Millennium High School France 2024

Tuesday, April 23

The eagle has landed…In Paris! Exhausted from a Redeye trip to Paris, LIST club took a bus to the People Paris Marais, where we dropped off our items. We’ll be staying there for our three days in Paris. We then took a walk across the islands of St. Louis and Cité, to catch a glimpse of Notre Dame Cathedral. At lunch, we found a connection to home: our restaurant was called Brooklyn and had pizza, among other things! After some salad, burgers, pizza, and fries, we were ready to catch the double-decker RER C train to the Musée d’Orsay, home of the famous Van Gogh Starry Night among other masterpieces. Some of us were finding it difficult to stay awake, so our lovely guide Camille suggested that we take some downtime at the hotel. Feeling refreshed, we then had dinner, where the more adventurous of us tried some escargots (snails) and cuisses de grenouille (frog legs). There was also baked camembert to taste and delicious boeuf bourguignon (beef stew). We then wandered over the île St. Louis and found some delicious crêpes for dessert.

More to come from the Day 2 blog team!

Gros bisous,
Marcus and Madame G

Wednesday, April 24

Jean Pigeon is everywhere! We started off our day at 8am with breakfast in the “The People Paris Marais” (our hotels) buffet. There was a variety of breads like croissants. We got ourselves ready for the day after that and headed out at 9am to take the metro. We got off at the Palais Royal Musée du Louvre where we explored the huge selection of art. We saw many famous sculptures and paintings such as Venus de Milo (Aphrodite), Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa (heavily protected) and la Radeau de la Meduse. After that, we hopped back onto the metro and went to eat at a cafeteria buffet styled lunch place. We were given a variety of choices in which we could choose an entree, fruit/dessert, bread, salad, and a drink. When we were done, we got onto the metro again and headed towards La Tour Eiffel!! After standing in the cold while waiting for our tickets we finally went through security and headed up. It was about a 15 minute climb to level 2 of the Eiffel tower. We were so out of breath by the end of it but it was really worth the stunning view. We took some pictures and started heading down which for some of us was harder than going up. By the time we got down, some of our legs would not stop shaking (it was a lot). Meanwhile, Madame G and Hope did some touring around the streets and saw the cutest cat in a cafe they entered. To end our evening off, we did a little bit of shopping and ate at a restaurant, Cafe du Marché. Some people had pasta, steak, burgers, and escargots. All of us were able to try some charcuterie board with bread and we tried Foie Gras. Foie Gras de Canard is the fatty liver part of the duck. It was surprisingly good and had a buttery texture. On our way back to the hotel, we saw the Bastille and ended our evening off by settling back into the hotel, showered, spent some time together, and headed to bed.

Bisous,
Eleanor and Mindy

Thursday, April 25

LIST club’s last day in Paris! We started off the day by hopping on Le Metro for a visit to the Arc De Triomphe, where we had a beautiful view of the city and its architecture. Splitting up into smaller groups, we then took a walk down Champs-Élysées, complete with window shopping and a lunch in a famous French department store! After our shopping escapade, we went back to the Metro and took the train to our next stop, where we went 20 meters under Paris… to the Catacombs! With the aid of an audio guide, we explored the tunnels and simultaneously learned about the history of their creation. Back to the Metro once more, we visited Sacré-Coeur and the surrounding artistic community of Montmarte where we climbed MANY steps but got another spectacular view of the city and its creative residents. We rounded off the day with a roast chicken/fish dinner at Lou Pitchoun’s and various crêpes for dessert, before heading back towards the hotel to see La Tour Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower) lit up at night- a lovely way to end a bustling day in the city!

Bisous,
Lil and Itzel

Friday, April 26

Welcome to Day Five: Travel Day!!
Today’s events were quite mellow at first, with several buses and a bullet train called the TGV, throughout the French countryside, but eventually we made it to Carcassonne and we had a spectacular evening. After dropping off our luggage at the cosy Hotel Espace Cité, we made our way to the City Center of Carcassone to do some menial shopping, and explore within the city walls. Dinner, with a variety of pizza, pasta, and traditional dishes (the inevitable cassoulet!), was delicious, including a choice between ice cream or crêpes for dessert. With a 5 minute walk back to the hotel, we spent it playing word games and laughing about the days events.

Signing off,

Isabella & Hope

Saturday, April 27

Our morning began at the Hotel Cité where we enjoyed our earliest breakfast yet at 7:30 am. We had many more options to choose between, yet, everyone still decided to maintain the French style with a croissant along with some fruit, yogurt, cereal, and cheese. While we were finishing up breakfast, Camille and some other folks from the group had gone to pick up our lunch sandwiches and some French chips. Once all of us had met up at the lobby at around 8:45, we headed for our first day working on the service project which had still remained a secret from the students 🙂

During our short drive to Malves-en-Minervois, Camille had informed us of the long awaited work we would be doing! Trail marking for les Chemins de Compostelle (The Way of Saint James, or Camino De Santiago). We will be finishing up and making signs for the last segment of the trail that runs through Carcassonne.

Once we entered the old community building, we were greeted with a second mini breakfast where the workers heavily encouraged us to try the delicious coffee, croissants, and orange juice. While enjoying these little snacks, we were given some choices of how we can contribute to the service project: some heavy lifting work or creating some new signs for the trail. Considering that only 900 people reside in this town, it is very difficult for the châteaus to be maintained without the help of outside volunteers. There are several associations dedicated to helping preserve the nature of this trail, and the chateau near it.

