The entire day on Thursday was spent in Amiens. The French partners and our girls, along with Madama and two teachers began with a boat tour of Les hortillonnages in Amiens. These are waterways created by the Romans on what was originally marshland. In fact, it is now an area of small islands of land surrounded by shallow waterways that you can tour in shallow boats. We divided into three boats and we saw some beautiful natural scenery.

After the boat tour, the students had some free time for shopping in Amiens. We ate a picnic lunch at a gazebo in a park and then we met at the cathedral of Amiens. It is a very impressive gothic structure that experienced some damage in the two World Wars, but it has been well restored. We also got to see the relic that some believe is the head of John the Baptist! There are 7 churches that claim to have the relic of his head and they can't all be right, but it was an interesting thing to see.

We ended our day with a tour of Jules Verne's house (he was from Amiens).

Wednesday in Amiens

On Wednesday, we all started the day at the lycee. Madame sat in on a technology training for teachers and got some GREAT ideas that she plans to use with students in the future. Jessie got to sit in on a Calculus class and the teacher tells Madame that Jessie was a bit of a star --- he was quite impressed with her skills in both Calculus and French. We look forward to the commentaries of the girls to find out how they spent their morning. (Rumor has it they got to learn some Spanish...)

After a picnic lunch in front of the school, we headed to the Archives of the Picardie Region for an afternoon of historical research. The Archives are located in a former nunnery and we had a French researcher to guide us through our exploration of first-hand source materials. The French students were with us, so the all the students broke into three groups to study three different themes: The destruction of the war and reconstruction, the daily life of a solodier at the front, and the obligation to remember. Students got to look at photographs from WWI, letters from first-hand witnesses, the census of 1910 & 1900, the newspaper published for French soldiers at the front, postcards from the period, etc. Once the groups had fully explored their topic, they shared what they had learned as a group. It was very informative and we all walked away with a better idea of the experience of WWI in the Picardie region.


Afterwards, we went on a brief walking tour of Amiens and we got to sit in a French cafe, have some refreshments, and feel kind of "French".

On the way home, with Madame Coadou driving a 9 person bus and Madame Robillard driving Ms. Coadou's car, the latter automobile got a flat tire and a very nice Frenchman fixed it so we could continue on our way back to Montdidier. Upon our return, everyone went back to their respective families and homes.

Tuesday in Cantigny

Tuesday, classes were back in session. Madame participated with 4 of the American girls in an English class (Jessie was in Math) and all of us participated in a History class. In the History class, we studied a propaganda poster from WWI and we analyzed the poster in French with our French counterparts.

After class, it was time for lunch and we enjoyed a typical "picard" meal prepared by the high school's very talented chef. We ate a 'ficelle picarde' which is a crepe filled with cheese, ham, onions, and mushrooms and baked in the oven with more cheese on top. We also had duck with vegetables, cheeses from the region, and a very delicious dessert of berry and apricot 'bavarois' pastry. It was all very delicious and quite filling!

After lunch, our group of Americans traveled with two of the French teachers to the nearby village of Cantigny. Our French partners had to stay in class, of course. Cantigny was the site of the first American battle of WWI and the combined American/French forces were victorious against the Germans, but at a very high cost for the village, which was completely destroyed.

We stopped at a rodside monument with an eagle on top that was erected by the US government. All the names of the Americans who died in the battle were listed there and each girl found the name of her adopted soldier on the monument. Since some poppies were growing nearby, we picked them and laid them at the base of the monument in remembrance.

We visited the barn of the current mayor of Cantigny where we we saw a German cannon and and French cannon. He told us that he regularly comes across shells from the battle and we saw exploded and unexploded French and German shells.

We also visited the American monument in Cantigny where they had a memorial ceremony just before we came to France on May 28th.

If it's Monday, we're tourists!

Today is Pentecost Monday --- a school holiday in France --- so, all the Americans and their partners met up with Madame Robillard, Madame Coadou (the history teacher who is Madame Robillard's direct partner on the Oklahoma Soldiers' project) and Madame Hamard (one of the English teachers at Lycee Jean Racine). We went on a road trip! Our first stop, after the public restrooms, was St. Valery-sur-Somme where we walked along the Baie de la Somme and ate a picnic on the boardwalk. Madame's legs were really sore from all the recent walking, so she waited by the sea while the students and teachers walked up to the old city and visited what is essentially a medieval town. (We look forward to reading the girls' descriptions of this experience here at this blog.)

Then, we left St. Valery-sur-Somme and on our way out of town we came across an amazingly beautiful field of poppies, so we stopped for a photo shoot --- the pictures should fit well with our project since poppies are associated with remembering those killed in World War I. We drove a bit to get to the coast and we visited the beaches at Cayeux.

The beaches are made of smooth stones rather than sand. Several of us gathered stones to keep as a souvenir. Madame's most morable souvenir has to be the sunburn she got! All the girls except Jessie decided to dip their feet in the English Channel (freezing!).


After the beach, we drove for about half an hour to the castle at Rambure. This is a beautiful castle that began in the Middle Ages during the 100 Years' War and was added to and improved successively over the years. We got to have a guided tour and we took many wonderful pictures. We also went on a tour of the grounds and found an American Sequoyah there! The girls were impressed with the "moat" and drawbridge and perhaps we all felt as though we had traveled through time a bit.

