At 4.00am a sleepy group of staff and students left Ralph Sadleir School; destination France.
After a long drive and a smooth sea crossing we continued our journey by coach heading towards Normandy, we arrived at our hotel, unpacked and met our animateurs Francoise and Nawal. It was also Euan’s birthday so we celebrated with cards and cake.
On the Monday morning we drove to the Town of Bayeux and saw the famous Bayeux Tapestry and visited Bayeux cathedral.
After this we did some ‘research’ in a patisserie (a French cake shop).
In the afternoon we visited the Aromanches 360° cinema and saw a film about the D-Day landings. After this we went onto Juno beach and did some activities at the Canadian memorial centre.
On the Tuesday morning we headed to the American cemetery, where we had a guided tour of the many graves there. We were told the story of a few of the men which was very touching, to hear about their lives and the families that they left behind was deeply moving.
We were shown how to fold the Stars and Stripes (The American flag) and how the Americans pay homage to the men and women who died and are buried at the cemetary. They take the golden sand from Ohmaha beach and rub it onto the marble graves so that they names stand out clearly, then small American and French flags are placed at the foot of the grave.
In the afternoon we vistied both the German and the British cemeteries well.
In the evening we had the opportunity to try L’escargot (snails in garlic), nearly everybody tried them and most people enjoyed the taste of them.
This evening was also Ben’s birthday, so we had more cakes and cards and sang Happy birthday in both French and English.
On the Wednesday morning we drove to Paris, saw the Eiffel Tower, took lots of photographs of it then had a picnic. We then took at Cruise along the River Seine and later we all took the lift up to the viewing platform of the Montparnasse area where we got a very clear view of Paris.
Thursday was Disney Day! We arrived soon after the park opened and spent time in each area enjoying the food and rides. We stayed until closing time.
On the final day we visited the Sacre Coeur Cathedral and Montmartre. We even managed to practice our spoken French in an ice cream shop.
Please visit our Gallery page to view photographs of our trip.
