classrooms used to look like. One addition I found really interesting was a poster from 1875 with first aid information on it. 

After the museum, we walked around the city a bit more, making sure everyone got to see the three (!!!) beautiful churches, and scoping out places to grab a quick dinner before we had to go back to the train station. We saw a phoenix demonstration/performance in front of the cathedral, got food at this amazing pizza place, and then caught the train back to Paris to get gelato and meet up with the rest of the group!!

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Bonjour! This is Sydney and I was a part of the Paris group today :)

Erin, Georgi, and I decided to give our bodies a break from the train and enjoy an extra day in Paris. We started our day by visiting the Pablo Picasso Museum. I remember studying a lot about him in my art classes growing up, so being able to look at all his work in person was on my Paris bucket list. We were amazed to learn that thousands of his paintings, drawings, sculptures, and poems were moved into this museum and we took our time looking through them all. In one of the rooms, we also saw a group of little kids drawing which was a cool little moment. 

We ended our time at the museum at the cafe and sat on the balcony soaking up the beautiful day. We wandered the streets around the museum and found a cute local jewelry window front, where we picked out some pieces for ourselves and loved ones. 

Another place on our Paris bucket list was the dome in the Galleries Lafayette, which is a huge luxury brand mall. We walked around, shopped a bit, and then headed back to the hotel for a little break. 

We decided to go and meet Juliet at the Pantheon to explore and were in awe of its beauty and size. We ventured down into the crypt to see the tombs of Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, and Voltaire. 

Our group was on our own for dinner, so we met up with Erin’s hometown friend who is also studying abroad in Paris, at an Italian restaurant. Our waiter was switching from English, to French, to Italian the entire time we were there and it was extremely impressive. 

Our final event of the night was reconvening with the Rouen group for a little gelato and a walk along the Seine. It was a successful day in France and we are sad these days are coming to a close!

Bonne journée!

6/1/2025: Versailles and Closing Circle

Versailles and Closing Circle!

Hi this is Georgi and Erin back for another blog post! 

Today was our last full day in Paris so we had to make it count. We had a relaxed late start to the morning as we boarded the train to Versailles! We were amazed by all of the gold, paintings, and beautiful structures by exploring iconic rooms such as the Hall of Mirrors and Gallery of Battles. In Patrick and Juliet’s words… “this is why there was a revolution.” The gilded walls and lavish royal lifestyle represented a definitive disconnect and significant symbol of power compared to the struggles of the French population at the time which lied at the heart of the revolution. 

After Versailles, we got back on the train (which took way longer than planned) back to the hotel for some rest, recovery, packing, and last minute souvenir shopping! 

We gathered as a group for one last dinner all together where we experienced so many final laughs before we departed for our closing circle. A tense arm wrestling match did ensue.

Sitting on the Seine across from the Notre Dame in true Parisian fashion, we discussed what we learned about our original interests going into the trip and what we had learned about ourselves over the past two weeks. It was very personal and bittersweet to be able to see how far we had all come and grown since we all met for the first time at our first meeting. 

Realizing we ended a bit late, we raced to our very last event of the trip. Running up stairs, onto connecting trains, and across metro stations we made it with a minute to spare to see the best view of the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It was a spectacle and a perfect way to close.

 

Bon voyage to all the travelers on Monday! We can’t wait to see everyone in the fall :)

5/28/2025: Travel Day and Catacombs

 Bonjour from Claire and Allison! Today began with an early morning start at 7:45am to catch our train. Throughout the duration of the train ride, we spent time napping, journaling, sketching, and getting some work done. We also spent time signing books for our future classrooms, which felt like a special way to commemorate our trip. After arriving to Paris, we lugged our suitcases through a series of hectic and crowded metros to our hotel. Thankfully, after the experience, we had some much-needed down time. Some of us went to get food and explore while others relaxed at the hotel, and some us even got pooped on by a pesky pigeon (Claire). 

