Greetings from Fontainebleau!

Here are the student updates you've been anxiously awaiting!

Aaron was able to pick up an enormous amount of French in just a few days' time! When he wasn't busy brushing up on his language skills, Aaron was impressing the group with his musical talent at the piano.

Christie was able to put her rowing skills to good use when the group took boats out at Chateau Chenonceau. Before surprising everyone with her boating abilities out on the river, she left a wonderful impression with the French instructor who deemed her practically bilingual!

Cole was thrilled to be out on the open water in a boat at Chateau Chenonceau where he single-handedly rowed the boat up and down the river--just another one of his strengths in addition to his French language skills! 

Jacob was especially excited to finally take the much anticipated boat trip onto the Cher River around Chateau Chenonceau! Leading up to this exciting opportunity, he spent time mastering the conditional tense in French and utilizing it in fun improv dialogues!

Margot has been making incredible strides with her French. She is living proof to the entire group just how useful Latin is when learning a romance language! She also loved exploring the Chateau Chenonceau where she partook in some fun impromptu photoshoots with a couple of the campers!

Kelsey has been impressing the group with her advanced level of French both in and outside of the classroom. She is able to grasp large parts of conversations we hear out in public which comes as quite a surprise to unsuspecting French passerby's!

Cheryl always knows how to get the group in high spirits--her laughter is infectious! What's more she was a wonderful student in the classroom where she proved her commitment and passion to French through a number of lively conversations!

Ellie has been impressing us all with her great conversational and comprehension skills in French! Ironically though, it turns out her favorite foreign word is German....KINDERR! A new favorite European candy that she has discovered while here in France!

Helen has really been breaking out of her shell these past couple of days, and her enthusiasm to learn French is especially admirable. Even when she has struggled, Helen has demonstrated incredible perseverance by asking for help and repeating complicated phrases and difficult pronunciations until she gets them perfect!

Dominique has been really enjoying her time with the group out in Fontainebleau! This fresh and quaint French countryside has motivated her to continue pushing herself to practice her language skills in real life situations. While at the supermarket the other day, she successfully conversed with a store worker enough to locate key ingredients for the fabulous dinner she would prepare later that evening!

We leave you with a few photos from our time here in Fontainebleau! 

 Jacob and Dominique getting baguettes, croissants & pain au chocolats

The boys at Chateau Chenonceau

Cole rowing the boat

Chateau Chenonceau

Kelsey, Margot, Christie & Aaron, "Captain White Wolf"

And they're off!

Heading out into open waters

Some of the ladies in front of Chateau Chenonceau

Latest photos from France

Group photo on the steps of the front of Château de Fontainebleau

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Student Updates

Straight from France, here are some updates on how the students are doing:

Margot had an amazing time discovering the old ruins of a crypt beneath the cathedral in Chartres today and was shocked to realize she could understand a lot of what the tour guide was saying after such a short time learning French. She really enjoyed learning about all the different iterations of the cathedral that were present, parts of which were constructed even before Christianity itself!

Cole was excited to experience a French café today and share profiteroles (cream puffs with ice cream) with the rest of the group for dessert. He enjoyed the ambiance and was able to order everything in French without any help from the rest of the group.


Jacob enjoyed seeing the other Notre-Dame cathedral in Chartres despite the rain and after a few long days of French class. He was ready to get outside and really experience France after spending so much time on grammar and reading!

Helen loved the crypts below Notre Dame and showed us how great her sense of direction was by guiding us back there after our café experience for the tour! At the café, she had a citron pressé, which is literally just squeezed lemons with some water and sugar on the side, but she couldn't finish the whole thing because it was extremely sour. She even ordered in French and shared with us some of the new vocabulary she had learned when reading the menu.

Cheryl also enjoyed the cathedral and had some wonderful French pastries at the café despite the on-and-off raining all day. She loves practicing her French and can't wait to wake up early to buy fresh croissants for us at breakfast.

Dominique ordered her treat at the café in French and even managed to eat some profiteroles despite everyone trying to get a bite! Dominique has really impressed us with her upbeat attitude and progress in French.

Kelsey really showed off her French skills by buying extra bread for us at the boulangerie when we ran out. Kelsey ordered successfully and made our hungry group satisfied with more delicious baguette!

Christie loved seeing the crypts and learning about the history behind the Notre Dame cathedral in Chartres in all of its different forms. She was so excited to be able to understand our tour guide and learn more about French history.

Ellie enjoyed the crypts and the gardens behind Notre Dame in Chartres where she could see large parts of the city. It was a pleasure seeing her take in the sights and experience French culture and history.

Aaron really enjoyed his first café experience and can't wait to go back. He was able to order in French after the last few days of class and was so pumped to see history come to life in the cathedral in Chartres.

We've had a jam-packed first few days in Paris. Here's an update:

Sunday, Day 1:

• We arrived (a little late) at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at around 8 am and met Julia, the female half of the dynamic leadership duo.
• We completed The Biggest Schlep of the Trip, getting ourselves and all our gear from the airport to the youth hostel in the center of the city—close to a 2 hour affair, but with a payoff at the end, emerging from the Metro into the heart of the Marais—a perfect introduction to Paris.
• We had a group pow-wow with fun icebreaker games on the square du Vert-Gallant by Pont Neuf.
• We enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches on the square directly in front of Notre Dame Cathedral.
• Last but not least, we visited the Place du Trocadero and then climbed the Eiffel Tower!

Monday, Day 2:

• After a breakfast of chocolat chaud and French bread with jam, the group walked from the youth hostel to the Latin Quarter to check out Boulevard Saint Germain, the Sorbonne, and the renowned 1920’s expatriate intellectual bookstore and literary hub, Shakespeare and Company.
• The group did a lunch making activity/conversational language activity that involved buying sandwiches from a small French grocery called Monoprix. And eating them of course!
• We walked from the Latin Quarter to the Louvre for another activity (we’re big on those): The Davinci Challenge! We'll give you full details when we get home, but briefly, we were divided into three groups and given tasks to accomplish in the various wings of the museum. This four-hour activity was fun and epic!
• We walked home down the galleries of Rue de Rivoli, stopped for dinner, then got back to the MIJE early for a good group meeting about the day, a fun journaling activity, and bedtime.

Tuesday, Day 3:

• After a nice MIJE breakfast like Day 2, we hopped on the Metro and headed for Pigalle and the famous Moulin Rouge.
• We made our way north toward Montmartre, past Metro Abesses and the famous painter’s square.
• We had lunch on the steps of the of the Basilique du Sacre Coeur.
• Then we hopped back on the Metro and set up a Paris trifecta: Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe.
• We strolled back toward the MIJE down the quais along the river, and FINALLY got a chance to spend a little bit of spending money on cool postcards and touristy stuff from street vendors.
• Per Day 2, we headed back to the Marais early, found a place for dinner, and got back to the MIJE with enough time for some quality group activities.

Today we transfer to Fontainebleau to begin the language immersion portion of the program. Group Orientation and whirlwind Paris tour is in the books!  Stay tuned for more pictures and individual student updates!