There is no more powerful place to learn than in the field, making observations about and investigating what is real, not confined to the pages of a textbook. Traveling to learn has been an integral part of The Phoenix School’s curriculum for 27 years, whether we travel down the street, throughout the country, or across the ocean. This year Phoenix 5th-7th graders traveled to Paris to visit a fellow classmate and learn first hand about the art, architecture, culture, and history of the City of Lights. Before boarding the plane, we studied French so we could speak, we researched the Impressionists, the monuments and historic sites of Paris, and we learned how to take the metro, what foods to try, and how to serve cheese the Parisian way…..everything we could pack into our studies before we left so we would fully appreciate our experiences in Paris.

As the teacher who accompanied the group, I was truly amazed listening to each take turns being the “guide” in Paris for the place or topic he/she had studied in preparation for our trip. These eight kids amazed the Parisians they met with how well they could speak French after only 14 sessions and how much background information they had which allowed them to get so much more out of their experiences.

Our Paris travelers have each selected a piece of journal writing and a favorite piece of artwork as a reflection of their Paris trip.

Let yourself be transported to Paris and imagine how amazing a journey this has been for our older students. Learning is everywhere!

Read student reflections.

Barbara McFall
Head of School

Matthew Tremblay

When I went inside Notre Dame, I was astounded by the beauty of the 700-year-old building. Inside the great cathedral the choir was singing, creating a background sound much more attractive than that of the tourists outside. One thing I found surprising was the complete silence of the place, except for the choir and the slight pitter-patter of feet; all of the noisy, obnoxious tourists from outside seemed to surrender to the complete sacredness of Notre Dame. I felt so calm inside the cathedral, every part of me seemed to relax and slow down, and when the great bells rang in the tower above us, my entire body shook with the sound. However, it was when I saw the rose window that I knew for a fact that I would never, ever forget this trip. The whole window is 13 meters in diameter, and must have been made of at least eight thousand pieces of glass; each portal had a crystal-clear picture of a saint, or a man at work. All of the light from every sparkling piece of glass was shining across the hall, making it the brightest part of the entire cathedral. Out of the entire week I was in Paris, I will remember the hour and a half I was in Notre Dame the best. I will remember it for my whole life.

Notre Dame is a name that is known all over the world. Even though many cathedrals in Europe bear this famous name, the original Notre Dame can only be found in the center of Paris, on an island called Ile dé la Cité. The High Gothic style of the 11-13th centuries is displayed here in one of its most beautiful examples.

The buttresses form a cage around the cathedral, which follows the walls upward before joining into the roof. These buttresses along with the unique pointed arches gracefully supply beauty to the building, while supporting the weight of the roof by channeling the force outward and away from the building.

Arches are everywhere in the cathedral, on the west facade, in the doorways, even in the windows! The pointed arches make one look up, always. The roof is heavy on its own, and when it rains, the water would always collect in the dents in the roof, however architects soon came up with an ingenious idea of getting the water off the roof. They installed a series of trenches running from the center of the roof down to the edges, and then the trenches continued to go out even farther from the building by going on top of the buttresses. Upon reaching the end of the buttress, the water would be launched away from the cathedral through the mouth of a gargoyle. Gargoyles are sculptures of animals, an eagle or monkey for example, mounted on the ends of buttresses and sticking out away from the building. Notre Dame cathedral has gargoyles everywhere, above the doors, inside the buttresses, on the bell towers, all over. It was amazing.

Olivia Hanna

At the beautiful sculpture garden of the Musee Rodin I saw the most amazing masterpieces I have ever seen. Rodin seemed to create a real human out of his materials. It was as if an actual person was standing there in front of me. Every sculpture showed movement even if it was meant to be still. The life-sized figures had a calming effect; probably because of their precise detail they hush their viewers leaving them in awe. The busts were magnificent; some carved out of marble and plaster, some made of bronze. Rodin captured every little detail in a person such as a small wrinkle or a vein. Each bust was created in a short amount of time, some taking only days.

