A vendor advertises his produce, his voice projecting across the cobblestone market square. Herds of people crowd around market stands, purchasing fruits, vegetables and the occasional baguette. In the crowd, 15 WHS students and their two teachers are immersed in the action, interacting with the vendors in French.

Wayland students and teachers arrived in France for the school’s annual trip on April 9 and returned April 19. The students stayed primarily in the southern part of the country, visiting Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Montpellier and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. They toured a fifteenth century French castle and Roman ruins that dated back to the first century.

Sophomore Zack Dresens says his favorite part of the trip was when the group visited a French market in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

“I got to order food and products from these vendors in French, and I thought that was really cool,” Dresens said.

For French teacher Heather Pineault, her favorite part of the trip was when the group went kayaking on a river in France.

“Seeing [French teacher Sara Langelier] and her fellow paddler in the river when their kayak tipped over was my favorite part of the trip,” Pineault said.

As a whole, both Pineault and Langelier agree that they enjoyed learning more about their students on the trip.

“We got to know students better and saw them connecting with their host siblings, forming potentially life-long friendships,” Langelier said.

Dresens, who takes French at WHS, also feels his French improved quite a lot over the course of the trip, since he got to be immersed in the country of the language and at times could only speak French.

“I used [French] a lot. At home, I only spoke French with my family, and even when I was with the other Wayland kids, we still spoke French for the most part,” Dresens said.

Both teachers agree with Dresens that the students’ French improved a great deal while on the trip.

“We really encouraged kids to speak French as much possible, and for the most part, they did,” Pineault said. “Even the students noticed their own improvement, and they loved the new ‘colorful’ vocabulary they learned from their French families.”

For the first five days of the trip, the group stayed in Castelnau-le-Lez, a small city outside of Montpellier.

“[First], I stayed in a home with a kid my age and his older sister,” Dresens said. “After that we took a train to Aix-en-Provence, and we stayed there for three nights as a group.”

Langelier and Pineault chose and planned the trip with a representative from Putney Travel, a student travel group. The two described the type of experience they were looking for, and the representative offered suggestions of cities that it has used over the years and in which it had contacts.

Originally, the group planned to stay in the Paris area, but after the terrorist attacks last November, they decided to move towards south France in cities such as Montpellier and Aix. Both teachers believe that the change of plans proved to be beneficial.

“We are very happy to have made this move as students were able to have a much more authentic and off-the-beaten-path experience,” Pineault said.

Both teachers express the benefit of learning a second language and hope students will explore other cultures.

“[Langelier and I] encourage all students to continue studying a language and to travel when possible,” Pineault said. “Being able to speak another language opens doors to new cultures and new relationships.”