Mr. Robert Hall
Fairview High School
7460 McCray Rd.
Fairview, PA 16415
Phone 814-474-2600 (ext. 3124)
e-mail: fhsmonsieur@roadrunner.com

Bonjour! Sorry that this has taken longer than I expected. As of this week I have chosen the travel company, the itinerary, and the dates for the 2009 Cholet Exchange.

Dates. Our tentative departure date is Thursday, April 2. I was hoping to have the trip in June, but since the hosting students will begin their three weeks of baccalaureat exams the second week of June, it would be difficult for them if we were there. Our plan is to leave the Erie Airport on April 2, arrive in Paris on April 3 and from there go directly to Cholet. Our hosts will begin their spring break on the day we arrive. On Thursday, April 9, we will leave Cholet, travel to Paris and begin the tour portion of our trip.

EF Tours The travel company I have chosen is EF Tours , a company that has been organizing student trips since 1965. The tour is called Paris and the Chateaux. To see the itinerary click here. (Disregard the 2-day extension to the Riviera - Désolé.) To see the important financial information regarding EF, click here.

Important notes:
>> I plan to have a meeting for all interested students and their parents. The exact date is not set, but will be some time after July 27. In the mean time, please discuss the trip with your parents and feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

>> As you look at the itinerary, Day 2 for us will be April 9.

>> The prices you see are based on a departure from the Erie Airport. We could knock over $200 off of our costs by flying out of Pittsburgh instead, but that could be a bit inconvenient. We can discuss that at the meeting.

>> Between now and the meeting, I will try to make it clear to you what IS and what IS NOT included in the costs you see. I do not want anyone to suddenly feel surprised by other costs.

>> In case you were wondering, Fairview's last day of class before spring break is Friday, April 3. Classes resume Tuesday, April 14. You would miss five days of class. Easter Sunday is April 12 and you could be spending it in the Loire Valley, visiting two castles, Amboise and Chenonceaux. Yes - they are open on Easter Sunday - I checked!

>> Something that is standard with most student travel companies is their right to adjust our dates (for various reasons which I can explain if you ask). Therefore, there is the possibility that we could leave 2 days earlier or 2 days later than April 2. We will know in advance, and the total number of school days miseed would not change. I did tell our EF rep that leaving two days early would be much worse than leaving two days late due to our Cholet Exchange.

Based on the information you now have, some of you may already know that without a doubt you will be able to join us, or without a doubt you will not be able to join us. Others may still need to wait and see.

Please reply to my e-mail telling me which of the following options applies to you:
A. I am not interested in the trip. Please remove my name from the e-mail list.
B. Please continue to send me information. I would like to attend the meeting.
C. I am unable to attend the meeting but please continue to send me information. (If you cannot attend, we need to get in touch with each other ASAP.)

I look forward to hearing from you.

Monsieur