Following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland – which brought air travel to and from Europe to a halt – a group of Mountain View High School students found themselves stranded in Paris on their spring break.
Members of the Mountain View Madrigals choir, touring London and Paris, discovered their April 15 return flight was canceled, forcing them to spend an additional week in the French capital. The students finally arrived home Thursday, taking five different flights before landing safely in the Bay Area.
“It was cool to get more days in Paris,” said senior Brianna Conway. “The majority of the choir was really optimistic about it.”
But news of the delay didn’t thrill everyone.
“At first I was shocked, because I was missing home and I wanted to be home,” said Malik Leatau, a sophomore. “I was ready to see my home and my family and get back to a normal lifestyle in California.”
Choir director Jill Denny collaborated with World Projects, the travel company that booked their trip, to help ease the uncertainty and enhance their extended stay.
“Our choir director tried to make structure in the daily routine,” said Brian DeAngel, a sophomore.
Thanks to their tour guide, a local church donated space to the Madrigals for rehearsals.
“We always have group time,” Conway said. “We were able to rehearse, which gave us the feeling that we were in school.”
Group time also included tours of Parisian landmarks, such as Luxembourg Gardens.
Denny said the group of 54 students and chaperones stayed at the same hotel for the extra week – no new tourists were able to fly in, so the rooms remained available. While the hotel offered the group a discount, Denny said the additional time in Paris cost the group nearly $8,000 per day.
Denny said she weighed the pros and cons of relocating to a less-expensive town in an outlying area, but the money saved wouldn’t have been substantial enough to warrant a move.
Ash from the volcano also grounded other groups, including 32 students from Los Altos High School’s Art Department, whose return from a spring break tour of European museums and art was delayed more than a week.
Expenses incurred from the students’ extended stays in Europe were not covered by fundraising or travel insurance. To help students and their families cover the unanticipated costs, send donations to the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District – designated “Madrigals,” “LAHS Art Club” or both – at 1299 Bryant Ave., Mountain View 94040.
Contact Traci Newell at [email protected].
