French 4 Honors and French 5 AP students visited the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco on Tuesday, March 4.

While there, French students went on a scavenger hunt looking for various pieces by artists such as Antoine Rodin, Francois Boucher, and Peter Paul Rubens. After finding the pieces, students were asked to analyze or describe the works in French.

Junior Jackie Van Ardenne enjoyed immersing herself in French culture. “It was my first field trip in high school. I loved seeing all the artwork and being able to talk through all the rooms, it was like time traveling.”

The trip tied into both courses of study, which include French cultural history. “It finished up our art unit. We studied Renaissance, Rococo, Baroque, and Neoclassical art too,” said French teacher Ed Willy.

For French 4 Honors and French 5 AP students, it was a welcome reprieve from another day of school. “It was cool to see all the art styles we had been learning about in French and seeing all the same artists,” said Van Ardenne.

Unfortunately, some of the rooms, such as the “Salle D’Anglaise,” were being renovated at the time of the trip, which impacted the scavenger hunt and limited the number of works students observed.

Usually, French students take two trips a year, one of which includes seeing a movie. However, the film chosen for the students this year “wasn’t that good,” according to Willy. A visit to the Legion of Honor was substituted in place of the movie.

The Legion of Honor itself is “our West Coast version of French culture,” according to Willy. The museum, built to honor veterans of World War I, eventually accumulated a collection of art donated by local owners. For French students, to be able to absorb the culture they are studying firsthand is a valuable experience.

Students paid $20 for the trip, which included the cost of transportation, a bus. The payments were made through the Campolindo webstore.