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June 28, 2010

We met by the Rhine River in Eltville in glorious sunshine for our tour of the town. During the tour we learnt about the history of the town and saw some of its many landmarks, such as the fortress and rose garden. Soon the glorious sunshine became more of a curse than a blessing and we had to take a few breaks in the shade to cool down.

After the tour we walked to the tourist information office to meet the town mayor. Unfortunately the mayor was at school with the headteacher and members of the local press. This meant a long walk in the beating sun. On arrival at the school we were greeted by the headteacher Mr Rogler and the mayor of Eltville Mr Kunkel. After speeches their welcome speeches we were treated to drinks, cakes and, as it is the 150th anniversary of the school, a commemorative book of the school's history.

After we had eaten we walked to the Schloss Vaux sekt (sparkling wine) factory where we were given a tour of the production facilities and learnt all about the production of sekt. After the tour we were given a small sample of the wine, which most of us seemed to enjoy, and the option to purchase a bottle to take home. Parents - don't worry, the bottles are being collected just before we leave for the airport.

After the Schloss Vaux tour, we walked back to school and made our separate ways home.

Sorry for the lack of photos so far, I have lost my sd card reader. As soon as I find or replace it I'll get some uploaded.

Posted by Matt @ German Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

June 26, 2010

Friday

We left School at the arranged time of 10:30am for a eventless coach journey to Birmingham Airport. Upon arrival we were told that our flight had been cancelled and that we would have to be moved onto the next available flight. After a few nervous moments expecting the worst, we were told that the next flight was at 15:50, around 3.5 hours later than scheduled, but not the worst case scenario we had in our heads.

Once checked in and through security we had some free time to browse the shops, lose and find a wallet and sit around bored waiting for our flight. We finally boarded our Bombardier Dash 8 Turboprop (which I got in trouble for taking photos of) at around 15:40 only to be told once on the plane that the earliest window for take off was another 45mins. This wouldn't have been so bad if the plane's air conditioning wasn't as effective as a fruit fly flapping it's wings in front of us.

During our 45 minute wait we were allowed to use our iPods, phones, etc. and treated to some German by the english pilot, so at least we had some entertainment to while away the time.

After the 45 sweaty, uncomfortable minutes had passed we took off and, despite being assured that the aircon would be better once the engines were at full speed, spent the next two hours sweaty, uncomfortable and paying extortionate prices for refreshments.

On arrival at Frankfurt Airport, the third busiest airport in Europe, we were whisked by bus to the terminal to start our long walk through the labyrinthine corridors to passport control and then to baggage claim both of which were completed without a hitch, bar the fact that the passport officials had never seen a collective passport before.

After collecting our baggage we were greeted by our coach driver and boarded the 2006 World Cup coach of the Portuguese team which was very fancy. If anyone knows whether someone called Ronaldo played in the 2006 Portugal squad, Ethan would like to know.

We arrived at the school around an hour later and were greeted by our exchange families. Lexie promptly fell over in spectacular style much to the amusement of everyone. Unfortunately no photos or video footage exist of the event.

After everyone went their separate ways my exchange partner and I attended a school graduation party and helped ourselves to the buffet and drinks before coming home and falling asleep.

The weekend will be spent with exchange families. If possible I'll relay some of the tales from the weekend here. I'd imagine most of them will involve football as apparently there is a game on Sunday.

Posted by Matt @ German Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 415am and the last student has finally departed. The exchange has been a great success.

Bonne nuit!

http://www.belperschool.co.uk/cms/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 305am. We're on the A38 (Lichfield turnoff) We should be at school between 340-345am.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A38_road

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

June 25, 2010

It's half past midnight and we've been at Taunton Deane services on the M5 for the last 20minutes. It's lights out on the coach now as everyone tries to get some sleep. We expect to be in Belper around 330am ish. We'll ask students to contact home when we're about 30mins from Belper.

http://www.motorwayservices.info/area.php?area=4

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1015pm (we're back on English time) and we've just boarded our Freeways coach and are driving to Belper. Our driver estimates that we should be arriving at the school car park between 3am and 330am on Saturday morning. Students will be encouraged to contact parents when we're nearly there.

http://www.freewaycoachesltd.co.uk

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 815pm UK time and we can see land ahead. We're still over an hour from Plymouth though!

