Introducing Mystery Class #9
Arras, France ( 50.283 N, 2.783 E)

Bonjour from Arras, France! Did you find us? We are Jonathan and Stephen Koch, originally from Tremont, Illinois. Our dad has a temporary job assignment in Northern France, so we have lived here since December 6, 2000. Our older brother, Michael, attends Bradley University in Illinois, so we only get to see him on vacations.

Our School: We are homeschooled and my mom has the responsibility of managing all of our learning experiences. We were excited to be a Mystery Class site and participate in the Tulip Garden project, since our Jr. High in Tremont does these projects every year. It was especially fun to keep it a secret from our school friends back home!

Our Country: France shares its borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra and Spain. The city of Arras is located in the region of France called Nord- Pas-de-Calais. We live 35 minutes (if there isn’t a traffic jam ?) from the Belgian border, 11/2 hours from Paris, 2 hours from the border of Holland, 3 hours from the nearest German border, but because France is about 457,000 square km, it would take us over 10 hours to drive to the furthest large city, Perpignan, south of us.

Our City: Our town of Arras is noted for its beautiful Grand and Petit Places (the town squares) and the enormous Hotel de Ville (city hall) with its newly restored Belfoi (bell tower). On the top of the tower is a golden Lion of Artois.

The facades of the buildings in the Places and the entire Hotel de Ville were obliterated during the bombing and fighting that took place during World War I. Because the location of the front line during World War I came on the outskirts of Arras, and due to heavy fighting, there are over one million graves of British (including Canadian, New Zealanders, Scottish, etc), French, German and American, soldiers in our immediate area. For several months, many British soldiers lived underground (including an electrical generating plant, field hospital, kitchen, etc.) in tunnels that were left from the excavation of the limestone that originally built the Hotel de Ville and many other buildings in Arras. Further tunnels were built to reach the front lines of the fighting.

Our Climate: Our climate is a little surprising. We are much further north than our hometown of Tremont, but due to the influence of the Gulf Stream and our proximity to the English Channel, we have a fairly mild winter, wet spring and fall and pleasant summer. Our high temperature rarely gets above 30C (86F) or lower than –7C (20F). Our tulip garden emerged and bloomed many weeks before the garden in Tremont. To help us remember the association between Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures, we use this poem:

" 30 is hot, 20 is nice, 10 is cool and 0 is ice!"

Living Abroad: We learned to speak French when we arrived so we could speak to our neighbors and conduct everyday tasks like going to the boulangerie (bakery), grocery store, getting haircuts, etc. We have also learned some German and Italian to use in our travels.

One of the best things about living here has been the ability to travel. We have seen buildings that are older than 200 years old that are fully functional for families to live in, castles from the Middle Ages, small villages that are still layed out like feudal villages, Roman ruins including pillars, foundations for bath houses, amphitheaters , etc. The French don’t wall or fence everything off, so you can walk in among the ruins and stand on the remains of the stone stage, speak in a normal voice and your parents who are seated on the hillside steps can hear your clearly!

Since January 1, 2001, the currency of France is now the Euro, instead of the Franc. There are 12 major countries in the European Union who use the Euro:France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Finland, Greece, Austria, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. All the bills are identical for each country. The coins (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 centimes, 1 euro and 2 euro) are identical on the face, but on the back, each country could design them to be unique to that country. We have been trying to collect a complete set of coins from each country. If you look at your change after you purchase something, you can find coins from many countries, especially if you are at an airport! The coins from Finland, Greece, and Portugal have been nearly impossible to find in our change though. If you go to this website, you can read about the Euro and also find pictures of all the coins and bills that are in circulation.

French Cuisine: We have also enjoyed many new foods. France has over 400 recognized varieties of cheeses! We love to get fresh baguettes (long loaves of bread), pain au chocolat (similar to a croissant dough but with 2 small bars of dark chocolate baked inside), and fruit tartes at the boulangerie. When we go to the market or the grocery store, we can identify where our fruits and vegetables come from because of the labels on the bins. One night we had carrots from Belgium, lettuce, green beans, and potatoes from France, tomatoes from Spain, and lamb from New Zealand! Most of the milk is sold in cardboard or plastic one liter containers that is specially treated for long term storage….we call it "shelf" milk, because it can sit on your shelf un-refrigerated for 3 months and still not be spoiled. Eggs (all with brown shells) are not refrigerated either, until you bring them home. The farmers in our area raise thousands of acres of sugar beets.

They also raise wheat, flax, and rapeseed (for oil). Many smaller farmers raise potatoes, and other more common vegetables. If you are out driving in the country and see a sign for vegetables or fruits, eggs, poultry, rabbits, etc., you can stop at the farmer's gate and buy things directly from them. Another peculiar thing about farming is the use of blast shields on tractors that plow ground that was around battle sites. Farmers still find unexploded ammunition, and grenades from World War I when they are plowing a new field. In fact, in the early spring of 2001, a farmer found the remains of an airplane from WWII that had crashed into a marshy field that had never been drained and used for farm ground before!

We hope that you have enjoyed your participation in the Mystery Class Project. We searched for the other sites as well! Our "adventure" in living in a European country continues to be full of surprises. We would love to hear from any class you would like to write us. Our e-mail address is kochfamily@wanadoo.fr.

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