They came to Mercer Island mainly to play American football and learn English, but the boys from Thonon-les-Bains, France, experienced so much more along the way.

During their two-week stay, Eloi de Longchamp and Victor Massicot — both 16 and residents of Mercer Island’s sister city — visited classes at Mercer Island High School (MIHS), dressed up as vampires for their first Halloween, attended a Seattle Seahawks game, checked out The Museum of Flight and cruised Lake Washington with the Mercer Island Police Department Marine Patrol. Those were just some of the ways they spent their days on the Island and adjacent areas.

Seated in the living room of the Baxter home on a recent morning, the boys were all smiles and unleashed heaps of laughter when describing — with the aid of Apple Translate — how things have gone since they landed on Washington soil. They said that Americans have been very welcoming, and they enjoyed checking out the sights, soaking up the Halloween atmosphere while trick-or-treating and attending a high school party.

Host mom, Heidi, and her family don’t speak French, but they learned some words and phrases along the way to communicate with the visitors during their one-week stay with the Baxters. De Longchamp and Massicot bunked with the French-speaking Dumonts during their first week on the Island and the verbal connection flowed easier, Heidi said.

With Heidi lending a vital hand during the interview, the boys added that they were intrigued while spending time in the MIHS classrooms with their host students, Will and Kate Baxter and Tiphenn and Alexane Dumont. They explained that French teachers are strict, while the American instructors are more calm and collaborative with the students. Additionally, the French students’ school day lasts several hours longer and school sports aren’t offered in their country.

Fortunately, the U-19 Black Panthers American football club resides near their homes in Thonon and they became involved with the sport in recent years. While practicing with the MIHS squad, de Longchamp and Massicot got to display their quarterbacking and receiving skills, respectively. The boys said they are drawn toward the aggression, energy and contact of football and added that the MIHS players display more strength than their French counterparts.

Heidi noted with a smile that her children said that everyone at MIHS was thrilled to meet the French boys and speak with them. Their English has improved during their time abroad, but they’d like to progress even more in the language realm over time. Another trip to Mercer Island could be on the docket this summer for the boys, who aim to play more football and get in some swimming amid the warmer weather.

Heidi noted that since Will plays football, the MIHS booster club president reached out to the Baxters to serve as a host family. As a child living in Syracuse, New York, Heidi’s family hosted exchange students from Spain and Northern Ireland, and she felt her kids would benefit from meeting and interacting with the French students.

She added about her previous exchange-student experience that she could apply this time out: “It was so incredible learning about the differences in culture. What teens liked and didn’t like. And the language, learning to find ways to communicate when you don’t have words that you share in common.”

Over at abode Dumont, mom Gwenaël said her family had an entertaining experience with their visitors from the French alps. The Dumonts, who moved to the Island in 2001 from the south of France, joined the boys in conversation by comparing the cultures of the two French regions and to the culture of America and Mercer Island.

The Dumont girls chipped in with some of the highlights during their time spent with de Longchamp and Massicot.

“I found it really great to have Victor and Eloi with us because we laughed so much. We all got along right away and would stay up late just to continue talking. We shared our American experiences and they compared or found similarities to their lives in Thonon,” Tiphenn said.

Added Alexane: “They got to see the many differences in American teenage culture and we also got to learn more about our French roots, learning and teaching slang, going on night excursions to iHop and Walgreens, and of course voting on the correct terminology for chocolate croissant (its chocolatine not pain au chocolat).”

Victor Massicot and Eloi de Longchamp, center left and right, attend a Seattle Seahawks game on Oct. 30 with Natalie Debray and Stephan Debray. Courtesy photo