St. Anne's Episcopal France 2025
June 6, 2025
We had a lunch of our choosing, mine was Subway in the Canadian airport. We had had snacks before. Later we had a choice of either pasta or chicken on the flight. We all got to the rendez-vous spot and got checked in. After we went through the gate, Mme Menard let us have free time and we roamed the terminal until 11:25 when we all had to return. Once we got to Calgary, we had a three hour layover and again wandered around the terminal until it was time for our ongoing flight. I hoped everyone got to sleep on the flight because everyone needed it!
By Eddie and Josh
June 7, 2025
We went to Petite Versailles for baguette sandwiches and then we went to Boulangerie de Marais where we got French desserts. I got a chocolate eclair. For dinner we went to La Maison Breton where we had savory gelmzttes and sweet crepes. My savory one was egg and cheeks with a third ingredient of choice, different kinds of meet and onions were mentioned. For sweet, Nutella was quite popular.
Musée D’Orsay, we saw a lot of cool art. On the very top floor there was a clock that we could see through and there was a lot of Van Gogh art. In the main office area there were a lot of sculptures. There was also a mini movie about how a train station turned into a museum. In conclusion, the Musée D’Orsay was really cool and had great art!
By Eddie and Josh
June 8, 2025
Today was another exciting day in Paris! We started off strong with an incredible French breakfast complete with baguette, croissants, pain au chocolats, jus d’oranges, thé, café, fromage and more. We then headed to Metro M1 for our first ever ride of the trip starting at La Bastille. We were amazed by intricate designs and details, names and dates inscribed into the Arc de Triomphe. We enjoyed another meal at the Galeries Lafayette Food Court on the Champs Elysées including pastas, pizzas, gourmet sandwiches, juices, acai bowls and matches (for Lila & Pip from Joe and the Juice). Later at the Eiffel Tower, we climbed hundreds of stairs all the way to the incredible top (with a little elevator assistance). After beautiful views from above, we walked down and over to Bir Hakeem, across many market vendors selling little Eiffel Tower statues. We took the M6 and M1 metros back to Hotel de Ville via Charles de Gaulle Étoile and made our way onto île Saint Louis to La Chaumière for some great meals. To cap off the day we took a lovely boat ride down La Seine River. We are excited for tomorrow.
Additional favorite parts of the day were shopping after the delicious food court at Galleries Lafayette, a couple of us picked up some nice hats. The boat ride was both pretty and calming and our guide provided a ton of explanations.
At dinner, we had bacon burgers, we each got 30 euros to put together our own dinners, so for dessert, we shared two crème brûlées & 2 crèpes with Harper & Ainsley. On the Eiffel Tower’s mid level, Chris, our group leader, with Ms. Jordan and Mme Menard, got us ice cream. Lila got mango and Pip got vanilla. Today was amazing, we loved it so much!
By Holly, Alana, Lila & Pip
June 9, 2025
Today was very long and adventurous. We did many activities and saw many things! First we hopped on Metro M1 to Chaussée D’Antin to go to Jelly Cat @ FAO Schwartz, which was the best part because there were so many cute Jellycats. Some of us visited a Cafe in Galleries Lafayettes as well and the boys went shopping in H&M before the store opened. After that we made our way to Les Jardins Tuileries and an outdoor Cafe there surrounded by statues and fountains. We had sandwiches and talked with our new friends. Then, Ms. Jordan invited us on a carousel ride and we got giant pink cotton candy known as beard a papa, Papa’s beard.
We then strolled to the Louvre and took amazing pictures at the pyramid and continued onto Palais Royal where we climbed on white and black columns of Buren (see pictures). We jumped back on the metro to Hotêl de Ville and waited a while to go inside Notre Dame, which was so pretty. Then it was time for a little Cafe stop with nice drinks and cookies. Our final stop for the evening was Montmartre, where we shopped with our friends for souvenirs for our families. Then we went to dinner at Le Relais Gascon which had giant salads.
