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This blog is now over.
I would like to thank all the pupils for their behaviour during this week. We hope they all enjoyed it as much as their teachers did.
We should also all thank Mrs Cullens for organizing this trip. It was really worth spending time on it.
S. Mousset

Satruday April 25th on our way back...

After the visit of Warwick castle, we started out again, towards Portsmouth. In this city, we ate in a Mac Donald's then we spent an hour in the supermarket “Tesco”, opened all day long. There everybody was able to spend their last pounds and pence and found the last presents for families and friends. After this hour, we waited in the harbour station like in the first route.
45 minutes later, “Le Normandie”, our ferry for the return trip to France, was readyfor the boarding.

So we returned in the magnificent-green-bus, which drove us to the ferry. While we were in , men came to the vehicle. They were customs officers. They checked six suitcases chosen at random. Result : all was good.

So, we could go on board, and, like during the first route, we danced on a tiny dance-floor.

The big difference with the first time was that we stayed on reclining seats. The sea was a little rough and some pupils were sick. The majority of us rapidly slept.

We woke up at 4 o'clock and we ate at 4 and a half, everybody was still asleep. We took the bus ( on the road again, again ...♫) to drive back to Cholet. We spent our time playing games like chabadabada or card games.

At the toll of Angers, the policemen checked the bus-driver but there was no problem.

Finally we arrived in Cholet at 11:30 and our bus driver and our teachers all congratulated us for our behaviour.
It was a short trip …

By Edouard and Fabien

Saturday April 25th Warwick Castle

On the way back, we stopped to visit Warwick Castle. It was on a sunny Saturday. We are going to tell you our adventures.
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, in England. It sits on a cliff overlooking a bend in the River Avon. Warwick Castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. Warwick Castle was used in the 15th century to imprison the English king, Edward IV. Since its construction in the 11th century, the castle has undergone structural changes with additions of towers and redesigned residential buildings. Originally a wooden motte-and-bailey, it was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified, resulting in one of the most recognisable examples of 14th century military architecture. In the 17th century the grounds were turned into a garden. Warwick Castle was purchased by The Tussauds Group in 1978 and opened as a tourist attraction. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a 1st Grade listed building.
Caesar's and Guy's Towers are residential and may have been inspired by French models (for example Bricquebec).

In 1978, Warwick Castle was sold to Tussauds, a large visitor attraction operator. Tussauds performed extensive restorations to the castle and grounds in addition to opening its gates to the public. In 2001, Warwick Castle was named one of Britain's "Top 10 historic houses and monuments" by the British Tourist Authority; the list included Tower of London, Stonehenge, and Edinburgh Castle. Warwick Castle was recognised as Britain's best castle by the Good Britain Guide 2003. In June 2005, Warwick Castle became home to one of the world's largest working siege engines. The trebuchet is 18 metres (59 ft) tall, made from over 300 pieces of oak and weighs 22 metric tons.

At the entrance of the castle, we could see 2 bowmen shooting successively arrows to targets. They discussed about their weapons with the public. They were very talented and impressive. Next we went to see the trebuchet, this animation was very interesting because of the speaker who presented to us the engine : he was enthusiastic, funny, a real “showman”. With an expert of the engine, they shot a 50 kilos rock.

Then, a falconer presented to us some eagles which had come from all around the world. It was impressive because they were fast and because of their wingspan. We could see other birds of prey in their enclosures at the bottom of the park. Many peacocks took a walk on the lawn across the park.

There were very high fortifications. We could take a walk on it and admire the beautiful landscape from the top of the highest tower. There were many information boards too. Somewhere, a sword was in a rock : we could try to take it off as King Arthur did in the legend. Behind the castle, an “engine house” was hidden. It was a paddle which operated.
A lane sent us to the basements where men of wax were dressed in traditional medieval clothes. On the first floor, other wax characters were dressed with XIXth century clothes, but real people were disguised too : some people were surprised and a bit scared . In the “great hall”, the biggest room of the castle, a man dressed as a knight told the children a story of dragons and princesses. When he said “Dragon”, children had to roar, when he said “The knight”, everybody had to say “Yeah”. It was very funny. If you hadn't listened to the whole the story, you could participate

Everybody enjoyed this day and keeps good memories. Noone was forgotten in the gaol (prison)!

By Matthias C., Mickaël and Thomas

Friday April 24th North Wales Snowdonia National Park

Here is our fifth day in England, far from France. Like every morning we left Chester around 8.15.
We arrived in Wales at 10.30 and we were already cold. We went for a walk in the area : we walked next to a golf ground and along a river, in which we tried to make some ricochets with pebbles.

Then we continued along a road when there were rather frightening graveyards. After this, we went on a suspension bridge we made move(it was quite funny). We finally came back to the bus to eat our sandwhich made by the families.

