Un Jour à l'école (A day at school)

Bonjour!
      Today we stepped into the shoes of a French high school student.  Some of us walked to school, some rode a bike, some took the tram, and some were dropped off in a car.  School begins at 8am for some students, but not until 9 for others.  The schedule is different each day of the week.  Students have 15 minutes of "recreation" in the morning and the afternnoon, and most have 1-2 hours for lunch.  The day ends as late as "18 heures", or 6pm for most.  It's a long day! 
     We followed the schedule of our French host brother or sister.  Some of the classes we saw today were: German, English, French, Chinese, Math (Statistics), and Chemistry.  The English classes were especially interesting as the teacher invited the students to introduce themselves and allowed time for questions from the French students.  I was able to observe several classes as well.  It was fun to see the students passing in the hallways between classes! 
     Tomorrow the students will see more classes in the morning and we will eat lunch together à la cantine (cafeteria).  In the afternoon we will take our last walk in downtown Orleans to do some shopping and see the statue dedicated to Joan of Arc as well as the Cathedral St. Croix.  Students will have their last meal with their families tomorrow eveing and then pack their suitcase for our early Thursday morning train to Paris!
      A demain!!!