Hello, again! The second full week of the program has come
to a close. Many important visits and meetings took place this week and there
are many more to come. The weather has remained beautiful this week. We had a
bit of rain yesterday and while we were at Mont Saint Michel, but if everything
goes as predicted, we will continue to have lovely weather for our stay in
Brittany.
Friday, June 20th was Maggie Stinnett’s birthday.
We celebrated with a cake in her honor during lunchtime on Monday, June 23rd.
On Monday, the students and their families visited the Mayor’s
office in Brest. A welcome reception was held by the vice-Mayor. Students were
able to see the Salle des mariages (the room where weddings are held) and speak
with the vice-Mayor. Loïc Lerme, the student coordinator, spoke on behalf of
the instructor team. Sarah Klotz and Bailey Roberts were selected to give
speeches at the reception as well.
On Thursday, the group embarked on our big, overnight
excursion to Normandy. The first day of the excursion, we visited Saint Malo.
This is a medieval, walled city (much like Concarneau) located on the beach of
the English Channel.
After a visit to Saint Malo, we continued on to the abbey of
Mont Saint Michel. Despite some construction around the island, and despite
some rain, students were able to see the abbey and the chapel, as well as take
pictures of the surrounding quick sand. In recent years, they have been making
improvements around the island to make it safer to visit the island and make
room for more groups to visit the island.
The group spent the night in the small village of Lion sur
mer. We stayed in a château, where we enjoyed a nice dinner and a trip to the
beach.
The next morning, we made a quick stop at Arromanches to see
the remains of the naval base there. This was a quick, morning stop on the way
to the American Cemetery.
American Cemetery was very beautiful and we succeeded in
avoiding the rain. Since we were there in the morning, there was hardly anyone
else around. We were able to meet briefly with the group from the Saint Brieuc
program, as (unbeknownst to the instructor teams) we were on excursion to
Normandy at the same time. Some stagiaires were able to speak with classmates
who are participated in the Saint Brieuc program as the instructors got to
speak with their Saint Brieuc colleagues as well.
Omaha Beach was a moving experience for the stagiaires. The
tide was high and there was no one else on the beach at the time we were there,
so it was possible to really take in the importance of this historic place.
Our last stop on the Normandy excursion was a visit to Mémorial
de Caen museum. Students were free to explore the museum and see the many
imagine of World War II. There are many film exhibits at the museum as well. To
end our visit, we watched a film chronicling the time-frame of the Normandy
invasion and footage from the invasion itself.
After a restful evening, student were invited on an optional
excursion to Océanopolis, which is the aquarium here in Brest. About half of
the stagiaires attended this excursion. We saw seals, otters, starfish, penguins
and other sea life. A good time was had by all.
Until next week! Team Brest
