Cholet French Exchange 2013

Saturday 15th - Saturday 23rd June 2013

18 of our Year 9 students are travelling to Cholet in France for a week-long stay with a French family. They will be accompanied this year by Mrs Khalil and Mrs Walton. Mr Bellars from Ballard School will also be joining the trip along with 4 students.

They have all been paired with a French student and have already got to know each other, on Skype, Facebook and via email.

There are exciting visits planned to Paris, the Puy Du Fou theme park and Nantes. We must not forget that Friday night (21st June - the longest day) will see hundreds of musicians and bands playing throughout France for the Fête de la Musique.

We will be updating this page with their adventures.

Saturday 15th June
After a long journey across a choppy channel, followed by a comfortable coach ride, we arrived safely in Cholet, where we were welcomed warmly by our new families.

A presentation was made by M. Houdebine, the head of the Collège Trémolières and M. Nédélec, who reminded us how this exchange started 12 years ago:
A message attached to a hot air balloon landed on Highcliffe beach after travelling all the way from Cholet. It was handed into Highcliffe reception and the subsequent phone call to celebrate its arrival led to a fruitful relationship for both schools.
We raised our glasses to Mr Hill who started this beautiful exchange with M. Nédélec, and who is missed by us all.

There were cakes made by the families and then it was time for our tired students to go home to their new families.

Sunday 16th June
We had a beautiful sunny and warm day at Lake Ribou where all the families met for a picnic. It was a chance for our students to be reunited with their English counterparts but also to build new friendships with all the French students.

It didn't take long to start games of football and badminton, or to simply chat whilst sitting on the grass and get to know each other.

Monday 17th June
We had another lovely day in Cholet.
The students started school at 8.00am and followed their French partners to various classes; PE, English, History etc. We were then given a grand tour of the Collège Trémolières by Madame Piétri, the deputy head of the school.
She also gave us an insight of the school life in France.

Lunch was spent at the canteen in the new building and consisted of a starter of crudités, followed by a choice of fish, chicken or duck accompanied by beautifully prepared vegetables, another bowl of salad, fruit of your choice and yoghourt or cheese and bread!
The staff at the collège are very proud of their chef.

The afternoon was spent by the nearby Lake of Ribou, a beautiful setting where the PE staff had organised some orienteering games with challenges. The students were put in teams with their "corres" (penfriends) and it certainly made them communicate with each other.
The challenges consisted of, among other things, singing the French anthem by the English students, describing the British flag by the French students, juggling with as many balls as you can and building human pyramids.
It was great fun and we are told the weather has been very kind to us so far.
It hasn't rained on us yet!

Tuesday 19 June

We arrived by TGV ( a very fast train!) in Paris Gare Montparnasse at 8.30 after an early start in Cholet.

Our first stop was "la Tour Eiffel". We climbed up to the second floor to admire the wonderful view of Paris. We then hopped on a "bateau de Paris" a great way to see some of the famous landmarks of the city from the river Seine, amongst them " the Louvre", "the Musée d'Orsay", " la Cathédrale Notre Dame", " the Concièrgerie ", " le Grand Palais" to name a few. The boat ride took us under some beautiful bridges.

As the weather forecast had promised us, it was a very hot day, so after the boat trip we took shelter and a bit of cooling time in the shade.

It was then time for a short walk along the Seine to take the métro and the "Funiculaire" to Montmartre where the students had a bit of time to look around the famous and pretty "Place du Tertre" and buy some souvenirs in the surrounding shops.

Next stop was the "Sacré Coeur" where we took the obligatory group photograph and from which we admired another amazing view of this beautiful city.

It was then already time to catch the métro to the station and then our TGV to Angers to then reach Cholet just after midnight.

Despite an early start and the high temperature the students showed a joyous and relaxed mood throughout the day.

Wednesday 19th June
Today we were in school for lessons with our “corres” (penfriends). Some students had French, some had English and some did music in the media suite. The luckiest group had a climbing session, where our students really excelled themselves according to the Collège Trémolières’ teachers. It was great fun, and despite being quite tired from Paris, all rose to the challenge.

We left school at 12.00 and headed down to McDonalds in town. After lunch our French corres showed us around the shops and some went to the ice rink. The girls especially liked "Bizbee" (a clothes shop of course!)

We spent the evening with our French families having dinner, listening to music and playing wii.

Thursday 20th July
Today we visited the "Puy du Fou", the theme park in the Vendée.

In the morning we gathered at the school, and set off with our French partners. The journey was short and we arrived in perfect time for "The Musketeers" which included an impressive display of horsemanship, horseplay and water features.

Next up was "the Bal des Oiseaux" in which hundreds of birds of all types flew over our heads, settling on some spectators. It was an amazing spectacle.

In the "Viking" display that followed, Mr Bellars got a chance to star as a villager, watching as his village was pillaged by the Vikings.

We then moved onto the "Gladiators" which included lions, leopards and a tiger, hyenas, ostriches, oxen, geese, camels plus a huge shire horse and a gladiator chariot knockout race. The fake blood was spectacular! The Gauls won over the Romans.

Finally we saw this year's new show "les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde", which featured a round table complete with knights rising from underwater. Very impressive!

Friday 21st June
It is "Fête de la Musique" everywhere in France and beyond. Music is played in villages, towns and cities. It is a free popular event where music is celebrated by music lovers, amateurs and professionals.

Firstly though, we went to school for the first two hours and then left Cholet by coach to the beautiful city of Nantes where we had a look at the pretty "Château des Ducs De Bretagne", the last château on the banks of the Loire river before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.
We had a picnic and time to look around the old part of Nantes and its beautiful little shops.

We then hopped on the tram to reach the "Machines de l'Île", a set of gigantic mechanical animals, like the Great Elephant, the Marine Worlds Carrousel and the Heron Tree. It was great fun and some of us were lucky to get a ride on a giant caterpillar, or propelled in a mechanical seat.

It was then time to head back home to spend our last evening with our families and to listen to the music in Cholet or spend a quiet time at home.

Saturday 22nd of July
Today is an emotional goodbye to our French partners and their families and we look forward to welcome them here at Ballard and Highcliffe School.