Year 6 Lille Visit – Day 3

We had an extremely early start this morning as all children were up at 6.15am for a 6.30am breakfast where they were given their beautiful Britannia Village t-shirts! After a quick change we boarded the bus and headed to Paris. It was a long journey which allowed time for some extra sleep and we arrived around 11.30am to the Pompidou, a world famous modern art gallery by the River Seine in the French capital.

Here we sat in a square and did some sketching before purchasing some souvenirs with our spending money. Lots of shiny French Eiffel Tower key rings were bought (mainly buy Rome who was a man on a mission to buy as many as possible!) as well as some impressive snow globes. After this we visited the art gallery in the Pompidou where a lot of pupils chose to sketch their favourite pieces. Others wandered the halls enjoying works from modern artists such as Picasso, Kandinsky and Rothko and sharing opinions about the work.

We enjoyed views across Paris from the top tier of the Pompidou and caught our first glimpse of the famous Eiffel Tower! We sat in a square near the gallery for lunch but were unfortunately caught in a rainstorm so took shelter before continuing on to the River Seine. We walked its banks and discussed similarities and differences to the Thames, which we have been learning about in school. Eventually we reached the Louvre where we stopped to take pictures and appreciate the beauty of the area.

After this we began our walk down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, enjoying the amazing view all the way down the famous avenue. We stopped in a park to take in the sights and made another stop for our surprise dinner, at McDonalds! Vanessa impressed the waiter with her ordering skills as she asked for ‘quatre frites’ and thanked them with a very polite ‘merci beaucoup’.

Now well-fed, we had an up close look at the Arc de Triomphe before we boarded the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We rode five stops and exited to be greeted by a spectacular, up close view of the famous attraction. The children had an opportunity to take pictures as we took in the tower, eventually peeling themselves away as we boarded our coach back to Lille where showers and bed time awaited.

Tomorrow we will visit the French school to meet the children we have been posting letters to and perform some of the wonderful songs and dances we’ve been learning in school!