Lunch with Estelle

Estelle, as many of you know, became a part of our family as an exchange student.  Our daughter, Jill, in turn, stayed with Estelle’s family.  It proved to be a great match, and we have become a part of Estelle’s extended family along with Jill.  One of the things we enjoy about our stays in Lyon is our periodic lunches with Estelle; our first one this visit was today.  As always, a good part of our conversation was catching up on which family members on both sides are doing what.

La Gare de Lyon Part Dieu

Estelle and her husband, Laurent, have two boys, Paul and Victor.  Both are in “College” which is the French equivalent to Middle School.  Paul is the older of the two and is, I believe, 13 years old.  He has been studying German and English in school for three years, and today Estelle put him on a train for Stuttgart at the Part Dieu station.  He will be staying with the family of a boy who stayed with Estelle’s family in March.  It’s only for a week, but what a wonderful opportunity and experience! 

Estelle is a veteran of several exchanges – in Germany, Ireland, and the US.  Her last exchange was as a part of the Rotary Exchange program.  She found, to her delight, that some of the students who were Rotary Exchange students in the US when she was not only have a FaceBook page but are also planning a reunion this year in Barcelona.  She and Laurent are looking forward to this holiday with these former students and their spouses.   The attendees will be coming from all over the world.  Hmmm… I wonder how much of a “party town” Barcelona is; I guess we’ll find out in June!