Chhatrapati Shivaji to Charles de Gaulle
From the minute we checked in to the (newly done up!) Mumbai airport, we had this excitement, I can’t begin to put down in words. We were excited for every small bit of action that awaited us in Paris; from the people we were going to meet (some again and some for the first time) to the food, to the sites, to the school, to everything! After the French exchange students, who were no longer just our correspondants, but rather our good friends, had left Mumbai to go back home, none of us could wait till we were out of Mumbai and in Paris (partly to get away from all our work and stress!).
After getting to spend the weekend with our hosts, we had a pretty jam packed week with almost no time to breathe. I guess our hectic Mumbai lifestyle followed us to France. Every day had an extremely ‘go-go-go’ feel to it that, in a way, we loved. We somehow managed to pack in everything from The Eiffel Tower, on which we were given some interesting fact files, The Louvre, a special tour at Roland Garros, to the Palais de Versailles, and even a Croisière Commentée – a boat ride on the river Seine to see Paris by night with a commentary in English, French and Spanish; while also having (the most important part) the best meals every single day. It was one overwhelming experience to visit the world famous French Open venue – Roland Garros! The tour We discovered the history of tennis and prestigious parts of the stadium – the dressing room/lockers of world champions, the autographed wall of the French Open champions such as Stefi Graf, Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal etc., as well as the press conference hall, Centre court, the museum bearing all the above champions’ sportswear, rackets, the French Open trophies and so on.
And if you ask any of us how the food was, you’ll receive a series of hungry moans, nostalgic sighs and the names of the dishes we devoured (well, probably not from the vegetarians). One of my favorite mornings (related to food, surprise surprise) was one where we casually went over to the kitchen facilities in the dorms and made crêpes and mousse au chocolat. Yes, that actually happened! It was a challenge that sounded exciting but also a bit daunting—make crepes and create the perfect chocolate mousse. None of us expected to be cooking delicious dishes, especially when most of us don’t even cook here back home. We broke up into teams and got to make sugar and lemon or strawberry crepes and chocolate mousse. This was also the day that we visited the Food Halls of the Bon Marché in Paris and went to a local marché (market) it was a day for us to see Parisians buying everything from fruits, to cheese, to huîtres (oysters), to escargots (snails), to second hand books.
Another activity we did took place at none other than the royal château, Palais de Versailles, in the Île-de-France region of France. We spent an hour exploring the palace on the hunt for clues and answers to our treasure hunt, in which, not to brag (okay, maybe a little), my partner and I came first, receiving a bag of Jeff de Bruges (a local chocolatier) chocolate which we also demolished. We also did quizzes, crosswords and riddles, for which the winning students were given prizes –Versailles and Marie Antoinette themed stationary! As museum lovers, it was no shock that so many of us thoroughly enjoyed our visit to one of the best museums in the world, The Louvre. We had the amazing opportunity to be guided by one of the TOK and History teachers of Ermitage, Ms. Sheila, who gave us a bilingual tour with a TOK perspective on Art and History. That was certainly one of the highlights of the week. Though, I can’t say the same about seeing La Joconde or The Mona Lisa, partly because all you can see of the small painting is the several hands and cameras dying to catch a glimpse of it!
On two of the days, we got to spend our mornings at the Ermitage International School and sit in on classes, and just generally see a completely different school in action. Needless to say, I didn’t understand much in the Spanish class. However, I was happily surprised to legitimately grasp much of the French A HL class (note: it was almost equivalent to my English A literature and language HL classes here). We also attended a TOK class which gave us perspectives on both CAS and TOK, as we discussed the validity of community service in general and at Ermitage and DAIS in particular, as also the most desirable form of service as a whole.
One of the best parts of the trip, the part that’s not tangible or materialistic in any way, were the people. Sure, we had met a few of the students, whom we had hosted, when they came here. Now we were meeting their families, their friends, their teachers. From day one itself, there was no awkwardness, no shyness. We were like a big group of old friends, bonding and making the most of the time we had, constantly wishing we had longer. I guess, if we’re looking for how this trip helped us in any way was, that it allowed us to explore a new country, develop new skills, immerse ourselves in a new culture and lifestyle, put our social skills to the test and interact with new people from a completely different background only to realize, that we’re not that different. Teenagers everywhere really are the same. Almost all of us were able to adapt to our surroundings, from the school, to our new homes, to the metro station. We dove right in and soaked up everything around us, not wanting to let go of this almost new life.
Finally, people think that you can’t form that strong a bond or relationship in the short time that we visited France or that tears when saying goodbye are not called for, but I know for a fact that every single student on the French exchange trip can prove those statements wrong. No matter how clichéd this next line is, I’m going to say it. There’s absolutely no doubt that our 10 day trip created memories and friendships that will always stay with us. And, I know I’m not speaking for just myself here when I say there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think back and wish I could relive or somehow extend that memorable trip.
Rhea Bhatia,
Year 11