'Cause I'm Leaving (Leaving!) on the Morning Train to Paris

Today is an early start — we're gathering at the train station at 6:45 in the morning, which while it feels like a bit of a cold shower after the more leisurely starts we've had since we arrived here, isn't that far off from a normal sleep schedule to make it to BHS on time. (And it's basically the same time we had to be at the Concord Coach to send les élèves off to New York City, so the parallels are really quite apt.) But it does mean that yesterday was an interesting combination of getting in last gasps of opportunity in the Normandy region combined with the anxiety of packing. In addition, sunset was at 9:12pm, which means, like it has meant the entire stay, that it hasn't felt late until it was actually quite late. That much ambient light lasting into the evening was fine most nights, but in inconvenient on a night one has to get to sleep in order to get up early.

As is usual, when we didn't see everyone at school, we asked people to check in via WhatsApp chat. Here's what we heard from everyone:

The students took day trips to Rouen, Étretat, Dieppe, and Crèvecoeur. They went to a castle, they went hat shopping, they checked out some (totally!) tubular metal slides, they stood on cliff-sides, and crossed the Seine, and they played with dogs. They ate mussels and flaming crèpes, eggs and cheesecake. They watched The Goonies, they listened to someone play piano, they played musical chairs. They spent quality time with the countryside, their hosts, and each other.

It seems to have been a good day all around, with some breathing room to appreciate what we have and what we've been able to take advantage of these last nine days. Today, once we get on the train, will be go, go, go. We'll transfer from the train to the metro, from the metro to the hotel, and then we have a packed agenda in the Champs-Élysées, Sacre Coeur, and Monmartre. We will continue to post first thing in the morning (or very late at night), but we'll have less downtime to check in via messenger during the day. We look forward to our next adventures and to telling you about them when we get some rest in the evenings. See you soon!