PA & Stowe French Trip '08

Last night

2008-03-10T18:26:00.001-04:00

Hopefully everyone is snug in bed by now so they'll be bright eyed when we meet at the airport at 6:30 tomorrow morning. See you in the evening!

Photos?

2008-03-09T06:19:00.005-04:00

For some reason I have been unable to upload photos to the blog. There is a link on the right side of this page called "PHOTOS." It will take you to some of our pictures. Enjoy. Jen

Better late than never!

2008-03-06T15:07:00.001-05:00

March 5

Hello everyone in Vermont! Geneva has been grand! We have been attending school with the French student. Their school is the size of an international airport, but the classrooms are bare, which gives us nothing to look at during times of great boredom. Last night the group met at a bowling alley. Most ate Swiss pizza (umm, it was quite amazing, says Sam. Lindsey says, yeah, I ate 1 1/5 pizzas!). Megan and Kristen experienced cheese fondue. The bowling was very fun. There were many gutter balls along with a handful of strikes. At the end of the bowling alley in the last lane a team of PA and Stowe girls had a dance party.

Today we experienced the frigid weather of the Alps while visiting Gruyere. We went to a fromagerie and learned the sacred ancient process of cheese making. We smelled the essences of violet, clover, cumin, orge, and something that smelled like popcorn on the tour. The main room of cheese production had glass walls so we could see the pools of aging milk. We saw the cheese get pressed and then set in a basement for various amounts of months.

After the house of Gruyere we visited a castle that was built in the 11th century.
It was interesting and SO cold… we found haven in the rooms with heaters. It has had many changes and hands since then and now. Some rooms were decorated in the style of early centuries and other rooms depicted the past. The castle was full of random eclectic furnishings. As we were leaving the castle, the snowball fight which was started earlier resumed. Kristen and Sam

March 6

What’s up guys? We’re at the youth hostel in Nice, France right now. We had to get up at 4 in the morning to be at the airport at 5:45 this morning to catch our flight at 7. Even though we are staying only two nights the girls brought HUGE bags and walking to the museum was a little difficult. We had a tea ceremony at the Museum of Asian Art. Brooke Thomas and Sam Brody were the demonstrators of how it was supposed to be done. (It took us forever to finish the tea… it was…. different).We went in the wrong direction on a bus and ended up walking in a huge circle. Fun stuff. The shopping here is so much better here than in Geneva. It definitely is not as expensive. Most of us have pretty much blown all our money. Mom, or dad… expect us to be asking for a lot of money when we come home.

Bart and Beth Bradford: Just a warning--Heather walked backwards into a pole while she was walking 2 days ago. Her head will probably still hurt!

-Brooke Thomas, Lindsey Towns, Heidi Fisher

So today we arrived in Nice and it’s really cool here. The Euro is unfortunately 1.5 of the US dollar, though, but we found some shops that weren’t so expensive. I like it a lot better here because we are in the center of the city and can walk right into the shopping areas, and the restaurants are close by, too! Today, after the flight, we went to this really cute restaurant that had the best restaurant burgers I’ve ever tasted! I’m still thinking about them and I ate it about 5 hours ago! The trip was short this morning but was very early in the morning. We had to get up around 4:45 AM and didn’t leave until 7 AM at the airport. AND the people at the airport threw away my face wash because it was like 40 mL over the limit..it sucked. But today was really fun and we’re all having a blast being in Europe! Miss you guys a lot!

-Betsy

Hey, it’s Clint. I know all those out in web land have been craving a blog entry, but I still must keep this short. I have really enjoyed hanging out with the Swiss kids and going all over Geneva. Chris and I get along very well. I also bought a Swatch (Swiss watch) recently to Kelby’s (Kal-ee-boot-ay’s) dismay. Bye.

Geneva!

