Three more students soon arrived on their connecting flight from London : Lauren, Michael and Rachel waited a long time at the baggage carousel until they realized that Rachel's suitcase was simply not going to show up.

Lauren and Michael came out of the customs area and joined the first group outside while Rachel waited in a long line in the baggage claims office.

Fortunately, within about an hour and a half, her suitcase showed up, inbound on another flight from London.

Rachel then joined the others outside for a quick picnic lunch provided by Yvette. We amused ourselves throwing French bread crumbs to the Swiss pigeons who looked not suprisingly very much like American pigeons.

Finally, at 1:20pm (and twenty minutes late) the last group of four students landed at Geneva inbound from Frankfurt.

Graham, Carolyn, Ramona and Jeff had better luck with their bags than had Rachel and were soon coming out of the airport terminal with Yvette.

We started on the ride back to Faverges, crossing the border from Switzerland into France. We drove to Annecy, then along the west bank of the lake all the way down to Faverges.

Most of the students enjoyed the scenery, but a couple of them, exhausted by the long trip from Ohio, soon fell asleep, much to the amusement of the others as Prof. Jeantet snapped the photo at left...

As we neared our destination, it became clear that we would miss our intended arrival time by just a couple of minutes.

As the huge bus pulled into the narrow parking area, we could see that the French host families were waiting for us in the Faverges market square.

As the students got out of the bus, they were introduced to their respective host families and greeted with the customary kisses on the cheek. The students had been forewarned of this custom and enthusiastically engaged in the right cheek - left cheek smooches that are so natural to the French.

In the photo at right, Lauren and her French dad are exchanging bises (pronounced "beez") as her French mom looks on.

In this photo we can see, from left, Carolyn, Amy Smoot (Faverges 2005, UA '06), and Chelsea chatting in the parking lot. Amy, who has just completed a year as an Assistante d'Anglais in a French school in Normandie, showed up the previous evening for a short stay with her 2005 host family before she returns this coming Wednesday to the US for
graduate studies in California.

And finally, as she was beginning to look like abandoned waif standing all alone with her suitcase in the increasingly deserted parking lot, Ramona saw her French dad drive up with Matthew.

In the photo at right, Ramona laughs as she hears Yvette scolding Roger Duret for being late. Though she may not have grasped all of the words, Ramona evidently understood the tone of Yvette's spirited declaration.

The students will be resting for the rest of the day.

Monday, May 14

On Monday morning, Prof. Jeantet returned yet again to Geneva to pick up the last two participants. Theresa and Annaliese were dutifully waiting at the agreed-upon spot. After loading the very large suitcases into the very small car, we drove back towards Annecy, stopping in the town of Cruseilles for a petit pain au chocolat (or what you may know as a "chocolate croissant").

Despite the poor weather, the countryside was beautiful: the rain of the past few days has made the vegetation green and lush; the clouds streaming past the mountains add a magical touch to the spectacular views.

The entire group will be gathering in Faverges on Monday afternoon for a walking tour of the city, so that no one can say on Tuesday that they didn't know where the classes are going to be held !

Next report, probably Thursday.