Oak Class Visit to France 2024

Possibly the craziest ride at Futuroscope – see the spontaneous reactions after the ride.

Upside Down House

A few of the children chose to experience this whilst the others were on the roller coaster.

We visited Futuroscope with our French partners. Their teacher knows the park very well and how to get the most out of our time there.

The day started cloudy and dry, but later in the afternoon showers arrived (though not quite as vigorous as last year!).

Because most of the rides are indoors and rely on virtual reality effects, it’s hard to capture them in photos. To get some idea of the range of rides, visit their website. We have some video of the children reacting to the experiences, which will follow later.

Danses avec les robots:

While some children were on the roller coaster (“Destination Mars”), some of our children and some French chose to visit the Upside Down House, then a playground.

The day started grey, but as we got to the coast it brightened up, into an ideal La Rochelle day, with a fresh, cooling breeze.

Below is just a small sample of the day.

The Aquarium

La Grande Roue

Ernest le glacier

An extra surprise

Cafe Stop

On Tuesday morning it was a case of dodge the showers as we made our way to Ecole du lac for a full day of activities.

There were some skill and problem solving games which involved the children working together plus a project designing pages for a book about the Olympic Games / Jeux Olympiques in English and French.

The pictures below give just a taste of the activities.

Following a busy morning, it was time for lunch in the school canteen. Everyone seemed to enjoy the paella (and the alternative options).

After lunch, more work on our bilingual books and two Kahoot quizes, one on planet Earth and environmental issues and the other on the Olympic Games.

To finish the afternoon, we gave some small gifts to our correspondents and enjoyed some home made local cakes (made by the French parents) in the school garden area.

It was a great day at school with everyone working well together. Thank you to Maître Stéphane and all the team at Ecole du lac for such a well organised day.

In the evening we had a bit of time in the classroom at the centre, before the evening meal.

After taking lunch at the relaxed French pace (1.5 hours) we set off in the coach to explore Poitiers. By this time the sun was out and the temperature was rising.

First stop, the amazing Église Notre-Dame la Grande, described as “Romanesque church from the 11th century, with a painted stone interior & stained-glass windows” or as the coach driver said, “the finest romanesque church in France”.

After a group photo outside, we took a quiet walk around the interior to look at the stained glass, the chapels and monuments and the massive pillars and arches that are the feature of this architecture.

We then walked through the city centre to Place du Maréchal-Leclerc, the main square in front of the Hôtel de Ville, where we settled down at Le Cafe de la Paix for a cooling drink. Most children ordered themeselves a “diablo” – fizzy water with various flavourings, a few had other choices.

Then back to the bus for a quick ride to Auchan Hypermarché Chasseneuil (just outside Futuroscope).

Here we looked at the huge range of goods of all sorts sold there and in particular the fresh fish, cheese, charcuterie, patisserie, fruit and vegetables. Then the children had some time to spend up to 20 euros on gifts, treats etc (with certain limitaions). They did an excellent job of finding a range of interesting items. Monday afternoon is a pretty quiet time in the store, so there were only a few check outs open. We were lucky that there were some very friendly staff who saw the entertaining side of dealing with 29 children all with cash (rather than cards!) and no change.

^Very friendly cashier!^

Finally back to the centre for dinner and a bit of down time before bed.

After a quiet night the children were introduced to the breakfast routine.

Meals are ‘semi-self-service’, relying on the children to distribute the bowls, glasses, cutlery etc. on each table. There was a fairly steep learning curve, but by lunchtime it was getting smoother.

First stop after breakfast was a visit to the lake adjacent to the centre, which was a quiet and calming experience first thing in the morning.

Then it was off to Ecole du Lac to renew friendships – another breakfast always helps!

Time for a hunt round the school to name different features in French and English.

To round off the morning, one of Maître Stéphane’s bilingual Kahoot quizes.

After all that brainwork, time to eat! Back to the centre to enjoy a 4 course lunch, to build up up for the afternoon in Poitiers – of which more anon.

Sunday was a long day, with a few novelties.

First, owing to closure on M4 we went to St Pancras via Oxford and the M40, but arrived bang on time, got checked in and on the Eurostar.

in Paris our coach was waiting at Gare du Nord to take us to the Eiffel Tower.

We were pre-booked to go right to the the top – we have never done this before – and despite the showery weather it was a fantastic experience. It looks wetter in the pictures than it actually was.

Preparations were evident all around for various Olympic events.

Onward from the Eiffel Tower to Gare Montparnasse. Our train was a little delayed coming into the station, but we were soon underway, until stop for a “technical problem” which required an “intervention”.

This led to us being 50 minutes late at Poitiers, but the coach was waiting and soon had us to St Cyr in time for a swift bed time and lights out about 11.00 local time (10.00 UK). Overall the children were very resilient and calm throughout – although watching the England match via a phone on the train (technology is mad!) did raise the excitement level a little.

More to come soon on Monday activities.

Distinctly “British” weather in prospect still, though it’s looking a bit brighter than previously on Monday now, so keep those fingers crossed!