Allons en France!
Twenty-seven Cape Henlopen High School students flew to France in April as part of an annual exchange between two schools.
"The families go to great lengths to welcome us and show us what life is like in this part of France," said Cape French teacher Holly Criswell.
Cape students and those from Lycée Jeanne d’Arc have exchanged visits since 2005, when the program began.
During the latest trip, Cape students spent five nights with host families in the area surrounding the city of Vitré in the Brittany (Bretagne) region of northwest France. Students spent time in classes at their sister school to experience school “the French way,” Criswell said.
As a group, Cape students visited Mont Saint-Michel, a medieval abbey located off the Breton coast; Saint Malo, a walled seaside city; and the beaches of the World War II D-Day landing and the nearby American cemetery.
Students finished their trip with a three-day stay in Paris. There they visited the palace at Versailles, l'Arc de Triomphe, les Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, the cathedral of Notre Dame and the Louvre – France's national museum and the world’s largest single-site museum.
Their stay in Paris ended with a cruise on the Seine River to see the city illuminated at night, Criswell said.
"Many of the students will declare that their favorite part of the trip was the time that they spent with their host families, because it was the start of a special friendship," she said.
Cape students will get the chance to reciprocate the hospitality they received from their French counterparts when the French students who hosted them travel to the Cape region in October.
"We look forward to seeing our French friends then and to continuing the educational and cultural exchange," Criswell said.
