Over the Easter holidays a group of girls from Years 9-12 enjoyed an action packed residential trip in the sunny and colourful regions of Occitanie and Provence Côté d’Azur in the south of France.
During their trip girls were able to practise their French over breakfast and dinner with their French host families. In addition to having French lessons, they followed Jean-Paul, an entertaining French guide, through the streets of the University town of Montpellier and the Roman towns of Nîmes and Arles.
Jean-Paul who studied history and history of Art, enlightened the girls about the Roman history of these regions and about their Spanish heritage.
Highlights of the trip included visiting the Roman monuments in Nîmes, particularly the Roman amphitheatre and temple, which, thanks to Jean-Paul’s history, really came alive. In the city of Arles, which is the place where Van Goth painted the majority of his art work, the girls visited the famous spots painted by the artist. They were very fortunate to experience the traditions of the Provence region, as the Feria festival was on the day of their visit. At a safe distance the girls witnessed locals chasing bulls down the street, as well as a parade of Camargue Cowboys. The town was lively with brass bands and all the cafe and restaurant terraces were full. To top it all, the best Provençal market of the region was on and the girls got to taste many regional delicacies such as Fougasse, a local savoury delicacy, olives, bull salami and other sweet delicacies. Their last visit took them to a medieval Provençal village, where Jean-Paul entertained them all in a local café playing a Provençal instrument.
As well as improving their language skills, the girls also demonstrated plenty of courage and adaptability, whilst staying with host families and travelling around Montpellier by tram.
