France: French Immersion Adventure 2023

June 29-30, 2023

We met at the airport during different times of the day. I arrived first because my parents had to fly out in an earlier flight. People slowly kept coming h too we eventually had enough people to go through security to our gates we got food while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. At around 7:30 everyone else came and we all introduced ourselves before the flight. We all boarded at 10:00 and the flight took off at 11:00. It was a 7 hour flight and no one really got much sleeps we landed in France at 12pm and went straight to pick up the rest of the group who met us in France at the airport.  We went straight to our hotel to get settled in and everyone was assigned three roommates for the day at random. We walked to a really good falafel place for lunch while playing games to get to know each other. Then we went to Musée D’Orsay but it was closed to we walked to the Louvre before walking back to the hotel. Then we are dinner and had the option to either stay at the hotel to get some sleep or see more of Paris and that was the end of the day!

~ Max

After a long day, some of us extravagant explorers journeyed to Montmartre. We took the metro and endured a sweaty, crowded ride. When we got to Montmartre, there were a lot of stairs to climb but it wasn’t that bad. The reward was worth the strenuous endeavor. We were presented with a gorgeous panoramic view of Paris and we sang along with a French guitarist performing up there. After, we went into the basilica and heard some lovely voices singing hymns in French. We then strolled through la place de tertres where we made acquaintances and enemies by waving at random people. Then we got gelato from Amorino that was shaped into flowers. We are now on the lovely sweaty train again and we are subway surfing our way back to the hostel so that we can get a lovely nights sleep.

~ Sophie

July 1, 2023

After waking up from our first night of sound sleep in France, we quickly got a good breakfast from our hostel. Quickly we got on the road to catch our 3 hour high speed train ride to Grenoble! Due to the the current state of Grenoble, we had only a short sneak peak of the beautiful town before we hopped on the bus that took us through breathtaking valleys up to our new temporary home tucked away in the mountains, Mizoën. This beautiful gite, ran by our graceful host Anne and her son Sam, was the perfect place to rest and take in the amazing views after our morning of travel. As we all settled in and got to know each other a little bit better through some ice breaking games, as well as a couple pick up basketball and soccer games with some local kids, we sat down for dinner and enjoyed an amazing meal prepared by Anne and Sam. After some delicious apple pie for desert and some very competitive card games many of us realized that we would have a great couple days in Mizoën.

– Charlie

July 2, 2023

We started today by enjoying a nice breakfast of granola, bread, yogurt, and coffee on the porch observing the mountains. Shortly after, we had our group meeting, and got ready for rafting in the rapids.

We took the bus there, and got our wetsuits and life jackets on. The waters were cold and the rapids were fast. After the rapids, we dried off and enjoyed a picnic at the tables around the rafting area. After the picnic, we took the bus home and got ready to start our service project on a nearby mountain.

We met the service guide at the house we were staying at, and quickly made our way to the site, where we spent a couple hours in groups working on different parts of the trail, removing rocks and filling holes with dirt. Once we made our way back home to the house, we had a couple hours of downtime before dinner.

During this downtime, everyone had time to clean up, enjoy music on the group playlist, play darts, talk, and learn/ play assorted card games before dinner.

After a delicious dinner, we partook in a group scavenger hunt. The hunt was for landmarks around the village, where we had to answer questions about the landmarks in French. My group came dead last in questions answered, but we had the treat of eavesdropping on a French couple arguing, so I’d say we were the real winners. Once the hunt ended, we had more time to do what we pleased, so I chose to play soccer/ foosball with some friends and a French kid our age who was also staying in the village.

-Ben P.

July 3, 2023

Today we boarded our crowded trucks and ventured out on an all day service hike up a nearby mountain. We put on our work gloves, hiking boots, and good attitudes, and grabbed our tools. Our generous guides, Marie, Laurent and Febreeze, led us up the steep mountain, covered in rocks, grass and pretty flowers. We stopped at various points to move rocks into walls, widen paths, and cut branches. We paused at a plateau with a beautiful view for our picnic lunch, and admired the scenery while we ate our sandwiches. Then we continued up, some turning around to go back down at a relaxed pace, while others reached the summit. “The view was breathtaking; the snow capped Alps overlooked the majestic glacier river, which sparkled in the afternoon light,” a student exclaimed. After scaling the mountain, we returned down, and went back to the gite. After a delicious lasagna dinner, (which made Max realize he actually likes lasagna,) and fruit salad dessert, we played a fun game of mafia, and dispersed into free time.