2008-03-01T19:44:00.002-05:00

I think everyone was ready to leave Chateau d’Oex today after the lack of snow and the dreary weather. One more day and they would have gone stir crazy. We took the train back to Geneva this afternoon and were met by the Swiss students and their families. Everyone was excited and ready for something new. We had a potluck dinner in the basement of a church this evening that was very enjoyable—everyone seemed to be fighting over the chocolate mousse for dessert! The kids all seemed very comfortable with each other. They will spend the weekend with their host families and go to school with their host student on Monday. They will also be taking a field trip to the Red Cross Museum on Monday. There may not be much news here in the next few days since the kids will be busy with their host families, so don’t be surprised if there’s nothing new posted here for a bit. I am happy to say that this is a great group of nice, helpful, and respectful kids :) Jen

(please excuse the choppiness of this post as I am excessively tired and on my way to bed!)

2008-03-01T05:10:00.003-05:00

We're all waiting for the train back to Geneva. It's been drizzly and overcast the whole time in the Alps. The kids are looking forward to seeing their hosts today. They have a potluck planned for us this evening. Everyone is in good spirits and enjoying themselves! Jen

************************************************************************************

Eight of us decided to hit the Alps on Friday after taking the train to Gstaad. But it was not the skiing we expected to see. It was raining in town and on the mountain, which after few runs made us saturated. The trails were wet, slushy and dirty in some parts. But that’s okay because we were skiing in the Alps. Here you can get one lift ticket and ski from town to town almost. At first we thought there were almost no trails then we saw a lift over a hill and another one on the next. We explored all over till we found a quad that had a trail that had no dirt or mud patch. It was like spring skiing except in the most amazing mountains. Rocky snow capped peaks surrounded us. We wanted to hike them. Unfortunately we found out that if we did we would turn into snowballs (because it would make an avalanche). If that did not tire us out enough we could go dancing at the discothèque called LaBamba. Dancing the night away with the locals was awesome. All the music was American techno so we could sing all the lyrics to every song. For hours we rocked the dance floor to the flashing lights. It was a busy day but nothing could match a day of skiing and dancing. I don’t know about anyone else but I slept well that night. Sam

First impressions

2008-02-29T03:54:00.001-05:00

Hello everybody, we made it! We’re here in the Swiss Alps after an extremely long day of traveling. Only a few had the energy to go up to the mountain for some skiing, others slept most, or at least some, of the afternoon. Today a group of us are going up to ski, others are renting sleds to shred the mountain. It’ll be awesome! –Connor

A combination of a full day of traveling, a six-hour time change, and the majestic beauty of the Alps left Stowe and PA students a little bit dazed yesterday morning – but this was not enough to stop a determined few from making it up to the mountain. Others explored the town, tried the local food, and caught up on sleep. Now we are enjoying breakfast at the hostel and looking forward to more skiing, snowboarding, and sledding. – Raffie

On the way up the tram in Chateau D’oex, which seemed like a training hill from Mansfield, I got stuck with one of the workers who spoke no English. Ou a tout le niege I asked him he replied with simply ….Je sais pa. He told me that this was one of the worst snow years they had had in a long time. It was quiet for a few moments then I pointed to a higher spot on the mountain which looked liked more fun. He looked at me and said non non non BIG snowball he said. He pointed at me and we both started to laugh. We are heading up on the train to a higher point of the mountain, hopefully it’s what we’re looking for - Zach

The stress and nervousness of leaving Vermont and the U.S. entirely is now over. While waiting for the late comers (I won’t mention any names) to come through those airport doors we could see the excitement within everyone’s eyes to get to Switzerland and ski the Alps, experience the lifestyle of Geneva, and whatever else we can take in on this journey. The trip to Chateau d’Oex is almost over but there is still a lot more fun to experience. A group of us are going a higher point in the Alps today to experience the change in altitude from Mansfield in Stowe, Vermont to The Alps, Switzerland. We can’t wait to go back to Geneva to discover how their school system and the lifestyles of the students differ from ours. We will keep in touch. - Kelby

We made it!

