Over Spring Break eight French students, along with French teacher Madame Anna Geving, will travel to Paris, France to study and experience French culture first hand. This coveted trip-of-a-lifetime gives them a chance to use their French language skills in a true, French setting, as well as play tourist in the historical parts of France.

On arriving in France, the students will be picked up by a host family who lives on the outskirts of Paris. After staying with their host families, the students will travel to the castles of France and then return to Paris for a dinner on the Eiffel tour and a boat ride on the Seine river to view all the monuments of Paris.

Staying with a host family, a five night long experience, gives these BSM visitors a local view of France, rather than just hitting all of the typical tourist sites. “The scariest thing is that you don’t really what to expect, especially since I’ve never stayed with a [host] family,” said freshman Mikaela Potter.

“I hope they will gain [from staying with the host families] a life long friend. The friendships they make with their host families will last forever. They have been in touch with their families and most have been emailing back and forth daily already,” said Madame Geving.

Most host families have a child who speaks English, but the rest of the family usually speaks French. “There could be a bit of a language barrier but I really wanted to work on improving my french so why not go to France itself,” said Potter.

BSM has not sent a trip to France since the summer of 2007 due to not having enough students to fill the trip. Though student interest in this trip may have been there in previous years, a requirement of enrollment in French two or higher prohibited some from being able to participate.

The experience of traveling and seeing France will not only improve their French speaking skills but also give them many unique memories, ones that many high schoolers do not have the privilege of making. “I hope that they will soak in as much culture and language as they can and that [this experience] makes them want to speak and learn more French. A huge part of the trip is the cultural part,” said Madame Geving.