While group one’s strength and coordination abilities (and dog walking skills with Mouna) were tested when axing sticks of wood and hammering them into the ground, group two’s and three’s creative and artistic minds were put to great use when painting the beautiful signs to lead the pilgrims along their journey! The strong winds and light rain did not restrict any of our work; kept ourselves very protected and warm with rain jackets and hoods 🙂

While walking through the trail finding our next stop, we had found some fenouil, thym — some thought it smelled more like origan (oregano) — et romarin (fennel, thyme, and rosemary) which all smelled very delicious and sparked our hunger…

Finishing up our service for the day, we stopped at a part of a field with Le Menhir (photo attached). While some of us were at peace in this area, others were very curious with the insects and flowers all around us! Fun fact: iPhones and androids have a feature where after snapping a picture of a plant, you can swipe up on the image and it will tell you the name of the plant! After each group completed their projects for the day, we had went back down to the cave looking house where we had the delicious sandwiches that were picked up in the morning — the more popular type was a kebab sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo on a baguette.

We boarded the bus back to the hotel for a 15 minute refresh and departed for le chateau — the historic castle we strolled around yesterday while in le cité — at 2:45 pm!

The castle was not your usual monumental building. The first entrance we glaze up some flight of stairs as we approach the first room, an old kickboxing display. Supposedly it was set for the upcoming olympics but who knows as Mr. Wallin might partake in said category. We continue through it passing a covered miniature version of this wondrous ville, going up yet another short set of stairs as we approach the ledge. The ledge was covered in every point of interaction round buildings, where l presume archers and cannon shooters remained hidden back in the days. Views magnificent as always, as the magnificent from both the east and west were displayed. Infinite videos were taken—and yes I mean an under exaggerated amount. As we continue the ledge we arrive to a bunch of rooms with the objects resembling stone bathtubs. Most of them were fountains yet the beautiful architecture never fails to amaze one and the direct details. Lastly came the souvenir shop where we got to spend our coin on some good ol’ gifts. Angus played with a dragon aiming it towards any building resembling object around him, as others were debating whether to pick a mystery or a fantasy novel. Money well spent but then Calve got a slingshot and tried to remove certain group members from this world. The ledge alas awaited us again and we took that windy ahh pathway to the very end, walking all around this medieval “city.” Sometimes I even felt like Angus would fly away, free like those birds roaming around. Down time arrived, and we prepared to enjoy this free time and explore further 👿.

After we had our free time and went shopping, it was time to eat dinner. We went to a restaurant in the medieval city called L’escargot. Many of us got skewers with things such as beef and squid. When we finished eating the main courses, we were able to get dessert. We had options for dessert, but a highlight was the profiteroles which many of us got. They were delicious, a creampuff-like pastry dessert, but with ice cream in the middle and melted chocolate on top. When we finished, we took our last walk through Carcassone, heading back to our hotel and getting ready for sleep and our next big day.

Jennie, Monica, & Dalia

Sunday, April 28

Bonjour! On our last day, we started off with a calm breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We set off on the bus back to Malves-en-Minervois for our second day there. We split into two groups, one to watch a short film about the area and visit a church and the other to visit a chateau. After we were done, we switched. In the château, we got to visit areas that are normally closed off with express permission from the mayor (who as you may have heard previously issued us an official welcome). The chateau dated back to the 14th century and had been modified many times over the years. It was very beautiful and had murals on display of Greek gods in 16th century French attire, among other sights including the symbol of The Sun King Louis XVI. After both groups were done, everyone went to the chateau and Bernard gave a short speech commending our work and thanking us, bestowing upon us the title of Builders of the Path and gift bags with local prune jelly and cute little shells.

After visiting the church and saying goodbye to the service people, we all went on the bus on our way to Toulouse, for a cooking class. Once arrived in Toulouse, everyone with the exception of Caleb who was feeling some pain, went to the cooking class. In the cooking class everyone wore their aprons and went towards the kitchen. In the kitchen waiting for us were a set of knives and cutting boards for everyone and a chef. The chef allowed us to cut carrots, cook them, and etc. Eventually the chef would bring out the salmon, the main part of the meal. Cooking the salmon was very fun for everyone as everyone had a go at it. After cooking the salmon the last thing we had to do was the plating. Soon after everyone got their food we were delighted. The salmon was delicious and the dessert was even better. After the cooking class we would walk back to the bus to get to the hotel.

Next, the group went to try French tacos (they having nothing to do with Mexican cuisine), a take on shawarma and halal food common back in New York delis and food carts. Other students also spent time shopping around the town center of Toulouse, but also experiencing typical French-cultural standards such as closed stores on Sundays. After our time shopping, we had our last dinner at Le Bol Bu, the oldest tea house in Toulouse that served all of its Crêpes with a buckwheat cover. Lastly, the group returned to our hotel to have our final group meeting, where we shared our experiences, takeaways, along with a few tears, about our time travelling. The next morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn, ready to board our flights to Paris, and eventually New York. It’s safe to say this was a trip for the books, and everyone who was on board had learned and enjoyed something new; from understanding cultural standards, travelling with friends and growing closer with others. Some of us can’t wait to return.

Angus, Wesley and Caleb