2008-02-28T09:26:00.002-05:00

We all made it to Switzerland, safe and sound! We are in the town of Chateau d'Oex in the Alps. A few of us have gone off to ski and snowboard, some are exploring the town, and others are napping. We don't have a wireless connection at the hostel this time, but we will try to get some posts up from the kids tomorrow. Until then!

Jen

Making Plans

2007-11-27T11:38:00.000-05:00

So far, the trip outline is as follows:

Wednesday, February 27 - depart from Burlington
Thursday, February 28 - arrive in Geneva, take the train to Chateaux D'oex
Friday, February 29 - return to Geneva, spend time with host family
Saturday, March 1 to Wednesday, March 5 - in Geneva with host family
Thursday March 6 and Friday, March 7 - trip to Nice
Saturday, March 8 to Monday, March 10 - in Geneva with host family
Tuesday, March 11 - Return to Burlington

Take a peek at the archives to view some of last year's adventures with Peoples Academy.

The Really Big Paris Post... at last!

2007-03-01T16:53:00.000-05:00

Helllloooo to all in the USA, time has literally flown past us, and it seems almost impossible to go back to reality so soon! We need more time and I’m freaking out because we only have one more day! I am at this very moment sitting in the TGV, a train that is going about 120mph with the paysage (countryside) rushing by us. Audrey, Alex, Jon, Steph, Jake B, and Jen are around me, it’s raining outside and we’re all on our way back to Geneva to spend one last night with our ABSOLUTELY AMAZING SWISS PENPALS!!!!! I am told that tonight we’ll go out to dinner at an authentic Swiss restaurant where we’ll all feast on the delicious fondue! I’m so excited to see everyone again in the land of the Swiss! Many things stick out in my mind about the entire Paris experience so I’ll try and list a few of them! The Bateau Mouche—Which did you know that mouche means fly? I relearned that on the boat and was quite entertained by it! With Leah (it was like we were flying across the water!!!), late nights playing Truth and laughing SO HARD at times about the stupidest answers to the intense questions, and of course, the pictures- which is what I find so fascinating that if you just look through my memory card you will see loads of smiling faces, amazing views some of them with friends randomly posing and being idiots, and lasty the pictures that I have just recently been taking the most of- the exhausted and sleepy faces, some missing home and some with such a lack of sleep- we all wonder how they can stand! I should wrap this up, but the thing I’ve learned the most on this trip is my amazing need to come back!
I can’t wait, but I’ll see you all soon!
Love you all
Au Revoir
Casey

So… this is Andrea and Christina. We’re on our way back on the TGV after having an amazing time in Paris… we have had some amazing experiences and we will now have lots of awesome stories to add to our life collections. One of our adventures was getting stuck on the second isle de la cite… which we weren’t aware existed, but we did know that rue de barres WAS indeed in Paris. The next day included Christina being offered to go and live with one of the few overweight Asians in existence, then a mere few hours later Andrea was informed that she was cute by a security guard at the Louvre. Today after much searching and many disappointments (the tea place being closed and not being allowed to purchase a pi yahmahkuh) the APs (Christina, Andrea and Jake) managed to score the perfect present for their fearless AP Calculus leader. Over this whole experience there are certain lessons that we have realized the importance of… Green means go, Red means run, Mopeds and busses mean stop, and watch out for bikes. Oh, and we are both proud to report that we would pass pre-school with flying colors.

Jake Lane and Jake Bourne were two under achieving, care free hunks; but they about to find out the hard way what it means to wear the badge, after a cruel twist of fate left them in charge of a police force… in the Jake Squad

