Week two has come and gone for both of CIG’s Francophone groups. During this time, they adjusted to Athens and continued to explore the city. One such activity was a group trip up Mount Lycabettus to look over the modern city and pay their respects to the church of Saint George. Both groups watched the sunset together on Philopappos Hill the following day before the second group left for the Peloponnese!

This left the first group in Athens for two more days, where they visited The sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron and Cape Sounion’s temple of Poseidon. They also had a chance to see the Byzantine Museum and the Kerameikos to learn about funerary practices.

While both groups had the same itinerary in the Peloponnese, they had their own experiences and interests. The first day on the road, the students stopped at Eleusis to visit its site and the newly renovated museum. Following that, they passed the canal before visiting Ancient Corinth and Acrocorinth, where they could see the valley below while exploring all the abandoned ruins.

The second day of the Peloponnese was the visit to two Mycenaean sites, Mycenae and Tiryns, before spending free time in the nearby city of Nafplion, where the brave climbed up to the Palamidi fortress to overlook the bay.

The next day allowed the students to visit the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus. There, they visited the Grand Theatre, where they could test the structure’s ancient acoustics. That same day, the planned visit to Nemea turned into one of many races that the students in both groups participated in to reenact the ancient Nemean games!

Since Group Two left Athens earlier, they could see each site before the first group. This saw them explore the ruins of Mystras and learn about one of the highlights of the week: the civilization and people who used to live there, as well as the monasteries that are still present.

While the summer school for both Attica-Peleponnese Francophone groups is half over, there is still much more to see in the next blog about their final week!