Merci et Au Revoir la France, by Amelia Walsh et Charli Shalders

Our recent Study Tour to France was a great experience of language and culture. We arrived in France on Saturday 17 March. Our first few days in Paris were spent visiting many iconic monuments such as La Tour Eiffel, Sacre-Coeur, and les Champs Elysse, exploring the streets of Paris and using our French-speaking skills to order some French cuisine.

We then travelled the four hour bus ride to La Roche Sur Yon and spent a week with our French exchange students. While there, we were welcomed into their homes and experienced the French family’s lifestyle. We got to try some home cooking, play French board games, watch soccer games, and many people also visited the local beach. During our time there, we also visited our sister school and shared our cultures. In between our studies, we travelled to the nearby towns of La Rochelle and Nantes. After saying a bitter-sweet goodbye to our host families and friends, we hopped back on the bus.

We visited several picturesque French castles such as Chenonceau and Close Luce. We spent a night in the Loire valley in a town called Tours and before continuing back to Paris, we visited Versailles. We toured around the beautiful castle, getting to see the King and Queen’s chambers and, of course, the famous Hall of Mirrors. We spent some time wandering around the beautiful Gardens of Versailles, before heading back to Paris.

Our final three days were spent visiting l’Arc De Triomphe, les Galeries Lafayette, le Musee d'Orsay, and le Centre Pompidou, and finally on Sunday morning, we visited the Louvre before we shared one last French meal together and regretfully departed for Australia. It was such an amazing experience and we will be forever grateful for this opportunity.

Below is a brief video, created by the students, with highlights from their trip.