The Vending Machine
The metro system in Paris, while intimidating at first, quickly becomes a simple series of colors and numbers which can lead you to a beautiful place like the Sacre Coeur, or to a sad bus station on the end of the brown line. While most of the places we went as a group were targeted towards tourists, there were some stops that were the epitome of “sleazy,” complete with baguettes on the ground to people calling the girls ‘very beautiful women.’ But the yellow Concorde switching to pink and getting off at Felix will get you the most rewarding experience of your life.
Past a little hostel named “The Three Ducks,” you get more into the real part of Paris. Away from the noise and crowd of tourists, there is a street with essentially everything on it that you need to live. Complete with a gyro restaurant, an Asian food store and a Laundromat, traversing the long road is quite an experience. However, that night we walked rapidly down the road in search of a Giant Vending Machine.
The reward for finding this machine is merely its contents. From about 20 different drinks, to food (actual microwavable meals) to candy even condoms and cigarette lighters, this machine could sustain someone for quite a while by its self. Spanning a height of about10 feet and a width almost twice that, it was by far the largest machine of this nature any of us have seen.
For half of the travelers on the dark streets, this` was something new; for the other half, an old friend. With chocolate covered waffles, energy drinks, a cynical British man, and the enigmatic Paris metro System, the evening was made complete.
-Audrey

During our Paris excursion, we visited the muse a d’orsye (a musium of fine art). While there, our class viewed some of Van Gogh’s best work. A day later we visited the Louvre where we ogled at the Mona Lisa. We also visited two of the most famous cathedrals in the world, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. There were so many stairs to travel up to Sacre Coeur, it was amazing!
-Jake B.

“how many times do I have to tell you pooh bears, No farting in the Louvre!”
-Jake L.

Hello, we are in a foreign country and it is a good experience for many of us, maybe even greater because we were given this opportunity to go. This trip is a lot of fun and has created some good times and new friendly bonds. We have gone through a lot, like busy subway lines, long museum lines, waiting for people to meet or come down from their rooms with another lame excuse (Jon). Trying to find sleds so we can go down a “skiing resort”, go crazy to find cheese? We’re heading back soon and I don’t want to leave and of course it seems like we’ve only been here for a few days not 2 weeks (Mr. Carr and Jen feels like it’s been a month). I have a great friend Aurele and bunch of others I just met and I don’t want to leave because basically they know how to have fun. I want to come back sometime soon, it’s so much fun here in Switzerland.

-Jon

The Strippers.

Although Monet and Van Gough were among the most impressive painters in the Musee d’Orsay, my personal favorite painting was by a guy named Gustave Cor-something, of a bunch of strippers. Floor stippers, that is. While wandering around alone, I noticed this painting on a wall of it’s own, and something about the three guys hard at work stripping the floor with the balcony door open to waft in the Parisian air and an open bottle or red wine at their side, made me want to stop and look at it longer. I’m not really an art person… Mr. Carr just wanted someone to write about a painting or sculpture they say in one of the museums we visited. But a painting must be quite good to halt a person who is not interested in art. I would rather stare at that all day than the Mona Lisa. I wonder how many parents, when reading the title of this, gasped at the thought of their child going to a strip club. Haha.
-steph

Paris

2007-02-28T14:17:00.000-05:00

Salut!!
We have been busy here in Paris. Our first day, we were strolling up towards L'arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees when, who did we run into but...Meagan Duffy! What a magical treat for the kids to unexpectadely spend three days with her. She is now a European after having lived with a family in Belgium for seven months.
We went up the Eiffel Tower today with clear blue skies and howling winds (the tower actually sways ten feet each way in the wind). We went up to the Sacre Coeur church, with the best view of the city. We then went underground to view the thousands of bones buried in the Catacombs (it is here, where Quasimodo and Esmerelda are buried). Last night we took a beautiful night boat ride down the center of Paris on the Seine. David Coffey has changed his look with a haved head and nice French chapeau.

We'll be back in Geneva tomorrow... hopefully we'll get some student input again and will post more pictures from Paris.

Van and Jen

Mr. Carr's new haircut

2007-02-25T10:26:00.000-05:00

We'll put up the real thing when we get back to Geneva...

Sunday

2007-02-25T06:39:00.000-05:00

Another rainy day today. We actually had some pretty strong hail for a few minutes this morning. Since none of the kids have sent me posts for the blog today, I will report that I went to a lovely ballet last night featuring one of the kids in the family I am staying with. Again, if our kids have host families half as nice as mine, they are all well cared for and are having a wonderful time. We are off to Paris tomorrow morning!

