Saturday, May 17 2003
	As the first week wears on, we settle into habits that will serve us for the five weeks to come. In the photo at left, we see Joe meeting his French mom Joelle after classes so that he may get a ride home. Joe has been riding to class down the bike trails from Doussard, thus staying in shape for future sports competitions...
	Thursday was a very busy day for the program director; after classes all morning, he drove to Geneva to pick up the final program participant, Dan Marsh, who was due at 3pm.. if everything had worked out correctly, we could have made it back to Faverges in time for the Town Hall reception. Unfortunately, delayed by his airline connections in the States, Dan did not arrive into Geneva at the scheduled time... After some wheedling, Prof Jeantet managed to get an airline employee to confirm that Dan was indeed booked on a flight due to arrive some three hours later. After waiting for hours more, checking his e-mail with the free internet connections, Prof. Jeantet finally met a tired and forlorn Dan who was visibly relieved to have a ride waiting for him. We raced back to Faverges, arriving around 8:20pm, after which Prof. Jeantet went off to dinner with a teacher who is helping out in the program.... the photo shows Dan greeted by AFA President Yvette Millot, student Ken Bomer, and French host mom Michèle Bluzat. Dan was tired but relieved to have arrived at last, although his bags were still missing. (the bags arrived Saturday afternoon).
	Thursday afternoon, the students and some of the host parents were received at the Town Hall for the official reception in honor of the group's arrival. As usual, fruit juice and kir were served along with local cheese and various other little treats. Reports back to Prof. Jeantet suggest that the kir served at the reception really helped to stimulate conversation and resulted in much good cheer . . . A larger version of the group photo may be viewed by clicking on the image, which was taken by student Ken Bomer who as a result does not appear in the group.
	Friday, classes as usual. The students are really enojying the civ text, whish provides timely information about the behavior that they are beginning to observe among the French... In the afternoon, taking advantage of the clear weather, Prof. Jeantet drove Julie, Luke and Dan up to the Aravis mountain pass. On the way back, traffic was blocked by a herd of cows heading back to the barn, bells clanging loudly. A great photo op that we did not waste! A short film can be viewed by clicking here. Julie noted that she had never been this close to a cow before. We'll try to get her to scratch one on the forehead one of these days.
	After our drive into the mountains, we headed for Bethany's house where the students had all gathered for some frisbee on Faverges' best-kempt lawn. Colette headed back to her house in the mountains; that evening her French mom took her to a golf club for something both unexpected and unforgettable: French karaoke, while several others went to a gospel music concert staged by a local 100% French singing group. Another very strange cultural event that the students will undoubtedly remember for a long time indeed. One noted that "Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In" sung with a French accent is a totally novel experience.
	Saturday morning, we went into the nearby city of Annecy where the occasional light rain apparently kept people indoors. Students rode the Crolard bus from Faverges to Annecy, studying the bus schedule along the way. We had the city to ourselves as we visited a couple of churches and walked down the medieval streets, crossing the river Thiou on the numerous pedestrian bridges. We'll be sure to come back on a sunny day in June when all of the bridge railings will be covered with flowers and the city will be most photogenic.
	This shot show the group near the St Maurice church whose ancient frescoes and crooked architecture proved quite interesting and a good introduction to the local Savoyard style of architecture, which doesn't quite match the normal categories of romanesque and gothic such as they are described in art history books...
	We walked up a steep cobblestone incline to the Château d'Annecy, an enormous complex built from the XIth to theXVIIIth centuries by the Earls and Dukes of Savoy. Threatened with destruction by real estate developpers in the 1950s, the castle has been restored and now houses three different museum collections. We examined the massive architecture and visited the collections of folk religious art and antique rustic furniture, much of which is strikingly beautiful, with its simple, functional lines and "hex-sign" decorative carving .
	The city looked most colorful through the old glass windows of the castle. As noontime approached, we headed back downtown (literally) down a steep and slippery incline and broke for lunch, most of the students sitting under the medieval arcades to avoid getting soaked by the occasional sprinkle.
	We visited the fairly unremarkable cathedral from which François de Sales used to preach the Counter-Reformation, saw the place behind the Music Conservatory where 18th-Century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau first set eyes on Mme de Warens; this was a good occasion for the students to recount what they remembered of Rousseau, such as they had learned it in Nena's class. Arriving in the commercial section of town, we spotted the good stores for later in the afternoon, and crossed through the entire downtown pedestrian area to the new Centre Courier, a modern shopping center which contains, among other things, the FNAC store which has a very large book and CD / DVD section.
	So, despite the rain, we had a nice time, saw a lot of things. We appreciated the arcades that line most of the streets and shielded us from the rain, as they have done for generations since the Middle Ages. And the students began to grow familiar with a city that they will be visiting a number of times in the coming weeks. Sunday is our first real day off since the Program began, and everyone is sure to sleep late and eat well, Sunday lunch being the principal social event of the week, every week. Classes resume on Monday, and a number of afternoon visits are planned over the next few days. Next report, probably next Wednesday.
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