ThoughtsPosted by Phoebe James Jun 15, 2009 15:13:45my weekend went like this on saturday i went for a 3 mile bike ride which about 2 1/2 - 3 hours on our way back we stopped at a park where we met some other french exchange people on sunday we got up early and went with georgia and matilde and matilde's family to le pal which is a massive theme park and my first ever one :D. MY penpalls flat was small with 3 bedrooms a small kitchen and a small lounge. my penpall had a small brother and a older brother the little 1 was called yanis her mum was really nice 2 me and kept giving me food hehe :P
it was good in france but i much prefer being in england because my french is rubbish and my english FANTASTIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::D:D:DD:D:D:DD
LOVE FROM PHOEBE SOZ AGAIN 4 THE L8 NESS XOX
ThoughtsPosted by Graham Day Jun 12, 2009 20:48:13Things got off to a slow start on friday, like you might expect for the first day but it was nice to just settle in and try speaking a bit of french.
Saturday morning got off to a good start as i saw another english person for the first time since thursday evening when we arrived in Paray. Sarah, Stacey and I went for a walk with our partners just to explore the village (Poisson) and a bit of the countryside. The rest of the day passed without a lot happening until about 10:00pm when suddenly i was rushed out the house and off we went (i didn't have a clue where we were going). About half an hour later we arrived at the fair and very soon we found some of the other french and english students already having a great time.
An early start was required on sunday as we were going to spend the whole day at the theme park. Ellie and Lise turned up just a few minutes after Julien and me and we got into the park at about 10:00. At first Ellie and i were happy just to speak english to someone and weren't to worried aobut going on the rides but we soon started to have a really good time on all the rides and after what didn't feel like long it was 5:00 and we had to go.
Sorry this is a bit late ( don't really have an excuse oops)
ActivitiesPosted by Mrs Fitzsimmons Jun 01, 2009 09:45:50Congratulations to M Billoud and his wife. Their baby boy, Axel, was born last Friday. I shall be sending a card from us all, so make sure you see me to sign it.
Mrs Fitzsimmons
ActivitiesPosted by Mr Ramsden May 31, 2009 20:43:08Hi everyone! Can you believe we've been back 2 weeks? Seems like an age since we were there. This is a post to share the group photo we had taken (bonus points for spotting the highly concealed Mr Ramsden!). See me for the full sized version.
ThoughtsPosted by Alex Fudge May 28, 2009 19:19:28Overall the weekend was great. On Friday we explored Paray but we didnt go in any shops because they were closed. For lunch i had a ham panini which was delicious and it was a really nice little cafe that we went in. Most of Friday was spent playing football though, to the delght of everyone involved. In the evening i went to Louis' sister's 18th birthday party at the local town hall. Again we played a lot of football, followed by some basketball and some well deserved drinks and snacks. Everyone was very polite and welcoming to me and that made it a really enjoyable evening. We ended up going to bed at about 2.30am.
On Saturday I spent the morning with the Noels and me and Louis played football and basketball in his garden. In the afternoon we watched the Paray football team lose 5-0 and play very poorly! Afterwards some of us had a kebab for tea and then watched "La Premiere Etoile", which was very random but funny as well even though we couldnt understand very much of it. Then we just went home, played on the computer, watched TV, then went to bed.
Sunday was a very touristy day. We visited the town of Paray in the afternoon and saw some of the beautiful attractions. In the evening we hung around at the park, talking and playing yet more football. Back at Louis' house we watched a bit of a French film on TV. It was extremely funny-involving a hobo working a crane, a man dressed in woman's clothes and a whoppee cushion. What a way to end a wonderful weekend!!!
Sorry I didnt post this till now. My computer hasnt been working! 
But luckily its fine now!
ALEX FUDGE
ThoughtsPosted by Becky Tessier May 18, 2009 22:24:17firstly.....Becky applauds natalie for entering a little paragraph on the blog. I am most proud that you got round to it.
And warning to Jess, my mum found it utterly hilarious when she read about your bog experience. In truth, we all did. NIce one!
the weekend with the family:
Firstly, the family was so welcoming and I instantly felt at home in the lovely cottage. Fitting in with the family was not difficult , as I managed to embarass myself on the nintendo Wii.
On Friday, we took a trip to the market. Even though it rained, I had a lovely time. I even had the privelege to choose the fresh fish for the meal that evening. It made a great meal!
