Hi...it HAS been a while...so much for hurrying to get past post #13! I'm really not sure how I'm so busy with all the extra time I'm supposed to have; guess I haven't found it yet. I'm still talking with both kids fairly regularly...seems as if it's more daily with Britt, at least lately, since she's on a "grand adventure" inside of her basic "grand adventure"! She has ten days off school for La Toussaint (All Saints') observance; all French schools are closed, and most people travel. I'll have to put updates from this trip in a future post, since I have a bit of catching up to do. Just so you all know, she left on this extra "grand adventure" last Saturday, and is being good enough to let us know when a new destination is reached, and I have been checking earlier in the day, before I leave school, and she's sometimes been on SKYPE, so we've done some instant messaging, since the internet connections aren't always reliable, and video chatting seems to make the connection freeze at times. More on all of those details next time, I promise.

So, the last time I posted was sharing photos from the visit to Paris, the first time. Britt's assignment, so we all thought, was going to be teaching Social Studies in English; turns out she's teaching English (in English, of course!) in both a high school and teacher prep college in the city of Brest. She is limited, by her visa, to twelve hours a week, and it's seeming to be four days of three hours each. Not too bad, considering she's receiving such valuable experience as well. So here are a couple of photos from her second visit to Paris, for the reception at the French Senate. It was through the Fulbright Commission, and they met students who had participated in a shorter sort of the same exchange and had spent five weeks (as opposed to 3.5 months!) learning about the US education system.

She called that photo "Gargoyle" which is in the background...but I chose that one of the three she sent because it also has her in it. She, of course, is NOT the gargoyle :>). The group photo is of the students at the French Senate reception -- the girls are the Americans visiting France, and the guys are the French students who visited the US. The top photos are the St. Mathieu's and Britt at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris...she looked but didn't find Quasimodo, but DID see the bells. Evidently, the bells were consecrated and named when they were installed, and the largest bell is named "Emmanuel", after the grandson of Louis IV, who was in power when it was installed. Living history lesson--with the Eiffel Tower w-a-a-y in the background! (I hope I got the details right...it's been a while since she explained them to me.)

There are other photos, many other photos which we have received, and many, many more that we haven't seen...she will have a true documentation of her visit. I'll be back in a week or two...with photos, hopefully, from Belgium, Amsterdam, Germany and Hungary...the countries of the "grand adventure"!

Old Paris photos + a bit of new Paris info...

Well, Britt finally had a great wifi connection, in the hotel she stayed in on Wed. night...she traveled by train from Brest back to Paris for a reception for Fulbright Scholars (her program is somehow affiliated with theirs)...it was a meeting of Parisian dignitaries, as I understand it (although I may be incorrect -- if so, I'll clear that one up in a follow up -- which will be soon, because I don't like the idea of leaving a #13 blog posting too long without rolling into a #14!).

Don't have details except that the hotel was beautiful; French chocolate on the pillow, complimentary wifi and mineral water, and a balcony view of the French Senate building. She had a bit of time to visit the archives of Notre Dame before the reception, and had planned to see other sights today...all I know is that she's safely back in Brest, which is what matters most to me, right now.

So, here are some "old" Paris photos...the building in the background that looks very official (NOT the Eiffel Tower, although that IS the official building when one thinks of Paris!) is called l'Hotel de Ville -- meaning City Hall. She told me it was "some important building but I don't remember the name", so it made me curious enough to research it out. The cathedral in the background is THE Notre Dame (the original, although Quasimodo wasn't around, I guess!) The river is the Seine, the one that flows through the middle of Paris...hope you enjoy the photos; I know we did!

First things first, of course! This is Britt's address, at least until we hear otherwise, or Dec. 15, whichever comes first.
(Being that her birthday is Nov. 17, I thought that by putting it out there, she might get a few cards...or a flooded mailbox, maybe?) There must be some reason she capitalized where she did; we've got a SKYPE planned a bit later today, and I'll ask her.

Brittany PUMPHREY

College de Keranroux

2, Rue Fountaine Margot

B.P. 93106-29231 BREST Cedex 3

FRANCE




Anyhow...I overlooked these two photos that she'd sent from her last day in Besancon, with her host family; one is their home, the other is all of them out to dinner on Britt's last night there. The dark haired lady is Catie, the mom, the father is Dominique, the sister's name I don't know, but she's 20 and in school in Strasbourg (on the German border) and the brother is Aurelian (translation: golden child...how's that for typecasting as an infant??) Anyhow, she really enjoyed them as a family, and I've started occasional correspondance with them (in French...an exercise to improve MY French, and it's fun, when I find some extra time...)

She is now in an apartment with three roomates -- one from Mexico, one from Uruguay, and one from USA. She has her own bedroom, but all four share the bathroom, so THAT's got to be a bit of an ordeal! They're still working on getting internet for the apartment, so communication via internet has been somewhat limited, although Britt DID find a McDonald's with wifi, about a 20 minute walk from the apartment.

She has big plans for next week...all the students were invited to a reception at the French Senate...lots of dignitaries, I think, and decided (with some encouragement, but mostly on her own) that it would be worth the time and money to attend. She's booked a room in a hotel (a NICE hotel!) right next door to the Senate, which is in the area with all the sights you think of when you think "Paris". I hope she has a great time...sounds like it will be a mini-vacation before she actually starts teaching. Next week is observation week, with a meeting at the end of the week where she believes they'll iron out her teaching assignment. Looks like she'll be teaching English instead of History...but, at least that HAS to be in English :>) Seriously, she's fine with that option...sounds good...and we're looking forward to our chat a bit later today.

Haven't received any photos from Paris yet; I'll remind her of that. I know she didn't have much time to see much, but said she did get a few photos...doesn't matter anyhow...I'm behind, having just found these photos from Sept. 20. More to come, stay tuned! Thanks!