By Coco, Eloise & Sophie
June 10, 2025
At the start of the day, we had breakfast at our People Paris Marais hotel buffet. We took two trains from Sully-Moreland to Jussieu and then the M10 to Javel Andre Citroen to RER C to Bersailles River Gauche. Today with Sylvanie our guide, we walked all over Versailles in both boiling sun and overcast skies. Inside the castle, it was beautiful looking into old rooms even the Royal’s bedrooms! We learned so much like when there was still a King Louis and Queen Marie there and everyday was an open house from dawn to dusk for the public. We went from the castle to the small courtyard/garden of the Queen to the large courtyard of the King which was perfectly manicured with both trees, shrubberies (topiaries) and flowers. We had a picnic with baguette sandwiches and giant raspberry and pistachio macaroons in the shade on the edge of the rowboat lake. The ducks called the lake home and swam happily about in the water with swans and huge fish nearby. Some of us napped, others hung out or wrote musicals with ducks who stopped by to visit. Then onto Maria Antoinette’s House where she sought privacy and Hamlet and farm nearby with animals all over the place. Adorable goats, pigs, sheep, ponies, and bunnies. Then we took a cute little shuttle train back to the chateau entrance, then RER to Austerlitz Station and Jardin des Plantes where we ran Homestay roleplays in preparation for our trip to Carcassonne tomorrow. Dinner was at a Mosque nearby in their restaurant which served delicious Algerian cuisine, yum! At dinner we celebrated with pastries and mint tea because it was Sophie’s Birthday 🎂
By Nicky, Charlie & Addie
June 11, 2025
Travel Day from Paris Montparnasse Gare to Toulouse to Carcassonne
We had an early start yesterday with an 8am breakfast and some chaotic packing. We then headed out to our first train of the day that lasted 6 hours due to a delay. After that one we had a little chaotic change of trains which lasted one hour. After that, a quick change of and 30min bus ride at Carcassonne which took us to the lake there. We arrived in Carcassonne at Lac de la Cavayère where we began to meet and greet with our host family parents, brothers and sisters. After we met our host families we had a delicious Potluck full of socializing. After that we headed to our host families’ houses for a fun night.
By Holly & Alana
June 12, 2025
Students submitted photos of their days with their host families instead of written updates today!
June 13, 2025
This morning we arrived at the school where our host mom Marie works and we went to our first class, which was English. All the kids asked us lots of questions including” do you guys eat cats and dogs?”. Then we headed to math class and I was surprised to know that the stuff they were learning we learned last year. The partner I was assigned with for the next three classes was Alana. The kids were very nice and when me and Alana were in Math, all the kids crowded around us and asked us questions. The girls were so nice showering us with compliments. During the day, we did not speak much French because the children would use their best English to talk to us. Then me and Alana headed over to another English class where we did some interview worksheets. After that we went to lunch at the school, and there was ice cream for dessert! After the good lunch, we went to a social studies class and then met up with the rest of the group to help set up bird and bat houses. Our host mom drove us home from school. We were very tired so we relaxed before a delicious dinner which I am currently at right now.. Chris, our Global Works Leader joined us.
Tess’s update: Today we woke up bright and early to visit the French school Simon Veil which celebrates an incredible heroine Holocaust survivor turned politician who assured Women’s Rights in France.
By Eloise
Pip & Lila’s Homestay Experience Carcassonne
My homestay experience was fun. At first, it was hard to communicate, but then it got easier. Our dinners were very good, and we all ate together. I thought it was good to get to know the families, and it gave us a different perspective on the town, because we were with people living there. We went on a bike ride on our last night, and we went all over the city along a river. We both thought it was very fun, and I thought Carcassonne was very pretty.
Maz Homestay experience Carcassonne:
In my homestay the experience was really fun and I enjoyed every second of it. On the first day just hung out with our family and had a little small talk at dinner. On the second day after we came back from La cité we went to the park with some of our classmates since our host families were friends and we had a picnic and played a game called monkey. On the third day we went to the cité again with other classmates and we saw the church and saw all of the best views of Carcassonne. My host family was very loving and kind and I could tell that they really cared about me and the rest of my friends in my host family.
