Girls trip
Group of girls travel through Europe, gaining new experiences
French level II, III and IV students and French teacher Pamela Lynch pose next to Cervantes Monument at Plaza de Espana in Madrid. The group last stop was Madrid, Spain after they visited 4 regions in France and Barcelona in Spain.
Climbing the Eiffel Tower, taking a tour boat around Paris at night, swimming in the Mediterranean sea and walking around the medieval town of Nimes while eating Crepes sounds like anyone’s dream summer. However, for six French class students, this dream summer became a reality.
On June 8-19 six French level II, III and IV students took a trip to Europe along with French teacher Pamela Lynch and two parent chaperones. Over 12 days, students experienced new cultures as well as gained and used past knowledge while traveling around Europe and visiting famous tourist regions such as Paris, Provence Region, Barcelona and Madrid.
“The purpose of this trip was to engage us as students and to familiarize ourselves with the language learned at school,” junior Sandra Alegre said. “We also got to relate them to the culture of the language and the origin of it.”
In order to take part in this trip, students had to meet one requirement, which was to be Lynch’s current student since she only took those she knew well. Those who were planning on attending had to pay $4,400 to cover trip necessities including airfare, hotels, tour buses, museum entrances, meals per day and a full-time tour guide.
Even though Lynch has been making this trip with students every other year since 1999, this year’s outing included only girls unlike all the past vacations.
“What made this trip unique was that we were a group of girls and shopping was extra fun,” Lynch said. “The girls were great and everyone wanted and was excited to be there.”
Throughout the trip, students stayed at four different hotels, all which were three-starred. At every region, students got to visit their famous cities and undergo new and fun activities. The first region that student’s visited was France where students got to walk around Paris, Provence, Avignon and Nimes all which are French cities.
In Paris the students got to walk around the streets of the country’s capital, climb the ‘Eiffel Tower’ and ‘Montmartre,’ visit one of the world’s largest museum Musée d’Orsay as well the Louvre which is an art museum considered to hold Paris most valuable pieces such as Mona Lisa.
“The view from Montmartre hill was absolutely stunning since you could see the entire city of Paris,” senior Yesenia Lopez said. “At the top there were little shops and painters everywhere. It was great to be surrounded by so much art and culture.”
During her trip to Paris, senior Isabella Lynch also took the opportunity of being drawn by a street artist later on, the group visited the city’s famous cathedral Notre Dame and took a boat tour around the city at night.
“The streets were filled with artists wanting to draw your face and for a cheap price too,” Lynch said. “I got mine done in watercolor, but the painters gave you other options like charcoal, graphite and paint.” [Text Wrapping Break]
Even though the group spent the most time exploring Paris, they also got to tour Southern France visiting the city of Avignon, where they wandered through the Palais Des Papes and swam in the Gard river under the aqueduct Pont du Gard. Students also walked through the city of Nimes looking at the medieval town’s culture and castle.
In France the students also got to use their class learned knowledge and language as well as learned cultural lessons such as saying hello and goodbye in French stores.
“They saw the cultural lessons up front,” French teacher Lynch said. “ I loved to see that what I teach can impact my students’ ability to interact in the language.”
The second region the students explored was Spain, where the group got to tour the country’s most known cities: Barcelona and Madrid.
In Barcelona the group got to explore one more museum the Picasso Museum and spent most of the day shopping, tasting local cuisine and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea and in Pineda de Mar. The last stop of the trip was Madrid and in order to get here the students got to experience for the first time riding in a bullet train. Once in Madrid they went to their last sites the Prado which is the most visited museum in Madrid and the Royal Palace.
Throughout the 12 days the group walked over 60 miles, discovering new cultures, cuisine and different lifestyles.
“I decided to go on a whim because some of my friends were going and [the trip] ended up being one of the best experiences of my life. Lopez said. “I went not knowing what to expect and I loved every minute of it.”
Your donation will support the student journalists of Hagerty High School. Your contribution helps us publish six issues of the BluePrint and cover our annual website hosting costs. Thank you so much!
