Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 07/04) - After nearly a year of fundraising and the stress of shuttling 36 giddy teenagers on a European adventure, teacher Josee Trudeau says she'd do it all over again.

Trudeau, the students and five chaperones travelled to Paris with St. Patrick high school students for the 10-day trip over March break.

At $3,251 per student, the group faced a long year of fundraising to reach the $100,000 needed for the adventure.

They reached their goal with a series of car washes, donations and a $10,000 raffle.

They also faced set-backs along the way with a frozen plane door in Yellowknife, an unscheduled landing at the municipal airport in Edmonton and the anticipated, but never welcome, lost luggage upon landing in Paris.

The massive effort was worth it, says Trudeau, a St. Pat's teacher.

"It was a good practise for them in French. I think it was definitely beneficial," she says of the trip.

The trick for students was to stick to using French throughout the vacation, which included a visit to Amsterdam.

"I just wanted them to see French outside of Canada, to see a purpose to their studies," says Trudeau.

That wasn't always easy for the Grade 9-12 students, who faced European residents eager to practise their English on them instead, says Trudeau.

Grade 12 student Nicole Dennis admits that the fundraising was hectic, but called the trip exciting.

"No matter what you have to do, you should get there (to Paris) at least once," advised Dennis.

A few of the students hadn't travelled outside of Yellowknife before, making the centuries-old architecture and monuments that much more thrilling.

The group travelled by bus to sites like the Louvre Museum, Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the Canadian Military Cemetery before getting back to the regular school grind.