TIE: The French Exchange

Prehistoric museum at Thot

TIE

The International Experience

France, 1998

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27 February

Today we went to Limoges in the morning. We learned how to make porcelain and looked around the porcelain shop. The designs were beautiful. We now know that porcelain shrinks 14% when fired. It can be fired up to five times. We had a great lunch in a restaurant. The chicken meal seemed like a typical American meal. We learned that the French like to eat waffles for dessert. The French put apples and corn in their tossed salad. We had a very emotional afternoon which touched us in a way no classroom experience ever could. We visited Oradour, a town which the SS Division of the German army massacured on their way to Normandie in 1944. 624 poeple were killed on that day. We walked through the town and saw all the destroyed buildings in the village. We talked to a man who lost his young sister during the massacre. His parents lived in Oradour but were away at a wedding that day. We learned that most of the soldiers that were involved in the massacre were 17 years old. It was a very powerful experience and we were not sure what we feel about it yet because all the information has not been processed.

28 February

Friday night after an activity-filled day in Limoge and Oradour sur Glane, the group went to "Chez Anonda" for a small dinner and get-together, and afterwards to a concert and dance put on by Philippe Bouyou and his group. His band played for about 3 hours, and we had a great time dancing and singing along to the American songs. Alix Tucou joined in with his trombone and "magic hat" which he bought in Vermont. He was quite a hit!

Saturday morning the group gathered at the city hall to meet the assistant mayor and to have a formal welcome to the city of Périgueux. We ate French cookies and talked with one another. It was quite an honor to be welcomed by the assistant mayor of Périgueux, the capital of the Périgord.

March 2

Wow! It is hard to believe that today is Monday and already a week has passed since we arrived in France. Each day we learn and experience something new, and today was no exception. We all awoke early filled with excitement for our first day at Laure Gatet, the lycée. Many of us have had questions such as "Where do we eat?" or "Do we attend classes?" These apprehensions were put to rest when we took a tour of the school. We quickly learned where each classroom was and what we were required to attend. During this tour we did feel a bit nostalgic for SBHS when we discovered that the toilets had no seat covers and the differences between our libraries. Next we attended a reception with the principal where we presented him with a book of American painters. We also indulged in delicious hor d’oeuvres. After this concluded, it was time for lunch. In honor of us, the school prepared a special "American" meal with french fries, hamburgers, and ice cream. The food was rather similar to our school’s except that with each meal one gets some good French bread - YUMMY! After lunch, we split into groups for a scavenger hunt. We had to use our French skills to find our way around Périgueux. Eventually it was time to return home. Sadly, so ends another day of our trip. Stay tuned to the Internet because our adventure continues for two more weeks.

March 3

This morning we eagerly awaited the results of the scavenger hunt. Pete, Kin, Jacek, and Matt received hats and pens for their 5^th place finish. Gia, Leslie, Kim, and Melissa’s 4^th place prizes were perfume, key chains, and pens. Third place was awarded to Samantha, Samantha, Jane, and Kevin. Their prizes were perfume and hats. The runners-up received wall-size posters of "The Visitors," a popular French comedy filmed in Périgueux. Brooke, Bethany, Jon, and Kate’s posters were greatly admired. The first place team, Julia, Jen, Ashley, and I, received "The Visitors" t-shirts and perfume.

After the handing out of prizes, everyone split up. Some went to present projects, some downtown, and others sat in the sun in the courtyard.

Following lunch Jane, Samantha, Leslie, Julia, Brooke, Ashley and I went to L’école de Clos Chasseeing, which is the elementary school of Périgueux. Our mission was to present projects and to play with the "petits enfants." The older children were attentive listeners, and the younger ones out to recess were thrilled to meet "real, live Americans!" The cute, little chatter-boxes were not afraid to introduce themselves and to ask us questions. When it was time to go, the little girls lined up to give us kisses.

Around 5:00 we all returned to our houses for yet another delicious French meal.

March 4,1998

Here we are on our tenth day in France - exactly halfway through our trip! Needless to say our trip so far has been filled with amazing discoveries, surprising moments, and a few ups and downs, but overall we’ve had much success with our stay here.

Today, the group hopped from site to site, beginning with an underground train ride through the damp but interesting Grotte de Rouffignac cave. A stop at La Rocque Saint Christophe followed, and we all enjoyed exploring the little world on the side of a cliff created in medieval times. However, a little pond filled with entertaining little ducks qt the base of the cliff acted as the highlight of the stop. A delicious lunch at a quaint bed-and-breakfast came next - each course surpassing the one before. We left with happy stomachs and big smiles. Perhaps our stomachs were too happy, for at the next stop, Le Thot: Espace Cro-Magnon, every American fell asleep during the video discussing the creation of Lascaux II. The situation was enough to give rise to the speculation by the Americans: perhaps the delicious soup that we all ate at the Inn was drugged, or maybe the room in which we viewed the video was gassed. A strange occurrence - we will never know the exact cause of the entire group’s little "nap" during the video presentation. Finally, we topped off the day with a visit to Lascaux II, an exact replica of the original Lascaux caves. The paintings in the caves served as a beautiful reminder of the adventurous events of our day.

March 5,1998

Today, we arrived at school very early yet again. The morning was spent presenting projects and attempting a bit of homework. We then headed to the Conseil Generale where we were greeted by the Minister of Tourism who summarized for the group how the local system of government works. France is separated into 22 regions which are similar to what we called states in the US. However, these regions are much smaller than our states. Within each region there are smaller sub-divisions known as departments. Each department here in the Aquitane Region and the other Regions of France has a Conseil Generale who controls the tourism, education and transportation systems. They also oversee many other political issues within the department. Perigueux is located in the Dordogne department. The Minister of Tourism presented everyone with gifts at a fancy reception in our honor.

After this educational visit, some headed to town for shopping and lunch while others decided to brave the cafeteria food. Once the meal settled, many spent the afternoon hours enjoying the warmth and the sun. Overall, the day was very interesting and relaxing. It’s hard to imagine that before we know it we will be braving the cold vermont winter yet again.