We spent the first half of the day at school. Classes started at nine o’clock and I went to a double-block class of French. There was a higher student-to-teacher ratio in that French class than there is at Cary Academy; there were about thirty students there. The students first read three poems written by a poet from the Romantic era and answered questions about Romantic poets. The paper handouts that they used were helpful for the Americans in the class because they contained plenty of new vocabulary words for us to use in our list for the project. After going outside during the break, we watched a video called La Parure. Most students had another class next, but my exchange student did not have a class during the third period, so we went to a study hall.
We had lunch at the school cafeteria. The staff could tell that I am American and they seemed considerate and tried to help me. I ate a crêpe with ham and cheese, mashed carrots, rice, bread, and yogurt.
We walked to the Musée de Compagnonnage after lunch. We explored all the examples of the different arts specialties (woodworker, pastry chef, etc.) by doing a sort of scavenger hunt in which we answered questions about certain works and who made them. The works were very impressive; in particular, those of the pasty chef stood out to me because of the intricate details that were used to create miniature cake versions of buildings from different countries.
After leaving the Musée de Compagnonnage, we stopped to buy some ice cream from a street-side store, which was delicious. We then continued to the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Outside, there was a giant cedar tree from Lebanon and a stuffed elephant named Fritz. There were many interesting paintings and sculptures; many were older, such as one by Claude Monet, but there were also some pieces of modern art. The exterior of the museum was beautiful as well because it was originally a castle for bishops.