Jen

Saturday

2007-02-24T04:54:00.001-05:00

Our first rainy day...

Another great day, Part II

2007-02-23T19:44:00.000-05:00

Today was our second full day in Geneva with our host families. Nothing very exciting happened today, it was more relaxing than yesterday since we now know how to find our way around the school and were a little more acclimated to being around all of these French speaking people. We started our day by going to classes, I faced a rather simple math class and was supposed to go to a geography class, however it was canceled. After an easy morning of hanging around the school, a small group of us went shopping and on a tour of Geneva on foot, while the others went on a biking tour of the city. The city is so clean, living in Vermont I think of cites as gross and overpopulated. Not Geneva, it is so clean and gorgeous, surrounded by mountains much larger than those of Vermont. Unfortunately one of the most popular sites was not able to be seen. The Jet d'Eau was not on today, many of us were disappointed, not to fear we have until Monday to see this beautiful site (not to mention that I got a sneak peak yesterday). After our tours of the city we all gathered for a buffet style dinner with some rather interesting entertainment, a man and a woman playing huge horns, hopefully someone will give you the actual names of these instruments. By now we are all back with our families ready to get some sleep. We miss you America, but could you just come to us so that we can stay here? Just kidding, see you all in a week! ~Christina

Jen's addendum: I guess the Jet d'Eau wasn't working when Christina was visiting it, but it was definitely running when we were there on our bike trip. Check the links to the left to learn more about Jet d'Eau, and have a good weekend!

Another great day!

2007-02-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

Le tour de Geneve.

After two hours of classes dans lecole de Andre Chavanne, (known to the Americans as the four large tinted glass towers that resemble the headquarters of a cell phone company), we all headed out on bikes to explore the grand city of Geneva, (with the exception of a few people who went to law class… ick). For some of us, it was the first time we had been on a bike in years, and I don’t think any of us were on a bike that sufficiently fit, so to say the least, it was an adventure. For those of you who don’t know… European drivers are insane… no offense to the Suisse. They drive their tiny cars 80mph in school zones and can stop on a dime. While on our way to see the Jet d’Eau (the big water fountain), we had to weave between pedestrians on sidewalks and pedal past whizzing cars. Almost all of us were close to being creamed by drivers laying on the horn, or motorcyclists who always took the right of way. But the view of Lake Geneva from the cathedral that we visited was worth almost dieing on the way to get there. I think I definitely worked off all the chocolate and various other fattening treats that I ate for lunch. My legs are aching, and now I have to go because Nadia’s father is here (at the potluck dinner they put on for us).
Aurvoir pour maintenant…(I probably spelled that all wrong, oh well).

-Steph

Jen here... okay, the bike riding wasn't all that treacherous! We all survived!

The Group

2007-02-22T14:49:00.000-05:00

Today the kids attended classes for half the day, then visited a nuclear power plant and the Red Cross Museum. Unfortunately, there was little time for them to write for the blog, so you'll have to put up with my update alone for the day. It was another brilliantly sunny and beautiful day and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. The kids will attend more classes tomorrow, then take a bike ride by Lake Geneva. We have a pot luck provided by the host families tomorrow evening--there should be a great assortment of foods! I'll try to get kid posts up tomorrow evening--for now I hope you enjoy this group photo of the kids and their hosts standing in front of the school.

Jen

The Transition to Geneva

2007-02-21T16:56:00.000-05:00

This place is amazing! I can’t believe the size of these mountains. The chalet was very clean and enjoyable. Last night the sauna was perfect. We went snowboarding and sledding at Saanenmoser, a resort about 30 minutes up from Chateau d’Oex. It was enormous. I had one of the hardest laughs when Audry, Jake, lane and I were sitting at the bottom of a ski slope. We were eating our lunch with our snowboards off to the side. While we ate, these little kids kept hitting our snowboards. Finally one slammed into Audry’s board and Jake’s subconscious took over. He turned to the kid in the little yellow ski suit and yelled “AAHHHH” with his hands raised in the air . He might as well have hit the kid. We laughed for five minuets straight.
Today we leave for Geneva. We will become students of their school for 3 days. We will receive our own classes and schedules.
I have really enjoyed speaking with the locals, as soon as you speak French to them you are no longer an ignorant American, and they enjoy talking to you. The clouds just rolled in and I’m hoping for snow.
It still hasn’t hit home that I’m actually in Europe. –Alex

