Level I French Exchange Gives New Meaning to Bienvenue

From March 14th to the 25th, 17 Level I students and their two chaperones, Susan Markle and Julia Miguel, continued a great TFS tradition – the French Exchange. Now in its 15th year, the exchange pairs TFS students with those who attend École Saint-Erembert, an independent school located in the greater Paris area. The students from TFS stay with the families of the French students for the duration of their visit. Key activities include sight-seeing, speaking French with their host families and soaking up French culture.

Among the many memorable sights visited this year were the Château de Malmaison, home of the first French Empress, Joséphine Bonaparte, the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre.  However, in addition to seeing those renowned and classic Parisian sights, the students were also treated to some locations rarely glimpsed by the general public.

Thanks to the efforts of a TFS student and her family, the students were treated to a very special tour at the Château de Versailles led by the Head Gardener. Our students were admitted to restricted areas of the magnificent gardens and toured the Orangerie, the indoor winter habitat of the gardens’ vast collection of orange and lemon trees, palm trees and various other assorted shrubs and trees.
Similarly, they received a personal guided tour of Les Invalides, Napoleon’s final resting place and a monument that pays homage to the military history of France.

Farther afield, they visited the Château de Chambord, one of the most recognizable châteaux in Loire, and Le Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci lived for the last three years of his life.

Of course, no trip to Paris would be complete without some shopping, and the students fully enjoyed their visit to a local marché aux puces and to the farmers’ market in St-Germain-en-Laye. Finally, and best of all, the trip provided the students with the opportunity to put their excellent French to good use and to gain a deeper understanding of French culture and daily life.

On the Canadian side of the exchange, the students from École Saint-Erembert are currently in Toronto, enjoying some of our classic sights – think CN Tower and Niagara Falls – and developing their English-language skills.