The Poopetrator:

After regrouping, and a shower for one particular person, we continued our adventure to the Catacombs of Paris. We began by heading down a seemingly endless flight of stairs into the depths of arguably Paris’ most unnerving tourist attraction. The catacombs stretch over 170 miles under Paris and hold the remains of over 6 million people (that’s a lot of bones!). As we walked through the long tunnel that is open to the public, we gazed in awe upon carefully arranged human skulls and ligaments, sometimes in fun formations like hearts! 

After walking through we emerged from the dark depths to engage in some more free time! Most of us spent time shopping and exploring until dinner time. We finished our day at Le Mimosa where many of us ordered chocolate mousse and tiramisu, a sweet way to end a sweet day! 

5/27/25: School visit and porcelain!

Bonjour à tous! This is Juliet, with an update on our final full day in the town of Limoges.

We were able to have a little bit of a relaxed start to our day, since our school visit was scheduled for 10:30am. We walked just a few short blocks from our hotel to l'Ècole Élémentaire Montmailler, where we were greeted by the directrice, Sylvie. We split into pairs and Sylvie led us to 5 different classrooms for the morning. 

Maggie, Yelena, and I all went to a 2nd grade classroom, and the students were very excited to have us there! We read the Vermont book we'd prepared, taking turns with the French and English words. After we finished, the students asked us a lot of questions about Vermont and the United States. They were very interested to hear that Lake Champlain often freezes enough that people can walk on it and go ice fishing, and they were also very intrigued by the idea of free cone day!

 

After fielding numerous questions from the students, Maggie and Yelena took turns reading another book (Go, Dog. Go!) to the class. Even though the book was entirely in English, the students were able to follow along with a lot of the simple text -- colors, numbers, etc. And they were excited to hear that the book was a personal favorite for Yelena -- the first book she was able to read on her own!

The three of us then found seats at the side of the classroom and stayed for a while to observe a math lesson. The teacher was teaching the class about different 3-dimensional shapes (e.g., cones, pyramids, spheres, and cubes), leading them in counting how many faces, sides, and vertices each one had. The students were proud to show us that they could do a lot of their counting in English!

Around noon, we all left our individual classrooms and joined up as a group to talk briefly about what we'd observed. Sylvie thanked us for our visit, we gave her a huge merci (and quelques petits cadeaux!) for her hospitality, and then we all split up for some lunch. Leo remembered a good spot for sushi from his visit to Limoges last year, and others were happy for the helpful tip!

  

After lunch, we had a few hours before our next activity, so some people took the time to do laundry or rest at the hotel, while others ventured into the heart of the old city to do some shopping and touring. Patrick and I walked through le quartier de la Boucherie, which is a historic neighborhood known for its narrow cobblestone streets and buildings dating back to the 1400s. We also stopped by the botanical gardens (Jardin Botanique de l'Evêché), which are next to the lovely Limoges Cathedral and just above the Vienne River, which cuts through the city.

      

Our group gathered together at 3:30 for a guided tour of the Four des Casseaux, which is a museum dedicated to the history of the Limoges porcelain industry. During our tour, we learned a lot about the history and manufacture of porcelain and the role that the porcelain industry has played in the history of Limoges and the Limousin region. A Limoges resident had told Abby and Claire earlier that Limoges was the "capital of China," and now we all have a better understanding of what they meant by that!

We were all amazed to hear about the amount of time and effort that went into making a single batch of porcelain items in the coal-fired kilns. It was a multi-step process, and it took 3 days just to get the fire hot enough (1400° C, or 2500° F! -- enough to make sure that Philip did not show his face) to fire the porcelain, so the kiln could only produce about two batches of porcelain per month. The museum had a temporary exhibit of porcelain from the 1925 Paris Expo, and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful pieces that reflected the transition from art nouveau to art deco. The museum is attached to a porcelain shop with work by local artists, and some of our crew picked up souvenirs before we headed out.

 

After leaving the porcelain museum, we split up into smaller groups again for some touring and free time before dinner. It was a lovely, sunny day, and a group of us walked down to the Vienne River to check out the scenic and historic Pont Saint-Étienne, which dates back to the early 13th century! We all met up at Le Bistrot Jourdan for a group dinner, then walked up the hill to our hotel to get some much-needed sleep.

