The countdown is on for the 14 students and two teachers waiting excitedly to travel half way across the world to France in the hope of improving their French and experiencing the world from a different perspective.
The French and History study tour departs on its exciting adventure on Good Friday. They will make their way across the globe, landing in Paris.
From there the tour will catch a train to Montpellier in the south of France. Here they’ll spend the next week sightseeing and attending the language school Accent Français, where Madame Read spent a term teaching in 2015.
The students will visit architectural sites from the Roman Empire such as the Pont du Gard (aquaduct) and the Maison Carree, a temple in Nimes.
Then the group will make their way back to the capital to spend the next 5 days in the city of love. Sightseeing landmarks like the Eiffel tower, Le Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and les Champs-Elysées will definitely be highlights. While in Paris, we will visit sites such as the Palace of VersaIlles where the 1919 Peace Treaty was signed at the end of WW1.
After having shopped till they dropped in the fashion capital of the world, the students will finally reunite with their exchanges in the town of Arras, an hour out of Paris. The last time these students would have seen their French friends would have been late February when they visited New Zealand for two weeks.
With some days spent at their school, Lycée Baudimont St Charles St Vincent, the group will also be making some short-day trips around the town that was closely associated with New Zealand during WWI. Of interest will be a visit to WW1 battle sites and the famous Wellington Tunnel built by NZ engineers to tunnel under German lines.
After staying with the host families the group will then have to say their goodbyes to make the long trip back home to Auckland.
With only 5 days to go this trip of a lifetime is what has all the students excited and motivated to get through and finish term one. Once the trip commences the rest of the Sancta Maria College community will be updated regularly on the tour and all the excitement and adventure that comes with it.
Niamh Walsh
