Family Almanac: M-A students 'stuck in Paris' Family Almanac: M-A students 'stuck in Paris' (September 21, 2005)

By Katherine Wertzler

M-A High Senior

When 36 Menlo-Atherton High School students signed up for M-A's Europe trip, we never thought that world events would overtake us.

In July, near the end of the three-week trip, we arrived in Paris and got the news. London had suffered tragic bombings. Our faculty leaders, Liane Strub, Lara Williams, Ethan Castro and John Giambruno, decided to change plans. We would spend the remainder of the trip in Paris.

We knew extra days in the French capital would be no hardship. Each of us had Metro tickets and a desire to have fun. All of us had spent the previous 16 days speed-walking through busy cities, jumping from hotel to hotel.

We had tried, not always successfully, to absorb dates and facts in numerous museums. While we had fond memories of every city, more days in Paris promised another experience. In fact, those days changed our trip, and they changed us.

Having so much independence in an enormous foreign city raised our maturity levels. I was one of five incoming seniors on the trip and had shamelessly boasted my superiority over the 31 juniors. But I soon forgot about the age gap.

In our Paris free time, I sought out people who shared the same interests, regardless of class year. In Paris, with additional free time, we were able to make more of our own decisions and did not feel pressured to see everything. We had already packed a lot into our previous, scheduled days in Paris.

In our last, unscheduled 48 hours, one group of guys decided to play soccer on a field across the street from the hotel; groups of girls went shopping; others decided to go out to eat; and some left to find gifts for their family members.

The free time gave us more opportunities to forge new bonds with everyone. Moreover, in the more relaxed atmosphere of the last two days, I had time to consider that we had gone on an extraordinary tour of Europe.

On the last night, we took a sunset walk along the Seine. As we were crossing the plaza in front of Notre-Dame, we heard a guitarist strumming the chords of a familiar song. We came closer to the musician. He had already attracted a small crowd, and we wordlessly gathered around him. He was playing none other than the beloved song, "Hotel California."

Leaning on each other, holding hands, or just taking in the music, we all soaked up a little of the magic of the trip. There we were, connected together in this foreign city by our shared experiences, our love and appreciation of one another.

This song about home gave the perfect end to an amazing trip. In two and a half weeks in Europe, every person had grown. And our M-A group had grown in fondness for each other.

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