This past Sunday my school left for the Classe Verte, a trip to the town of Angers. We were going to stay for a week in the Abbey St. Maur which is an abbey from the Middle Ages. We took a high speed train to get there. When we got to the station in Angers we took a bus to the Zoo de Doue. We ate at a restaurant and got into groups to tour the zoo. Our group took a trail that passed by almost every animal in the zoo. The animals had really big enclosures. My favorites were the vultures, the bats, and the leopards. The vulture cage wasn't exactly a cage. There was a big fence around an enormous area. You could go in behind the fence. You could watch them eat and after they ate they would sometimes wipe their beaks on your pants. After the zoo we took long bus ride to the Abbey St. Maur which is where we stayed the whole week. All the boys from my class - there were nine of us - stayed in one big room with bunk beds. At night it took hours to get to sleep because it was light until literally 12 o'clock, and it was so hot that we laid on top of the beds instead of in them.
The next day, Monday, we went to the Castle of Angers. People had inhabited this site for thousands of years. We saw tiny models of how the castle was through the ages. We went to the tallest tower of the castle. They used to have a windmill there so that they could make flour. We saw a tapestry called The Apocolypse which is over 100 feet long and not to mention is the longest tapestry in the World. The tapestry was begun in 1373. We had a nice picnic there by a fountain. I had a really fun time because we played army tag. Then we took a guided tour around the old town of Angers. On the tour I didn't learn much except that there must be many definitions of the words "treasure hunt", and that Gothic style flamboyant doors are really boring. When we got back we played soccer for a long time and had a snack of donuts filled with Nutella and mint syrup. After dinner back at the Abbey we had a thing called "veiller" where we did a bunch of dancing games and they tested us on our knowledge of all kinds of songs.
On Tuesday we visited another Abbey from the Middle Ages and don't ask me the name because I forget. I saw little room that had pictures of the story of Jesus. Then we saw the gardens which were fairly small but looked very nice. We saw the dining room which was huge, but all the table had been sold during the French revolution. The kitchen was awesome because it used to have 22 chimneys but now they have 12. The tops of the chimneys were domed shaped. They used these for hanging fish to smoke. Priests and nuns weren't allowed to leave the abbey for their whole life. They had a big wall surrounding the abbey so that they couldn't leave. Inside the walls they had a big garden and a lot of the things you would have on the outside, so that they wouldn't want to leave. That day when we got back we went to a humongous orchard by the Abbey that was filled with rose bushes. We played for a long time. We were playing tag and I was going through a small hole and hedge to get away form someone who was "it". I ran into someone else who was trying to go through the hole at the same time and I tripped and fell. My legs and head got all cut up, and I didn't even notice until we go to the place where we were having goutter (snack) . For goutter we had chocolate croissants.
On Wednesday we went to the Chateau de Breze. The outside was really small but the underground area seemed like the size of two castles put together. There were tunnels and caves where they lived and underground stables. There were bakeries and wine making shops. If an enemy attacked they would be trapped in a big holes where they would have hot oil and rocks thrown on them from holes in the ceiling above them. They also had holes in the sides for shooting at people. It was possible to take the castle but very hard.
On Thursday we went to the Cadre Noir de Saumur, which is one of the three best horse schools in the world. We saw a show and got a guided tour of the stables. The three famous jumps are the cabriole, the courbette, and the croubade . The horses were really awesome. There were two horses there who couldn't eat the food there and were only fed newspapers from England that have a particular kind of ink which is edible. On Thursday night, our last night there, we had a "boume" which is basically a disco party. There we had lots of candy which we brought for the train but hadn't finished. Pretty much everyone dance with a really lot of girls - I mean a lot. I danced with about 8 or 9 girls. But don't worry it wasn't slow dancing.
Friday we visited the Moulin or mill. This was a water mill which was used to grind flour. We made bread there that was actually pretty good and we got to take it home. After the mill we took the train and went home. All in all, it was a really, really fun week.
The next day, Monday, we went to the Castle of Angers. People had inhabited this site for thousands of years. We saw tiny models of how the castle was through the ages. We went to the tallest tower of the castle. They used to have a windmill there so that they could make flour. We saw a tapestry called The Apocolypse which is over 100 feet long and not to mention is the longest tapestry in the World. The tapestry was begun in 1373. We had a nice picnic there by a fountain. I had a really fun time because we played army tag. Then we took a guided tour around the old town of Angers. On the tour I didn't learn much except that there must be many definitions of the words "treasure hunt", and that Gothic style flamboyant doors are really boring. When we got back we played soccer for a long time and had a snack of donuts filled with Nutella and mint syrup. After dinner back at the Abbey we had a thing called "veiller" where we did a bunch of dancing games and they tested us on our knowledge of all kinds of songs.
On Tuesday we visited another Abbey from the Middle Ages and don't ask me the name because I forget. I saw little room that had pictures of the story of Jesus. Then we saw the gardens which were fairly small but looked very nice. We saw the dining room which was huge, but all the table had been sold during the French revolution. The kitchen was awesome because it used to have 22 chimneys but now they have 12. The tops of the chimneys were domed shaped. They used these for hanging fish to smoke. Priests and nuns weren't allowed to leave the abbey for their whole life. They had a big wall surrounding the abbey so that they couldn't leave. Inside the walls they had a big garden and a lot of the things you would have on the outside, so that they wouldn't want to leave. That day when we got back we went to a humongous orchard by the Abbey that was filled with rose bushes. We played for a long time. We were playing tag and I was going through a small hole and hedge to get away form someone who was "it". I ran into someone else who was trying to go through the hole at the same time and I tripped and fell. My legs and head got all cut up, and I didn't even notice until we go to the place where we were having goutter (snack) . For goutter we had chocolate croissants.
On Wednesday we went to the Chateau de Breze. The outside was really small but the underground area seemed like the size of two castles put together. There were tunnels and caves where they lived and underground stables. There were bakeries and wine making shops. If an enemy attacked they would be trapped in a big holes where they would have hot oil and rocks thrown on them from holes in the ceiling above them. They also had holes in the sides for shooting at people. It was possible to take the castle but very hard.
On Thursday we went to the Cadre Noir de Saumur, which is one of the three best horse schools in the world. We saw a show and got a guided tour of the stables. The three famous jumps are the cabriole, the courbette, and the croubade . The horses were really awesome. There were two horses there who couldn't eat the food there and were only fed newspapers from England that have a particular kind of ink which is edible. On Thursday night, our last night there, we had a "boume" which is basically a disco party. There we had lots of candy which we brought for the train but hadn't finished. Pretty much everyone dance with a really lot of girls - I mean a lot. I danced with about 8 or 9 girls. But don't worry it wasn't slow dancing.
Friday we visited the Moulin or mill. This was a water mill which was used to grind flour. We made bread there that was actually pretty good and we got to take it home. After the mill we took the train and went home. All in all, it was a really, really fun week.
3 comments:
Cameron, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
If I remember right you were born on your parents 5th wedding anniversary.
Love from Maine, Libby
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You have your present awaiting you here in California...all you need to do to claim it is make yourself available to hang out some time when you're home! Hope you had a great birthday, Cams! Love and Hugs! Miss you guys like CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZY!
Linz
I just heard "PENNY LANE" by the Beatles on the radio yesterday, and while I was singing to it, I was also thinking of you! Hope all is well! Excited about your trip to CALIFORNIA? Next week, right?! Miss you Cams!
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