French Trip, 2010
Diary
On Friday 25th June, 3.00 am, I really thought that as soon as we were on the coach our little crowd would quickly settle down and that we, the teachers, could get a few hours of sleep (after all the many trips I have taken to France... I should have known better!). During this rather lengthy journey to Paris, pupils seem to spend a rather large amount of their time talking, listening to their music AND eating. And when we stopped on motorway services... they bought yet more food! We eventually reached Dover, got on the ferry and made our way to “La Belle France”. To try and shorten the journey into Paris, our two wonderful drivers, Ziggy (whom I kept calling Iggy!) and Andrew had to take a slight diversion, and instead of entering Paris by the touristic path, our crowd was introduced to this beautiful city through Pigalle. After what seemed like hours of stopping and starting in traffic jams, we arrived at our hotel at 19.30! No sooner had we finished our meal that we took our group for a stroll down a beautiful park, minutes away from the hotel. I am sure that, after reading these lines, every parent will have understood that the cunning plan was indeed to tire out these wonderful children. Well, we did try, but miraculously the moment pupils reached their bedrooms... the night started! Mrs Hargrave and I eventually planted ourselves between the two main doors by 22.00 every evening so that we could keep an eye on what was going on. Doors regularly opened to check if we were still on watch and eventually, by 23.30, quietness (I would not go as far as using the word “silence”) could be heard!. Because we did need some sleep, we eventually retired to our rooms, still unsure to this day, as to whether some pupils did actually go to sleep at that hour!!!
But, the next morning, at 6.30 am, a refreshed Mrs Lambert went happily knocking on everyone’s door, waiting to see at least one face from each room so that I knew there would be someone up!!! That particular moment was indeed my “revenge” on the night before and, yes, I did bang rather loudly on doors!
We had a fantastic choice of breakfast, made of croissants (I can still smell these as I am writing this summary), hot chocolate, coffee, tea, fresh bread, jam, butter, cereals and yoghurts... awaited our children every morning.
On Saturday 26th June, we went to visit a typical French market, we took our group to see the “Mona Lisa” in Le Louvre, we ate our lunch in the beautiful gardens next to the Louvre, we walked back (or should I say... we dragged ourselves back) to the coach and headed for Versailles. The sun... and the heat….accompanied us all day and a rather tired bunch of children made their way back to the hotel for their dinner. Because I never seem to learn from past experiences, I had planned a “mini disco” for everyone on that night so that, hopefully, any left energy burst would be rapidly exhausted! Well, it did not work! Yes, pupils did dance and we saw some amazing “waves” from Oscar and Liberty but by 22.30, Mrs Hargrave and I were back on our posts, patrolling the corridors!
On Sunday 27th June, we were at the bottom of the Tour Eiffel by 9.00 am, to try and beat the huge crowds. I think by the end of this trip, everyone understood that the French do not like queuing and that the idea is indeed to “push in” if you want to get in! Well done, to Laura and Chloe, for facing their fears and actually making it to the third floor where the most splendid view of Paris awaited us. We then took a rather long walk to the Bateau Mouche for a river cruise, baked in a heat of over 30 degrees. I became somewhat concerned, on the way out, as I did not seem to get hold of our drivers to decide on the next meeting point. As we were walking on the banks of the river, Elliott suddenly spotted our coach on the main road and everyone started shouting and waving to catch Andrew’s eyes. Fortunately, he did see us and, after a brisk stop on the Champs-Elysees to get our lunch, we made our way to Notre Dame, where pupils finally could eat and rest for a few minutes. Then, in order to please everyone and serve England, I decided to alter our afternoon plans to find somewhere to watch the football match. I had never done a visit on the famous Champs-Elysees to try and locate a screen where the England-Germany football match could be viewed. It was however, very moving indeed to have our St. James’ crowd, sitting at the back of a cafe, all standing up when their national anthem was played, under the eyes of customers who smiled as they watched our pupils. Maybe the score was not what one hoped for, but hopefully everyone will remember having watched this particular match, in Paris, in what is probably the most expensive avenue in France! We finally made our way to the beautiful Montmartre for our dinner. The scenery was indeed so lovely with painters and artists scattered around, as the heat of the day began to go down. We finished our visit of Paris by a quick viewing of La Basilique du Sacre Coeur and then returned to the hotel. Everyone was even more excited then, as the next day was a visit to EuroDisney! The trip there was “electric”, with groups planning which rides they were going to try and which fast pass they were going to use. The sun and the heat did not desert us, which also meant the park was busier than I have ever seen it in the past. Queues to any rides seemed to take for ever, but we still managed to get on some of the most scary ones (Mrs Hargrave has in her possession a picture which I have simply forbidden her to show to anyone as I look as if I had just seen a ghost!).
The last night at the hotel proved as eventful as I had anticipated, with everyone being totally exhausted. Still, by 7.30 the next morning, we managed to have everyone back on the coach heading off for Cite Europe, where pupils had been promised more time for shopping (I must apologise for the parents whose children have returned from France having managed to almost renew their entire wardrobe!... I never realised it can take so little time for anyone to buy so much!). I had advised everyone on what presents they could take back to their family, but somehow the general reply was that parents had insisted that no presents should be brought back and that instead pupils should use their euros for personal purchases!!!!
The journey back was just as lively, with pupils keeping up their good spirits in spite of a last minute diversion to avoid a traffic jam on the motorway. Eventually, the signs to Grimsby became more numerous and at 10.00 pm we finally reached school.
This, for me, was probably the hardest part of our trip, as I eventually had to let go of this wonderful, and I sincerely mean, this wonderful group of children. The success of a school trip like this will mostly depend on the group of pupils who take part. Our group did not just take part, each individual completely immersed themselves in every thing which was planned, instructions were listened to and the behaviour of everyone was simply faultless. I love trips because of all these reasons.
I just would like to say, on behalf of Mrs Hargrave and Mr Johnson: MERCI BEAUCOUP to everyone. We have had such a lovely time with you. We are now looking forward to another French destination for yet more fun. Also, thank you to Mrs Hargrave and Mr Johnson for ALL your help and support.
Mrs F Lambert, Head of Sixth Form