PS: Our French expression of the day was “n’importe quoi” which means “get out of town.”

– Alessandra R.

July 4, 2023

This morning, we started our service work again on the mountain. This time we drove close to the summit and hiked down. Some of our service work included carving stairs into the hillside with hoes and picks, creating rock boundaries for the path, and marking the correct way with cairns. After a relaxing but hot lunch break, we went down to reassess the handiwork and continue on our way down the mountain. The trucks met us closer to the bottom and we all went back to take some well needed showers. We got back from service earlier than we expected so we had many hours of free time to call home and relax before dinner. We had a delicious dinner of chicken and ratatouille (very French!) After dinner we had our first official French lesson taught by Edwina. We practiced directions, verbs, useful terminology, and numbers. Jorge then led us in a group stretch and we started planning for our big hike tomorrow. We ended the night with an activity led by our student leaders of the day where we played music and had to guess who chose it. Our term of the day was mainly “Je suis en forme” which translated to I am ready/feeling good. Au revoir!

-Maeve and Roxy

July 5, 2023

This morning we got to sleep in a bit before our big hike up to a refuge deeper into the mountains! Caroline led us in a group stretch to prepare for the day. Our guides, Laurent, Marie, and Febreeze, along with Laurent’s daughter Anouk and two of her friends, Margot and Maelie, met us with a van for Edwina (who has a sprained ankle) and ski poles for the rest of us to use on our hike. We started hiking as soon as we walked out of le gîte. Along the way, we got to see a gorgeous new view of the mountains that are now starting to become quite familiar to us. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful clearing filled with wildflowers and trees that provided some much appreciated shade. The last half of the hike was definitely the most difficult, and we spread out a bit, with one group marching ahead (worried that if they stopped for too long, then they might not be able to stop again) and another group taking more breaks, with Marie elaborating on the many different types of flora and fauna, and Katie keeping morale up with music from her speaker. It was a big relief for everyone to finally arrive at the refuge. We had free time to shower, rest, play cards, and teach Marie and Anouk how to play Bananagrams, before a delicious dinner of couscous, chicken, Moroccan sausage, and a variety of French cheeses prepared by our lovely host Stefanie. We ended the day in the best way by sharing a small moment of joy or gratitude that we had each experienced that day!

– Anne Fowlkes S.

PS: The expression of the day was “ça roule, ma poule!”

July 6, 2023

Today, we got to have a nice sleep in after yesterdays hike. We ate a delicious breakfast made by Raphäel and Stephanie. After, we had a group stretch led by Max. Then we started our hike to the glacier lake to swim! Edwina was able to accompany us today (even though she has a sprained ankle) which was really exciting. We stopped at a lake and took in the breathtaking view as we ate our lunches. After we continued our hike and eventually made it to the glacier lake! The water was freezing but it was super fun. After a very steep hike back, some kids went to do service work with the sheep. They carried heavy bags of salt and helped out the shepherd a lot. Today was Cal’s birthday so at dinner we all celebrated and had a really delicious cake. For our evening activity we burned away our negative self beliefs into a bonfire and really took the time to reflect on ourselves. Even though everyone was exhausted from yesterdays hike, we still managed to have a great day.

By the way, our expression of the day was “On s’y accroche!” which means “we got this!” and I think today definitely proved that we do in fact got this.

– Pauline B.

July 7, 2023

This morning, we slept in after a tiring yet adventure-filled day and were treated to a hearty breakfast, which consisted of bread, jam and Nutella. We then packed up our belongings and began the trek down the mountain, leaving the massive, snow-capped Alps behind. We stopped for a brief lunch break during the descent, where we enjoyed our wraps and chips. Consequently, the group passed through a small mountain village called Besse, to visit a museum about shepherds in the Alps. After, we had some ice cream at a local cafe and finished the hike to Mizoen. Sadly, we wished our goodbyes to our wonderful guides, Laurent, Fabrice and Marie, whom aided us during the service days and the hikes in the Alps. After, we had an outdoor French lesson led by Edwina, and we wrote letters to our home stay families. To end the long and eventful day, we played a fun game of Sardines and packed for yet another exciting day ahead.

