Frodsham Manor House Primary School

France 2019

30th September - 4th October 2019

Around France and Belgium

Day One was a very long day. We met at school at 8am and eventually made it to Chateau d'Ebblingham after midnight. This was due to our coach breaking down, needing to swop coaches then consequently missing our ferry. We ended up having tea in Burger King at the Dover Ferry terminal - it was a very long receipt and good fun trying to match up the 50 ordered meals with the correct person. We were all very tired when we eventually arrived and quickly went to bed. 

Day Two took us over the border into Belgium where we had a World War One day. We started at Passchendaele Museum where we could walk around some reconstructions of trenches. For here we went to Ypres to the Leonidas chocolate shop where we were all very impressed with our "special deal". Further down the road was the Menin Gate. Here we looked for the names of some fallen from Frodsham before having our own Act of Remembrance. We then visited to cemeteries. In Tyne Cot we found the names of some of Frodsham's young men and one of our pupils found the listing for his Great, Great, Great Uncle. We heard about some of the soldiers who have the Victoria Cross. We then ended our visit with a trip to Langemark which is a German Cemetery filled with mass graves. Our evening activity was Crepe Making. 

Day 3 was a day on French culture. We started with a traditional French Breakfast, dipping breads into a bowl of Hot Chocolate. We went to the seaside town of Bologne-Sur-Mer where we had a trail of the town, visited Notre Dame Church, went shopping and had a look around a market. Lunch was at L'Escargotiere du Choquel where we learnt about the snail farm before tasting them! Most of us had a go. We then returned to Bologne-Sur-Mer for some free time on the beach.  Our evening activity was Cheese Tasting in French. 

Day Four begin with a trip to Boulangerie Escoeuillies to take part in a demonstration about the traditional methods still used today in bread making. The talk was partly in French so we were using our translation skills again. The afternoon was at La Coupole which is a World War Two site and a memorial. Here we learnt about plans to fire rockets from here on the UK, about the impact of war on civilians, the work of the Resistance and the Holocaust. On the way home we stopped off at Auchan St Omer Supermarket to spend the remains of our money. Our evening activity was a disco. 

Day Five was travelling home. The children were woken at 6.30am so we could have an early breakfast, sort the bedrooms and head home. We even managed an earlier ferry. We arrived home at 6.30pm. One of us even had a new puppy waiting to great us. He got quite a fuss as we all left the coach. 

With thanks to Mrs Levey who organised the visit, Mr Devereux-Roberts, Mrs Pye, Mrs Anstice and Mrs Lynch for accompanying us. Thanks for Brett our driver, Lily who was our guide.and all the NST staff who helped out.