Bon Week-end!

Left to their own devices, here's what everyone said they did, ate, or went during an open weekend with their homestays:

BECCA:
Went to watch Juline's gymnastics competition where her team came in second place! To celebrate, they went out to an "American restaurant" called Old Wild West, which sounds about as stereotypical as Cactus Jacks. On Sunday, they went to the palace at Versailles.

GRAHAM:
Hung out with Anna, Louise, and Stella on Saturday to swim and play some video games before heading out Sunday to do some Magic card shopping in Rouen and then to see Avengers: Endgame early evening to help add to the $1.209 billion world-wide opening weekend box office. Also: this happened...

KELLY:
Spent time with Kim and her family on Saturday before heading out to the Picine et Patinoire des Fugrais in Cléon to go ice skating on Sunday. That night she tried escargot and pronounced it delicious! (Well, "hella good", but we gotta keep this blog PG-13.)

ZEE:
Spent Sunday at the Biotropica animal gardens in Rouen. According to him, he's in one of these photos and the rest are residents of the zoo. Experts are trying to determine which is which and if there's any chance there has been a massive mistake in either the mammal or reptile house.

STELLA:
On Saturday, went shopping with Louise and then joined up with Anna and Graham. On Sunday, she braved the urban wilds of Paris to go to a museum of music and capture an image of the elusive soprano saxophone. Despite this photo evidence, Michael maintains his belief that no such instrument exists. His skepticism about sasquatches and the spherical nature of the earth, as of press time, had not been established.

MICHAEL:
Went to Honfeur on Saturday, where he visited a boucherie and purchased some chicken donuts. No really! He also tried andouille, without knowing it was tripe — or, specifically: cow stomach — until Madame informed him after the fact. The post-facto knowledge didn't seem to change his verdict that it was "interesting".

FAITH:
Was feeling cold (there were crazy, gale-force winds on Saturday, which would periodically blow in sudden spats of rain and then clear, blue skies, with the constant danger of the sudden arrival of more precipitation), and mostly huddled in on Saturday, but helped Rosanna and her family host a dinner for her mother and her mother's host, Mme Hue.

NICK:
Spent Saturday in Rouen, where he saw the famous clock and went to the Cathedral, where he apparently spent a lot of time looking up. He went shopping as well, and picked himself up a leather jacket.

NOËL:
Slept in for a good solid time on Saturday, catching up on some much-needed rest, as she hadn't been sleeping well the previous couple days. She then got in some much-needed time on a skateboard, introducing Marine to the coolest mode of transport ever devised. #skateordie On Sunday, she went kayaking with Nick and Michael.

HAYDEN:
Went out bowling on Saturday, and by all accounts (a.k.a., his own), was "ripping it up"! Against any contrary evidence, we're going to assume that's... a good thing?

KYLIEGH:
Hosted a BBQ for all of the BHS students and des élèves along with her host, Julie, on Saturday night. All appreciated their efforts!

GRIFFIN:
Began the weekend by trying some head-cheese, bravely enough. He and Julie went to Rouen, where he rode the metro and climbed up into the Joan of Arc museum to look at the city from a great height. And, well, he decided that was enough for a bit and chilled for a bit on Sunday.

KRIS:
Kris checked in on Saturday by giving me permission to post this ridiculous picture of him from earlier in the week. He checked in on Saturday along with Nick and Michael, hanging out at Solene's. There's also evidence that he and others went out for some exotic local cuisine. (Q.v. Seth, later in this entry.)

SETH:
Hey, look! There was Seth. He also checked in with again us to reassure us he, like Jacques Brel, was alive and well and living in Paris Elbeuf. Aside from that, we have no scintillating details, so it's a good thing that a picture is worth a thousand words. Like, this pic is the equivalent of a dozen postcards home, mom! No, I don't believe it either, but that's the Snapchat generation for you.

MADDIE:
Maddie had a very successful French weekend, in that she had a full and very French food experience. I mean, seriously.

RAMSAY:
Went to a horse show, watched Lucie's sister ride and also got to visit with and enjoy the company of some of the horses herself. She was very excited about this, and it's easy to see why!

SANA:
Sana went to Honfleur, right on the English Channel, where the sweets are plentiful, and the vistas are beautiful.

BAILEY:
Bailey checked in to let us know that she visited Étretat — check out the earlier entry with the Monet paintings for one of the famous seaside rock formations — and that her phone camera seems to only center on the space just above her head. We're going to have a technician look at it as soon as we can.

Aside from that, we had some conversations about whether French gummies were better or worse than American gummies, about whether French sprinkles (a.k.a. "Vermicelles") were more muted in their rainbow colors due to more natural ingredients, whether Americans are loud or if the French are just a culture of soft-spoken people. And tomorrow, it's back to school for a couple minutes before an epic series of bus trips to the Normandy landing site and accompanying war museums. Our time in Elbeuf is rapidly coming to a close! Stay tuned for our last few updates!