Saturday, June 11, 2022

Our First Day!

Bonjour à tous et à toutes ! Hello everyone !

We have arrived in Saumur. I want to apologize to those parents who I spoke with on Thursday when I said I would likely be able to update the blog sometime Friday evening France time. After our initial arrival yesterday, the trip to Saumur, and then arranging the pickup of students with their host families, we all were extremely tired! We are now well-rested and ready for the coming week!

Below is a picture in the Indianapolis airport of the students: 


During our wait for the flight to Detroit and the layover before boarding our flight to Paris, many students socialized, played card games, and generally spent time acquainting themselves with one another. 

We had a brief mishap in the Detroit airport, in which, during our search for the correct gate for our flight to Paris, we accidentally exited security and had to go through TSA again, but the students handled it like absolute pros... probably since they had just done the same process a few hours prior. 

Below is a picture of the plane to Paris. It was an Airbus A380 consisting of three sections of three seats each in the main cabin. You'll have to excuse the image quality, as the window was somewhat tinted and had a slight grain in texture because of it.


Once in Paris, and after clearing customs, we reunited with Evie and Hannah, a student who met Evie at Charles de Gaulle prior to our arrival. On the bus, Evie was gracious enough to snap a quick photo of the students (as well as Shane and me). You likely saw this photo yesterday in an email sent by IUHPFL.


We stopped briefly for lunch at a roadside cafeteria prior to arriving in Saumur. Once in the city, the students were quite excited to meet their host parents. We went over some brief information for them to keep in mind (which we also covered in English at the Indianapolis airport). Around 4 pm, parents began arriving. Below are pictures of the 20 student host families as well as the 3 families who will host an instructor each.

Host Families and Students

Brooklyn with her host mom, Caroline

Camille with her host parents, Deborah and Mickael

Molly with her host mom, Amélie

Cassie with her host family, the Lavievilles

Ruby with her host mom, Térésa, and her host sister, Lorena

Avery with her host family, the Queteys

Katrina and her host mom, Sandra, and her host sister, Jade


Monick with her host family, the Branlys 

Summer with her host mom, Julie

Annalyse and Grace with their host mom, Laurence 

Emily with her host mom, Sonia

Yara with her host dad, Marc

Christian and Jean-Luc with their host dad, Dominique 

Dawn-Cheryl with her host dad, Pascal

Mara with her host mom, Brigitte 

Luka and Victor with their host parents, the Orricos

Aminata with her host family, the Bertrons

Rachel-Claire with her host parents, Lydie and Laurent, and their dog

Hannah and Abby with their host mom, Béatrice

Evie with her host mom, Sandrine 

Families of Instructors:

Thomas with his host mom, Jo

Evie with her host mom (and on-site coordinator), Marie Odile

Shane with his host mom, Mireille



Saturday, April 9, 2022

Bienvenue ! Welcome!

Bonjour !

Hello everyone!

We are incredibly excited to share this year's IUHPFL 2022 experience in Saumur with you all and we are looking forward to an exciting summer in France with all of our incredible stagiaires!

If you are wondering where Saumur is, below is a map of France with our future host city marked: 

Situated between Angers, a city known for its apocalyptic tapestry and university, and Tours, a city known for speaking the "purest" French, Saumur may seem like a hidden gem, but it holds its own with a variety of cultural institutions; most notable among them is the Cadre Noire, a renowned equestrian school that historically trained the French's calvary and continues the tradition still today. 

Located in the Loire Valley in the department Maine-et-Loire, this region is known predominantly for red and white wine, as well as some sparkling variations, certain kinds of goat cheese, and castles.
Our trip to Saumur from Paris will take somewhere between four and five hours by private coach, with a stop for lunch in between.

This blog will be updated regularly once we all arrive in Saumur in June. Until then please enjoy these photos of Saumur featuring its castle as well as a photo of a montgolfière (hot air balloon) over the Loire river (a common sight), both of which Thomas took in 2016.



À bientôt !

Evie, Shane, & Thomas
IUHPFL 2022
Team Saumur, France