Photo by Michael Jastremski

This week, French students were given the lucky opportunity to stretch their legs and take a Tour de Everson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse.

On Monday, December 21, 2009, advanced French students boarded buses and road departed for downtown Syracuse during second block for a field trip. The group was headed to the Everson Museum to view a traveling exhibit: Turner to Cézanne.

Turner to Cézanne is here in Syracuse between October 9 and January 3 of next year. The exhibit features many French impressionist painters who the advanced level French students study as part of lessons with French culture.

French teacher Sharon Vowles organized the trip for this once in a life time chance to see an exhibit of this caliber so close to home. The Everson is one of five museums nationwide which will have the pleasure of displaying Turner to Cézanne. Vowles says she sprung for the opportunity because it would be “Culturally rich and very rewarding.”

Rewarding it was. Vowles made sure her students would be expanding their French speaking skills all through out the day. She called ahead and specifically asked for French-speaking tour guides, called docents. “Some students said they learned more from the French docents than they did from the American ones,” said Vowles.

Grammar and vocabulary aside, the trip was primarily a cultural lesson.

“It was a hands-on way to learn about what we’ve been studying for the last few weeks,” said Junior French student Max Luttinger. “We also got to learn about the culture we’ve been speaking for the past five years.”

Junior French student Antoinette Esce had a similar take on the trip. “It’s a great thing when learning a language to experience their culture and history as well because it’s all part of the language learning idea. It’s not just words.”

After the tour was over, the students piled back onto the bus and rolled down the street to L’Adour, a fully authentic French restaurant. The waiters, cooks, doormen and even menus all use French as their primary language. And the genuine French food is not too shabby either.

Overall, the field trip was well received, and Vowles was especially pleased with the way it turned out.

Vowles said, “The combined experience was like spending an afternoon in Paris.”