According to French teacher Kyle Sweeney, French students participated in a cultural experience by eating authentic sweet and savory crêpes from a food truck at Park.

Sweeney said French pastry chef Florence Aymard managed the food truck. She said the students did really well talking to a native French speaker, and that for some of them, it is uncommon to meet and interact with a French person.

“It was an opportunity for them to speak French with a native French speaker, even if it was just a little tiny bit,” Sweeney said. “It’s something for them to be proud of because most of them really only talk to me, or to each other, and so to be successful communicating with someone, I think that’s kind of a big deal.”

Junior Chloe O’Gara said overall the food truck was good, but the only problem she had was the long line, because two classes received their crêpes during one class period. She said she would have liked the line to have moved faster, or not have had as many people out at the food truck.

“It was really good food, I thought the food truck itself was nice. The lady in there was really nice,” O’Gara said. “It just would have been nice if it was a shorter line.”

Sweeney said separating the classes would allow for a more relaxed food truck.

“I think that if we do it again we would have her come for two days, so that we can split the classes up between Madame Conrad and my class so it wouldn’t be such a rush,” Sweeney said.  

According to Sweeney, in previous years, the French class went on a field trip to a restaurant, but this year they decided to have a food truck come in. She said the food truck experience was more casual, and that in France, people would probably eat more crêpes than they would three-course meals.

“When we take students to a French restaurant, we want them to experience a whole meal,” Sweeney said. “To be realistic, if they were to travel to France, they would probably eat more crêpes from a street crêpe stand than they would eat sit down.

O’Gara said the food truck provides an important experience by allowing students to try authentic French cuisine.  

“It actually does give us a taste of what French food is like and that’s good for us,” O’Gara said.

According to Sweeney, the food was only for French students. They pre-payed for either a savory or sweet crêpe, and received a ticket to order their crêpe during their French class period Oct. 9.

“It’s just a way to experience French culture,” Sweeney said. “It’s just fun, especially for students who take languages, to have little experiences like this, something different in a class.”