— 10 Jun 2014, 17:54 by Maison Claire Fontaine
Bonjour! Nous sommes arrivées.
After a journey of epic proportions we have finally arrived at the amazing Maison Claire Fontaine (Mrs Rostrup's idea of paradise.... Could be the good food, the wonderful location, the heat, or the fantastic hosts, aka Alex, Mark and our lovely coach driver Malcolm). We have just eaten a delicious dinner, courtesy of the fab David... Tasty cheese salad, spaghetti bolognese and French yoghurts for pudding. The girls are currently puzzling their way through the rather taxing French map puzzle. Freya, Lucy and Eloise have just thrashed the Bruton School for Girls record by completing it in 25 minutes. The teachers also became very competitive, beating all the girls, but there were four of us.
Today started with an extremely early start: 4:45 am is a little early even for the most excited. Luckily Madame Harvey settled all the girls to sleep until our breakfast stop. Then onto the train for our EuroTunnel to la France. Excited girls were astounded at Malcolm's handling of the coach onto the tight carriage, and then the innovation of travelling below sea-level but not being able to see any fish. During this time Miss Maidment tried out her new vocab app on Mrs Rostrup, resulting in a lot of laughter, and a realisation that she does not like Serena WillIams. And we both learnt that les vaches avdes mammelles.
After endless hours on the coach, a number of thunder and lightening storms and many bracelets made, we finally arrived at MCF. We were welcomed wonderfully, and immediately started unpacking and tucking into our dinner.
What a marvellous place to immerse ourselves in the French countryside, and get our French up to scratch, whilst stretching our bellies with delicious food.
Bonjour les campeurs!!! Oh là là! La France c'est incroyable.
The French air is doing wonders for our students. Not only are they enjoying the sunny weather, they are making good use of all of the opportunities to improve their French, some going to quite extreme lengths! Others are training for Rio 2016 where they hope to take on the wonders of the Chinese Ping-Pong team. However, some need to work on their accuracy, rather than taking out their staff opponents by whacking them in the eye. Thanks Charlotte! She is still crying with laughter from the experience.
Leçon
Aujourd'hui, pendant la leçon de français on a mangé du pain d'épices, des anis de Flavigny et des nonnettes de Dijon. Aussi on a appris à se saluer. We learnt about what part of France we are staying in and how to say what we saw on the journey. We revised how to say what we did on the bus in the past tense. Charlotte & Nia.
Après le petit déjeuner, nous avons fait des mosaïques. C'était un peu difficile mais c'était génial! Moi j'ai fait la Tour Eiffel. Amy L.
After having breakfast we split into two groups: one having a French lesson, the other creating the mosaics. First we designed the image we wanted then copied it onto card where we spread cement across it. Then we stuck the pieces onto the card with the cement. Next we covered the whole mosaic in cement, waited 2 minutes, then scraped and wiped it off, leaving a shiny mosaic. I personally made a snail. Abby G.
Bonjour, on adore la France!
Aujourd'hui pour le petit déjeuner, nous avons mangé des céréales, du chocolat chaud et du pain avec de la confiture de fraise. Pour le déjeuner, nous avons mangé pour entrée du melon. Pour le plat chaud nous avons mangé des pâtes au jambon et pour le dessert nous avons mangé du gâteau et des oranges. Miam miam! Pour le dîner, nous avons mangé des batonnets de carotte et de concombre. Aussi nous avons mangé du poisson pané, des frites et des petits pois. C'était très bon! Finalement, nous avons mangé des glaces. The food here is really nice and the chef is very good. We also got to try some local specialities in our French lessons. Miam miam! Alana & Ellie
Aujourd'hui nous sommes allées à une ville jolie qui s'appelle Avallon. Quand nous sommes arrivées, il faisait très chaud. Nous avons dû compléter un questionnaire qui était un peu difficile, mais nous nous sommes beaucoup amusées. Nous avons visité une église qui était très tranquille et rafraîchissante. Nous avons commandé quelque chose dans un café et mangé des glaces délicieuses. C'était super cool! Holly, Genevieve & Chiara
Pétanque
À Avallon, nous avons joué à la pétanque, c'était rigolo! We had individual games in groups of three, then the winners competed in a semi-final, and then the three winners (Kirsty, Freya & Topaz) played in the final. Kirsty a gagné le tournoi. C'est la championne des boules. Bravo! Molly F.
Loto
After dinner we played a game of 'loto', which is bingo but in French. Jess and Ellie managed to cross off a line. Becky and Ella crossed off two lines, and Jess and Ellie (again!) crossed off a whole three lines.
1er prix - Jess & Ellie
2ème prix - Becky & Ella
3ème prix - Jess & Ellie
Jess et Ellie sont les championnes du loto!
