Tuesday, June 1 1999 : Field Trips REMEMBER: YOU CAN CLICK ON IMAGES BORDERED IN ORANGE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF THE SAME IMAGE Due to the campus electrical shutdown over Memorial Day weekend, no reports could be filed for the past few days. This report covers activities since last Friday, May 28th. On Friday afternoon, we headed for the nearby village of Marlens to watch the local PTA prepare bread for a school benefit bake sale. The school's classroom had been emptied of desks, and we watched in the damp and warm room as bakers kneaded the dough by hand in the traditional way. Many baskets around the room held the rising dough which was soon to be baked. We then walked uphill to the center of town to the communal bread oven to watch the next step of the bread-making operation. The bread oven was being heated in preparation for the first batch of breads to be baked; smoke was streaming out of the building; as we waited for the first batch to come out, we drank wine with the bakers and sang French songs. Eventually, the breads came out, somewhat underbaked and flat, but tasty nonetheless. There were still five six more loads to bake, but we returned home to rest for the next day's visit of Annecy. On Saturday, we went into Annecy on a hot and sunny day. After posing for the traditional group shot in front of the old prisons, we visited several churches before climbing to the hilltop castle that overlooks the city. The view of the city of Annecy was luminous in the clear morning light, as can be seen in the panoramic image below... The castle contains several collections, and offers an impressive view of medieval castle architecture as well. We examined Bronze Age and Gallo-Roman artifacts, traditional Savoyard statuary and furniture, and some "Diables de Bessans," folk carvings of devils characteristic of and unique to the mountain village of the same name. From the castle, we descended back into the old town, into the midst of the monthly antiques fair that fills the streets. After wandering about for a while, we went into a park to have our picnic lunch. We visited more of the town in the afternoon, but returned early to Faverges to prepare for the AFA banquet. As usual, AFA President Yvette Millot had organized a fine meal, and the musical entertainment was quite good. Students, families and friends, numbering some 140 people, savored their magret de canard / gratin dauphinois meal before hitting the dance floor. The cold cuts covered entire tables and were displayed in colorful and visually pleasing arrangements. Needless to say, they were quickly dispatched onto the plates of the hungry attendees! Funds raised by the banquet are used to cover expenses of the June12/13 bus trip to Nîmes, Arles, and the Camargue area of Provence. The city of Faverges graciously offered the use of the hall, and many local merchants contributed prizes for the raffle that was held at the banquet. We are grateful for the support and untiring work of the kind and generous people of Faverges. Sunday was a day of rest for the tired participants of the banquet... but on Monday, we once again hit the road, heading this time in the direction of Geneva, stopping on the way at the Dolmen in Reignier. This structure, some five thousand years old, is a stone-age gravesite. Originally covered with earth, it now stands bare after thousands of years of erosion (and grave-robbing) removed the protective coat of earth that originally covered the structure. From Reignier, we drove into Geneva to visit the old town and St Pierre cathedral. After visiting the cathedral, we broke for lunch before heading across town to the UN compound, which was ominously surrounded by metal gates, barbed wire, and hundreds of soldiers, a grim reminder of the war in Serbia, not so far away. We had a somewhat abbreviated tour, some of the conferences rooms being in use, and the park being closed for security reasons. The guide was diplomatic enough not to point out that the US, while the richest nation on Earth, refuses to pay its UN dues, and is one of the few nations to have refused to ratify the new treaty banning the use of land mines. This treaty was ratified in the great hall decorated by the Spanish artist José Maria Sert, which can be seen in the photo at right below. Leaving the UN compound, we couldn't resist sneaking a few photos of the guards (who knew perfectly well what we were doing). Back in France, we stopped at the Ponts de la Caille, two bridges spanning a 600-foot deep gorge. The older structure, a suspension bridge dedicated in 1839, is now open to pedestrians. It proved irresistible for some to peer between the planks down to the rapids below. The group then assembled for a group picture which can be seen in a large version by clicking on the small image below right, or in 3D if you have those silly red/blue glasses by clicking here ! We returned to Faverges in early evening. Some students relaxed at a café, as others prepared for their bike ride home. In addition to our normal class schedule (civ courses every day and conversation groups twice a week), on Wednesday afternoon we are to visit the archeological digs in Faverges. On Thursday afternoon, our education majors will visit the local school's special ed program and discuss what they observe with the school's faculty after classes. We are traveling to Paris on Friday for a four-day visit. The next report will most likely be posted on Sunday evening, from Paris. Questions? Comments? Please write by clicking the @ link below     You are visitor No. (more or less) to one of our "Trip" pages in quite a while. Thanks for stopping by!   Page and images ©1999 by Robert F. Jeantet End of the 1999 trip05 page