Triste mais heureux de rentrer chez nous...

Didn't quite get around to uploading those photos. You'll have to wait until our slide night. Early morning tomorrow to get to the airport. I can't speak for everyone but I'm sad to leave but looking forward to getting home to the family.

Au revoir la France. A la prochaine!

And the winner is...

What a day!

As expected, the teams were very keen and determined to bring home the P2P Metro Challenge Trophy. (One suggestion was the Cornichon Cup. Keep them coming...) The weather was fine, a lot milder than yesterday with a gentle breeze - perfect for a day of exploring Paris. It was still, however, quite warm and sticky underground in the Metro.

Each team tackled the cryptic clues to find the various destinations in slightly different ways; all were tackled with enthusiasm. It was sometimes frustrating for the accompanying teachers as they were not allowed to give any assistance unless a team decided to "buy" a clue (which cost them points off their total.) You all know the story of the tortoise and the hare... I'm sure that your sons and daughters will describe the experience to you in greater detail when you see each other again.

To cut a long story short, the day was a huge success. The students were very proud of themselves; proficiently navigating the Metro and RER systems, walking around Paris, asking questions of French people and using teamwork to solve problems. The Challenge concluded at Le Cimetière du Père Lachaise. Everyone (except for Team Ongenaert who were an hour late) then had time to visit their favourite dead people in the wonderfully old and famous cemetery - Chopin, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde to name a few.

The winning team was announced upon our return to Vernouillet-Verneuil station. The jury found it quite difficult to choose the winner as there were two teams tied on the maximum 78 points. After countback they were still tied. So I - err, I mean - the jury had to make a decision based on the teams' performance of Men at Work's "Down Under" on the steps of the Bastille Opera. Congratulations to Team Curtis! Second place went to Team Hewitson, third to Team Casey (oh la vache!) and poor old Team Ongenaert came fourth (more politically correct than saying "last.")

We say "bonne continuation et bon voyage" to Madame Ongenaert, Amy Kierce, Elyse Anderson, Nick Bender, Victoria Roadnight and Emma Weight as they continue their stay in Europe with their families.

The next two days will be full of social events, cultural visits and time spent with correspondants and families. We are meeting at Notre Dame at 6:30am to get the coach to the airport on Sunday morning. Oh la la!

I'll pop some more photos on in the next few hours.

Ouf! On est fatigué!

We've just got home from our second-last day in Paris together. Everyone is quite tired. It's been warm and quite humid these last few days, and I think that all our socialising, exploring and - to say the least - walking has finally got to us.

The boys and girls had lots of interesting stories to tell of their long weekend with their families and friends. The early start on Tuesday did not seem to deter them from spending lots of energy chatting and laughing on the bus as thery caught up with each others' adventures. After an hour or so, however, many of them started to nod off as their bodies tried to catch up on lost sleep.

Our visit to the Loire Valley was wonderful. We had lots of time to explore the two amazing chateaux and gardens of Chambord and Chenonceau. We got back to Verneuil at about 8 o'clock that night.

Today was spent at the Louvre (so much to see, such little time!), the Quartier Latin and Notre Dame de Paris. Everyone was exhausted but very happy. They are getting quite expert at navigating the Metro system, keeping to the right on escalators and on footpaths, crossing the road and sticking together - most of the time... I must say again that your children are a real pleasure to be with. We have had no real incidents to speak of, and the little things that have popped up have been resolved with humour and good grace.

Everyone is very excited about tomorrow - our last day together in Paris. It's the day of the Metro Challenge. The teams have already started to play their psychological games with each other, and some cheeky students have tried to prise information out of the teachers. Unfortunately, no attractive bribes have been offered to date. Who will win the coveted P2P Metro Trophy? (I haven't thought of a better name yet. Any suggestions?)

You will notice that the photos of our time in Bordeaux are not there. I had to delete them to make more room for the new ones as I had run out of online storage.

A bientôt !

Reception and Montmartre

The official reception at La Mairie on Wednesday night went very well. Rebecca and Brayden spoke beautifully and were commended by a number of French parents and teachers. The dinner back at Notre Dame was, as expected, fantastique! The photos speak for themselves. Thanks to Chelsea for these ones.

