Paris, je t'aime!

I recently traveled to France with a group of 20 students. It went surprisingly well, considering all that could have gone wrong, especially considering we were traveling with a certain student, let's call her Chantal. Here's a sampling:

Upon arrival at the train station in Paris:

Me: OK, you guys have a little bit of time to walk around and get something to eat before our train leaves.

Chantal [to a friend] : Let's go find Starbucks.

Me: Uhhh, there's no Starbucks here.

Chantal [incredulously]: Really? There's no Starbucks? Where are we supposed to get coffee?

She found a Starbucks later in the trip and was thrilled. She went there, along with the Disney Store, Sephora and any other store that could also be found in the US.

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The students did homestays with French families for part of the trip. On one of those days we all met at the high school and a teacher gave us a tour.

In the cafeteria.....

French teacher: On the table is a pitcher full of an orange drink that is served at lunch. It is a very horrible drink. Its nickname is "Rat Piss".

Chantal: [Look of horror and imminent vomiting]

Me: It's just a nickname, that's not really what it is!

Chantal: Oh!

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We gathered in front of Notre Dame one evening and were sending the students off to find restaurants for dinner. For those of you that don't know, Notre Dame is on an island in the middle of the Seine. It's important to the story.

Me [pointing at map]: OK, you're just going to cross this bridge right here and look for a restaurant in this area over here.

Chantal: Bridge?

Me: We're on an island.

Chantal: Ha! You're funny.

Me: No, I'm serious, we're on an island right now.

Chantal: France isn't an island (I think she meant to say "Paris" isn't an island).

Me: No, it's not, but Notre Dame is on a small island in the middle of the river.

Chantal: You're joking.

She finally believed me when I showed her on the map.

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This is the best story of the trip. Our next to last evening one of the other students pulled me aside and told me that Chantal was planning on meeting up with some French boys that she had met earlier in the day. The rendez-vous was for 2pm the next day in front of Notre Dame (she could meet them there now that she knew where it was!). The girl who told me didn't want Chantal to know she said anything so we had to figure out a more creative way to thwart it. I was taking half the kids to Versailles the next day so it fell upon the other teacher, Mademoiselle P, to stop her. We decided together that she would just happen to be at Notre Dame at 2pm. As I wasn't actually there, the following conversation might not be recounted exactly as it occurred, but it's close enough!

Mlle P [upon seeing the group of students] : Hey, you guys! I decided to come to Notre Dame too! Have you been inside yet?

Male Student: No, I haven't been in.

Female Student: Me neither.

Mlle P: Oh, you have to see it, it's gorgeous! Let's go, the line isn't too long right now.

Chantal: I've done it before so I think I will wait out here....

Mlle P: Oh, we need to stay together. Come on, let's go!

Now a student of average intelligence would probably be thinking, "The teacher is here! Abort! Abort!" Not our little Chantal....

In line to enter Notre Dame....

Chantal: Oh my gosh, I think I see my friends from New York! Can I go say hi to them?

Mlle P: I doubt it's them, what are the chances they would be here? Let's go in.

While in Notre Dame she kept walking quickly in order to get back outside. Mlle P tried to get her to stay with the group. Finally Chantal said she wanted to wait outside and Mlle P went with her as she had already seen inside as well. She was a quick thinker!

Chantal: Those are my friends from New York!

Mlle P: Did they say they were going to be in France?

Chantal: Yeah, it was a few months ago though.... I'm going to say hi to them.

Mlle P follows her....

Mlle P: Hi! Who are you?

NY Friend [with thick French accent]: Euh, I am Pierre and zat eez Jean-Luc.

Mlle P: How do you know Chantal?

Chantal [trying to talk over boys]: They're my friends from...

"NY" Friends: Euh, we met her een a magasin yesterday.

Mlle P: Chantal cannot talk to you or do anything with you. Good bye.

You have to admire her dedication to keeping that rendez-vous as scheduled.