Year 10 and 11 students from Holsworthy Community College have had an activity packed trip to Paris.

On January 5, 40 students from Years 10 and 11 set off by coach and ferry on a long journey to Paris for four days in the city. After 14 hours of travelling, students and staff arrived in Paris, attending Les Jardins des Tuileries to experience the Christmas markets.

On their second day, he group travelled to Duclair in Normandy to College Gustave Flaubert to meet the French students that they have been writing to over the last couple of years. Students had a fun-packed morning, participating in a walk around the beautiful town of Duclair and seeing the sites, singing in a music lesson, playing basketball in a PE lesson and touring the school.

All this socialising was done completely in French so the students had to really try hard to make themselves understood.

After all the fun, the group were invited to have lunch with the students in the French school and what a lunch it was!

After a lunchtime filled with chatting in French with their newfound friends, the students didn’t want to leave!

In the afternoon of the second day, visiting Les Catacombes was on the agenda. This is an ossuary which claims to hold 6 million people’s bones in an underground labyrinth. The ossuary was created as part of the effort to eliminate the city’s overflowing cemeteries. Students loved looking at the skulls and walking through the tunnels despite the eery atmosphere.

The third day was spent in the centre of Paris looking at the main sites. Firstly the group went on a cruise of the River Seine and were able to see the most famous sites of Paris. After that they went to Musée de L’Orangerie which was an amazing experience to enable students to see works by Picasso, Césanne and Monet to name a few. The group then finished the day by going up the Eiffel Tower! They walked up the stairs to the second platform which was an exhilarating experience had by all!

All in all, students and staff had an amazing trip.

The students behaved impeccably, in fact, the hotel staff and the parties coach driver commented on what an excellent group of students they had with them.

Whilst on the trip, the students enjoyed a variety of competitions such as best French speaking, tidiest rooms and photography with worthy winners being chosen.