Year 7 embarked on their first overseas visit with WES.
Orlando Brown and Daniel Khitarishvili-Awde write:
Our day trip to Boulogne started very early on a rainy Friday 18th October. Two coaches arrived at 5am to take about 100 Year 7 students to Dover to take the ferry over to Calais. The English Channel was very choppy but the crossing was fun, although some students were a little sea-sick.
We arrived in Calais and got back onto the bus for the drive to Boulogne. Our coach headed for straight to the chocolate factory and the other coach headed for the snail farm.
The chocolate factory was a lot of fun and the chocolate maker who gave us a demonstration was really entertaining. He showed us how chocolate is grown on their farms in Ecuador and how it is then shipped to France where it is made into delicious chocolate. Many of us bought chocolate for our families at the factory shop afterwards and some of that was eaten straight away!
We then headed for Boulogne town centre where we met up with the other year 7s. We had lunch and were given a quiz to discover places and things in the town and we got a chance to practise our French in the shops and restaurants in town. It was great fun speaking French, but it was sometimes difficult to understand the replies.
We gathered together again and set off for the snail farm. This was a fun as the chocolate factory as we learned where snails come from, how they are farmed and how they reproduce. The snail farmer only spoke in French as he explained so we had to listen very carefully. Some of us held snails in our hands and even put some on our faces- we were told that the slime is very good for our skin and is used to make anti-ageing creams. After the demonstration was over, we went inside to a canteen where we were given a choice of cooked snails- most of us tried some – they were delicious!
After this, we met up with the other coach again and headed for the Eurotunnel train. The coach driver was very skilled getting the long bus onto the shuttle and very soon we were off back to England. This ride was not as bumpy as the ferry, but it was very quick. We arrived back at school at 10pm.
The day trip to Boulogne was really good and we I can’t wait to visit France again. Merci to all our teachers for organising it.