Once we arrived in France, we disembarked and set off on the longest leg of the journey, of course Mr Ferguson told us there were 6… or 7 hours to go. We stopped off at a French ‘aire’ for a snack and met 3 friendly french ducks and school of fish. We then continued on to the centre. We arrived earlier than expected and were greeted by our friendly staff and told the chateau rules. The grounds were expansive, the building freshly decorated, with a rushing river nearby. We played in the grounds before dinner: a delicious beef stew with rice and an exquisite lemon tart to finish. After dinner we had ridiculously amazing game of rounders. It has been an epic time but tiring and we can’t wait for another day, another adventure.
Tuesday 02.06.26
After a good night’s sleep, the children were woken to some rousing tunes to get them up and raring to go. There was much delight to see home baked croissants waiting for them at breakfast and of course many sampled the chocolat chaud which was pronounced delicieux! Cereals, baguettes, fruit and yoghurt were also consumed.
After breakfast it was our first opportunity to experience the sandwicherie, where the children happily put together their own lunches. Then they put on raincoats and went outside to experience a Sensory Trail to use their excellent teamwork to get under old tirestyres and in between trees, all whilst blindfolded – no thanks to Mr. Ferguson’s attempts to prank them!
After a quick cleanup, we were off to the Goat Farm where the children were able to hold and play with the bébé chèvres. The monsieur even gave out a selection of goat’s cheese for the children to try, from plain cheese to shallots cheese to lemon oil and turmeric and we can’t forget the fan favourite; goats cheese with sun dried tomato. The teachers were brimming with pride at the willingness at all the children to have a taste.
Next stop was the Caramel Factory, where all the children sat and listened intently to the madame tell about du beurre, du lait, le sucre and how they make caramel without sugar cane but with white beet root. The free samples went down a treat and the apple caramel was surprisingly tasty. The children were amazed by the selection of goods for sale in the shop, so anticipate regional treats.
We reached the American Cemetery where we split into groups to look at the history of D-Day and the memories of the fallen soldiers. The children were perfectly respectful as we walked through a tunnel where a speaker called out the names of soldiers who had sacrifised their lives. We were pensive as we made our way back to the coach but, after a visit to Omaha Beach, our chateau representative, Angelo brought spirits back up with coach karaoke (though not many children knew the words to Mr. Brightside). Soon enough, the coach was rocking to driver Darren’s choice of music.
When we returned to the Chateau, the children jumped into their swimming costumes and straight into the pool. They enjoyed a selection of pool activities including, but not limited to; ball games, floating with noodles and general splashing about.
We changed into our evening attire in record time, ready to consume a delicious barbeque with all plates scraped clean, followed by ice-cream. As we write this, the children are winding down with a quiz on Normandy.
So many different activities with more to come tomorrow…
Day 3.
For breakfast this morning was pain au chocolat,
And a glass of hot chocolate, it made us go ‘Rah!’
We went and made our lunch in the ‘Sandwicherie’,
Lettuce, tomato, cheese and ham, prepared by me!
We set off on our journey to the Bayeux Cathedral,
With the stained glass windows and the beautiful walls,
After this the market, to see what we could buy,
Fidgets, bracelets, jewellery, amazing stuff can’t lie,
‘Je voudrais un Coca’ we said in the café,
So far this had been a blast of a day!
The cinema in Arromanches; a fascinating show,
Brave battles after D Day, of now we all know,
We walked down to the beach, played a fun game of Splat,
Our guide Angelo with games, he took care of that!
Then we headed off to the Batterie de Longues,
German guns, Flags up high, the evidence of bombs.
Karaoke on the coach the whole way back,
Singing so loud it made Mr F crack!
Back at the chateau, a film in the movie room,
Here we were with our ice cream, swimming time was soon.
After we splashed, dinner was ahead,
A secret taste of snails, thank goodness they were dead!
Evening karaoke, plenty of great songs,
Watching the teachers singing feels so wrong!
Good night,
Sleep well
See in the morning
For the last full day.
Is that Mr Wells snoring?
