OUR FABULOUS TRIP TO ENGLAND2010 by Amal & Kessen.

WEDNESDAY : DOVER CASTLE AND OUR FAMILIES

On May,12th, our class met at 5am next to BND. We were all very exited but also very tired. That's why, in the first two hours in the coach everybody slept :

We made a first stop at 8am at a gas station. The weather was cold and we were very hungry, so, that's a good opportunity to buy food, drink and of course... chewing-gum!

After this first stop we were no more tired and the atmosphere in the coach was much more cheerful!

When we arrived in the harbour of Calais, we went through customs with our passport. The employees were not very … joyfull but they let us enter this wonderful country that is England... it was the most important !

We went on board in the direction of Dover's harbour. The boat was vast and great. We didn't bother. With our little group (Léo, Felix, Raphaëlle, Léa, Sharon, Clémentine and us) we took pictures as Woody and Buzz lightyear! It was so funny!!

Then, because the trip gave us hunger, we began our pack lunch in the boat. So, when we arrived at Dover castel, we had nothing to eat... or

practically nothing!

Over there too we had fun! With our little group, we ate our leftovers, listening to music and singing!

Just after eating, we began our visit of the Dover Castel with our teachers M. Devauvre, M. Boyer and Mrs. Da Cruz. Before entering the castle, we were attacked by insects that even Mr Devauvre failed to identify. Raphaelle was very very scared … poor girl, she had never been to the countryside before that day !

Afterward, we finally entered the castle :

In the castle we visited many rooms where Kings used to live. The ceilings of these rooms are very high and the rooms seem empty because the are not a lot of furniture : the suite is very small but also very cozy and the

beds were short. The windows are high and do not get light ; so the rooms are rather dark... but what makes them gay are the coloreful furniture (red, orange, blue …)

After climbing stairs, stairs, stairs and more stairs, we went to the hospital and the head quarter of the castle during the second World War which was located in the basement. It was very interesting.

We took the coach in the direction of Hastings. At the moment we arrived to Hasting, it started raining and the city seemed sad and gloomy. All the shops were closed …

A man brought us in a little house which looks at first sight like a farm however situated in a residencial area. His family welcomed us and showed us our pink room and the bathroom ( without showerhead). We ate beans, potatoes and I don't know why which seemed like turkey with spinach. We went upstairs and finished our installation. That day was exhausting but

because of the exitation we finally slept at 1am. It was our first day without our parents and with all our friends.

Kessen unpacking her biscuits in our PINK bedroom

THURSDAY : THE CITY OF HASTINGS AND ITS CASTEL'S VISIT

On thursday, Amal and I woke up tired because we slept late the day before. We had breakfast and left home quickly with our pack lunch. We found the coach and our class. That morning we went to visit the city of Hastings. But during the trip to the city, we only spoke about our host family and our past evening. Some families were very nice and very welcoming whereas others were more distant... Some of us felt bad about that.

Arrived on the waterfront, we started a nice walk along the beach. It was sunny and the most of us were happy. Félix, Raphaëlle and I were leading and Tom and Abdellah were at the end of the chain. We met our guide at the harbour. She showed us the fishing port and explained us why each year numerous fichermen leave their boat. It is because of the legislation. Every year there are new rules about fishing and being a ficherman becomes very expansive and very binding.

She showed us huts where fichermen arrange their fishing gear. The harbour was an important place of smuggling many years ago. When costguards were finding a smuggler, they used to cut his boat into two parts to check if the smuggler didn't hide china, tea, gin, lace or tobacco into the floor ; and, of course to punish him. But, at this time it was easy to corrupt the customs officers. So, when they were caught red hand, the smugglers used to offer alcohol to the customs guards in order to the guards let them continue their trafic. To bring the commodities from the harbour to the castle fichermen used to employ a cable car that runs on water.

After that very interesting visit, we went sightseeing the old town with the lady. She showed us the different kinds of architecture that exist and explained us what period each kind of building belongs to, among these are the Victorian period, Norman style, Georgian period …

We ate our pack lunch on a vast area on the hills of Hastings. Some of us ate an ice cream. Hmm delicious ! Then we took the car to go to the Hasting's castle. This castel is actually composed of ruins. It was funny. We also took a group photo.

After that, our family drove us home. It was a very tiring journey, so we ate and went to our room to rest and sleep.

WEDNESDAY : LONDON AND SHOPPING

On that day, we left home early in the morning to go to London, we were all very exited about that shopping day. To go there, we crossed the countryside and saw the famous Brititsh fields and their also very famous sheeps. It is very green and very vast, with so much trees !! The most surprising was the fact there were no wheat crop or cereal crop or even vegetal crop : just sheeps and some cows (not much). It is so different of our french countryside!

So... we were « visiting » the british countryside to go to London.

Before entering in the centre of the city, we crossed the african district, the Indian's, the Arab's, and the Chineese's.

We crossed Tower Brige (which has been existed since 1894 and which raise to let boats pass. We saw the town hall (constructed in 2002), the Tower of London where there are the crown jewels, the famous City of London, the monument (where started the fire which burnt 75 per cent of the city in 1666), we passed along the Thames. We saw the dragons which symbolize the entrance of the city, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, the London Eye that we were going to visit later, the statues of Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill, the Downing street, Trafalgar square and the Mall.

After we arrived in the center of the city, we walked and Mr Boyer let us a free time in Oxford street, the most shopping street in London. Amal and I have been separated. I was with Felix, Sharon, Clementine, Julie, Léo, Raph, Sasha, Romane and Mrs Da Cruz. We went to HMV, top shop and a touristic shop. Then, we stopped doing shopping because we had to met our class at a specific hour.

