Le 17 avril - Notre dernier jour ensemble

Eh bien, le dernier jour est arrivé :(
Je voudrais dire un très grand merci à toutes les familles qui ont accueilli nos jeunes américains, ainsi qu'à M. Floch, le nouveau directeur, Mme Pohardy, Madame Deschâteaux et bien sûr Madame Eloré, qui a mis tant d'effort à organiser toutes nos sorties et soirées. Merci aussi à Mesdames Oudot et André-Gehan, qui ont également participé à l'échange, et à Mme Desmons, qui travaille en coulisses pour le côté administratif.
Nous avons passé deux semaines fantastiques en France et nous avons hâte de raconter nos aventures et de montrer toutes nos photos à nos familles et collègues.
Je tiens aussi à remercier Mlle Knox pour son aide et pour son animation musicale fantastique (on n'arrête pas d'entendre les élèves, français et américains, chanter "How I got over..") et M. Altay pour  son travail quotidien sur ce blog, sa présence auprès du groupe et son animation sportive.
Comme nous l'avons chanté avec Mlle Knox...

"Thank you, thank you!"

Farewell picnic

Cap Multi-Sports

Today was our final fun-filled day. We took a bus with our hosts to an indoor sports complex, where we competed in a Survivor-style contest. The students will explain the different challenges on their return - for now you can see how much fun we had from the photos.

 The winner- Héloise!

Mont Saint-Michel (April 16th)

Written by Eleanore Ermentrout (La Musée de Bretagne - from April 12th)

Today, we visited "La Musée de Bretagne", or as it is in English, The Museun of Brittany. First, we took the public bus from Liffré to Rennes. When we arrived, we went to the train station where we bought french pasteries. From there we went to the museum, starting with old art from Brittany. Then for the rest of our visit we had a tour guide. He told us the chronological history of Brittany, starting with the begining of human existence. We learned about how a regular farmer found an ancient doll that turned out to be a historical treasure. We also learned woman in Brittany used to be forced to wear "coiffes"on their heads at all the time. Because of this, a woman with a two foot "coiffe" has become symbolic to Brittany.

Written by Matthew Hoffman (Mont Saint-Michel)

Today we visited Mont Saint-Michel which was about an hour away from Liffré.  After a trip to Alligator Bay to see different reptiles and amphibians, we made our way to the abbey.  Some people chose to ride the shuttle bus while some people walked.  Once we got there, we met up with everyone else to eat lunch.  After lunch we went to get our tour guide that would take us through the muddy land, telling us different facts and stories as we walked.  We took off our shoes and stepped into the squishy mud.  Every couple minutes there would be certain points in the where there was quick sand.  At first only some people went in, but eventually everyone did.  After walking half the distance of the castle, we went back to dry land to end the day.  It was cold and messy, but still a really amazing experience. 

 

WWII Museum (Caen) / Normandy American Cemetery (April 15th)

Written by Chloe Shores (Le Musée de la Paix)

Our first stop today was the WWII museum – Le Musée de la Paix. Our visit began with a brief explanation of how the museum is laid out. It is divided into two sections.  One section included life before 1945, the events leading up to the war and information about WWII. The other section was covered after the war ended, yet it was mainly about the Cold War. We only visited the side that educated us on before 1945. We did this because we only had an hour and a half. Also, currently in school, we are learning about the events leading up to and the events in WWII, and also, the rest of our day was based on what happened during the war.

            

This museum was very interesting to me because in school we mainly learn about America’s involvement in the war and how the war affected the United States. However, the museum taught us about how the war affected many other countries and how they were involved in the war. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, America had a neutral status in the war (even though America did not agree with the Nazi regime). The attack on Pearl Harbor forced the Americans to enter the war and join the Allied forces. Even though America joined at a later stage of the war, the American forces were vital to the success and conclusion of the Second World War. The museum not only showed the American story, but the war from French, English and German perspectives. Most countries entered the war at the beginning stages, and the museum educated us on the many battles that were fought previous to America’s involvement, the lives sacrificed for this cause, and the devastation that other countries faced. The museum also really put WWII into perspective for me. The pictures, numbers and exhibits were very moving and I learned quite a lot. Although it was hard to learn about the great sacrifices and devastation that the world faced, I appreciated the experience and my eyes have been opened to see how lucky I am to live in a free country.

Written by Omar Pasha (The Memorial)

As we entered the memorial of the fallen Americans who fought on D-Day, we were greeted by this message: “To these we owe the high resolve that the cause for which they died shall live.” After seeing this touching phrase we entered the memorial grounds to witness rows and rows of headstones covering fields of grass. On each headstone there was the name, place of birth, date of birth and their rank in the military. The group of both French and American students parted to see different headstones around the memorial. In some cases instead of a cross as a headstone, there was the Star of David if the fallen was Jewish. Throughout the memorial there were many elderly men who looked to be veterans. It was incredibly moving to see veterans and loved ones, cry in front of a deceased comrades or family members' headstones.

Encrypted on one of the first headstones was: “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to god.” This saying was inscribed for the people who could not be identified. Surprisingly, these headstones had the most flowers on them. It was emotional to see how much people cared about someone who risked their life for a just cause but didn’t even have any sort of relation with them. This was truly an unforgettable day and it is comforting to know that these brave men didn’t die in vain.

Written by David Oluyadi (Landing Beaches)

Today, as a group with our exchange students, we visited a museum in Caen. We took a tour and saw different important pieces that gave us an idea of what was happening during the war. In the museum I observed the main part of the landing beaches. The landing beaches were code named Juno, Sword, Gold, Utah, and Omaha. Omaha is the most deadliest, trickiest, and most infamous beach because everything for the Americans went wrong. Three phases were planned to take over the beaches of Normandy. First was the dropping of the paratroopers behind enemy lines. Second was the dropping of the bombs to destroy enemy forces, and create craters that the soldiers could use as shelter. Last was the actual invasion of the troops.  Many Americans died before even getting on the beach, and many soldiers died, drowning in water. 

           

After leaving the museum, we drove past spots where paratroopers could have landed. We also saw the cemetery. When we stopped for a while to see the beach named Gold, I tried to imagine myself as a soldier fighting for freedom, but I knew that I could never feel the same way they felt in that situation. This day gave me one more reason why I am happy to be an American.