Maintenant nous sommes sur un train dans les alps, c’est incroyable. La paysage est la plus jolie. Je ne peux pas croire que nous sommes finalment ici. J’ai un peu peur pour la prochaine 3 jour s a l’ecole dans Geneve, mais je vais passer un bon temp. J’ai hate de voir des eleves de Suisse dans moins de 2 heures mais a la meme temp je suis nerveux.
Et maintenant en Anglais..
Everything here is so pretty, its hard to believe that we are actually spending time in the alps, although the lack of snow was kind of bizarre. Just being here has been incredibly relaxing. Even though I did spend a good portion of yesterday sick, I am very sad to have to leave the gorgeous town of Chateau D’Oex. -Andrea

After another beautiful train ride we made it back to Geneva where the host families were waiting to retrieve all of us. It was amazing how, after spending so much time together, we dispersed and went our separate ways. I can report that my host family is wonderful. The six of us shared a delicious meal of fondue while getting to know each other a bit. I only hope everyone else has had as enjoyable an evening with their host families as I have had with mine. Tomorrow we will all see each other at school and on our trip to the Red Cross Museum. -Jen

The Challenge

2007-02-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

Salut! So this morning Mr. Carr challenged David to a game of foosball, the stakes; if David won Mr. Carr had to get a faux hawk when we got to Geneve, if Mr. Carr won David would not drink any more carbonated drinks the rest of the trip. Dun Dun Dun….

The game was well played, sweat poured and teeth were gritted in fear of the loss of hair and the pain of caffeine with drawl. A close game but M. Carr lost by two goals… the game was called at 10-8 to David. M. Carr now must give up his hair once more in Geneve to receive a garish, funky, non-professional hair-do!

~liz

Last day in the Alps

2007-02-21T09:02:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,
The cushy part of the trip is coming to a close. We have all enjoyed becoming acclimated to the time change and European ambience. During the next six days the students will be living with their host families, attending school, and putting their language abilities to the test.

Van

2007-02-20T19:17:00.000-05:00

Due to snorers and a general inability to fall asleep at 6:30 pm home time, I have added a link to a few more photos, and also a link to the village of Chateau-d'Oex. You will find them over on the left. I hope to add more photos as the trip continues, so keep checking. Based on the quiet, I think everyone has finally fallen asleep. I am hoping my turn is soon! Thanks for checking in with us!

Jen

A day in the Alps

2007-02-20T16:05:00.001-05:00

Bonsoir Tout le Monde!!!
I am sitting on the sun porch in our chalet comfortably enjoying the view of jagged snow covered peaks. I am so glad that parents and teachers are able to follow our trip. We took sleds up the gondola and sledded down the
mountains today. The kids are getting quite used to life in a small alpine village.

A la prochaine
Van

Bonjour
Sledding in the alps was lots of fun but not as much as beating Mr.Carr at foosball. I was a natural at it the first time I played. It is quite a nice view from anywhere in Chateau d’Oex. It is very nice weather--more fun than wandering around Mo’ Vegas!

