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Day 3
Caitlin Day
Salut!
It was an early start on the morning of April Fool’s Day, with breakfast at 7:15 and departure at 7:30 from the hostel.
Breakfast was a change with fresh bread and coffee cups the size of cereal bowls! The hot chocolate was definitely ‘tres bon’ (very good in French), and vegemite became a commodity sorely missed.
Leaving the hostel became hectic with the groups walking through the streets and markets to reach the Metro. The metro was crowded and busy, with worried faces soon appearing on various students with the fear they might miss the train.
After 3 train rides, we could finally relax with an hour and a half train trip ahead of us to Amiens.
Upon arrival at Amiens we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral of the town, which is the biggest cathedral in France and is twice the size of the Notre Dame in Paris.
Students, in their groups, had the chance to see the weeping angel inside the cathedral, a locked box with John the Baptists skull inside and also had the opportunity to listen to Mr Deitz’s short lecture of the cathedral history during World War 2.
Students were given free time in their allocated groups with their teachers and had to dodge a begging gypsy on their way. French chocolate was tasted for the first time by various students with the chocolate stores being extremely busy with Easter arriving quickly.
After the purchase of postcards, snacks, rain ponchos (as students forgot to pack them or didn’t listen to their mums) and souvenirs we all headed back to Amiens train station to travel to Villers Bretonneux.
Upon arrival and a short walk to College J. Brel a large group of school students warmly welcomed us with cheering and the jumping up and down, imitating kangaroos.
We were then shown our host family students and proceeded to lunch in the cafeteria. It was a different experience to eat there as we are solely used to bringing a home packed lunch to school. Many of us were beginning to find it hard to communicate with our host students, and started to regret not learning more French with only a few of the students speaking limited English. Hand signals such as thumbs up, shaking our heads and using google translator on the computer soon became popular, making it easier to talk to our families.
Many Tumut High students had the chance to join the French students in their classes, with other Tumut High students going on a tour of Villers Bretonneux with Mr Deitz and various French students.
In all it was very exciting and definitely a new experience for all.
Au Revoir!
