l'aventure continue

So...as you can tell from the lack of posts, I haven't had a lot of free time lately.
We had a fantastic visit to the Arc de Triomphe and most of the kids opted to walk ALL the way back to the hotel with Tony, Amanda and me. The rest headed back via the metro with Matt, Leanne and Jordan. Jacqueline was already back at the hotel with the sick students.
We had a fantastic stroll back down the Champs Élysées then stopped at Place de la Concorde for photos. Unfortunately, Tuileries was already closed so we walked along the Seine and then through the Louvre so the students could see the Pyramides lit up at night. They also got a chance to look from le Petit Arc to the obelisk to the Arc de Triomphe - it always amazes me what a feat of engineering that would be even in this day and age let alone back then!
At first I was worried that some students had opted to walk all the way back in hopes of sneaking off to a bar but they were fantastic! They were all so enthusiastic about the little history tidbits I had for them! It really was a night to make me remember why we've been doing all this!
When we got back to the hotel, one of the sick students had still been throwing up and the other had developed a fever. The vomiter assured me she was starting to feel better and didn't want to go to the hospital. So, the other girl and I headed over to Hôtel Dieu to get her checked out. It was definitely interesting navigating the medical system. So very different from Ontario! Luckily it wasn't busy so we were seen by a doctor within a few minutes, she was diagnosed with a UTI, given a prescription and we were back on our way. We caused a bit of a kerfuffle waiting for the taxi to come back and get us because I was going to take a picture of her and the receptionist panicked - apparently the flash would alert the hospital security and I could be arrested!!! Thank goodness he stopped me in time- that would have been a difficult one to explain to the board of education!!!!

The next morning while everyone else headed to the Louvre, I was back at the hotel with sick students. The vomiter came down for breakfast but then had to turn right around and head back upstairs. The UTI and I headed to the pharmacy. We got her one dose cure-all sachet of antibiotics (not sure why we can't have something like that in Canada). I forced the poor vomiter to drink some Gatorade for my own peace of mind and then the UTI and I went for a short walk to a bakery and fruit market. We checked on the vomiter who had now gone 3 hours without throwing up but was still in bed then headed to Montmartre.

We arrived about 45 minutes before the rest of the group and had time to walk around. In order to avoid the sketchy, sleazy men who kept following us on the main street of Montmartre, we ducked down a side street and stumbled upon the Montmartre cemetery. It was unlike anything either of us had ever seen! We had a few minutes just to wander until it was time to meet up with the group.

As Jacqueline already posted, we had a lovely afternoon walking around Montmartre. Upon returning to the hotel, I picked up a pregnancy test just to rule out a cause of vomiting. Thank goodness it came back negative!!! AND I think the student was also very relieved because as soon as we got the test results, she made a miraculous recovery - even joined us at the Eiffel Tower that night!

I finally got a chance to nap on the train ride to Avignon and was ready to go again when we arrived. Despite the rain, we had a great evening last night. I've already made 2 trips to the pharmacy here because of the number of students with the sniffles and sore throats. I am learning LOTS of new French vocab in order to navigate health issues! :D

Today we had a wonderful day in the country. We started the day at Pont du Gard. It was breathtaking! Even after seeing it, I am still marvelling at the fact that the Romans had running water in Nîmes almost 2000 years ago! No wonder their empire stood for so long - they weren't stupid people!

The tour guide took us to a quaint little town for lunch and shopping. Then, we headed to Châteauneuf du Pape for our wine tasting. I've been looking forward to this from the moment David Temple suggested it! I love the wine from there! The guide did an excellent job walking all of the students and adults through la dégustation of a white wine (available ONLY in Châteauneuf) and a red wine. Unfortunately they can't ship wine to Canada so I had to limit my purchases afterward! However, Amanda bought a bottle of red for me from Temple and Temple as a thank you! I'm the one who should be thanking them for this fabulous trip!

We are now back at the hotel for supper, some free time tonight and then back on the train to Nice tomorrow. I can't believe we will be leaving soon! I've been having such a great time that I am NOT looking forward to going back to school!