Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Home Stays, Versailles, Market, l'Anni d'Annie, and Rodin

Wednesday, September 3, was a very big day, as the F&M students left their familiar surroundings at the Adriatic Hotel for their home stays!


On Thursday, September 4, we met at the famous Fontaine de St-Michel before making our way to Versailles.  We reviewed the history of the fountain, including its significance to the liberation of Paris in 1944.


At Versailles, we toured the gardens before being led through the château by Mirek Siedliski of ACCENT.  Among other things, we saw the secret door in Marie-Antoinette's bedroom through which she attempted to escape the revolutionaries in 1789.


On Friday, we had a great tour of the Marché d'Aligre with Hélène Santos, one of the French professors.  We saw and tasted all kinds of French delicacies, from foie gras to French nuts to plums.


On Friday afternoon, we took a tour of the Alésia area of the 14th arrondissement, where Maria Mitchell lives, with a stop at the world's best patisserie, Lenôtre, for special treats in celebration of Annie's birthday (l'anni d'Annie)!


Sunday, September 7, found us at the Musée Rodin, thinking pensively and enjoying a lovely lunch in the Café there.  Some of us took in the Franco-American connections manifest in the exhibit on the interplay between the works of Rodin and Robert Mapplethorpe.  Others of us resolved to visit the world's second largest Rodin collection after that in Paris … in Philadelphia!







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