Year 8  Brittany Trip Sunday 4 th July to Friday 9^th July 2010

The pupils and staff arriver safely in France, here are the daily bulletins we are receiving from Mrs Pang:

MONDAY 5TH JULY 

Today we arrived safely in France. We managed to wake up just in time to see the ferry coming up to the French port Roscoff. It was easy getting off the ferry; we loaded into the minibus and soon drove off. Mr Taylor knew where he was going as our driver and reminded us that he would be driving on the right side of the road ( not the wrong side!!).

Our first stop was a place called Morlaix ( on the way to our hostel in Lannion). We had left the ferry at 7am (French Time) and stopped at a huge hypermarket in Morlaix to buy croissants for our breakfast and some baguettes and fillings for our lunch. The bus was full of a tired ,but cheerful group who were glad of their first bite of French food at 8.30am in the morning.

By 11: 15 am we were in the hostel. It is a light slate building with the name 'Les Korrigans' who are a group of pixies. The rooms are clean and spacious and have comfortable beds. Each room has a pixie on the door and is named after a pixie!!! We unpacked and settled into our rooms and got ready to go for a make-your -own baguette on a nearby beach.

Straight after the lunch (the chicken sandwiches were 'the best' ), we went to the local bird sanctuary called LOP. There was lady who guided us round and told us all about the birds that live in the area and on a nearby island. We found out that there are at least 3 types of seagull, all with different names. We also found that gannets (who nest on cliff ledges) lay pear -shaped eggs so that if they are knocked they will not roll off the cliff but spin. Mrs Pang had to translate EVERYTHING and was very good at it!!

Next we walked off to the beach -which was HUGE!!! The sea is a beautiful turquoise blue and there are waves crashing against rocks al around in the distance. On the beach everyone was instantly entertained in digging holes, building sandcastles, playing football, paddling and looking for crabs!! The only crabs we could find alive were the size of a fingernail.

Soon it was time to head back to the hostel. We 'ate like kings' (Zac B). We had 3 courses tomato and sweet corn salad to start, roast chicken and potato wedges with a delicious sauce and chocolate caramel for pudding along with lots of crispy baguette.

Last thing was a hop and skip over the road (sensibly of course) to play in the park, football, cricket and boules. Our top scorers in boules were Jack, Luke M and Lewis… well done boys! And as the sun came down over Lannion we settled down ,pulled down the blinds and fell asleep to recharge our batteries for the next day.

TUESDAY 6TH JULY


Our second day in France started with some bright sun shine. We got up at 7.30 and by 8.30 we were in the dining room for our breakfast. We had a choice of: baguette, butter, jam, cereals, yogurt and some fruit juice, café au lait, chocolat chaud, thé au lait!

At 9.45 we were in the minibus on our way to " la cité des telecoms" our guide was waiting for us to show us around and explain all about the history of telecommunication and how it developed up to the fibre optic of today.

We enjoyed playing on some virtual reality games (ski boarding and beach volley ball) as well as some simulators.

We watched a film and a show which explained how the first antenna was built and how it transmitted television between France and America. The Antenna in Brittany is the only one left of its kind and it is protected in a large balloon called a "Radome". The membrane is only 2 millimetres thick and is held inflated by pressurised air. They use 6 tonnes of paint to repaint it and the Arc de Triomphe fits in it!

We had a nice picnic in a small park nearby and then made our way to "Le village gaulois". We play very low tech games which tested our team work ability and our skills. We had a taste of ice cream and some Brittany crêpes. We also did some rowing on a small water pond.

At 4.30 we made our way to a lovely beach to finish the day with some relaxing time and sand building.
We got back to the youth Hostel just in time for supper at 7PM. We had melon and porcuisto ham, sausages and mash and a chocolate éclair for dessert.

We rounded up the day by a walk in the town of Lannion admiring its architecture and old buildings.

By 10pm all were in bed and asleep after a refreshing shower.

La suite à demain…..

WEDNESDAY 7TH JULY

Our third day in France started with cloud but soon cleared up to bright sun shine. We got up at 6.30 and by 7.30 we were in the dining room for our breakfast. We had a choice of: baguette, butter, jam, cereals, yogurt and some fruit juice, café au lait, chocolat chaud, thé au lait!

At 8.30 we were in the minibus on our way to " Oceanopolis" one of the largest aquariums in Europe. We arrived around 10:15 am and set off in groups to explore the 3 Climate zones ( Temperate, Tropical and Polar) . We saw a huge variety of fish and other sea-creatures. Some of the favourites were the sharks, swordfish and the starfish ( you were able to touch those). We also got to see a seal show and a friendly group of penguins who appeared from behind a screen after the wide -screen cinema film of 'Antarctica'.

At 12:30 we enjoyed a generous picnic (prepared by the hostel) of buckwheat and chicken salad, cheese and boiled egg baguette, crisps, fruit and a cake.

Following this the groups set off again to explore the zone they hadn't got to and to meet back at the shop for some serious but fishy shopping!!! There was something for everyone there and many of us found presents for friends and family. We were also allowed a 10% discount as we were a large visiting group!

