Over Easter, twenty-three Oundle pupils and staff travelled France to explore Paris while speaking French as much as possible.
Pupil, Lily Tyler (17) commented, “From the moment we arrived, anyone caught speaking English was asked to repeat themselves and pretty soon we all got the message.
Our first adventure was seeing the Eiffel Tower – luckily Paris is just as beautiful in the rain so we walked to the area and took advantage of the photo opportunities. We had supper in a typically Parisian restaurant with the braver among us trying dishes such as bone marrow.”
The group were joined by Monsieur Chevassu who is involved in the cinema industry and had the opportunity to question him about his profession.
The next day they were given a tour of Montmartre, an artistic district with some extremely old comedy houses and beautiful buildings such as the famous Sacré Coeur. Then followed a visit to the Musée Rodin which featured some of the sculptor’s most famous works placed amongst a huge garden.
Lily added, “The weather had considerably improved which made wandering around the gardens much more pleasant. The highlight of the day for me was watching a French comedy in a very old theatre, luckily we were able to understand most of the play and it entertained us all.”
The third day began with a tour of Marais district where the pupils went to the Musée Picasso to see the famous painter’s works. Some members of the trip were so engrossed in the art that they were unable to finish looking around the exhibition.
On Friday, the pupils enjoyed a stroll through a flower market and were able to visit the Notre Dame, one of the most famous cathedrals in the world. The afternoon offered them the opportunity to watch a fashion show in one of Paris’ largest shopping centres.
On the final day, on the return journey, a trip to a huge flea market at the outskirts of the city saw some last minute purchases.
Lily concluded, “It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip which improved our French language considerably and we must thank the teachers, especially Mr Béjoint, for putting together such an interesting itinerary. “