 It's 5.30am on a beautiful clear morning and we are all ready to go to France. All Y5 children are belted and with our driver, Nigel, we are setting off to Portsmouth where we will catch the Ferry to Cherbourg. The sun is rising in a bright blue sky, no wind so far, this should therefore be a very smooth crossing...or so we thought! In my five years at Chafyn, we have never used so many sick bags! However, despite the seasickness and the constant swaying of the boat, the excitement was never lost! We reached Cherbourg safely and were quickly on our way to Bayeux. Our stop for lunch was in St Mère Eglise where the children got to see the effigy of John Steel, the famous paratrooper whose parachute caught on the spire of the town church on D-Day (portrayed in the film "The Longest Day").
Once in Bayeux, thanks to Mr Martyr, the director of the Bayeux Tapestry museum gave us a special talk before we went to see the actual tapestry. The children were then given some free-time in the town and got to buy their 'bonbons' from a special shop, before reaching the Youth Hostel...it's a tough life this trip!
 The next day was spent in Cherbourg. Being Ascension day- a bank holiday in France- we were a bit worried about the market but we found out that it was just perfect. The few missing stalls just meant that the children were able to walk around freely, which was to our advantage. I was really impressed by the way the children worked through their French and Art booklet and even guessed what Mr Bates' favourite vegetable was - the Artichaut, of course! I was also pleased by the children's eagerness to buy French products. 'Fromages' et 'fraises' were a big hit with the children and staff alike!
We had lunch in a park in town, and if last year we missed the little surprise, this year it did not fail us. The seal was there and ready to show off its swimming skills!
Our last stop was at La Cité de la Mer where the submarine Le Redoutable caught the boys' attention in particular and we were all in amazement in front of the 11 metres deep aquarium where tropical fish and small sharks swam. We had promised the children that there would be a surprise attraction and they were not disappointed. 'On a marché sous la mer' (we walked under the sea) was based on being explorers of the sea but I can't tell you more or it would spoil it for next year's group!
At four o'clock, it was unfortunately, time to check in and get ready to go back to England after a very packed but enjoyable two days. Thankfully, the journey back was a lot better and everyone was able to join in our final quiz.
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