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/plymouth-ferry-crossings

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1630 (French time) in Roscoff and we're onboard the Armorique - the same ferry we took on our journey to France last week. We will be arriving at Plymouth Ferryport at 2230 - that'll be 930pm UK time. The film on board is Alice in Wonderland.

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/fleet/armorique/video

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/guides/port-guide/roscoff-terminal

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1300 and we're having lunch by a beach at Carantec which is about 15mins drive from Roscoff. We will be leaving for the ferry at 1430. The ferry leaves at 1600 in Roscoff.

http://www.carantec-tourisme.com/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1015 and we're at Algoplus, a seaweed factory in Roscoff. The Brittany coastline has the largest concentration of seaweed in Europe. We are learning all about how seaweed is processed into food,cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. We're also sampling some of the seaweed.

http://www.algoplus-roscoff.fr/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 9h15 and after a sequence of emotional farewells we've now left the school and our French exchange partners behind. We're heading towards Roscoff.








http://www.sfnd.fr/index.htm

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

June 24, 2010

It's 1645 and everyone has gone home with their exchange partners for the last time. Students will be enjoying their last evening with their families before making sure they pack their cases well. We will be leaving from school at 0900 tomorrow for our long journey home....

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1345 and the wind has started to pick up again. Sand yachting is back on!! We'll be leaving around 1600 back for school.

http://www.char-a-voile.com
http://www.landyachting.com

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1200 and we're having lunch on the beach at Plounéour-Trez. It's a hot and sunny day but unfortunately Jan has had some wind problems! Without any wind the sand-yachting may be cancelled...

http://www.ot-plouneourtrez.com/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 0845 and we're on the bus heading for the village of Ménéham.
It's another hot and sunny day.

http://otkerlouan.cotedeslegendes.fr/index.php3?codepage=42

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

June 23, 2010

It's 1645 and all the students have now gone home for the evening with their host families. School ends at 1230 on Wednesdays for most of the French students here so some of them had to wait later after school to arrange to meet with their exchange partners who had to come back to school to collect them!

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1350 and we're now leaving Océanopolis. We're off to the Géant shopping centre in Brest which has recently been renamed as Le Phare de l'Europe. We'll be there till about 1540. Hopefully it will be enough time to satisfy all the shopping addicts amongst the group! We'll be returning back to school for 1630 today.

http://www.c-le-phare-de-leurope.com/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1115. Students have been split up into 3 groups and have been enjoying looking around 2 of the zones in the sealife centre. After lunch we'll all look at the third zone. The three zones are tropical, temperate and polar.

http://www.oceanopolis.com/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 0830 and we're leaving school again on a trip to the sealife centre in Brest.

http://www.brest-metropole-tourisme.fr/en/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

June 22, 2010

It's 1715 and we're just leaving after a sightseeing tour of the ancient city of Locronan. We're going back to school. We should arrive back by 1830.

http://www.locronan.org/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1540 and we're just leaving from Quimper having spent the last hour and half here. We're now going by coach to Locronan. Thank goodness we have air conditioning on the coach as it seems like the hottest day of the week so far!

http://www.quimper-tourisme.com/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1300 and we've stopped for a picnic outside a small church called La chapelle de Kerdévot et ses sentiers de randonnées.
Next stop Quimper.

http://www.grandterrier.net/wiki/index.php?title=Image:KerdevotJos0

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 1130 and we've just come out of our tour of the Jos Péron biscuit factory in Coray. During the tour we made some chocolate biscuits which we got to eat at the end of the tour! We have learnt about the two main types if biscuits produced in the region- galettes and palets. The obligatory gift shop at the end of the tour means family back home can expect to be sampling them. We're enjoying the sunshine in the small park outside the factory while we wait for our exchange partners to finish their tour. We'll then be heading off towards Locronan but we'll stop for a picnic on the way.

http://www.josperon.fr/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

It's 830 and the coaches (one for the English and one for the French) are just departing. We're en route for our first stop of the day the Jos Péron biscuit factory in Coray.

http://www.bihan.fr/

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

June 21, 2010

Official Reception photo for local French press, June 21st 2010


Établissement Secondaire Saint-François Notre-Dame , Lesneven, France

Posted by Mark K @ French Exchange 2010 | 0 comment(s)

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