Bright
and early Saturday morning, Yvette Millot, Prof. Jeantet and Joe
Morris rode into Geneva to pick up the rest of the group. On a
Saturday morning, there was little traffic, and we made it from
Faverges to the airport in just one hour and
ten minutes; we waited for the two flights to arrive, peering
into the luggage carousel area hoping to catch a glimpse of the
students; finally, we spotted Bethany, looking rather downcast,
(photo at right, with Luke --in green-- looking on), as the carousel
emptied of luggage, Bethany's suitcases nowhere in sight. Joe,
Yvette and Prof. Jeantet, waving madly from behind the thick glass,
finally caught her attention and pointed her in the direction
of the "Litiges Bagages" office, where she filled out
a missing luggage report. Her layover in Frankfurt had been a
very short 45 minutes, and it was clear that her bags had not
been transferred in time for the Geneva flight. In any case, she's
expecting her bags to be hand-delivered to her home some time
this weekend.
After
this brief but not entirely unexpected interlude, we loaded the
other students's bags onto the bus and drove through the lush
green countryside back to Faverges, crossing the border without
problem into France, crossing through the city of Annecy, then
driving along the whole length of Lake Annecy down the valley,
arriving in Faverges, as planned, just after 11am on the centrally
located Place du Marché.
As
we drove into the Faverges market square, we could see the host
families standing, chatting, waiting. As they stepped off the
bus, the students were greeted by their French moms, dads, and
siblings, going through the usual bise process (kisses
on both cheeks, sometimes repeated for a total of four) .
Amidst
much good cheer occasioned both by the relief of finally arriving
at their destination some twenty hours after leaving their homes
and by the friendliness of their reception, the students could
not help but notice melodious and soothing tones emanating from
an AlpHorn trio
that had come to serenade the group and help celebrate their arrival.
After playing a number of traditional mountain melodies, the trio
posed with our group for pictures for the regional newspaper l'Essor
Savoyard. We'll be sure to get a copy of the paper next Friday!
We
plan to meet Sunday morning for a walking tour of Faverges. Sunday
afternoon is reserved for family activities and continued recovery
from jet lag. Classes start on Monday morning, and activities
in and around Faverges will be added to our calendar over the
coming days.
and
ten minutes; we waited for the two flights to arrive, peering
into the luggage carousel area hoping to catch a glimpse of the
students; finally, we spotted Bethany, looking rather downcast,
(photo at right, with Luke --in green-- looking on), as the carousel
emptied of luggage, Bethany's suitcases nowhere in sight. Joe,
Yvette and Prof. Jeantet, waving madly from behind the thick glass,
finally caught her attention and pointed her in the direction
of the "Litiges Bagages" office, where she filled out
a missing luggage report. Her layover in Frankfurt had been a
very short 45 minutes, and it was clear that her bags had not
been transferred in time for the Geneva flight. In any case, she's
expecting her bags to be hand-delivered to her home some time
this weekend.
After
this brief but not entirely unexpected interlude, we loaded the
other students's bags onto the bus and drove through the lush
green countryside back to Faverges, crossing the border without
problem into France, crossing through the city of Annecy, then
driving along the whole length of Lake Annecy down the valley,
arriving in Faverges, as planned, just after 11am on the centrally
located Place du Marché.
As
we drove into the Faverges market square, we could see the host
families standing, chatting, waiting. As they stepped off the
bus, the students were greeted by their French moms, dads, and
siblings, going through the usual bise process (kisses
on both cheeks, sometimes repeated for a total of four) . 
