My husband Laurent and I went to the small village of Montrol- Sénard to start a trip around France. The village has made its downtown into a small museum. Cars from Belgium, Germany, and France filled the downtown of this smart initiative to create an educational touristic center with limited funds. The visit with a map is free, but donations are accepted.
The math problems on the chalkboard were all word
problems. For younger students, there
were little balls strung on a stand-up wire frame to teach number sense. The old desks were there with a spot for an
inkwell. You were allowed to sit at the
desks and write. One father was working
on the math word problem with his son. I
liked all the old textbooks and snakes preserved in jars with formaldehyde for
biology class.
At the blacksmith’s shop, we looked at old tools and an
exposition about people from the village.
There were two restaurants in town with one advertising “animation” and
paella on a Sunday night.Laurent’s relatives who told us about Montrol-Sénard said the
mayor wanted to create a village “d’autrefois” or old-time village. In addition, he has had the village take part
in the “villages fleuries” program.
This program rewards villages and towns that make themselves beautiful with flowers. Using a little imagination, you can make even the smallest of towns a happening place to be.
I am sure that parents come back to Montrol-Sénard to show
their children where their great-grandparents went to school and am thankful
that the community welcomes tourists as well.
My souvenir of the village is the level of drawing expected
of students. This skill might have been
a necessary one for drawing what kinds of tools farmers wanted a blacksmith to
make or create, for example.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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| Laurent Paget Photography |
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| Laurent Paget Photography |
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| Laurent Paget Photography |
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