"You really didn't see the special Animalia Ambassadoria did on that?" Miles asked as they rode along through the French countryside.
He was honestly quite impressed with Eloise's driving ability, even though the low ceiling of the car irritated his ears a bit. But given that Juliet Renard Argente ran a private boarding school for students with "special needs," it was quite likely that Eloise who had been one of the students there wouldn't have the full understanding on how to drive, despite her age. It wouldn't have been open to her before converting to become a Rabbit Animalian. But the driving lessons had to have paid off heavily, as Eloise had handled the heavy traffic in Paris after picking them up at Charles De Gaulle Airport and then transitioned quite easily into the roads east of it as they made their way east from the French capital and toward the champagne country where Juliet's chateau was. This gave them time to talk a bit more and let Lexia look out the window at the architecture of the cities and towns they drove past and at the greenery of the French countryside between those towns and cities.
"I believe were in Spain for our summer vacation when you did that," Eloise said biting her lip slowly, "and when we returned, things were fairly busy as school picked back up and Juliet was able to get new students."
"New students?" Lexia wondered, "Ms. Juliet runs a school?"
"Ms... or Madame Renard Argente when speaking formally," Eloise answered, "Juliet is her first name... and most of us at the colony call her that because she's taught us and been a surrogate mother for us."
Lexia blinked with some surprise.
"You see, Fifi, Mia, Gigi, Marie, Olympe, Josephine, and I were all born with conditions that made us... well, I believe the word you Americans use is slow and needing special help to learn things," Eloise explained, "We couldn't do well in the standard school classrooms or catch on to everything that would go on without help. And Juliet has felt that France's public school system and parts of society have hurt the choices of those people and their chances for the future, so she's run a private boarding school at her chateau and has been there for us. And in many ways giving us our choices, and we get to see our families and interact with them, and for that we've loved Juliet like she was a parent, and why we wish to finish our education with her even though as Animalians now... the earlier impairment is no longer there."
"That sounds expensive," Lexia commented as they rode along.
"It probably can be," Eloise answered, "but to my knowledge, most of the money that Juliet makes is from the vineyard that her family owns. So, while there may be a small enrollment fee for Juliet's teaching, the rest is run at cost. Which has been beneficial to us, to our families, and in a way to Juliet, I think. Which is often why the girls and I want to make her happy... regardless of the things we want to do."
That made for a small smile for Lexia as it made her like this Juliet Renard Argente even more. Though by the time they pulled into the driveway and Eloise pulled into fairly large garage. Lexia was impressed by this, though to a great extent, Eloise remained more curious about Miles' coverage on the Bara House. Lexia was a bit perplexed at that, as from what she'd learned about the internet, it could be accessed almost anywhere there was service and Animalia Ambassadoria's content wasn't behind any sort of age block. The membership fees for more "adult" material went into a separate part of media around Animalia. So, even if they had been in Spain, Lexia thought they would have had access. In this, the only thing that Lexia thought would make sense would be that Eloise and the other members of the French colony had been preoccupied with other activities that held their attention away from the internet and simply didn't decide to catch up on returning "home."
Though with their return and Eloise's apparent curiosity at the mention, Lexia supposed it did not matter. She managed to get out and stretch her wings before she and Miles collected their bags and began to follow Eloise out of the garage.
"You must show me this presentation you made on this Bara House," Eloise commented, "as you do remain intelligent and quite handsome, even if you are a type of Hare."
"You're really curious about this?" Miles wondered, "couldn't we put our bags away first?"
"I am curious about many things," Eloise answered, "and all of us have grown since our conversions. Olympe even has a boyfriend now... or colt friend... whatever word Animalia uses to represent couples that are dating."
"I believe the term is "bond-mate" that is used there," Miles answered, noting some updates in which the French colony had announced that a horse that one of Juliet's staff had owned or had experience with had been uplifted, and that might be Olympe's present partner. Though, Miles really didn't follow a lot of the dating scene type of things, as that struck him more as gossip that really didn't move many things forward.