We then hopped back into the minibus , which had been carefully parked in a shady spot by Mr Taylor. It took us about an hour to reach an enormous expanse of beach ( one of the many in the area) called 'Baie St Michel'. A beach of beautiful blue sea and fine golden sand. We set off to entertain ourselves with football,volleyball, sand castle building and hole excavation!! A couple of small groups trotted down to the beach to paddle and collect some water for their sand creations.

By 6:45pm we were back at the hostel and had plenty of time to prepare for supper. We had showers and made ourselves presentable for our 7:30 pm dinner date in the hostel's restaurant. We said 'Bonjour' to the talented chef called 'Frederic'.We were not to be disappointed, the menu was as follows: Starters: French cheese pastry, Main course: Freshly made spaghetti carbonara and Pudding: egg custard and rich chocolate sauce tart with a flaky pastry. DELICIEUX!!!!!

With full bellies and wide smiles we made our way over to the park after supper for a Boules competition led by Mr Taylor. It was an exciting and very well-played match. There was a close call but the deserved winners were Lewis, Matt and Zac, who appear to have quite a talent for this type of sport. BRAVO BOYS!!! 

Heads had all hit their pillows by 10pm. Bonne Nuit a tout le monde!!!!

THURSDAY 8TH JULY

Our fourth day in France started with bright sun shine. We got up at 7.45 (a bit of a lie in today!) and by 8.30 we were in the dining room for our breakfast. We had a choice of: baguette, butter, jam, cereals, yogurt and some fruit juice, café au lait, chocolat chaud, thé au lait!

At 10.00 we walked to the "marché de Lannion"   There was a lot of stalls and a lot to see! In the lower market we explored and looked around for an hour, the children doing some shopping in pairs! They were very mature and took care of each other. They enjoyed buying a few things and were proud to show us their purchase. They met us at the meeting point at the given time.

We then walked to the centre of town for the upper market. There were a lot of French specialities and interesting things to see and buy. The indoor food market had stalls of fish, fruits, vegetables and meat and "Crêpes". Gavin ordered himself a pancake, Luke and Jack brought themselves a fresh squeezed orange juice and were proud to tell us that they had paid less as they were young children. There was some musicians playing accordion and some belly dancers. The market was very crowded and we gave very clear instructions as what we expected. Time keeping and looking after each other was once again excellent and when 12 children turned up at the meeting place we were full of praise.

At 12:30 we picked up our picnic and made our way to a park full of sculptures in pink granite. We enjoyed a generous picnic (prepared by the hostel) of chicken, couscous salad, cheese, baguette, crisps, fruit and a cake.

Following this the groups set off again to explore the pink granite coast. We went on for a short walk and some exploring of enormous pink boulders set against the back ground of the transparent aquamarine sea. The nature reserve was breath taking with all its different colours of purple, pink and aquamarine!

We followed the coast to the beach of St Guires. We settled on the beach and small groups of children went to the ice cream parlour to order the ice cream of their choice in French! I was very impressed by their fluency and good accent! We entertained ourselves with sand castle building and hole excavation!! A couple of small groups trotted down to the beach to paddle, collect some water for their sand creations and have a bit of a splash to cool down.

We then hopped back into the minibus. By 6:45pm we were back at the hostel and had plenty of time to prepare for supper. We had showers and made ourselves presentable for our 7:30 pm dinner date in the hostel's restaurant. We said 'Bonjour' to the talented chef called 'Frederic'. And once again we were not to be disappointed, the menu was as follows: We had savoury pancakes of ham, egg, cheese, mushrooms and cream and goat cheese. Sweet pancakes with a choice of jam, sugar and lemon and chocolate spread. DELICIEUX!!!!!

We presented a signed card to our chef, Frederic and Aurelie, with comments of our appreciation of their hard work and gorgeous food. Some comments were written in French by the children!

With full bellies and sad smiles we made our way to our rooms to pack for the return journey tomorrowL

Heads had all hit their pillows by 10pm. Bonne Nuit a tout le monde!!!!

 

FRIDAY 9TH JULY

Our last day in France started with bright sunshine once again. We got up at 7.15 and by 8.00 we were in the dining room for our breakfast.

We then, sadly went back to our rooms to tidy up and complete the last minute packing.

At 9.30 we finished loading the trailer with our luggage and our last picnic. We said goodbye to the staff at the youth hostel and made our way to the hypermarché for our last shopping trip.

At 11.30 we decided to go back to the park as the children wanted to play a last game of Boules and it was too hot to go to the beach for our picnic.

At 1 o’clock we set off for Roscoff in the minibus. We arrived at the port and waited to get on board. The boat set off at 4.30. We settled in the restaurant with a great view of the sea. The crossing was not very smooth and a few of us had to stay out on deck for most of the crossing. About an hour before arriving we had some dinner in the restaurant. The children were excellent and an elderly couple commented on how good they were. We arrived in Plymouth at 8.30 and disembarked promptly which enabled us to be back at school for 10PM.