The boys are back!!!!

Last Friday, while I was giving a talk at a conference here in Paris, Giuseppe took Giovanni to the Train Station in Montparnasse: I couldn't believe it. He was going with the school for a vacation-trip to Belle Ile en Mer, in Bretagne. Already? Yes, he is no longer in kindergarten. The group was formed by two classes: the Adaptation class (with 4th and 5th graders kids who mainly speak English and are learning French) and another class of 4th and 5th graders in regular French class. Total: 40 kids and one brave (or should I say crazy?) teacher, Mrs P. accompanied by a couple of supervisors. 

They took the train from Montparnasse Station and after five hours of train plus half hour of boat-trip, they arrived in the Domain that hosted them. 

The place is actually huge, around 50 acres and has horses, animals, playground, soccer field, etc. etc. The kids, who weren't allowed to bring with themselves any electronic device, discovered that there is so much more than video games and TV in life...like  hiking, playing on the beach, catching crabs, playing soccer and they also writing a book, with the help of a poet who instructed them every day: the title is "Je suis amoreux d'une pirate" and tells the adventures of a Canadian boy named Horatio who falls in love with a pirate named Laure. Extremely well done!

Final drawing, by Giovanni Sebastiano

They even had a party of the last night, with music, stroboscopic lights and dance! What a blast! That's when all the drama about who was going to invite who started!!! Already? I guess so....

Of course not everything went perfectly well, as we expected: Giovanni was once sent out of the dormitory room since he tried to engage the other kids in a pillow fight just before bed time....and he was caught by the supervisor! 

During the entire week, we weren't allowed to call them: the only communication system available was a recording machine on which Mme P. and the kids would leave their messages for the parents in the evening. Great system! 

Here he is, back at the train station: when I arrived, I saw a crowd of mothers and fathers, surrounded by kids with their luggage and I couldn't see my son...then....a kid step out of the crowd and start running toward me, jumped on me and hugged me: Giovanni!!!!! How much I missed him!