"I see," Eloise commented, "though still... I am really curious about this new house in Animalia and would like to learn more."
"Well," Miles commented, "if there is a computer free, I suppose I could show you the video. It'll probably be in English..."
"English is fine," Eloise commented, "to some degree, some in France would prefer the use of English when talking Englishmen and Americans rather than have them butcher our language."
To a degree, Miles could understand that, though, he also felt that if people made a serious effort to learn a foreign language, they shouldn’t be mocked for it. But Eloise gave no indication that she had any leanings that way and did seem honestly curious. So, he nodded and let Eloise continue to lead them in. She led them in through a side door and after scrapping their feet on a door mat, she began leading them through the large chateau that Juliet owned and had been in her family for years. It was something that easily dwarfed the apartment that Lexia had in Animalia, and she was just as curious about it as Eloise seemed to be about Miles' coverage of the Bara House.
"This is all amazing," Lexia commented as they moved through the halls.
"We're mostly going through some of the staff's areas at the moment," Eloise commented, "the more impressive stuff is in the main part of the chateau, which given its age, was probably built back when the noble families had more power and so on... just for being noble families. That stuff is all pretty nice to see. I wonder on how this Bara House would compare though..."
"Probably not as ornate as Madame Renard Argente's chateau," Miles answered, "though much of the coverage with the Bara House is with more than just housing."
That still peaked more of Eloise's curiosity, and thus had her lead them to one of the rooms that was sort of a computer room. They didn't drop by the guest rooms that had been pre-set for Miles and Lexia and technically they skipped a check in with Juliet to let her know that Eloise had returned safely, but that could also be done later. Eloise was really curious about this coverage that Miles had mentioned and wanted to see it. And so, she logged into her account and followed Miles's directions to the website that hosted Animalia Ambassadoria videos, and among them was a lone video that had Miles standing next to a Kodiak Bear Animalian in the thumbnail that towered over Miles.
"That's the one," Miles spoke pointing to the thumbnail and Lexia clicked on it.
What then followed was a scene starting with Miles talking with that Kodiak Bear Animalian. It started with an introduction in which Miles discussed some of the pressures that had come about in various parts of the US that had seemed to try and use Animalia as a "cure" for certain things and other pressures in which people who weren't under pressure to convert did so because of simply wanting to prove themselves to be more "macho." It was something that puzzled Eloise a little and particularly saddened her that some people would see Animalia as a "cure" for homosexuality. It was something that reminded her of how Juliet had described the unfair treatment people gave those that were mentally impaired.
The video then transitioned over to the interview with the Kodiak Bear Animalian and included his reasons for converting and the purpose of the "House," which to Eloise looked like many of the other apartment complexes that were in Animalia already. It didn't look like anything special on the outside. Though as she watched Miles talk with the Kodiak Bear Animalian, she saw that the reasons for the apartment complex was to deeper than just its outward appearance. That was something that Eloise found herself liking. The Kodiak Bear Animalian was able to explain on things he was doing as the building's manager providing some comfort for those that had been pressured to convert because of their orientation and help those that had converted because they'd been "macho" avoid being too toxic and provided both with the opportunity engage with others in a decent lobby in the entry area that would be comfortable.
From there, they looked over some of the apartments. They were pretty standard, and to Eloise weren't too different from the home her own parents owned. They weren't fancy or anything, but with the efforts to provide an atmosphere that was welcoming and accepting from what Miles got in the interview with the Kodiak Bear Animalian, Eloise liked it.
"Well, he seemed nice," Eloise commented as the video ended, "and is doing things to help others."
Miles nodded, "to a great degree that's what a lot of Animalians do. And largely what Humans want to be."
"Do you think that everyone will change for the better? Accept people's differences without getting caught up in old ways of doing things?" Eloise asked.
"Maybe," Miles answered, "all anyone can do is set a good example."