Visite à la mairie

 Visite à la mairie / Visit to the mayor's office

Bonjour à tous ! Hello everyone!

Today we had the opportunity to visit the mayor's office here in Saumur. Students dressed to impress and showed up promptly at school at 9:00 so we could leave by 9:30. City hall is about 3/4 of a mile from Saint Louis, which we walked in about 20 minutes. We had arranged to meet with the two mayors of Saumur. "Two mayors" is somewhat of a misnomer as one is the Mayor of Saumur (M. Jackie Goulet) and one is the mayor of Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent (M. Marcus Néron) which comprises the outlying areas of the larger city. 

We arrived promptly at 10:00 am. M. Goulet found himself tied up in a meeting, but fortunately, we had planned for just such an occasion as we had also arranged for Mme Judith Grimand, an archivist for the city's long history, and charged with international relations in the area of the patrimony of Saumur. She arrived at city hall at 10:00 to meet us and then she took us inside where, along with M. Néron, provided us with some context for the rich history involving troglodytes over the last 1500 years. 

Troglodyte refers to souterrain dwellings. Saumur is famous for its many and varied cave systems, and over the last millennia and a half, the locals of this area have inhabited many of the various cave systems in one form or another. Today, such dwellings still exist but to a much more modern extent. Additionally, many students have already had the opportunity to visit the mushroom museums, which are housed within two different caves, several wonderful restaurants, and even a nearby shopping area that has shops exclusively within caves. 

One of the cool aspects of this talk was that students had the opportunity to sit at the tables that city delegates normally use. This was something that our lovely on-site coordinator arranged.

Christian poses for a photo during the discussion on Saumur's history

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Aminata smiles for Evie before the discussion

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Brooklyn poses while in her chosen city delegate's seat

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Brooklyn, Rachel Claire,  Abby, and Emily smile for a photo

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Following our discussion on Saumur's rich troglodyte history, students filed into the main hall where they sang the French national anthem, the Marseillaise, which students began learning last week. After only a week of practice, we think they did a great job!

When M. Goulet was finally able to join us, many of the students mingled and chatted with each other, while two students, Jean-Luc and Victor presented gifts from IU.

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Victor and Jean-Luc present the gifts for both mayors to M. Goulet (M. Néron had to step out for a few moments)

The group posed for a picture with the two mayors as well as Mme Grimand and our on-site coordinator, Marie-Odile

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Everyone who was in attendance was welcomed to a reception after meeting the mayors, which involved some cookies and orange juice, and cold water. Students enjoyed some free time taking pictures in the main hall we were in (also known as the marriage hall as it is where all marriages take place).

Hannah, Cassie, and Camille pose for a photo in the reception hall

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

Monick, Brooklyn, Abby, and Rachel Claire pose for a photo near one of the large windows overlooking the city

Victor and Jean-Luc have become the group's go-to (willing, I think) photographers in moments such as this

Photo courtesy of Prof Evie

If host families were free for the morning, they were more than welcome to attend the reception at city hall with us. Below is a picture of the host families who were able to come!

Brooklyn also wanted a photo with her host mom, so Prof Evie happily obliged!

A new post will be uploaded yet this week with a variety of photos from host families, photos of students at lunch at Saint Louis, a picture of Saint Louis, and a few other fun photos as well... stay tuned!