Bethan & Millie
What a busy day! There's been lots of French spoken, lots of laughter heard, big smiles all around, and that's just the teachers! The girls are loving it all, even though they are a bit overwhelmed by the heat and willingly wear their hats. They are excellent ambassadors for BSG and their country and a delight to be with. A storm is brewing now, so the entertainment is likely to continue beyond bedtime. Most are exhausted through and will not need much torrential rain or rumbling thunder to be lulled into sleep... À demain!
Bonjour le monde.... More accurately probably a tiny corner of Somerset who are reading our petit 'flash info'. Today has been another day full of fun and frolics. We are having a fantastic time. The girls are enjoying the French atmosphere, loving the outdoor space at MCF, the sun (though some more able to cope than others!) and they are becoming more confident and fluent in the French language.
Today's highlights for you today.
1. Learning the dance to a popular French song complete with hilarious actions and performed at the evening disco
2. Making tartouillat - a typical French cake which was judged by the teachers in the evening. The winning design had hearts on the top!
3. The beautiful basilique in Vézelay. Particularly poignant as Thomas A Beckett spoke out against Henri II on the steps of the basilique. Inside the gorgeous church - (a mix of Roman and Gothic architecture) there is a relic of Mary Magdalene's finger which we observed. The History teacher on the trip was particularly excited by the cross from 1946 which signified the peace march that went through Vézelay signifying restoring of relations between Germany and France. Later in the evening the girls presented their activities in French to the professeurs. One student made the teachers laugh by claiming in French that the basilica was dead boring, rather than amazing in her sentence!
4. The girls had a fantastic disco which ended with a wonderful sing song with Olly playing his guitar.
5. The heats for the Ping-Pong tournoi have begun and Mrs Rostrup and Alex from MCF have sadly beaten Kirsty and Joanna.
À demain!
Bonjour tout le monde!
Aujourd'hui nous avons fait la leçon de français. Dans la leçon nous avons appris les fruits et les légumes. Après nous avons joué à un jeu de mains et nous avons chanté. Puis nous avons préparé des questions pour les magasins. Pour finir nous avons préparé la visite du château de Bussy Rabutin. C'était intéressant et génial. À plus! Freya et Beck.
Aujourd'hui nous avons fait de la sculpture. On a choisi une idée et nous avons eu une heure pour réaliser notre idée. C'était génial, mais un peu difficile! Nous avons dessiné beaucoup d'images différentes, par exemple un prénom ou un cœur. C'était intéressant et on a beaucoup aimé. Emily et Alice T.
Aujourd'hui nous sommes allées au château de Bussy Rabutin. C'était très joli! J'ai vu les peintures dans le château. Après, nous sommes allées dans le labyrinthe et j'ai fait un jeu dans le labyrinthe. C'était très beau et intéressant.
We had a great day and it was really sunny and hot. We are very sad that the trip is nearly over! Alana et Ellie
Bonjour!
Le restaurant était miam miam. En apéritif on a bu du sirop de citron et fraise. Comme entrée on a mangé un buffet de hors d'oeuvres. En plat principal on a mangé du poulet à l'estragon avec du gratin dauphinois et des haricots verts ou une tartelette végétarienne aux légumes et champignons. En dessert, on a mangé de la salade de fruits ou une mousse au chocolat. C'était génial. Miam miam!
Jess M. Et Jess R.
Voilà! Bonsoir et à demain!
The trip is nearly over.
The highlights today for our petit news flash:
1. We started the day with a good French breakfast: not only the delicious chocolat chaud but also, for the last day, pain au chocolat et des croissants,
2. Then off to the market in Vermenton where the girls wowed the locals with their new phrases. Chickens, cheeses, meringues, cherries, apricots, to name but a few, were purchased in well-practised French, ready to be assembled back at MCF into the most creative picnic presentations,
3. Our week at Maison Claire Fontaine was re-enacted during a fun drama activity in which the Sun King made a memorable appearance under the guise of Jess McCarry,
4. A trip to the local Auchan supermarket helped to raid the sirop aisle and the remaining coppers were spent on French sweets,
5. Snails were the highlight of tonight's dinner, with Alice T. eating more than most and walking away with the Gourmet Prize.
This evening's activities included prize giving, with Becky, Alana, and Genevieve being declared MCF ambassadors. Then there was the finals of the ping-pong tournament, predictably won by Jess & Jess.
Congratulations to all girls on the trip this week who have been fantastic! We're home bound tomorrow, so see you in Bruton at about 5pm.
Au revoir Maison Claire Fontaine, et à bientôt! On s'est super bien amusées!
Merci Bruton School ! Vous nous manquez deja ! Bonne chance !
Mark, Alex, Elodie, Maureen, Aurelie, David, Olly et Gemma
