This morning I woke up at around 7:00. Shortly after waking up I felt terrible, not ill, but suuupperr tired. Strange, the night before I had gone to bed at reasonable time, 10:30, right after having a delicious meal, Quenelle with Béchamel, made by my very nice host family. Once I finally got up, I got ready for the day. Upon making myself breakfast my hosting student Louise told me we would be late if we didn’t leave now, so, I skipped breakfast and headed straight out the door to Lycée Saint Marc.
Once at Lycée Saint Marc, it was nice that the BC High boys and I did not have any classes in the morning and instead we collected our pique-nique baskets just outside the atrium. Everyone had about an hour to chat with one another and with Madam McGrath and Madam Kupsc about our activities after school the day before. We then had to depart to Perrache Station. Once we got to Perrache Station we took a commuter train to Vienne just around a half hour outside Lyon.
Above: A front view picture of the Musée Gallo Roman
Above: Here is a picture of us BC High boys in front of Saint Maurice Cathedral
with a pretty cool piece of art in the background.
When we arrived in Vienne, we were welcomed by beautiful views and 85 degree air as we made our way across a bridge toward our destination. At the museum we headed outdoors where we were given a tour of a large acre of land with ancient Roman ruins of homes, Roman toilettes, and shops, which have been unearthed since 1967. There were cool things to see like old Roman pillars and stone mosaics. It was super hot outside and I think were happy to head inside the main museum because most of us were becoming restless of the beaming sun on our necks and the standing we had been doing. We then looked around and observed the many artifacts and mosaics around each of the rooms. I personally really liked the extremely detailed models of ancient roman cities that portrayed what it was like during the time.
Next, we had our pique-nique lunches outside under a big tree and sat at picnic tables. Once we finished we made our way back to the main lodge of the museum and went up stairs into the roman armory area. Here, we were taught the importance of what Roman combat was actually like and not how people stereotyped it. There was a lot more skill involved when fighting with the weapons they used. I had the chance to show off my defending skills with a wooden sword and a straw weaved shield, which I would not have survived if I were faced with a Roman soldier! We were all given a wooden sword and shield and we were ready to fight!
Above: In this picture, I can be seen with the instructor demonstrating the defending and attacking positions the Roman soldiers would have used. In the background you can see the armor the soldiers would wear in combat. The armor ranged from left to right. Left was the least protective usually used by lower rank individuals, and the right was more protective usually used by generals. The helmets primarily distinguished the ranks of the soldiers.
Above: Jonothan Olson looking exceptionally excited as we got ready for our Roman armory training.
Finally, once we were all taught the ways to defend ourselves just like the Romans did, we went outside underneath the museum on a large dirt area. Our instructor took us through a series of drills where we showed off how we would defend one another. We ended with plotting a surprise attack Madam Kupsc and Madam McGrath along with our incredible guides from Lyon, and charged at them yelling, “Ahhhh!” And waving our swords!
Above: The BC High boys in the attack position.
Comments
Post a Comment