By Clelie JEUX
During the first week of the spring break, 27 Terminale students and two Première students went to Greece with Ms. Cournarie, a Literature and Classical Greek teacher who had been carefully organizing the trip for several months. Ms Cournarie explained that she adores Greece and even though she plans this trip every year, she always finds a new interesting memory to keep. The other two chaperons were Ms. Buée, the Russian teacher, and Ms. Thiault, a member of the secretarial staff. The students selected to go on the trip were either in the Literary Section or are taking Greek as an ‘option’ for the Bac.
On the first day, the group landed in the northern city of Thessaloniki where they were able to visit the Orthodox Monasteries of Meteroa, built on impressive and precipitous rock formations. They received historical background on Eastern Orthodox art and architecture. From there, their trustworthy bus driver brought them to other famous sites, such as the ruins of Delphi, known for its oracle, and of Olympia, the stadium which hosted the original Olympic Games. They spent two days on the Ionian island of Ithaca, home of the mythical figure Ulysses. They arrived in Athens shortly before the start of the Orthodox Easter Vigil, one of the most important Greek holiday. So crowds in Athens were much larger than usual. The group was surprised to find members of the Army in full uniform taking part in the Vigil ceremony on the square of the Metropolis Cathedral. Apparently, the Church and the State are still closely linked. On Easter Sunday, many shops were closed. On Monday, they were able to visit the Parthenon, before flying back to Paris in the late afternoon.
Samuel Dilley (1EA) stated that he “thoroughly enjoyed this trip from a cultural and social point of view. It involved a lot of bus driving, but this allowed a greater diversity in the sites we visited. I enjoyed the views and my fellow travellers. Though in huge majority a year older, they were extremely open, as were our chaperons.” Marie Harlé (1AA) admitted she couldn’t participate in the trip for personal reasons but deeply regretted not going, saying that she “think[s] it would have been really interesting for me as I study both literature and Greek.” In general, every person asked who participated or followed the organisation of the trip had positive comments to make and were very happy with their experience while on La Tour’s trip to Greece.
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