I learned so much about Rodin. My favorite piece of information was that Rodin was one of the most famous people to cast detailed bronze sculptures using the method of creating an armature, adding clay, and making a plaster mold. By doing this he would create a figure that looked just like a living person, which made critics think he put the clay over a real person’s arm or leg. One of the first things I noticed was that many small sculptures on the Gates of Hell are large sculptures such as the Thinker and The Three Shades. Rodin exhibited the smaller sculptures before putting them on the Gates of Hell and started making the large ones around 1894. The Thinker is extremely tall on large platforms of stone and is probably the most visited place at the Musee Rodin. I was astonished when I learned that Rodin was buried under the Thinker. This was my favorite place in Paris and it was definitely the most memorable.

Matthew Wysocki

Does the Tour Eiffel live up to its reputation? The answer is yes. The Tour Eiffel is obviously Paris’s trump card when it comes to attracting tourists and is the most colossal monument I have ever seen. However, it looked different up close. It was crowded with legions of tourists passing between souvenir shops and the prestigious restaurant. Before I went to the top, I was not sure this legendary monument to the French Revolution was worth waiting in a line as far as the eye can see. But being there at the peak of its height proved to me that thinking the tower was mediocre while I was in line was wrong, despite the fact it felt like an Antarctic wind was blowing. I was astonished by the 3rd floor’s breathtaking height. The view of Paris made even the most grand of monuments such as the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame look like lowly tan buildings, putting them all to shame. This was a world-class experience for me in a whole different league from the French monuments like the Arc de Triomphe that I visited during my trip to Paris.

Jeffrey Childs

As I was waking down a street in Paris I saw the buildings lined with stalls and street markets. The street markets were like someone cut off part of a supermarket and stuck it in a wall on the street. Inside a street market were perfectly ripe fruit that looked so sweet and juicy, and smelled awesome. The strawberries were bright red and not bruised. At first I thought they were the fake ones that people use in commercials. Moments later I had a strawberry in my mouth. It tasted magnificent. The outside wasn’t bitter and the inside wasn’t sour. After eating my strawberry, I continued down the street. My impression was it seemed like a street in Arabia with street vendors yelling to people to come look at their quilts or vegetables in their stalls. The stalls looked like lean-tos with crates of food or cloth.

After looking at the street market foods, I walked into the supermarket where I became really hungry. All the food looked delicious. I thought I was going to starve as the chickens spun on the rotisserie making my mouth water. They had sections for everything; a wine section, a meat section, a fish section that had shark, and more. The scents of all the food mixed together and smelled like heaven.

I didn’t like how, in the meat section, they kept on all the parts of the animals. The rabbits still had their eyes, teeth, liver, and claws. The chickens had their heads and eyes. I wanted to buy all the delicious foods I saw, but then I saw a giant blue lobster for €163! If I ever go back to Paris I’d go to the markets, hopefully with more money.

Zach Barshevsky

As soon as the boat docked I jumped on board. I ran up the stairs and jumped into the first seat available and got my camera ready. My excitement was so overpowering that I was bouncing in my seat when the tour started. The first bridge on the tour was the Pont Nuef. I finally got to see how long it was. It went across the Seine and then over Ile de la Cité. I almost burst out laughing when I saw the carved faces on the Pont Nuef. Some were spitting out their tongues and others were just frowning. I learned that those faces represent people who thought the bridge would collapse. Both friends and enemies of Henry V had representatives in the faces on this incredible bridge. But they were wrong since it is the oldest bridge in Paris!

As we continued down the river our tour guide said, in at least three different languages, “Look to your left.” There, right in front of me was the 1056 foot tall Tour Eiffel looming over me. I could finally see it up close. I had plenty of time to look since that’s where the tour turns around. I could not believe how huge it was! The Tour Eiffel was so much bigger than the pictures made it look.