It took another hour to get back to Montdidier from the castle and each girl went home with her host family.

Sunday in the Country

After a good night's sleep, Madame was able to join Jeanne and the librarian from our sister school at mass. It was a very nice Pentecost Sunday. We also saw Melissa and her host brother at mass. During the service, the priest invited all those who were just confirmed and those who were confirmed last year to come forward for the intecessory prayer. When he learned that Jeanne would be confirmed in 2 weeks, he invited her as well and then he invited Madame forwward as well as a "visiting American". After mass, Madame got caught up on the activities the girls have been doing and she stressed that the girls need oto post messages to the blog!

The librarian and her husband joined Madame and the teacher hosting Madame (Laure-Helene) for a garden lunch of mango chicken and rice with French cheese and fresh strawberries. Miam! Later, Madame went with Laure-Helene and her husband to visit the town of Compiegne where there was a wine and cheese festival. Then, they went to a small village festival outside Compiegne where there was some really wonderful theatre. Laure Helene and her husband have invited two English teachers to dinner and Madame is ready now to enjoy their company and eat some French barbecue! (Hoping as well that the girls will document their experiences of the last two days here at our blog.

Busy Day

We started the day with a semi-official reception at Lycee Jean Racine (sorry, no accents available on my mini computer!) --- hot chocolate, orange juice, and pain au chocolat. The students got to know each other and all the girls reported that they were comfortable with their host families. The school's assistant director then took us (les Amercains) on a tour of the building inside and out, then the girls got to sit in on a class for an hour. Then we all met up in the school's media center where the girls had to work with their French partners to complete a questionnaire about a panel-exhibit on the First World War (in French, of course). Then, we all went our separate ways. Some girls got to go bowling, but now we would like each of the girls to post a message about what they did on Saturday afternoon.

Madame ate lunch in Amiens with her host, the Latin teacher Laure-Helene and the English teacher Maud. We ate at a beautiful restaurant called "Le Vert Galant" that serves regional specialties. Madame ate la ficelle picarde, la salade des rieux, and (of course!) la creme brulee. Then we went on a walking tour of Amiens: Les hortillonnages, the cathedral, the rues pietonnes, a great bookstore, and the train station. Once we got back to Montdidier, we ate a simple dinner on the back porch with some of Madame's favorite cheeses.

We have arrived!

I can't upload any pictures right now, but I will soon. We arrived in Paris after an 8+ hour flight from Atlanta that went very smoothly. We all slept on the flight --- not too comfortably, except Jessie who was too cold and couldn't ever find a comfortable position, so she slept "fitfully". We arrived in Paris with all our luggage and made our way to the North train station (La Gare du Nord) where we left our bags in consignment. We negotiated our way through the Metro and we went to St. Michel. After viewing the fountain dedicated to the Parisians who rose up against the Nazis, we at lunch at la Creperie de Cluny. The Lynn girls had chocolate crepes, Stephanie had a ham & cheese crepe, Jessie had a ham, cheese & mushroom crepe, and Madame had her favorite "Flamande" crepe with ham, cheese, bechamel sauce, and endives. Miam!

From there we took a brief walking tour through the medieval section of the Latin Quarter and we visited the churches of St. Sulpice & St. Julien le Pauvre. We visited the famous English-language bookstore Shakespeare & Co. and several of us bought a book so we could have it stamped with the shop's logo. Of course, across from the bookstore is Notre Dame de Paris. We toured the inside of the church, but it was too late to go up the towers. Mass began shortly after we arrived, so we got to see the Archbishop of Paris and the children's choir in prosession and as we wandered through the church, we listened to the mass and the music. It made the experience quite uplifting. We couldn't assist at the mass do to time constraints.

From there we wandered to the Hotel de Ville and we also got to see the modernistic Centre Pompidou and the whimsical modern art fountain nearby. We wandered though some interesting shops. Madame bought post cards and Jeanne found the perfect music box for her friend. Cate tried out the funky electric street toilets (we have pictures! to be posted soon.) Then it was time to head back to the train station. [Sorry we can't upload the pictures right now, but if you want to see the places we visited, you can look them up on google.]

We gathered our luggage, grapped food to take on the train and made it to the train just in time. It was a lovely, relaxing 1+hour ride to Amiens where we were met my two teachers (Maud & Laure-Helene) and Jessie's host sister Cassandre and Cassandre's mom. After loading the ton of luggage into the tiny French cars, we divided up into two cars and headed to Montdidier (about a 40 minute ride). The road to Montdidier took us through small villages and through rolling green countryside. It was quite amazing to think about the battles that were fought in this area during each of the World Wars. The villages were quaint and the girls loved seeing the different architecture and landscapes. Finally, we arrived in Montdidier right around 10:30 pm as the sun was setting. We met up with the other families and exchanged phone numbers, and then we all went our separate ways. Madame was a bit nostalgic about letting her "kids" go, but they were all smiling from ear to ear, so perhaps the greatest part of our adventure has now begun!