But... Mrs Da Cruz made a phone call to Mr Boyer. He said they were late and we had the time to buy food and to throw our pack lunch in a litter. After that we ate and in the afternoon, we saw Buckingham Palace

and we spent a long time watching the guards walking in a strange manner. It is so impressive! They are impassive, it seems nothing could disturb them.

We took photos with one of them who was not in the palace but at this moment, we were late and Mr Boyer was loosing patience.

So, we walked quickly to the London Eye, we queued up and finally rided in the nacelle.

We were separated in two groups. The « visit » lasted 45 minutes during which we can see all the city !

We took pictures, it was amazing. Inspite of the altitude, nobody had vertigo in our group and we had fun.

After this experience, we found the car and went back home with sweet memories.

MAY SATURDAY 15 th : BRIGHTON AND SMUGGLERS ADVENTURE

Brighton was the city which we were going to visit that day. So we left our family at half past seven. We went to the venue and we took the caugh.

When we arrived in Brighton we saw the Royal Pavillon of Brighton for the first time. We were very impressed , especially the first group , who didn't do yet the expose about it. The visit were approximatively one hour after, so the teacher gave us few time to familiar with the city. Then we went on the beach , it was very cold but we laughed a lot.

( Mathias, Jérome and Tom jumping from a stoon's wall )

After that we visited at last The Royal Pavillon Of Brighton. One of the most beautiful visit. It looks like a mini-TAj Mahel when we looked at the outside architecture, it was very impressive and exotic. But when we

enterred inside de palace, we found different styles of architecture comming from all over the world, aspecially from Asia. Inside the many influences of the different residents became apparent. We learnt that the palace was first constructed as a seaside residence by the Prince Regent, an early innovator.(who bécomes king George IV). So when we enterred I were very surprised

because it was so unlike what we had immagined we would find in an European palace. It was like a fairy tale book an Harry Potter's dream, without special effects juste craftman ship ! We saw the most enchanting

Chinoiserie wallpapers I have ever seen. Don't forget the dragon holding the chandliers in the digning hall...!

After the visit we went to the attraction park and we made THE

BOOSTER ! It was very exciting and we all loved it ! Hunger inducted by all these emotions, then we went eating our delectable pack lunch on the beach under the full sun.

In the afertnoon some of us went to the shoping center which was a little far from the attraction park and we have to be quick because we were supposed to go to the smugglers adventure.

Arrived at Hastings we went to smugglers adventure even if we were very TIRED !

It was an original museum but a little bit childish... It was supposed

to be scarry... ! When we arrived in our family we ate , we had a bath and we try to

see Friends. But we were too much tired and we went to bed at half past nine !

MAY SUNDAY 16 th : TUNBRIDGE WELLS

In spite the fact we slept early, we were extremely tired ! We woke up very late and we didn't have too much time to prepare ourselves. We had the same breakfast every day, we ate it quickly because the father was waiting in the car. That day we were going to go to Tunbridge Wells and to Leeds Castle.Wainting for the tourist guide our teacher decides to let us going to a little shoping center. There, I bought 3 doughnuts for 1 pound ! (Maybe the check-out assistant made a mistake in the counting ! ) The visit was a little bit long , but very interesting. We learned a lot of things about this lovely city. The town came into being as a spa in Georgian times and had its heyday as a tourist resort under Richard Nash when the Pantiles and its chalybeate spring attracted visitors who wished to take the waters with a high fer content.

( You can admirate Léo's thurst ! )

Everything went according to plan we went to LEEDS CASTLE . We were very impressed of this romantic and beautiful place! At Leeds

Castle we explored the castle's two main buildings, with its chambers reflecting the long and volatile history of the estate and its owners. Then we went for a walk through the daffodil-filled grounds surrounding the lake, which is home for a dozen black and white swans. Finally, we visited the attached aviary, which boasts a variety of colourful tropical birds, including toucans and birds of paradise. And finally we unter in the famous labyrinth and I (Amal) was the first who have found the good way !

Look at these beautiful photos of the castle !

When we arrived in our family, we have to package because it was the last evening. So we closed our suitcase and we tidied up our room! After that

we past a wonderful evening watching to "Papa est en haut" and « L'autre c'est moi » !

MAY MONDAY 17 th : CANTERBURY AND THE RETURN

That day we said goodbye to our family because we were going to return in Paris. Like all morning the father drove us to the venue and like all morning we struggled with sliding seat of the car ! We took the caugh to go to Canterbury and we said goodbye to Hastings.

Before the visit of the cathedral teachers gave us a little pare time, we just have the time to walk around a little bit. Then we met in front of the Cathedral and we all entered to visit it together.

The Canterbury's Cathedral is one of the oldest and most famous Christian churches in England. Its a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Pilgrims and visitors have made their way here since the middle ages. The entrance is through Christ Church Gate, next to a Starbucks. It really is place to marvel as it has a long distinguished and bloody history and

wonderful architecture.We don't have our own guide but when we entered a nice women cames

with us and explain us the murder of Thomas Becket and a lot of other things like the demarcation of French in the cathedral.

After the visit we ate near the cathedral and teachers accord to us a long spare time, so we take adventage of it and we went shopping to spend our last coins. We saw for the last time PoundLand, M&S ... But unfortunatelly for girls , there were no TopShop ! We bought keepsakes and a lot of things !

It was the last visit in England we have to go to Dover to take the ferry in the direction of Callais.

The ferry pulled away for the joy of theachers and the misfortune of the students ! The trip were very exciting we played cards we listned to Clementine playing the guitar others read and after we try to slept a little bit because we seemed to go to school at 10 a clock the day after !

After a last dinner together we made few kilometers to arrived in Paris where we found all parents waiting for there child !

GOODBYE ENGLAND !