Finally after seeing every detail I looked elsewhere. There was one more thing I had been wanting to see for ages, the famous Pont Alexandre III. There it was, just around the corner. I leaned over the edge to see it. With four huge columns and four golden representatives of Pegasus right on top, the Pont Alexandre III was so grand even the lowliest street lamp on it made me feel like a king. When the tour was over I could not believe it. It felt like ten minutes when it was really about 45 minutes. This was definitely the best part of Paris for me and I am extremely glad we had time to fit it into the short time we spent there.

Eric McCathern

I was in line waiting to go in my favorite place in Paris, Musée d’Orsay. All I knew was it is a museum. I heard about some of the artists’ paintings inside. I was most excited about seeing Toulouse-Lautrec paintings because I studied him. I felt excitement in the air. Today was going to be a good day. I was definitely excited about going inside.

There I was, standing next to the best Toulouse-Lautrec painting he ever drew. I couldn’t believe it was right in front of me. After all the studying I had done I was there, looking at the Can-Can. I was surprised that so much history was in this painting because this is the painting that shows Toulouse-Lautrec’s era at the Moulin Rouge. I felt warm inside when I saw the painting because it gives me feeling of real movement and not people in a studio. I felt like I was really there because the people in the painting are life size. I liked that the painting is sketchy and the main focus stands out because of the can-can dancer’s colorful dress. I was blown away by the size that made me feel very small because the painting is the size of the whole wall. My prediction was right. Today was the best day I have had in Paris.

Daniel Tremblay

As I step out of the grand Palais Versailles I see a vast garden, the great garden of Versailles. The enormous hedges and flowerbeds stretch before me creating a labyrinth. I think about how to find my way through and I wonder if this is how they invented the hedge maze. Although the large stone statues look cold and lifeless, I see them posing in a position to be admired. A marble carved vase would normally be empty for the winter but it is brimming with flowers. The fountain is what I imagine God would drink from as his angels fan out from the brim.

As I look again at the garden my mind wanders to the time of the king. I imagine myself as Louis XIV strutting about on one of my weekly walks through my fabulous garden. I can hear my royal subjects tramping along behind me like dogs following their master. As I see ducks fluttering in a pond I blink. They appear again but I imagine royal guards walking by the pond and lords and ladies of the land talking to each other as they slowly make their way toward the palace. I am spellbound in this magical garden.

Sam Carlberg

My favorite part of Paris, the famous Arc de Triomphe, can finally be seen from the top of the bus. The detail on this arch is the main reason that I like this structure, but there are others as well. The miniscule detail is hazy but the grand sculptures are easily recognizable, even in this fog. As I get closer I can see each individual feather on each wing and each wing on each angel. The detail on this huge
monument overwhelms me.

This Arc celebrates Napoleon’s victories in battle. After defeating rival armies and countries, the Emperor commissioned sculptors and artists to build this grand archway, not knowing that it would take over 100 years to create. During World War II the French soldiers used this structure as a bunker, where German troops forced surrender of the French after many casualties. The roots of the Arc de Triomphe are violent, and that makes me sad – why build a monument to violence when one can make a monument to peace just as easily?

From the bottom if this structure L’Arc seemed huge, but when I see it from above it looks still bigger. I climb the stairs to the top and reach a final elevation of 300 feet, the very top of the monument. L’Arc de Triomphe seems huge and everything else appears tiny from this height. Even the great Eiffel Tower seems undersized and much shorter than its 1000 feet; it makes the tallness of this Arc even more noteworthy. This arch is the most impressive monument I have ever seen. It takes my breath away.

Phoenix travellers take a moment to rest in front of the imposing Notre Dame cathedral.

The gardens at Versailles are impressive in any season.

Even more impressive at Versailles is the great Hall of Mirrors where the Sun King’s throne sits.

A highlight of our trip was shopping for ingredients for an authentic French dinner which we cooked ourselves at Rodney’s and Alfred’s apartment. We enjoyed the Bedell family’s hospitality and a truly delicious French dinner. It was a special time for connecting with old friends and meeting new friends as well.

Jeffrey represents how we all felt after a wonderfull and very busy week in Paris as he rests while waiting for the plane to take us home.