Boulogne Trip - September 2013

On Saturday, 28th  September, students who had been identified as high achievers and hard workers in Languages were taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer for the day.

We arrived at school at 5.45 in the morning and set off around 6.15. The coach journey to Folkestone was incredibly long and, for me, too loud and energetic for that time in the morning! We boarded the train and in no time at all it seemed we were parking in Boulogne.

We got into groups and were each handed a booklet with certain tasks to complete. My group set off in the old town and soon enough managed to locate the nearest sweet shop and sandwich bar – what can I say? We were hungry! We then left the old town after about an hour and headed to the new town where we got to go shopping and see the sights in general.

At about one in the afternoon, we walked to a different part of the town and split ourselves into two groups to go on a tour around the fisherman’s memorial (Le Calvaire des Marins) and a traditional old fisherman’s cottage.

The memorial was on top of a hill and had a clear view of the sea and the port. It was beautiful. We were shown around both inside and out where we saw name upon name of fishermen who had unfortunately disappeared at sea. It left a very resonating impact on us all. We then went to the old fisherman’s cottage and we were enveloped in their culture. It was very interesting to see how life had been for a fisherman and his family. We learnt about how they cooked, cleaned, washed (or their lack of it!) and generally brought in enough money to feed a family.

After this we quickly got onto the coach and had one last opportunity to shop at ‘Cité d’Europe’. It was amazing! There were so many shops, but, unfortunately, so little time as we were whisked back on to the coach to return home to Blighty! It was an incredible day out and every student had a great time.

It only leaves me to thank Miss Frémond, Mrs Angel, Mr Wyatt, Mr Gueye, Ms Matson and Ms Swanston for taking and looking after us on the day and to Mrs Anderson for organising the event.

If you only want one reason to be motivated in Languages this year, let it be going on this trip—you really won’t regret it.

September 2013