Here are some final photos for our busy day: Leo on the Pont Saint-Étienne, Limoges City Hall (Hotel de Ville), and the Limoges Cathedral.

  

À demain!

-Juliet

5/26/25: Oradour & Classroom Visits

Bonjour! Maggie here- and welcome to today’s blog post. I want to start by saying that today’s visits and topics are quite heavy. We found the visit to Oradour to be completely heartbreaking, infuriating, surreal, shocking and so much more. This will be discussed further in the blog. 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -George Santayana

We started the day bright and early, hopping on the bus and driving out toward Oradour. As we pulled into town, visions of the remains of the village could be seen peeking over hills. A once lively safe haven for all of its habitants. We arrived with some time to spare, so we headed to a small cafe.

We finished up and it was time to make our way down to the memorial museum portion of the morning. There we were handed a special device which played English dialogue that matched the exhibit. As we made our way through the exhibit the heaviness really set in. Images of children, families, young adults my age, and elders really emphasized the identities of the innocent souls taken. 

The Story of Oradour: 

On June 10th, 1944 just a few days after D-Day. The German military, feeling pressure from the French resistance began to gear up for action. It is unclear if they believed Oradour to be a place hiding resistance fighters or if they wanted to “send a message.” But regardless, 200 soldiers woke up that morning and surrounded the innocent town. 

Every person was ordered to gather in the center square of town. The men were then separated from the women and children. Most of the men lives were taken in a near by barn whether that be by fire or gun wound. The women and children were then locked inside the church. Their tragic ending starts with a series of hand grenades thrown into the building, smoke filled the air. It is reported that at this point they were all panicking and trying to get out. The Germans then entered and shot rounds at them. It was a haunting sight to see bullet holes in the wall when walking through the old church. They finished off the village by setting fire to almost everything. 

It was reported that only 6 people escaped this massacre. 642 people were killed. 247 women. 205 children. 190 men. 

Walking through the village: 

After the memorial we entered the old village. Cobblestone streets, sidewalks and brick buildings sit there broken and burnt. We all took our time to go through the streets and reflect on what we just learned and were currently feeling. The burnt cars, melted in place as well as one of the children’s schools and the church were the most difficult places to view in my opinion. 

Here is a picture of the children’s school.

The visit as a whole served as a really important reminder that World War II and this specific event did not happen that long ago. These people had vehicles and sewing machines. We all agreed that there are events happening right now in the world that in some way, resemble this event. 

So with heavy hearts, we made our way back to the bus stop, glimpses of the rubble still visible. It was quite a quiet ride back into town. 

We then had a small break to find some lunch. Several folks opted to go into the grocery store, others found nearby restaurants. Feeling a bit better after eating, we boarded a bus towards Condorcet & Roussillon (two schools!) 

Upon arrival we split into groups and went off to different classrooms. Yelena and I went to a first grade room where we read our presentation book about UVM & Vermont. The children were so excited to ask questions! We also were lucky to observe some songs as well as a vocabulary lesson! 

As we finished up in the schools, we walked over to a library dedicated to education. Here we met Sandrine Simon (faculty at the University of Limoges), who gave us a tour and introduced us to some other education students. At the library, books on curriculum, children’s books & special topics like physical education could be used. 

           Preschool curriculum books!  

It was lovely to view such a wonderful place for educators & students to access information, methods and resources needed to succeed! We said a quick “see you later!” to Sandrine and walked to our bus stop. 

We also learned the French sign language for bathroom! If you notice the hand makes a “WC” which stands for water closet aka toilet!

After freshening up at the hotel, we walked up to our dinner spot where we met back up with Sandrine! We were hoping Philip would have arrived in Limoges by now. After all, pasta is his favorite food -- unfortunately one chair still remained empty. Nonetheless, it was lovely to chat with Sandrine a bit about special education and how it’s taught and practiced here in France! 

It’s safe to say we are all ready for bed after such an emotionally and physically busy day. 

Bonne nuit! 

Maggie