Day 9: The Art of Flags and Teacher Field Trip

Since they only have school for a half day on Wednesdays here, we started the day back in the Art classroom to finish our flag projects. Caroline was not able to join us because she had a stomach flu. The atmosphere was very relaxed and yet focused --- the students have come to know each other better and there was none of the awkward confusion we had last Wednesday when they had not yet established a rapport and means of communicating clearly. 

Some of the groups started by projecting images to be traced onto their projects:

Others set right to work on the projects that had been waiting since last Wednesday.

Carly and Allison covered their hands with paint to mark their projects with their handprints:

Riley got to paint the lions which are one of the symbols of Picardy:

Madame Worster worked on completing her project:

Valeria did fine detailed work ont he Oklahoma flag's Osage war shield so it could be incoporated into her group's larger project:

Kiel and Riley worked with their partner and the Art teacher, Mickael DuFosse. Monsieur DuFosse will be visiting Westmoore in February 2014 with the students from Lycée Jean Racine. We have wonderful ideas for common art projects our students can do during the next school year.

Once Art class was over, the school day was also over. They students headed off with their French partners and their families for a day of fun and relaxing. Some went to the zoo, others went carting (mini-car racing), some went to music club. In the absence of their photos and explanations of how they spent their afternoons, we will have to learn together through the experiences of the teachers.

So, Madame Robillard and Madame Worster had their own "Teacher Field Trip" to Senlis. On our way there, we stopped at a quaint town called Pont-Sainte-Maxence which is the hometown of Madame Dangreville who is our partner teacher at Lycée Jean Racine and who has been hosting Madame Worster in her home. The church there was very nice: 
We found these heater stands behind the alter. It struck us an funny, but if you think about it, these gothic churches must get quite cold and in the absence of central heating, these heaters would be quite helpful:

Madame Robillard and Madame Worster in front of the church in Pont-Sainte-Maxence:

We then stopped in another small town called Fleurines at the small gothic-era church calles Église St. Jacques-St. Gilles. The altar in this small church was beautiful: 

Across the street from the church was the local town hall, which is so typically French that it merits a picture on this blog. 

The words engraved on the town hall provoked some discussion and speculation:
School, Mayor's Office, Asylum

It is probably not the first time the people considered the local government synonymous with the insane asylum!

Finally, we made it to Senis which is in the Picardy region, but in a different "département" (county) than Montdidier. Senlis is in the Oise and Montdidier is in the Somme.

Here is a link about the town of Senlis. Madame Robillard spent two weeks in Senlis in March 2012, so she was familiar with the area, but getting to visit it as a tourist was a completely new experience.

Senlis was once a Roman town and later it became a royal city. One of France's first kings, Hugues Capet, made it his home starting in 981 AD, In the center of town is a memorial for Hugues Capet with a copy of the king's signature on the side:

Right nearby there is a monument to the soldiers from North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) who fought valiantly with the French forces in World War I. The monument used to be in Casablanca, Morocco, but after Morocco gained its independence from France in 1956, the monument was moved to Senlis where there was an important garrison of the French Army and where many of the North African soldiers had been trained and based. It is a moving monument and one that testifies to the long-standing relationship France has had with the people of North Africa. Today, France's largest minority group is North African.

We then made a quick stop at what used to be the train station in Senlis. It was destroyed by the Germans in World War I, rebuilt by the people of Senlis in the 1920's, then it was attacked by the Germans again in World War II. The people of Senlis decided that their train station would always be a target for invading enemy forces, so they decided to rebuild it but not to use it as a train station anymore. Of course, France has not been invaded since then, but by taking Senlis off the national train grid, they inadvertently protected the town from the urban sprawl from Paris. The result is a beautifully preserved and protect, mall, French town.

The sign reads: "This train station was built in 1922 on the site of the one that the Germans burned on September 2, 1914.

Here is Madame Robillard on one of the pretty medieval streets in Senlis.

When it was time for lunch, we decided to eat an authentic French meal for lunch. Lo and behold! The first French restaurant we found was in the underground, medieval wine cellar. It was very good food and the ambiance set the perfect tone for the day's visit.

After lunch, the next site to visit was the grounds of the ancient royal castle the the priory of St. Maurice. Here is Madame Worster framed by what remains of a great hall of the castle:

Here are some more of the beautiful grounds at the ancient castle and priory:

The royal chapel was built at the end of the reign of the French king Louis VI in the middle of the 12th century AD.

This sign in French warns people not to climb on the statute of Diana:

There was an exhibit of local artists and craftspeople in the old chapel. One of the most intriguing artists was the lace maker. She demonstrated the process for making the Bayeux lace by hand. How fortunate to see her do her work as we will be staying in Bayeux for three days next week!

More images of the beautiful grounds of the ancient royal palace and the priory of St. Maurice:

This sign has a beautiful quote by Madame Robillard's favorite poet, Jacques Prévert. Roughly translated, it says: "The true gardener discovers himself when faced with a wild thought." (But honestly, the French meaning is so much more deep, meaningful, and hard to convey in English.)

At one end of the park that is part of the ancient castle grounds, there is a museum dedicated to the Spahis --- the French light cavalry regiments made up of North African soldiers and French officiers. The following pictures are from that museum:

The next stop on the Teacher Field Trip was the beautiful Senlis cathedral which was built between 1153 and 1191 AD. Statues are sometimes missing from their spot in the architecture because they were destroyed during the French Revolution which was a revolt of the people against the nobility bus also against the Roman Catholic church which protected and justified the nobility. Notice the beautiful and very old example of graffiti on the wall inside the cathedral:

These are scenes from the interior of the cathedral:

This stained glass window is of particular note. It shows the life of Saint Louis who was also a king of France. He is the saint for which St. Louis, Missouri is named. The story begins on the bottom right and moves from right to left and upward: 1)The education of St. Louis in Cornelles, 2) St. Louis defeats the English in Taillebourg, 3) He renders justice in Vincennes, 4) He ia an arbiter between other kings, 5) He debarks in Damiette, 6) He is captured in Egypt, 7) He decides to start a new Crusade, 8) He dies in Tunis, 9) He is received into heaven by Jesus, Mary, and the saints of France:

A memorial inside the cathedral for the soldiers of Great Britain and the United Kingdom who died during the Great War in France:

A memorial inside the cathedral for the 500 commemoration of Joan of Arc's defeat of the English on the fields outside of Senlis and her later visit to the town of Senlis:

The final site on the Teacher Field Trip was the town museum of art and antiquities. There were many archaeological digs in the town of Senlis in the 1990's and the museum itself goes underground to reveal the archaeological vestiges of the Roman town that used to be Senlis (called Augustomagus by the Romans) and the many Roman artifacts they have found there. There are also many artifacts from the early Middle Ages. 

A view of the cathedral seen from the museum:

Madame Robillard's greatest joy of the day was the realization that the museum houses the works of Séraphine, an amazing primitive painter from the end of the 19th century. Her personal story was the subject of a film that won many awards. Her work is absolutely beautiful and even more so in person. Séraphine lived in Senlis so her works are collected at the museum here.