12/07/08
09:30:22 am, Categories: Post Charles was invited by his friend Carole to present his adventure in front of a Dihun class at St Madeleine school in Nantes.
Pictures
Carole sent us a description of the Dihun curriculum and of Charles' visit:
En Bretagne, il existe trois filières pour l’enseignement bilingue Breton-français dans les écoles :
- DIWAN : le système par immersion linguistique
DIWAN offre aux enfants une scolarité complète en breton : de la maternelle au baccalauréat. Une immersion complete qui a fait ses preuves depuis plus de 30 ans. DIWAN est aujourd’hui le plus gros réseau de classes bilingues en Bretagne.
- DIV YEZH : les classes bilingues de l’enseignement publique
Dans les classes bilingues publiques l’enfant apprend en deux langues : le français et le breton, avec la même considération pour ces deux langues.
La parité entre les 2 langues s’obtient de façon pragmatique et souple en fonction des situations, des classes, de l’âge des enfants
- DIHUN : les classes bilingues au sein de l'enseignement catholique
DIHUN a pour objectif le bilinguisme par les deux langues de proximité, le breton et le français, complété par l’introduction de l'anglais dès la moyenne section. Ce Programme Multilingue Breton ( PMB ) a reçu en 2007 le label européen des Langues par la Commission Européenne.
Depuis 1999, DIHUN 44 est l’association des parents d’élèves pour la section multilingue Breton / Français / Anglais de l'école Sainte Madeleine de Nantes.
Avec une jeune équipe nouvellement nommée en septembre 2008, DIHUN44 prévoit de participer à l'animation de la vie de l'école (ventes de crêpes et jus de pomme, marché de Noël, kermesse, animations internes). Elle veut surtout redynamiser et faire vivre la filière bilingue du coeur de ville, par des actions de promotion (nouvelle plaquette, nouvelles affiches, nouveaux flyers, site web) et de communication (journal interne, portes ouvertes, dossier presse).
Charles est venu raconter ce matin à nos enfants son périple, en leur montrant son vélo, son équipement, l’itinéraire qu’il a parcouru et les belles aventures qu’il a pu vivre : ils étaient é-pa-tés !
Parti d’Eliant le 04 octobre, Charles est revenu à Eliant le 26 novembre après plus de 3007 kms parcourus à travers nos plus belles regions de France : Bretagne, Normandie, region parisienne, Bourgogne, Côte d’Azur, pays basque et pays de la Loire. A ce jour, Charles a déjà récolté plus de 3800 $ pour la recherche médicale.
Pour les enfants, et pour nous qui avons accueilli Charles avec admiration, son aventure est un bel exemple de courage, de determination, de coeur et d’humanité, accompagnés par cette même volonté de promouvoir la culture bretonne à travers le monde.
Site pour plus d’informations sur les filières bilingues dans les écoles :
http://enseignement-en-breton.over-blog.org/categorie-696666.html
11/26/08
04:20:14 pm, Categories: Post I did it!!! My Tour de France, Tybidan to Tybidan, 10/04/08-11/26/08, 1868.20 miles/3007.81 km
My final stage of Velo for Cure from Lorient to Tybidan and I'm now finally off the bike. Not sure who is more delighted, the bike or myself.
The stage began at le Moustoir, home of FC Lorient soccer team. The club made sure my calves stayed warm for the ride by giving me the official team socks.
The sun was shining in Brittany again and I decided to ride along the southern coast and crossed the Belon and Aven rivers during the day.
I was really surprised when I arrived into Elliant and found a number of people waiting to welcome me. A number of my Aunts and Uncles were on hand as well as the people from the mayor's office, mailman and students from the local school. The most touching moment for me was when my mom's cousin, who has had cancer, thanked me for what I had done. It is hard to explain but it made me like all those hard days were worth it. I was extremely touched and bit my lip to fight it off but I still let a one tear drop.
My tour the France has been an amazing experience and I want to thank everyone for the support throughout my ride. I fly back to NY on December 15th and will continue to write some blog entries recapping some of the highlights of my ride and telling you about what I'm up to in Brittany when not on the bike.
Happy Thanksgiving!
11/25/08
05:03:30 pm, Categories: Post Tomorrow will be my final stage on my tour de France. Temperatures have dropped steadily but it has been sunny in Brittany which has allowed me to snap more pictures during my rides.
I've tried my best to savor the final days and now greet the final stage of my tour with excitement and a desire to closeout my Velo for Cure as strong as when I started it on October 4th.
11/23/08
06:40:11 pm, Categories: Post I've come to expect the unexpected on my Velo for Cure ride. Today's was really no different.
Did I expect every bakery, grocery store, restaurant and hotel to be closed on my 5 hours of riding? No, but it's Sunday in France, so I should have at least guessed that one.
Did expect a family on a late afternoon Sunday walk, who I had asked for directions at a road crossing, to drive 3km after me to ask if I needed a place to stay?
No, but I'm glad they did because it was getting dark and I was cold, hungry, and not really sure where the next hotel would be and if it would be open on a Sunday night in late November.
The family felt it was the normal thing to do because they had seen me in the papers a couple of weeks back and said I looked really tired when I had asked them for directions. (no thanks to the chouchenn from the night before of course)
I was welcomed like I had known them forever. Living in NY you ask yourself if these things still really happen because you would never expect them. In Brittany, for now they still do.
02:47:20 pm, Categories: Post The Loire River ends its long, twisting journey across France at the St Nazaire's heart and livelihood, its port. The bridge I took to cross the Loire in this portuar city was probably the longest and highest I've been on so far on this ride.
I came to St Nazaire to meet the bagad from this area that will be coming to New York for the St Patrick's day parade 2009. Bagad's are gatekeepers and innovators of Breton musical tradition and the bagad St Nazaire is known as one of the best of Brittany. The intention of my visit was to meet these talented musicians but I was totally blown away when the group's president presented me with a check for the Livestrong foundation in honor of a past president that had passed away of cancer very recently.
Besides being defenders on breton musical tradition, they are also known for being able to put back a few. No sooner was I off my bike that I had a 1664 beer in my left hand and a glass of chouchenn in my right. Tomorrow's ride may be complicated.
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