Vannes Delegation visits Carnac and City Hall

Today we received the following update from Mr. Poellet in France about the activities of our France delegation activities on Wednesday:

Today the teachers each visited a different classroom at Lycée Notre Dame (Mrs. Lavault went to Spanish, Mrs. Holmes went to Art, and Mr. Poellot went to Math). Mrs. Lavault said the Spanish teacher asked if she wanted to teach the lesson, Mr. Poellot was asked by the math teacher to answer a problem about simplifying exponents (en francais!), and Mrs. Holmes said she felt right at home. We look forward to the additional classes we will visit over the next couple of days.

At the bell signifying the end of the first class, the entire delegation left for a tour of the Alignments at Carnac. We learned that these Neolithic structures were created well before the first pyramid was built, making the early inhabitants of Brittany some of the world’s first architects and engineers. Many of the stones weigh over 15 tons, and the alignments stretch over multiple kilometers. There are additional alignments which can no longer be viewed as they are below the water of the sea that has overtaken the land. After our tour guide completed showing us a small section of the stones, we drove past the other fields full of these alignments, which is when the girls realized exactly how far the stones were dragged and how much effort was involved.

After returning for lunch at the school, we walked to the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) where a news crew interviewed the delegation and took photos – we are looking forward to seeing the article in tomorrow’s newspaper! We then entered a stunning reception hall and were greeted by the assistant mayor whose duties include overseeing issues on education. She greeted us warmly, stating she hoped this was just the beginning of many years of interchanges between our two schools. We watched a video about Vannes, enjoyed some refreshments, and took advantage of many photo opportunities until it was time for the students to return to their host families for the evening. It was another truly enjoyable day in Vannes!