Spring half-term celebrations started super early for a lucky group of Year 9 and Year 10 pupils: rendez-vous Gatwick Airport; destination Bordeaux, weather forecast: scorching!
The forecast was not wrong, and, after an extremely short flight, we arrived in sweltering heat in the beautiful city of Bordeaux. Afternoon visits were to the CAPC, the museum of contemporary art and La Cité du Vin. Both were fascinating, and the bonus was that we were able to seek respite in delightfully air-conditioned surroundings! In the art museum, pupils were invited to climb a huge scaffolding structure and tie a coloured ribbon on it whilst simultaneously making a wish. The artist’s aim was to create a rainbow with the twist being that instead of seeing a rainbow and making a wish, we would make a wish and create a rainbow. In the wine museum, pupils learned about the history of viticulture, crushed imaginary grapes in an interactive display and were rewarded with a much-needed grape-juice tasting on the 8th floor of the museum, which afforded us a bird’s-eye view of Bordeaux.
Day 2 started with a trip to La Dune du Pilat, the highest sand dune in Europe. In searing heat and feeling like Lawrence of Arabia, pupils set off to climb (or take the staircase!) up the side of the dune and the views of the Bassin d’Arcachon and of the Atlantic Ocean did not fail to impress. It was impossible to work out where the sky ended and the crystal-clear blue waters began. As all of our pupils ran down the side of the dune, tourists scattered and the dune shook – it was almost certainly a centimetre or two lower by the time we reached the bottom and found shade for our hot feet! The afternoon was filled with a shopping trip to Arcachon, delicious hand-made ice-cream, a walk along the seafront and a trip to the local oyster museum.
Our final day in France saw pupils take up residence in a language school in Bordeaux. Girls were separated according to year group and learned “phrases that will save your life in France” and identified true and false stereotypes about the French-speaking world. In the afternoon, we travelled to the delightfully charming UNESCO village of St Emilion. Being further inland and away from the coast meant that it was even hotter than previous days (road signs told us it was 42 degrees!) and so we amended our itinerary in order to survive – drinks and ice-creams were order of the day in a beautiful café whose fans moved the air around and sprayed out cool droplets of water at the same time – what a popular spot it proved to be. In the afternoon, we returned to Bordeaux and paddled in the Miroir d’eau, which sits alongside La Garonne and creates a perfect mirror-image of the Bordeaux Stock Exchange.
It really was a wonderful few days, and no one wanted to leave. The girls were a joy and benefited enormously from this brief cultural and linguistic séjour in France. Huge thanks to Mrs Reyner and Miss Keers for facilitating the trip, and here’s to the next one!
Written by Mme Paul