– Annabel

July 8, 2023
Today, we said goodbye to Anne, our host at the Gite, and boarded the bus to Avignon! We played games and made friendship bracelets throughout the traffic, and stopped about 2 hours in for a lunch and snack break. We all ordered hot dogs and rejoiced in the rest stop food, then rode another hour to our destination in Avignon. We got to live the true southern french experience when we waited for the shuttle to the city (under the sweltering heat) only to be stood up, but we got to see some beautiful views on the walk instead!! We entered the walls of the city and saw the theater festival in full effect – glittered faces, lit up carousels, artisan stands and ice cream for days. We walked through the Palais de Papes with our tour guide Francois , who told us all about the gardens, the mosaics, and the living quarters of where the pope lived. After that, we took a crepe and ice cream break, and watched all of the street performers while munching down!! Then, after we went souvenir shopping and viewed the Pont d’Avignon, we ate and amazing dinner full of steak and ravioli and even beef tartare (that one took some convincing). finally, We wrapped up our night by learning all about the family’s that will be hosting us and playing games at the hotel.

– Caroline

July 9, 2023

This morning we woke up early and left the YMCA for our kayaking trip on the Rhône. After a short intro on the techniques of kayaking, we headed down the river and navigated through lots of seaweed and swimming people. Along the way we saw the impressive Roman aqueduct, called le Pont du Gard. To cool off, the group swam in the river while locals were cliff jumping into the water below. After our adventure, we boarded the bus to meet our families who would be hosting us for the next week. We met at a park and indulged in food before leaving for our homes for the next week.

– Benji H.

July 10, 2023

Today and a great day! We woke up and had an authentic French breakfast with our host families. We took the bus to Chateau de Coustaussa and did some trail work. The bus ride was used as a nap time in order to prepare for the day ahead. We built a sturdy wall with rocks from a path we cleared. After the work, we were tired and hot from the sun so we found some shade and celebrated Erin’s birthday with ice cream cake and watermelon. Yum! Afterward we took the bus to Carcassonne which was used again as a nap time to recover from the work. We cooled down with some ice cream. I got lavender flavor! Most people were hot during the tour of the castle, which tested our group’s resilience. Our group moved through the challenge, and we then directed ourselves to shopping! I got a cute poster for my room in case you were wondering. After shopping we went home with our host families and enjoyed some free time. At my hosts house we cooled down with a shower and then had a delicious pasta salad for dinner that reminded me of my mothers cooking. The best! It was a good day despite the heat!

– Livia B.

July 11, 2023

Today, my host sisters and I woke up to a beautiful French breakfast. My host mommy (Fabienne) got us chocolate croissants and apple juice just for me! She then let us know that our guide Katie would soon be driving to take us by car to the group meeting spot for the day. Katie arrived shortly after breakfast and we were all on our way. Suddenly, we heard a “THUD” and found out we had a flat tire! But, as the French say, “C’est la vie!” For us, it was just a little addition to our adventures. We were only 2 minutes away, so we parked the car and joined our fellow students for our morning meeting.

During our morning meeting, Edwina led us in a fun game of “human knot” and the we found out that today we were going to work at a camp with little French kids! To prepare, we grouped up to create some fun games that would help us connect with the little French kids. We headed into the school building and then we separated in groups to interact and help the teachers in each classroom. Some people were drawing, some were creating poems and songs, and others kids just wanted to ask us questions about the United States.

Talking with little kids was a great way to better our French and they were so cute! After that we had our lunch and swam at a nearby lake. We spent the afternoon back at the camp to hang out with the little kids some more. It was long and exciting day. By the end, I was happy to go home and get some get rest after eating my host mommy’s amazing French dinner.

By the way, if my Mom and Bryce are reading this I do in fact miss you! Love you mommy <3

– Amari C.

July 12, 2023

After a good night’s sleep, we ate breakfast with our host families and practiced our French conversation skills. Then, we congregated at the parking lot and got on the bus to Coutoussa for our last day of service. The blanket of clouds protected us from the heat while we worked to clear the trails. We enjoyed our lunch on a small patio nearby, and as we digested, we formed a circle where we shared our music tastes with one another. Then, it was back to work! With the help of our guide, Gotié, we diligently rebuilt the trail. We cut and ripped vines from the wall, leveled the foundation, and uncovered an old wall that had been buried for years. After a couple hours, it was time to say goodbye to Gotié and hop on the bus to meet with our host families. Because we arrived an hour early, we were able to take a brief swim in the lake! We played soccer with our host families, tournament style, and cheered on the sidelines. As the sun spilled its last rays through the clouds, we said Au Revoir to our friends and left the park to spend the rest of the evening with our host families.

– Phoebe

July 13, 2023