On Sunday 7th February, 33 girls from the UIV and LV Forms, accompanied by Mme Malcolm, Mme Foley and Mlle Challoner, left St Mary’s for a five-day visit to Rouen, France. After ensuring everyone had their passports, EHIC cards and – most importantly – their packed lunches, we set off on the coach to Portsmouth, where we then caught the ferry to Caen. After a long, but very smooth, crossing we boarded another coach which took us on the final leg of our journey to Rouen, where the girls met their host families and departed for a good night’s sleep.
We all met up again the next morning at the ‘French in Normandy’ language school, which was handily located approximately 10 minutes’ walk from the centre of Rouen. Here the girls were split into three groups, and introduced to their teachers. After some initially shy introductions, the girls were soon laughing and chattering away in French to the teachers and each other. The morning session focused on introducing Rouen to the girls – looking at the city’s history and talking about some of its famous landmarks. After hearty packed lunches had been consumed, the afternoon session was spent in Rouen itself, following an audio guide (en français, bien sûr!) tour of the city, where the girls had to complete questionnaires relating to what they had learnt in the morning session. We saw the magnificent Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Aître Saint Maclou, Le Gros-Horloge (get the girls to tell you why it is ‘le’ and not ‘la’!!) and the beautiful Eglise Saint Ouen, to name but a few.
On Tuesday, the girls had an intensive full-day at the language school, learning about French politics and discussing stereotypical ideas of both the French and English, which gave rise to lots of laughs! After spending the morning in the lessons with the girls, in the afternoon Mmes Malcolm and Foley and Mlle Challoner decided to undertake the daunting task of finding the best café-patisserie in Rouen. Following extensive research the clear winner was deemed to be ‘Dame-Cakes’. (This result was later confirmed by several more follow-up visits, just to be certain of their decision!)
After an exhausting day of lessons on Tuesday, the girls had a day excursion on Wednesday to Mont Saint Michel. Following the obligatory group photo on arrival, several of the UIV Form girls decided to get into the French spirit even more and purchased some lovely berets, which they wore with pride for the rest of the trip! We all ate our lunches together and then, in the afternoon, the girls were given a couple of hours of free time, in which they could wander round the shops, visit the exhibitions or find cosy cafés in which to order chocolat chaud and crêpes! During this time, Mmes Foley and Malcolm and Mlle Challoner, along with a group of LV Form girls, decided to visit the abbey, at the summit of Mont Saint Michel. Following an exhausting climb to the top (not helped by blizzard-like conditions), we were greeted with some amazing views of the surrounding area.
Thursday saw the girls back at the language school for the morning session, followed by a trip to a local shopping mall, where they could purchase cadeaux for their families and friends. As this was the last day at the school, the girls were treated to cakes and given their ‘diplomas’ for passing the course. Being fantastic students, all the girls achieved either ‘A1’ or ‘A2’ grades, which they all put down to the excellent standard of teaching they receive at St Mary’s. The ‘French in Normandy’ instructors thanked the girls for their contribution and performance throughout the week, and relayed messages from the host families, who were full of praise for the girls – commenting on their impeccable behaviour, manners and language ability. In return, the girls then read out messages of thanks, that they had composed themselves, to the instructors.
Our last day in France came all too soon and, following goodbye hugs in Rouen, we were quickly on our way to Honfleur, where we spent the morning exploring the town and buying last minute postcards and gifts. We then drove on to Caen, where we boarded the ferry to take us back home. Having said goodbye to half the girls in Portsmouth, where they were collected by their parents, the rest of us continued on to Calne and St Mary’s – ready to start our Half Term holiday!
It was a wonderful week in France – as well as practising their French, it was a great experience for the girls to live with a host family. Many postcards were sent and photographs taken, with amusing anecdotes written up into the girls’ scrapbooks, which will ensure they remember this trip for a long time to come. It was also lovely to see new friendships develop, both within and across the two year groups.