Our day at Montmartre started with a visit of Sacre Coeur. It is certainly a most impressive sight, and (most of) our boys and girls enjoyed having a look inside. They are a bit strict on the dress requirements. Poor Lauren Pinney was not allowed to enter as her shorts were considered too short and inappropriate! I thought they were fine (I don't know how Chelsea got in...) Anyway, it was a good thing that Lauren had already visited Sacre Coeur with her family a couple of years ago. She and I spent some time exploring until the others came out. I hope that our students remember this when we visit Notre Dame de Paris next week!

From Sacre Coeur, we went to La Place du Tertre (look it up.) We had a team meeting and agreed to spend the next three hours exploring Montmartre, having lunch and shopping. The students had been asking if there would be more time for shopping so they were very happy. From our meeting point at the Carousel du Sacre Coeur, we strolled down the Boulevard de Clichy to the Moulin Rouge. Photo opportunities abounded.

It got to 33 degrees today and was very humid but we survived! It was certainly better than rain.

Mr and Mrs Johnston spent the day with us again and had a lovely time. Mr Johnston spoke with the students before we went home and complimented them on their demeanour and enthusiasm. He was very proud of them.

We now look forward to a four-day weekend with our families. Oh la la! I have heard that there are lots of exciting things planned...

On Tuesday morning, we have an early start for our trip to the Loire Valley - 6:45am!

A mardi!

Trop bien!!

We had a wonderful day today. It started out grey and drizzly - the coats and brollies were out. There were three or four cornichons who were wearing the obligatory shorts and t-shirt. I won't name them; you'll recognise them in the photos. In the end, they weren't too inappropriately dressed (just a little premature) as the rain dried up and the day turned warm and a little sticky.

We met Mr & Mrs Johnston at Trocadero. The teachers had a coffee while the students admired the magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower from our vantage point at the Palais de Chaillot. The clouds were low and the top of the tower was obscured. From there we walked down to the tower and then the length of the Champs de Mars to the Ecole Militaire. A short metro ride and we were at the Hotel des Invalides. Magnifique! Instead of taking the metro we walked along the Seine from the Alexandre III bridge and then to the Musee d'Orsay. Maddie McDonald had a brush with a pickpocket and lived to tell the tale - one alert, strong little girl, one disappointed pickpocket. Our time at Orsay was fantastic... if only we had the whole day to explore it!

A lot of walking today; we'll enjoy our sleep-in tomorrow.

A Villers Bretonneux

Today started out with a very brisk morning but at least the rain had dried up. As we drove further north, the weather became fine and sunny and soon we were complaining about being too warm! Yours truly did not practise what he has been preaching and neglected to apply sunscreen and a hat; outcome - un coup de soleil.

Our visit to Villers Bretonneux and surrounding areas was most impressive. We visited the Franco-Australian Museum (Lauren Gibbs found a relative on one of the displays! see photo), the Ecole Victoria, the Australian Memorial, Adelaide Cemetery and Crucifix Corner. Our students were very interested and often moved by the displays at the museum and the visits to the cemeteries. They demonstrated maturity and empathy, and are to be congratulated on their comportement (I'm forgetting my English vocabulary.)

Unfortunately, there was a disappointing mix-up with our coach's itinerary plans, and we were unable to visit Fromelles. Consequently, Victoria and Joshua missed out on visiting their relatives at the neighbouring cemeteries.

Tomorrow, we will be meeting Mr Johnston in Paris. He will accompany us as we visit the Trocadero, Champ de Mars, Ecole Militaire, Invalides and the Musee d'Orsay.

We will have a tour of Notre Dame Les Oiseaux on Wednesday afternoon, followed by the Reception and Dinner.

We're on the bus tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we're heading up to Villers Bretonneux, Fromelles and surrounding areas. Looking forward to finding relatives of Victoria and Josh who are buried there.

As I write this, the rain has come back! It's a bit of a miserable Sunday morning weatherwise but I'm sure our kids are busy doing something interesting with their families. The weather up to this point has been great - when I say "great" I mean by this Paris summer's unseasonably cool stantards. Until today we had only had one morning of rain (at Arcachon.) We're not going to grumble about the weather though, we're going to have a wonderful time regardless.

I'm grabbing a brolly now and popping out to wander about the Verneuil market...

(Please email me if you are having trouble with the photos.)