Au revoir,
David

Bonjour,
It’s almost 9:00 pm here and we are sitting in the sunroom, minus the sun. Today we (Melissa, Chris, Liz, and I) explored the town. Between the hundreds of pictures taken, the miles of walking, and the incredible views, the time flew by. We hiked up a huge hill to see a beautiful church that seems to be forgotten about. When we had almost approached the church, with three stairs left to go, I somehow managed to trip and fall and almost lose my camera down a steep slope. ( I know that you are all smiling at this because it was funny.) After the embarrassment, we saw a hot air balloon in the sky. We window-shopped, had a lunch that consisted of a banana, Swiss cheese, and a baguette. After getting kicked out for lunchtime (the stores close for lunch from noon to 2ish) at the grocery store, we ate outside, enjoyed the almost sixty degree weather, and went up to our room to listen to some comedy on Chris’ Ipod. After a couple hours of that we managed to go back down to the store to get us some dinner. We were on our own for dinner so the four of us decided cereal was the best option. Chris, Melissa, and I all had Choco Croc cereal. It was the cheap Swiss version of Cocoa Puffs but it was way better. The milk actually tuned into chocolate milk. Then we went back to relax and contact our families (who we miss very much!)

A demain,
Mel, and Chris

We have arrived!

2007-02-19T10:53:00.000-05:00

So it’s Monday afternoon here, about 9:30AM back home and we’re all pretty hyped, as jet lag doesn’t seem to have hit us yet (Jen: teenagers perspective, not necessarily that of chaperones). The flight went smoothly once we got past the delay in Burlington and we landed here in Geneva at 7:58AM local time. The view from the plane was stunning as we watched the sunrise through the clouds below us, many of us have pictures of the orange and purple hues radiating up to the plane windows. Upon landing we were all thrilled to see that Iris, Anais, Jon, Arinul, and Fabrice along with a few others, were there to surprise and welcome us to Geneve!
At 9:27AM we caught a train part way to Châteaux D’oex before running to switch trains to begin the climb into the Alps. The train was where we saw some of the most awe inspiring sights of our lives. In the words of Melissa, “Them are some mountains!” Two hours after arriving in Switzerland we reached our temporarily-final destination only to learn that M. Carr didn’t know how to get to our hotel… so we began our hike about the village following various directions and lugging our bags through the cramped sidewalks, tired but happy to be here, yet still not quite believing it was actually happening. Eventually we did find Perce-Neige, our lodging where we were able to leave our bags for a few hours while our rooms were readied and we began our various European Adventures by foot. Alex and Chris headed up on the lift to check out the boarding conditions (turned out not to be much snow), Audrey and Melissa set off on foot to conquer the treacherous montagne, Jake, Jake, and Jon vanished and Steph, Casey, Andrea, Christina, and I went in search of food, fun, and horses.
We found all of the above; met two construction workers, rode a horse and dog in Switzerland, drank from a horse trough, ate a wonderful lunch of Weight Watchers Swiss Cheese (it was the cheapest one :-D), goat cheese, apples, and baguette, Andrea being excited to have found gluten-free crackers, we eventually returned to the Perce-Neige to write our postcards from the Coop and relax in the beautiful 50 degree Fahrenheit sunshine.
Tonight we’ll be relaxing, having dinner here at the lodge, playing some cards, and hopefully all getting some much needed sleep!

Bon Nuit! (well not quite for you I suppose)
~liz

2007-02-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

Here we are, stuck at Burlington for another hour...our plane is right outside, but apparently out of fuel. Ah, well. We're taking advantage of the massage chairs, vending machines, and carpeted floor, and there's an Uno game getting started. French words of the post: L'avion a recu l'essence.

-Melissa

2007-02-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

Itinerary

2007-02-16T08:08:00.000-05:00

Trip outline:

Sunday, February 18th:
Meet at PA at 9:45. Depart Burlington airport at 1:15pm on Continental.

Monday, February 19th:
Arrive at Geneva at 8:00am. We will take the 9:30 train to Chateau D'Oex.

Tuesday, February 20th:
Spend the day at Chateau D'Oex.

Wednesday, Febrarury 21st:
Return to Geneva in the afternoon.

Thursday and Friday, Februray 22nd and 23rd:
School visit.

Saturday and Sunday, February 24th and 25th:
Spend the weekend with host families.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, February 26th, 27th, and 28th:
Paris!

Thursday, March 1st:
Return to Geneva.

Friday, March 2nd:
Return to Burlington, arriving at 6:12pm.