On Saturday, I went to the theme park. Despite my fear of rollercoasters, I thouroughly enjoyed the day.
Sunday, I went to Paris!! What can I say, IT WAS AMAZING!! We did a lot of sightseeing, broken down with a nice meal at a pizza restaurant next to the Eiffel Tower. Was a beautiful location. We climed the tower shortly afterwards. Once again, a fantastic view!
We took a boat ride on The Seine and I had an english headset, describing the various attractions of Paris etc. Was very relaxing and informative.
My weekend was amazing and fitting everything in here would be a nightmare. All you need to know is that it was the best experience of my life.
A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to my journey to France. Thanks to my parents for paying, thanks for my french family for looking after me so well and also thanks for taking us!!!!
x
ThoughtsPosted by Natalie Cox May 18, 2009 19:20:17Well, how do I start?
I mean, come on, we've just spent 2 weeks with complete strangers, both living in their houses and them living in ours.
When they were in England? It was great, much easier than I expected and everyone was so friendly and so many things were planned out. Thanks again Jess for sorting out the skittles evening!
When we went to France? Something i never want to forget. It was amazing.
The family were amazing, and they all had so much planned out. For example La Pal. An amazing day. Apart from the vertigo, it was great! :D
Went to Vichy on Sunday with Jess and Alice, as well as Thomas and his friend Nicholas. (Thomas is so adorable! He has just started learning English, so we had many interesting moments. Though when he got used to me and began to talk to me a LOT all in French, it was a little scary. But then again, that's what we were there for, the French :P)
Although it already seems like a long, long time ago, i will never forget the people or the good times I've had due to French exchange.
Only one thing that i will never get used to in France though, the keyboards!!!
Other than that, a great trip :D
p.s. they eat a LOT of bread and cheese. yum!!!
ThoughtsPosted by Stacey Emery May 16, 2009 19:33:37Hmm where do i begin?
I honestly didn't think that life in france would be that different but i was so wrong. The food, the houses, the clothing and the school was so different. I'm not naive enough to think that nothing would be different as it knew it would be but my impression of france with old men drinking wine by the river,beretes on their head was far off. My image is a bit sterotypical but i guess that's what a lot of people's impression is of France.
Justine's family was really nice (even though they didn't speak english) but i got better at understanding their conversations between eachother and we had a nice talk one evening at dinner.
My weekend plans:
Friday - Visiting the market, shopping and going to sarah's french home for dinner. Saturday - Walk with graham and sarah, shopping in the town, cinema and dinner in a restaurant. Sunday - Visiting Chateau de Dree
The trips:
The joint trip to Dijon was really nice and i enjoyed walking up the tower and shopping :). Dijon reminded me a lot of Bath as it was quite similar.
The English trip to Lyon was GREAT! I had so much fun! The train we caught on the way on was very luxurious but i'm not sure if it was good enough to make up for me waking up at 4.30am . lol The Bacilica was so amazing and i really felt realxed and over awed by the architecture of the Cathedral. There was some funny experiences with some men who had a little too much to drink but i won't go into details in case some of you parents reading start to worry.
Spending time in Justine's school made me realise how priveledged the Blue School is. The facilities we have are outstanding and the classrooms are really nice at our school as they were very bare in their school. Literally it was brown walls and a whiteboard. I was in an English lesson with the younger children which was fun and interesting as we were interrogated by the little ones.
Well i think i should end my essay here. Au revoir France it was nice visitng you x
ActivitiesPosted by Mrs Fitzsimmons May 15, 2009 15:47:43It was another long and tiring journey, but we arrived back safely at 18:15 having had a great time in Paray. Everybody's experiences were different, but all the pupils feel they know much more about life in France and can understand French much, much better! I'd like to thank Mr Ramsden for all he did (and for putting his life on the line in the Métro!). He was unfailingly positive through-out and his French improved tremendously. I'd also like to thank all 21 pupils for their good behaviour and willingness to stand and be counted whenever I felt it necessary! A special mention to Ellie Allen who was particularly kind and helpful at all times and who personally loaded a great many cases on to the luggage racks in the TGV and Eurostar. We were all very grateful.
Mrs Fitzsimmons
ThoughtsPosted by Jess Wood May 15, 2009 12:59:43ok people have told me to put this on here so here goes...
basically i got up at 7 on sat to go to the loo and i couldnt get out. I tried turning the key in the door but it was stuck. I started getting really worried and stufff and was shaking the key and the door for about 5 minutes before Alice heard me and woke up her parents.
