A month in Paris! Wonderful for anyone, beneficial to a student of French, invaluable to a French teacher. As a teacher, I am a perpetual student as well, always receptive, nay, eager, to improve my own language skills and my awareness of current trends in French culture. Add to a month of living, breathing, eating and wandering in Paris the excellent courses of the renowned Institut Catholique, and you have the best opportunity possible to enhance the expertise of a French student and teacher. 

The Winthrop-King scholarship provided this exceptional month in Paris with a simple, but comfortable, lodging at a residence ten minutes by metro from the heart of the city and the Institut. Classes were selected for us on the basis of a placement test given Day 1. In my main class, a small group which met every day, I received an excellent grammar and usage review, but the main benefit to me as a teacher was in observing the methods of our French Parisian teacher who did a very thorough job of explaining and modeling with never a word of English. Other classes were lecture sessions on culture, literature and history of art and several workshops of which I chose argumentation and the French cinéma. This variety made the school days busy and interesting. 

Cultural excursions enriched the experience. Professor Cloonan led us on introductory tours through the Louvre and Musée D'Orsay and, with our student cards, we could return free as well as avoid the line-up for entry. The highlights were the visit to Monet's home, the ballet "Romeo & Juliet", and a classical string concert in the Saint Chapelle. 

In every spare moment I was on foot through the city. Literally. I jogged the narrow streets as well as the gardens of the Luxembourg, the Tuileries and the Park at Vincennes. I walked a different quartier each chance I had. I mingled with the Parisians. I frequented delicious little restaurants with inexpensive lunch menus where I became known by the proprietors. I happened upon a children's choir with voices of angels rehearsing in Notre Dame, investigated the excavations of the origins of Paris underneath the cathedrale, and searched for famous graves in the Père Lachaise cemetery. I went to a fashion show in one of the big department stores and to a cabaret called Le Lapin Agile on Montmartre, painted by the Impressionists, where hopeful amateur songwriters belt out their creations in throaty voices. I shopped the bouquinistes along the Seine and gathered memorabilia for my classroom. Mentally I stored away the memories and countless details that would crop up daily in my classes at home. 

For myself, a month in Paris was rejuvenating, refreshing my love for all things French and inspiring me to share that love with my students. It was inoubliable!