Today was an eventful and wonderful day. The weather was sunny and mid to upper 70s. We boarded a bus at 8am for Carcassonne. The bus ride was long (4 hours) but this was our opportunity to go to France and the French students (and teacher) were foaming at the mouth at the opportunity to finally use their language skills. We drove through varied terrain, mountains, groves of trees that I can't identify, and lot and lots of vineyards.
When we arrived in Carcassonne, we surprised the students with a very special dinner. Many of you will remember Carla Amman, who taught foreign languages at HCS for many years. When she passed away the family established a fund to support foreign language and culture. The Amman's were kind enough to agree to sponsor a dinner in Carla's honor, and it was sublime. Quoting Phil D, "What was the sauce on that chicken? That is probably the best meal I have ever had in my life." Dinner began with a wonderful salad, the most interesting ingredient of which was fromage de chevre en moule (goat cheese). It was definitely a love it or leave it. I loved it, Phil had three servings, and Katherine made the scariest face I have ever seen when she tried a microgram of it. The entree was a chicken dish served with a tomato/pepper based sauce and everyone loved it once we debunked the rumor we started that it was rabbit. The rabbit (chicken) was served with pommes frites. Dessert was a chocolate cake with a cream filling, whipped cream and served with vanilla sauce. Adults had espresso with dessert.
On behalf of the students and chaperones, thank you very much Howie and the Amman daughters. You made a very special part of the trip possible.
How nice! What a nice way to remember Carla with a special meal. She loved to eat and she loved to cook. She would have been honored! Thanks, Laura (Carla's sister)
ReplyDeleteHow very wonderful! Glad you guys are having a terrific time. The New Hartford group didn't even get off the ground because of airline difficulties.
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