They then spent like 5 minutes fiddling around with the door and saying stuff to me that i didnt understand before her dad went and got a screwdriver and took off the door handle. (not the door as some people seem to think). This didnt seem to do anything and i still didnt really get what they were saying. In the end i heard something about a key and so put it under the door. They then unlocked it from the outside and i was free
In total i think i was in there for about 20 minutes. I was really afraid that Alice's parents would be cross but they found it very funny and said bonjour as soon as they opened the door. It was an interesting experience that i wouldn t repeat but seems to make people laugh...
ThoughtsPosted by Jess Wood May 15, 2009 12:51:45Had a totally awesome time in France!
Friday i went to watch Alice play rugby for her team which was cool as they won. I also got to meet the rest of her team and go back on the team bus which was great fun 
They were all boys and so decided to trynd teach me some 'interesting' french but they were all very nice and i had a awesomage day.
Saturday i went to la pal, a theme park, with Alice, Becky, Nat, Adeline and Laura where we went on some cool rides. Then in the evening i went to Adelines house for some crepes which were scrummy, and then to the fair. The fair is i guess a more clean and bigger and funner version of mayfair.
Sunday I went swimming in Vichy with Nat, Alice and Adeline and afterwards, we went shopping.
I had a really great time. Thankyou so much to Alice and her family and to Madame Fitzsimmons and Mr. Ramsden for everthing.
ThoughtsPosted by Blythe Hodgson Parnell May 15, 2009 12:47:03Howdyyyy!
France was BIFFSMACK 5!
I would like to thank the french families for organising an amazing (long) weekend full of fun activities; there was never a dull moment. I really enjoyed going to the theme park 'le pal' it was GREAT! the zoo part was full of exotic animals such as lions and elephants and mercats(.com) and giraffes and hipos and tigers and lots more. AND i even managed to go on a rollacoster!!!!!! - biffsmack 4!
There was LOADS of food, and it was all really fresh and lovely, everyone was really great cooks. on tuesday, While round and Cindys house we even tried SNAILS!!! which surprisingly were not that bad! i also ate alot of bagettes!! and discovered the wonders of WHITE oreos!! they were biffsmack 5.
I really enjoyed the french culture it was full of spontanious parties and late nights... i barly slept at all!!! every night there was a party at a different persons house, which was great fun as all the adults were very nice and i got on with everyone! biffsmack 5!!
i managed to speak quite abit of french and am now alot more confident in comunicating. BIFFSMACK!
overall it was a great weekend-pretty much broke the biffsmack-o-meter!!!
BLYTHE X X
InformationPosted by Georgia Rose May 15, 2009 12:46:40Hi there ;)
It feels weird to be back in england, speaking english, eating english, thinking english and breathing english air
wow
I must say that i had a truly amazing time, proper biffsmack, i might even go as far as saying it was OFF the biffsmack-o-meter.
wow
When i arrived my french friend informed me that on the saturday i would be going to Paris with her and her mother. I was really excited because i had never been to Paris before. I went up the effiel tower and on a boat around the city, it was so interseting, definately a biffsmack 5.
i found everyone in france really friendly, especially the boys and they were all very talkative and happy.
i was happy too.
im always happy.. now
now i discoverd the joys of eating snails and white chocolate oreos.
The week was very socialble as every night we had a party at a different person's house, i didnt really sleep but i drank lots of coffee so i could enjoy the french culture to the maxxxxxxxxxxx.
i want to be french, and live french and dream in french, and i really hope i stay in contact with the friends i made in the french exchange, it was a really nice experience
Georgia Elizabeth Grace Rose xxxxxxxx
InformationPosted by Kim Robinson May 15, 2009 12:46:18Hello. :)
I had a bifsmacking time in France
My favourite days were when we went to Lyon and Dijon, it was so hot there and everyone was really friendly.
Lyon gets a bifsmack 5 because we saw the amazing cathedral which had a whole other cathedral underneath - it was so interesting. 
The most stressful time of the exchange was getting on and off of the underground trains in Paris very quickly with all our suitcases and luggage. We all managed except Mr Ramsden who nearly lost his foot 
But he was okay and his foot is fine now.
