Sunday, June 17, 2018

Friday, June 15: Frau S

Well, no one who was assigned to blog today actually attended the field trip we went on, so I will fill you, our devoted readers, in on last Friday's adventures.

A group of  23 GAPPies and Frau Buhr and myself boarded a train at Homburg at noon and took a leisurely ride across Saarland to Mettlach, which the the home of the world renowned porcelain manufacturer, Villeroy and Boch.  We arrived about 45 minutes before our tour, so we walked into town and scoped out the lunch possibilities.  Frau Schaefer met us there and we teachers grabbed a quick Latte Macchiato at one of the bakeries, while most of the students grabbed a quick snack or headed to one of the 3 Eiscafes (ice cream parlors) on the main pedestrian street.  (All we seem to do on this trip is eat...😉)

After some refreshments, we headed back to the factory for our tour.  The original factory, now headquarters, is housed in an old monastery which was liquidated and sold by France to the Boch family in 1809.  The company itself has been in business since 1742.  Our tour guide was very entertaining and informative and accompanied us through the Erlebniswelt for about an hour and a half.  We learned about "bone" china and how the word was derived, how color for ceramics developed over time and even saw tiles that were left over from the outfitting of the Titanic.  Our students were dragging a bit towards the end and rested for a few minutes on a gigantic teddy bear bean bag on display in the children's area.  (Does anyone have a photo of that they'd like to share?  I don't have one!)

After our tour, we thanked our guide and gave students an additional hour or so to go back into the pedestrian zone and do some shopping or more snacking (see the corollary above about eating!).  We teachers stopped in at the V&B outlet center and purchased a gift for a friend and former GAPPie.  This year I didn't see a tea service or new dinnerware I absolutely couldn't live without, so I will not have to worry about an overweight suitcase in a week or two. 

If you'd like to learn more about V&B and their beautiful location, here is their website: https://www.villeroyboch-group.com/de/gaeste-tourismus/erlebniszentrum-alte-abtei.html

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