Senior French Trip

French Trip

Since our last publication of the Independent, 39 students in Year 7 - 9 participated in a trip to Château Du Broutel, France in the Easter holidays. Faheel in Year 9 shares his trip report:

The first day finally arrived, it was an early morning start - 5.30 am arrival at WGS departing around 5.45am. Before we knew it we were at the Eurotunnel crossing. The tunnel was packed with beeping cars trying get abroad for the Easter. When we finally boarded everyone started clapping as the driver managed to negotiate the entrance in once manoeuvre.

At last the crossing was over and we got to France and once again the mood lightened with people staring at the scenery outside. It was a wonderful experience to see such a country like France. Our teacher made an announcement that we would arrive at the Château at about 4pm and that there was an evening meal and games lined up for us which was exciting to hear. We finally arrived in the beautiful village of Rue. We got taken on a little tour of the château and after dinner we went outside to do a scavenger hunt or Château Olympics.

Day 2 started with a morning rise at about 07.30am. We were greeted with pain au chocolat or croissants and a choice of strawberry, vanilla or banana yoghurt. After we had breakfast and cleared away, it was time to make mayonnaise. This was the highlight of the trip so far. We were shown how to make it by the château chef, and then we had a go - I can say it was really funny and disgusting at the same time! We were given the challenge to make the mayo so thick that if we tipped the bowl over our heads, it wouldn’t fall out. 

Another culinary experience was our trip to a chocolate factory.  The experience of watching chocolate being made was mouth-watering and made all of us hungry. Soon it was time for evening games including table football. It was good fun making new friends on our first two days.

The following day we headed out to Amiens and visited the beautiful cathedral, the largest in France, and explored the canal area which is known as the ‘Venice of the north’. After a trip to the park to eat our lunch it was over to Amiens Zoo to meet the animals. That evening after dinner the château staff organised a campfire activity for us, after which we all got together to fill in our trip workbooks.

On the final morning we said au revoir to the château and made our way to a boulangerie on the way back to Calais. Here we were shown how French bread is made, and under the strict supervision of the boulanger, everyone got a chance to create a real croissant! There were some interesting shapes! It was a wonderful experience that I would definitely recommend.

Faheel, Year 9