It was a day for finishing projects, cramming in time in the computer lab to work on assignments from Belmont, and for getting in some last common time in class with our host students. Those of us who had worked with the sixièmes met back with them to finish up their interviews and the biographical posters that were the result of their questions. Students went to gym and discovered Fénelon's badminton spirit — it's not a gentle, wafting backyard distraction here, but a real, vibrant competition! A group visited the Elbeuf station of the National Police for a tour of the facilities and to witness the kind of work done there. And some students collaborated with juniors and seniors in History and Geography for group presentations in both English and French about the newly re-established geographic and administrative regions of France.
At the end of the long day, students either returned to their host families, or hung out on campus waiting for the final event of the day: a pot-luck dinner for the families, students, guests, and instructors involved in the Fénelon/Belmont exchange.
We gathered in the cafeteria, almost ninety people altogether, the students wearing their group exchange T-shirts. As when we were welcomed to the school initially, the parents and families were greeted by the chief of the establishment, M Rodas, who thanked everyone for their help, participation, and community. In closing, he shared with us his — he claimed — one phrase in English: "There's a rabbit in the road!" We were then dismissed for a group photo, dinner, and conviviality.
Thank you, Lycée Fénelon! We will miss the long lunches, the beautiful courtyard, the friendly curiosity of the younger students, and the gracious, generous hospitality of the élèves, the families, and the staff. Merci!
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