Recounting Mon. May 31st : Day with M. Ducoin
My host family is a family that loves tradition. And I, for one, love their traditions almost as much as I appreciate them as human beings. One of the things that they’ve been doing for their host kids is having a surprise day near the end of their homestay- where one does ‘three things’ with Monsieur Ducoin for an afternoon. These events are not revealed until the day of the adventure… but you are allowed to bring a friend. :)
So Alex P. and I started out by eating lunch with the Ducoins and then the first part of our adventure was revealed : Visiting the sewers of Paris. I was pretty excited- I definitely wouldn’t have gone to visit them on my own and didn’t even know that visiting them was possible! I am pretty sure that you cannot venture down below in NY like that.
There were many school field trips with us that day (love the mannequin):
Alex and I, amidst sewage.
Done exploring the sewer system or as the booklet advertised “Discovering Paris from Below”, we walked back to the car. M. Ducoin chimed that the next visit would be much more interesting. In my head I tried to think of oddball things that we could do.
It turned out to be the best thing ever.
A chocolate shop 2 minutes away. Better yet- I was bought some chocolate!!!
(I will proudly consume it tomorow on my birthday)
CUTIES/ LOVE THIS PHOTO:
After this sweet part, we drove to an are of Paris near Bon Marché- a famous supermarket/superstore. We turned into a street to find Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal- a chapel dedicated to Catherine Labouré, a Parisian nun who was visited by the Virgin Mary three times, according to legend/belief. There is a small altar erected to her in the Chapel. We actually couldn’t go in to see it because there was an opera going, in German (very beautiful, but all in German).
I found M. Ducoin’s intentions to be incredibly touching. He gave both Alex and I some medals which he told us to give to those we loved and cared about to ensure that they would be taken care of. Although our religious views may differ, I respect his traditions and the fact that he wishes me and my loved ones all the best.
After all this, I went to meet the girl that I am currently babysitting. More about her later…
Most importantly, Monday night was my last official dinner with the Ducoins. Per tradition, they had asked me to come up with three things I liked the most, three things I didn’t like during my stay and three things I thought that they could improve. Before I got to my list (I only had two bad things and two things to improve- one of them was to build a pool in the garden :P) we ate. Mme Ducoin made my favorite dish-ratatouille and M. Ducoin opened a bottle of champagne.
He also made a toast which made me very teary- thus I am happy that it was short and we started eating.
I then slowly started moving out. I ate with Eleonore for the last time last night and she gave me a great hug goodbye (they don’t really hug otherwise). Today I moved the last of my things out and it was with great sadness that I left my key on M. Ducoin’s desk. I will miss so many things about them and my stay.
Luckily I will get to see them again, and possibly visit their country home in July. So nothing is lost :)