France's atmosphere is so much nicer than in England!!! Everyone is really friendly and talkative to us. They didn't mind that my french wasn't perfect and they helped me to say stuff right
The fact that i had to leave France gets a bifsmack 1 
The french family i stayed with we
re so friendly and kind to me and so were all of Melanie's friends. All the boys have mopeds in France and we watched them do tricks.
On Sunday i went to a theme park called Le Pal. It's like a minature Thorpe Park with a zoo in it aswell. We saw giraffes, elephants, lions, tigers, monkeys, and a peacock and an ostrich. The rides were insane and my favourite was the king kong one (bifsmack 5).
Everynight we did something with Melanies friends or other French exchange participants, such as parties, going out for meals, or sitting with melanies friends outside, it was very fun
I really want to go back to France and stay with Melanie again and i hope i do 
lots of lovely lovely love,
kimberley robinson 
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
ThoughtsPosted by Eleanore Allen May 14, 2009 21:12:18Thankyou for everything. It was an amazing experience & i hope everyone had fun.
Eleanore Allen xxx
ThoughtsPosted by SALASCA May 13, 2009 18:07:55it's been really amazing here i don't want to go back. Everyone is so kind and understanding, and the cheese is brilliant. Lyon and dijon are much nicer than bath and bristol. I've eaten frogs and snails and all sorts of amazing food and learnt so much new french. I hope everyone else has been having a good time too.
Sam
ThoughtsPosted by Fiona Cartmel May 13, 2009 07:54:22One of the things I have enjoyed the most in france has to be the food! It has been amazing!! The only mistake I made was eating too much on the first course when I thought it was the main; however, it turned out to be the first of many. I have certainly learned to pace myself!!
Already I have tried many french specialities, including raclette- melted cheese on potatoes with a variety of saucissons which was absolutely delicious!! It is a speciality of the mountains. However, my favourite dish of the week has to be "grenouilles", otherwise known as frogs legs. Although a little daunting they were DELICIOUS!! fried with garlic butter, herbs and breadcrumbs.
Having a fabulous time in france.
Jess Fullman
ThoughtsPosted by Eleanore Allen May 13, 2009 07:46:38On Friday, Sara and Sophia showed Beth and I around Paray-le-monial, it was a bank holiday on Friday (Armistice) so the shops were closed, but from what we had seen Beth and I agreed that Paray-le-monial was a lovely traditional town. We then went to their local park to play football with Sam, Alex and their exchange partners. After that we went to meet Fiona and Jess and their exchanges at a cafe were we had milkshakes! After we had finished are milkshakes we all went back to the park, were Pheobe and her exchange partner came by on their bikes.
so far I have really enjoyed France and that was only the first day.
Camilla
x
ThoughtsPosted by Fiona Cartmel May 13, 2009 07:44:17I have been having a fabulous time in france and had loads of good food encluding frogs legs and snails!!! They were delicious although strange looking!
Friday there was a bank holiday and Jess fullman and I went to Vichy with our partners Clara and Maelle to watch their very funny dance preparation for their gala the next saturday.
We have had many laughs and fun times with our partners and Paray, Lyon and Dijon are stunning!!
We have had fabulous weather and i have had an absolutely fabulous time in france and really dont want to leave!!
ThoughtsPosted by Eleanore Allen May 12, 2009 21:30:26Today we went to Lyon & it was amazing. T
he weather was fantastic and i believe it reached 30° during the afternoon. Firstly we arrived bright and early at the train station, and enjoyed an interesting train journey to Lyon! On arrival we walked through the town, over a small suspension bridge and ended up at the bottom of a very large hill where we casual stopped: amusing ourselves on childrens playground toys!
Then we bzcame climbing the many stairs until we arrived at the ruines of a roman theatre, which was very picturesque. Finally we arrived at the Basilica (Lady of Fourvuère) and it was amazing! Possibly one of the most amazing buildings i've seen; and inside was even better. The walls were decorated with fantastic mosiac stories, telling stories from all over the world.
Then we ate lunch at the pic-nic area, over looking the whole of Lyon. It was an excellent view! Then we climbed down and looked around the old part of Lyon, searching for the answers of many complicated questions. After this we walked to the centre of Lyon and enjoyed two hours of shopping and i'm sure lots of money was spent!
Then we boarded the train and returned to Paray le Monial to be greeted by our French families, who took us home for a fantastic evening! Thankyou to all the teachers involved and see you all tomorrow! And i apoligise for the essay!
Eleanore xxx
