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!
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