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Geneva and Farewell

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Today we traveled with our new LA friends and our French hosts to Geneva, Switzerland. The ride to Geneva was beautiful with lots of rolling green hills. Upon entering the city, one can see that this city is very cosmopolitan and has influences from all over the world. Right away one could see signs in all sorts of languages. We met with a tour guide who showed us the famous fountain that shoots water up right from lac Léman (Lake Geneva for foreigners). We saw the European HQ for the UN as well as a number of international organizations. We then walked in the old part of the city and learned of growth as a center for banking and clocks. The guide described Geneva as having a long history of openness since the city was the birthplace for several branches of Protestantism and therefore drew Protestant refugees from all over Europe. We then went to the Patek Phillipe Museum which is a famous clock museum. Sadly, we were not allowed to take any pictures, but we were amaz
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A Sporting Day

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What a fun morning we had at Aventure Fourvière! Just a few minutes walk from the top of Fourviere, the students enjoyed zip lining and rope courses en pleine nature! With 6 levels to choose from, the students had a great time tackling all of the challenges that each course had to offer. We then spent the afternoon at the newly constructed soccer arena in Lyon. We traveled with another exchange group from Los Angels County. The stadium was busy preparing for the US/France game scheduled for this Saturday. We were given a tour of the press room, the VIP lounge, the locker rooms, and a spectacular view of the stadium from the field.  Today was also the last day with one of our guides from St. Marc, Celia. She has been invaluable in navigating Lyon and sharing her insights. Many thanks to her!
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The Genius of the Brothers Lumiere

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We visited Le Musée des Lumière today and discovered the genius of the Lumière brothers. Among their many successful innovations, they are most well known for improving color photography and for inventing the very first motion picture. These Lyonnais inventors and pioneer manufacturers of photographic equipment devised an early motion-picture camera and projector called the Cinématographe (“cinema” is derived from this name). In addition to the guided tour, students spent some time browsing the museum and taking a quick photo on the same spot where the first film in history was ever shot.
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