In the afternoon, we went to Llanberis, still in Wales, to take the Snowdown train. This Mount Snowdon dominates the glorious ancient landscape of North Wales. It measures 3,560ft or 1,085m. We could see the viaduc of Afon Hwch, a spectacular waterfall cascades through an ancient oak forest and a spectacular view from the summit across Snowdonia. It was quite cold and windy but we had fun.

After going down from the train to admire the view we went to the souvenirs shop where the sheep in the fields were well present.

At the end of that day we went back to our families around 18.30.

By Lucie, Marjorie, Camille and Léa

Abandoned pupils…

● Monday, April, 20th
Sarah was sick. We went to school, the Monday morning was like the others. Everybody was so excited, except us… We had class until 4 P.M and when we finished, we said good bye and good trip to them. We were so happy for them but so sad for ourselves.

● Tuesday, April, 21st
Pablo and Sarah were sick. We had class with 2nd 3 from 8 A.M to 4 P.M. There wasn’t anything special on that day.

● Wednesday, April, 22nd
There wasn’t class. (Pablo and Sarah still sick)

● Thursday, April, 23rd
Sarah was back but Pablo still sick. The morning was so boring, because we had only scientific subjects. In the afternoon, we had physical education and we played dodge ball and had fun .

● Friday, April, 24th
Pablo was back. We had class from 9 A.M to 3 P.M (for Pablo, Julie and Sarah) and Coline finished at midday.

This week was so boring because we were only four pupils left in 2nd 4 and we missed them.
Pablo received a post-card from everybody.
Anais B. called Coline.
Julie called Chloé M.
Sébastien called Sarah before visiting the Beatles Museum.

It was sunny all week long until they arrived ! When they arrived : It started raining !

By Coline, Julie, Sarah and Pablo

Anfiel Road Liverpool FC Stadium

When we arrived at Anfield stadium, we had to wait for a few minutes before begining the tour.

Then, we passed through the official door of the F.C Liverpool players until the moment when Kevin, our guide gave us some instructions concerning the rules to respect in the stadium : like not walk on the lawn (act considered as a crime).

Then we went into the locker room home. The jerseys of the players of the team type were hung above the place of the players. The locker room was, very small and basic. We could take pictures of our favourite players' jerseys.
Kevin explained to us that it was to concentrate the players. Then, he led us through the corridor leading the players to the pitch, where the interviews also take place.

And Steve, the other guide (who used to be an international referee) showed us the framing with the sponsors.
Kevin said that the players are used to touching the poster «This is Anfield» before playing, in fact it's their lucky charm.

Then we sat down on the seats of coaches and substitutes and Kevin informed us about the tondage of the lawn and the story of the club.

He told us about the tragedy of Hillsborough in which many Liverpool fans died because nobody had stopped the entrances of the supporters and they had compressed along the railings which keep the spectators away from the ground. The jostlings caused a lot of deaths, that is why they decided to remove the railings .
We could see the Memorial board with the victims' names.

After the visit, we went to the museum of the club and saw the differents cups won by the club of Liverpool.

And of course we spent time and money... in the shop!

By Jocelyn, Matthias G., and Noufel

Thursday April 23rd The Beatles Museum

Finally we visited the Beatles' Museum, in Liverpool, in the well-known Albert Docks.
Audio guides helped us explain and understand the Beatles' story.
First, the tape guide explained to us how they had met : John Lennon met Paul Mc Cartney in a concert then Paul introduced Georges Harrison to John and Georges joined the band. Finally Ringo Starr integrated the band thanks to the manager who wanted to replace Pete Best the drummer.

The piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine"

Then, we discovered the beginning of their story: They started playing together in Tabu club then they became famous thanks to The Cavern, in Mathew Street. In the museum there are a lot of reconstructions of different places.

The Beatles became famous all around the world. The "Beatlemania" was a phenomenon of scale. The youth inspired from their hairstyle and to get dressed " in Beatles ". We can say that they created a revolution in music and in the way of life.

The Albert Docks in Liverpool.

By Pauline, Stephanie and Déborah

Conwy castle, North Wales

Conwy Castle

On the beach, in Llanberris

Chester Wednesday April 22nd

The Rows

We arrived in Chester on Tuesday 21st of April at about 7 pm. We met our families and went to their home.

We visited the city of Chester on the following day. We took the bus to go in the town center and we had some free time.
Half an-hour later, we gathered again to start the visit with a guide, who spoke French very well. At the beginning he told us about the walls around the town, the bridge and the river Avon, which was named after a famous family of England, that's why there are many rivers Avon in Great Britain.
Then we took the bus and visited the main historical monuments : we saw a high school called “Queen's School” because Queen Victoria came there. Around midday we had lunch in the center of Chester, in front of the cathedral, under the sun.

