Pat Sanders: France

Pat Sanders - French Alpine Adventure

My trip began when I arrived in JFK and met my group.  The experience was awkward at first; I felt like an outsider because I was late to the meet up and was one of two ‘southerners’ surrounded by almost all New Yorkers.  However, I quickly felt an inseparable bond with my group which still exists today.  The picture shown here is a view of Paris from the top of L’Arc de Triumph. In the first four days of our journey, we explored the streets of Paris, immediately jumping into French life by visiting Cafes and going to sites such as Le Louvre, La Tour Eiffel, Sacre Coeur, and many others.  

This picture is of the famous canal in the town of Annecy, sometimes referred to as the Venice of the Alps. Our visit to Annecy was a turning point in our trip, because it was when we had to become acclimated to Alpine culture and moved away from a group setting and towards homestay life.  

The picture here was taken at the top of Croix de Toulouse in my homestay town of Briancon.  My host father, two other Americans from my group, and I biked to the top of this hill.  The hill was a very nice place because at the summit, it gave a view of the full valley in which Briancon is situated.  The picture also gives a picturesque view of the French countryside of the region.

The two pictures shown above are of a lake my host family and I hiked to on one of our many day-hikes in Le Vallee de Claree, Nevahce.  The lake contained frigid bright-blue water which only the family German Shepherd, Kiera, dared swim in. The pictures are quintessential to my homestay because my family was so oriented around being outside and appreciating everything that the French Alpine landscape has to offer.

The picture here shows the unity and friendship of everyone in our group, besides the fact that we are all asleep.  The group loved to be together, and took advantage of this beautiful streamside mountain patch of grass for a quick nap.  The picture was taken while on our trek in the Nevache valley while we were on a break for lunch.

 

This final picture is of Barre des Ecrins, the highest peak in Le Parc National des Ecrins standing at 4102 m.  The picture was taken on the final day of our trek, before we returned back to Briancon for one final day visiting our families.  The picture is significant to me because at the end of this 5 day hiking journey, we were presented with this awe-inspiring mountain.  The mountain view was the perfect end to my hike.