Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sous le soleil, la mer
Un grand bonjour à toutes et à tous,
Greetings from Monaco! Following a late arrival last night, we woke up refreshed after a well earned sleep to a clear blue sky, beautiful gardens and the Mediterranean sea in the background.
A tasty breakfast, a short stroll to Cap d'Ail where the sentence 'The best, I have ever had' was used to qualify food purchased from a modest bakery and it was already time to enjoy lunch.
Food obsessed? Why shouldn't we be? It is always so fresh, new and affordable here.
This afternoon, the students were introduced to their very exiting programme combining classes and excursions by Gilles, the centre's manager. It was time then to broaden our French skills during classes. Reports from the first few hours were positive and promising. This exercise will undeniably give their French skills a boost.
Time flies under the sun and we are already looking forward our excursions to Monaco and Nice tomorrow.
Au revoir,
Seb, Shawn et Melissa
Greetings from Monaco! Following a late arrival last night, we woke up refreshed after a well earned sleep to a clear blue sky, beautiful gardens and the Mediterranean sea in the background.
A tasty breakfast, a short stroll to Cap d'Ail where the sentence 'The best, I have ever had' was used to qualify food purchased from a modest bakery and it was already time to enjoy lunch.
Food obsessed? Why shouldn't we be? It is always so fresh, new and affordable here.
This afternoon, the students were introduced to their very exiting programme combining classes and excursions by Gilles, the centre's manager. It was time then to broaden our French skills during classes. Reports from the first few hours were positive and promising. This exercise will undeniably give their French skills a boost.
Time flies under the sun and we are already looking forward our excursions to Monaco and Nice tomorrow.
Au revoir,
Seb, Shawn et Melissa
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Les Grèves en France!!
As if we were destined to have every typical French experience possible - we've been hit by a train strike!! Normally, we'd be on the way to Monaco at the moment but the SNCF says no!!
If I could get onto the media - maybe Mr Sarkozy could use it as a popularity booster and take us there in a private jet - so if you're reading and have contacts... go for it!! Maybe the opposition leader... In any case - we're on a train at 17h00 instead of 11h00 so we'll arrive at 1h00 in the morning to our accommodation! We're also trying to get there earlier and have several possibilities - all seem to end in Marseille for the moment.
Rest assured - we are all safe and happy! Just a little French bureaucratic bump in the road.
If I could get onto the media - maybe Mr Sarkozy could use it as a popularity booster and take us there in a private jet - so if you're reading and have contacts... go for it!! Maybe the opposition leader... In any case - we're on a train at 17h00 instead of 11h00 so we'll arrive at 1h00 in the morning to our accommodation! We're also trying to get there earlier and have several possibilities - all seem to end in Marseille for the moment.
Rest assured - we are all safe and happy! Just a little French bureaucratic bump in the road.
When we do get to Monaco - we'll have more access to the internet and a little more free time. Expect photos and updates from the students.
Chat soon!
Shawn
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
La vie parisienne
Bonjour a tous et a toutes!
Great to see so many following us - keep the comments coming!
We've had another beautiful day in the city of lights - superb weather, april in Paris has treated us so well. For the anniversaire of Sam, we went to the musee d'norsay and saw beautiful works from Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Rodin and many more. Le dejeuner sur l'herbe was a highlight as well as Monet's Water Lillies.
We moved on for a spot of shopping at Galleries Lafayette and we considered items from mini eiffel towers to 1000 euro suits! All questions to Liam regarding the suits! Undoubtedly, our shopping fix was somewhat appeased, though I think there still room for more!
We then went to the Trocadero to see the Eiffel tower - which looked amazing with the weather we're having. We went up and loved the view - most can now trace where we've been in Paris.
It's been magnificent to see all the buskers and dancers in the street, from a trumpet player, to bands, breakdancing to a man balancing goldfish on his head - we've seen it all!
Finally we had a Pizza diner and then a gateau d'anniversaire for Sam in front of Notre Dame - of course we serenaded him with Happy Birthday in French. We finished our second day with Berthillon ice cream over looking the seine.
All are well and absolutely loving the city of Paris - some are already talking about moving here!
Au revoir et a bientot - Shawn, Seb and Melissa!
Great to see so many following us - keep the comments coming!
We've had another beautiful day in the city of lights - superb weather, april in Paris has treated us so well. For the anniversaire of Sam, we went to the musee d'norsay and saw beautiful works from Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Rodin and many more. Le dejeuner sur l'herbe was a highlight as well as Monet's Water Lillies.
We moved on for a spot of shopping at Galleries Lafayette and we considered items from mini eiffel towers to 1000 euro suits! All questions to Liam regarding the suits! Undoubtedly, our shopping fix was somewhat appeased, though I think there still room for more!
We then went to the Trocadero to see the Eiffel tower - which looked amazing with the weather we're having. We went up and loved the view - most can now trace where we've been in Paris.
It's been magnificent to see all the buskers and dancers in the street, from a trumpet player, to bands, breakdancing to a man balancing goldfish on his head - we've seen it all!
Finally we had a Pizza diner and then a gateau d'anniversaire for Sam in front of Notre Dame - of course we serenaded him with Happy Birthday in French. We finished our second day with Berthillon ice cream over looking the seine.
All are well and absolutely loving the city of Paris - some are already talking about moving here!
Au revoir et a bientot - Shawn, Seb and Melissa!
Nous sommes arrives!!
Bonjour! We've made it and had a magnificent first day! Once in Paris,we found a few quintissential boulangeries and then headed up to Sacre Coeur. It was Easter Monday and people were everywhere busking, walking dogs and just enjoying the beautiful weather - 14 degrees but delightfully sunny!
We then had a Moroccan feast for lunch before seeing a lot of amazing parisian sights on the bike tour, including La tour Eiffel, Napoleon's Tomb, Le Lovre and others. Photos to come in a few days, when we get to Monaco.
It;s now Tuesday morning, all are well and pass on a bonjour to family and friends. There is a great positive spirit amongst the group and we're all excited about the activities to come. We will be suitably celebrating Sam Cave's birthday today with a trip up he Eiffel Tower.
Will be getting the students to update soon - especially now that we've had some sleep!
A plus - France Tour 2010
We then had a Moroccan feast for lunch before seeing a lot of amazing parisian sights on the bike tour, including La tour Eiffel, Napoleon's Tomb, Le Lovre and others. Photos to come in a few days, when we get to Monaco.
It;s now Tuesday morning, all are well and pass on a bonjour to family and friends. There is a great positive spirit amongst the group and we're all excited about the activities to come. We will be suitably celebrating Sam Cave's birthday today with a trip up he Eiffel Tower.
Will be getting the students to update soon - especially now that we've had some sleep!
A plus - France Tour 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
1/3 of the way - All happy in KL airport!
We're on our way! We'll have a quick 2 hour stopover here in Kuala Lumpur before the overnight trip to France.
Spirits are high - next stop Paris!
À plus!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Last minute details...
30 hours to go! Remember when it was 56 days? The time has flown.
We should all be either packed, packing or have a few last minute things to get before we go. A reminder that 20kg is the limit and 5kg for the carry on. Put all liquids and deodorants under 100ml into a sandwich bag for the carry on - anything over 100ml will have to be in the checked in luggage or you'll lose it through security. All scissors, cutlery or other sharp objects must also be in the checked in luggage.
A final reminder that we are meeting at 12:00 at the departures terminal.
Any doubts or concerns - don't hesitate to email or call one of the emergency contacts.
À demain! Paris nous attend...
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