During the Half Term, 23 Fifth Formers travelled to Nice for a week’s study trip comprising three hours of daily lessons and a packed programme of activities. Pupils stayed in a youth hostel right in the centre of town and minutes from the seafront, with their lunches at the language school cafeteria and dinners in a selection of restaurants across town.
Lessons were in small groups of six to ten pupils with a well-established language school. The sessions were challenging and fun, conducted in French. Pupils had the chance to develop their confidence to interact in French more spontaneously.
Highlights of the trip included visiting the medieval city of Eze perched above the sea, where pupils had a guided tour of the Galimard perfume factory and were able to create their own eau de cologne in the labs. They then hiked down to sea level and took the train to Monaco where they saw the Monte Carlo casino, the harbour, and then visited the oceanographic museum.
Another memorable visit was the private tour of the state-of-the-art Allianz stadium where pupils went “backstage” to the press conference room and changing rooms. The group explored the Promenade des Anglais, old town and shopping streets using an extensive range of transport including bikes, electric scooters, segways and also a boat trip along the coast. But they mostly went about by foot, and it took no time for them to get their bearings in this beautiful town. Downtime activities included a trip to the cinema, bowling, ice-skating, and a local escape game centre.
It was a pleasure for pupils and staff to resume this successful annual trip and be able to enjoy the balmy weather of the Côte d’Azur whilst developing linguistic skills and cultural knowledge.
