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Bonjour: ESHS Goes to France
By Emma Smith, Staff Writer
On Friday, April 6, several Art and French students from El
Segundo High School began a once-in-a-lifetime journey to France.
The small group of individuals, armed with their luggage, showed up
in the Los Angeles Airport. After some controversy on whether or not
they were supposed to go to the Bradley Terminal, the posse headed
off to experience the land of art, beautiful language, and cooked
snails. They left from Terminal Two a little after six in the
evening. The flight lasted between eight and nine hours; throughout
the whole flight, anticipation was building.
Due to the Paris rush near the beginning of spring
vacation, the organizers of the trip had decided to begin the trip
in a city called Nice. This city certainly lived up to the spelling
of its name. However, the wonders of Nice had to wait while the
group unpacked and met students from other schools who would be
accompanying them. There were two other groups, comprised mostly of
French students from North Carolina and New Jersey. Junior Ryan
Rojas mentioned that “seeing different cultures from other
countries and states” was actually a very interesting part of his
trip experience. The next morning, Nice was open for sightseeing.
The students scrambled over to Saint Paul de Vence, where they were
greeted with the beautiful scene of a fortress on top of a hill.
Stone buildings were everywhere and each contained a different shop
filled to bursting with food, antiques, and art. The students spent
the day emptying their pockets by buying endless amounts of
souvenirs. On their last day in Nice, they went to an area called
Eze, which had a lush garden with a view over the entire city of
Nice. Monaco also opened its doors to their curious eyes, as did a
specific store called Jardins Exotiques or Exotic Gardens. A bit of
Italy was visible from Monaco, making a picture-perfect spot. The
last stop in Nice was a perfume factory called Fragonard. Everything
there was handmade, which included all the candles, soap and
perfume. All had exotic or unusual scents such as marshmallow which
actually contained the fumes from real marshmallows. The lucky
individuals got to try out all the perfumes and were even offered
samples of many different types.
The next day of the journey was a road trip to a city
called Province. Once there, the group explored the ramparts. These
ramparts consisted of stone buildings with a castle-like border wall
around them. It was essentially a walled town. The most enjoyable
part of this experience seemed to be walking on the actual wall that
encircled the town. The students also found that Province had three
mascots: a black buffalo, a white stallion, and a pink flamingo. No
one seemed to be able to explain how the pink flamingo relates to
the city. Such memorable moments seemed to be found everywhere.
Junior Breanna Rees says that her favorite moment was when
“Ryan sang karaoke to Beat It by Michael Jackson. He also did
a pretty sweet dance.”
Several sightseeing venues passed by with the blink of
an eye. These included Nimes, Pont du Gard, and Avingnon. However,
the most unforgettable experience was taking the TGV, which is one
of the fastest trains in the world. It took the groups to Paris,
where they stayed at a lovely hotel called the Mercure Raspail
Montparnasse. After their first dinner in Paris, the students took a
boat ride along the Seine River. Although the sites were lovely in
the glowing lights of night, there was a less than elegant moment.
Several college boys decided to get drunk and parade around, while
slapping each other and ranting in French. It was a hysterical
beginning to their stay in the capital city. Sightseeing in Paris
took up much of the travelers’ time. Numerous landmarks failed to
escape their curious gazes. Such landmarks included a giant
aqueduct, a decorative arch dedicated to dead soldiers, a golden
dome where Napoleon was buried, and an old military training school
located near the Eiffel Tower. However, the most prominent landmark
was Versailles. It is a castle where King Louis and Mary Antoinette
stayed for a time. The listening guides that were offered gave
interesting examples of the lack of privacy royalty experienced
during those times.
On the last
full day in France, the troop of students set out for the Louvre
Museum in Paris. The outing was extremely enjoyable for all the art
students, who laid eyes on great masterpieces like the Mona Lisa.
The experience was also memorable to senior Rebecca Rickard
who says, “I really like the Louvre, especially getting lost in it.
I originally got lost, but then Christina and I ran into each other.
We wandered around, trying to find the Egyptian place. But we ended
up back where we started.” She recalls this while laughing
hysterically. Since bus transportation was currently unavailable,
the group was left to find their own way around Paris. The solution
was a ride on the metro. As the students quickly discovered,
pickpockets had chosen the station as their prime target. When
unwary passengers were looking elsewhere, a sneaky thief would pop
up behind them and relieve them of their valuable possessions.
Fending off the thieves was an exciting part of the trip. As a
nighttime activity, the group played a fun game called spoons. On
one such night, junior Laura Gardner says that “someone
knocked on the door and everyone scattered. Breeze was trying to
jump over the bed and her pants fell down. She tried to pull them
up, but they just ripped.” After that interesting session, they
traversed out of the hotel and went to a restaurant. Once there, the
brave comrades tried their first plate of escargot. Apparently, it
tastes like pesto and basil sauce, although the texture is awful.
Unfortunately, the day to board the plane arrived. The flight lasted
eleven hours instead of the nine it took to arrive. The long plane
ride left plenty of time to reflect on the experiences of the past
week. Life in France had certainly not been monotonous. The
experience was one of fun and camaraderie and will certainly be
entertaining to all those that travel next year. As Rebecca Rickard
said, “My favorite part was getting to know everybody better. We had
too much fun, like a fun overload. I didn’t know where to put the
extra fun.”
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