We had one hour free time, we went shopping before going back to the bus to head toward Conwy.

By Claire, Chloé B., Chloé M., Chloé R. (the Chloézzzz...)

Tuesday April 21th Bath city centre

During the trip in England, we visited Bath. Bath is a city in the South-West of England famous for its baths fed by three hot springs . We discovered the city thanks to a guided tour and so, we learnt the history of Bath.
We discovered that there is a cathedral near the Roman baths and a «Pump room». All around, there are many shops and two statues.

There are a lot of buildings and monuments in Bath such as the Royal crescent, the Royal circus but also the Pulteney bridge built in 1773 above the river Avon.

Bath has its own rugby pitch situated next to the river. Bath rugby is a rugby club in XV English which plays in the first English league, Guiness Premiership. Founded in 1865, the club is not only one of the oldest English clubs but it also introduces one of the beautiful prize list in England.

Bath's history tells us that in the past, a lot of people suffered from leprosy, a chronic infectious disease. One day, people realised that the pigs, which used to roll in mud, were cured. So villagers decided to dive into the hot springs in their turn.

By Anaïs, Charlène and Wassana

A few anecdotes by Baptiste, Grégoire, Nadir and Sébastien

During our journey with the class in Chester, we had the opportunity to see much little and funny stuff about our teachers and mates. Have you ever seen Mrs Mousset eating a Big Mac? Or Mrs Biron playing Chabadabada? We want to show the real face of this trip. We will talk about the « delicious » food of the families and the dirty sheep in Snowdonia.

First anecdote:
As Mrs Biron had said we have eaten chips, pizza or pasta ( or the three in the same meal for some people). We thought it was a joke, a caricature, but not... fortunatly, it was real... We also had some porridge and pancake !! And these one were very good ( but a little bit fatty).

The Yeahyeah man :
We were waiting for the visit of the Roman baths, and a man with a ridiculous hat was singing . He was improvising a rubbish song in which the only word was «yeah». All the teenagers around him were repeating his lively song!!



Mrs Mousset's love:
During our visit of Anfield road, Liverpool FC stadium, we could see a man who was flirting with Mrs Mousset. His name was Steeve. He used to be an international football referee in Premier League. Indeed they were laughing and joking together instead of listening to the guide.

April 21st, Day 1 Bath

During the first day of our trip, we stopped in Bath and visited the Roman Bath in the afternoon. When we arrived in the building, we could notice the ceiling was in Georgian style as the guide had told us earlier in the morning while visiting the town on foot.





At the beginning of the visit we had the choice between listening to the commentaries in French or English on the audioguides. The pupils chose the French version, contrary to the teachers.
Then, we visited the baths during one hour and a half. There were statues of famous Roman people. We had to walk around the main bath which was on the lower floor. Inside the building, we could see a model of the whole baths.

There were also pieces of antique baths, which were missing and found later by archeologists. These baths were built in order to have a good time and were used to curing lepers. At last, we could look at a wonderful bath where we could throw money to fulfil a wish. It's supposed to bring good luck.

Today, people from all the world come to Bath to visit these Roman remains. That's why the city's name is Bath.
We enjoyed this visit because it is interesting for History, and the weather was beautiful, so it was pleasant to wander around this outdoor site.

by Axelle, Charlotte and Maurane

20th-21st of April, departure.

On the 20th of April, on a beautiful sunny day, we were all impatient. After putting our suitcases in the bus, we could see our high school disappearing behind us, on the way to Caen.
We drove during four hours with a break to eat at the rest area of Alençon. When we arrived in Caen, we had to wait for about one hour in the harbour station. The teachers gave us our pass cards to reach our cabins.

Then, we went on board “Le Mont-Saint-Michel”. On the boat, the time changed : it was not 11pm any longer but 10pm. When we discovered our cabins, we were very surprised because there was only one bed and a sofa for four persons. In fact, the sofa was an unfolding bed and the two others were hidden in the ceiling. Then, most of us danced on the dance floor of the ferry. When we came back in our cabins, the sea was very calm but in the opposite corridor, pupils of another high school were very noisy.
At 5.25am, Miss Biron knocked at our door to wake us up. At 6 o'clock, we had breakfast and landed on the English coasts. We took the bus and drove on the left.

Direction : Bath.

By Elise and Emma

Du 20 au 26 avril 2009, des élèves de 2nde 2,3 et 4 ont séjourné à Chester.

Accompagnés de Mmes Cullens, Biron, Raoul et Mousset, ils ont visité un certain nombre de sites.

Grâce à ce blog, découvrez le récit de leurs aventures.