The best laid plans-……
We intended to keep our parents and friends up to date with the Blog from Paris but internet connections proved to be a nightmare so here’s an account instead.
The journey was straightforward, three trains and a couple of refreshment stops in York and St Pancras and we arrived at Gare du Nord, Paris – early! The parents arrived in a steady stream and soon all the anxious waiting to see if our penfriends were anything like their photos and emails was over.
All was well and we met at school early on Friday for a welcome breakfast and a speech from Monsieur Cle’ach the Headmaster. An insight into French lessons followed-Matthew and Alan went to Maths (and greatly impressed the teacher) and then we were off to visit Paris starting with a walk from school, under the Eiffel Tower for a boat trip along the Seine.
A stop over at Notre Dame called for some careful price comparisons as to where to buy the cheapest hoodies. Back on the boat some were very excited about the weekend in families, some more anxious, but what a lot of catching up to do on Monday morning.
George had been to the biggest château in the Loire – Chambord, Guy had a round of golf in Brittany, Tareq explored the countryside whilst retrieving of one of his penfriend’s many siblings from boarding school. Many went up the Eiffel tower- some even climbed to the 2nd floor on foot- well done Alice ( who also checked out the African Art in Musée Branly) and to Lucy who had a long day with the scouts.
Many went to Versailles, some to check out the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Sacré Coeur and the shops (of course). Eleanor was sporting a very pretty scarf- a gift from her French mother, Conny checked out the price of shoes and lots of restaurants whilst Nancy enjoyed Sushi and Disneyland with her family.
Monday began with a trot down the Champs-Elysées to La Place de la Concorde before heading off for a tour of the Pompidou Centre- opinions differed widely as to favourite pieces of Modern Art- before heading off by metro to the Musée du Choco. Few of the families had heard of this delight that Mrs Macdonald happened upon whilst checking out boat prices, and although the guide was a bit severe, we all felt sweeter at the end, having watched chocolates being made by hand before sampling. I wonder how many of the ‘gifts’ purchased made it home?
Tuesday was the only day with a drop of rain during the stay and luckily we were at the Cité des Sciences exploring the Argonaut submarine ( not good for the claustrophobic) before ending the visit with a newly released film in la Géode- an Imax cinema. The comfy seats proved too hard to resist for some who succumbed to a few zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs.
Wednesday- our last day- came all too quickly and saw us dashing to a very colourful street market for some last minute shopping, zooming up to the 58th floor of Tour Montparnasse- the weather again held out- and then off to the Latin Quarter for lunch in small groups. Whilst Mr and Mrs Precious and Mrs Macdonald tried out the traditional fare, pizza proved too big a temptation for most- none of the snails sampled last year!
We arrived home safely on Thursday teatime, tired but happy.
All members of the group deserve congratulating on their positive approach and exemplary behaviour-it was a pleasure to spend a week with each and every one. Gap year here they come!
