Et encore plus de photos!

More photos from our excursion today - The glass factory at Biot, Cannes and Antibes (we all love Antibes now! The Musee Picasso in Antibes was a highlight!

Jordan, Matt, Daisy, Claire and Zoe at the Verrerie in Biot

Superstars at the Palais de Cannes

What a team - Craig, Diana and Max the German animateur!

La Croisette à Cannes, Quinn, Maddy, Hannah, Nadia and Jade

Au Musée Picasso - hannah, Lexie and Danna

Musée Picasso - Nadia and Mr Kasbergen!

Les filles..... et Max à Antibes 

James in Antibes

Tom in Antibes

Ollie in Antibes

Woo hoo! 

Isabella in Antibes

Mother and Son, Rowena and Max

Quelques photos!

Just a few photos to give you an idea of where we are!

Tom overlooking the port in Monaco

Charlotte and Alex out the front of the Monaco Casino

The group in front of the Arc de Triomphe

All of us in front of the Palais de Monaco

Fun and games on the Cannons at Les Invalides in Paris!

Hopefully more to come!

La Côte d'Azur!!

So little time to blog lately, but just a quick word to say we're all loving the CMEF!

Yesterday we went into Nice, it rained all day long but it certainly didn't dampen our spirits at all. The proof? We sampled a huuuge range of ice cream, from the classics, to more interesting flavours like thyme, black olive, tomato and basil... you get the idea! JB, Dana, Quinn and Miss Parnell made the most of the experience, trying as many combos as possible from the 96 choices.

The sun has returned this morning as I type, and were off to get spotted in Cannes for any films that need a few extras! Fingers crossed that this might be our year.

We've been jogging, so pleased to have a group of 10 tearing up the Monaco coast - it was really fun and the hills are tough but we all did it. I think we earnt a few macaron and croissant tickets in the process!

Photos are taking an eternity to upload at the moment but i'll get a few to you all soon!

Thanks for all the comments, it means a lot to the students and staff.

À plus!

The France Tour Team!!

Le CMEF, c'est magique!

Bonjour Tout le monde,
13/4/12 

Quinn:
Quinn Martin here, reporting to you about a real wild time. Mr Kasbergen is a machine when it comes to planning he is da proverbial 'bomb'. Everything has been running smoothly from la Tour Eiffel et le Louvre and who could forget Notre Dame with Maddie's (see below) birthday. On the subject of birthdays, we have thoroughly celebrated Maddie's and Liam's. Speaking for the group, we can successfully say that so far, the French Tour has been absolutely amazing and we can't wait for what's to come and what tricks 'Da Bomb' has up his sleeve. Shall sign in with you later, Quinn. xx(la bise)

Maddie:
As Quinn just mentioned, I think I have had the best birthday ever. This included going to Musée D'Orsay, an amazing museum, followed by Galleries Lafayette doing one of my favourite activities- shopping. This shopping also extended to Macarons, of which I had 8 during the day... Definitely needed my run today to work that off.
I think that the best thing about Centre Mediterranean apart from the stunning views and beautiful gardens are the daily discos! They take place every night, thanks to the Italians' constant requests, and involve anyone who's keen! There is a range of music, from every country, and a range of people doing loads of different dance moves and choreographed lines, some which I wouldn't even try.

Hannah:
France is amazing. It is extremely hard to put what the group is feeling in words. Everything about France; from the food to the history to the scenery is indescribable! Right now, we are sitting outside in Monaco enjoying music from a disco and the loverly breeze from the sea. Monaco is a crazy rich peoples town....something to aspire to, maybe???? Anyway, seeing as it is a 11pm, I think I will say goodnight!

Monte Carlo!!!!

Bonjour de Monaco!

We arrived at the Language Centre at around 6 after travelling along the beautiful Côte D'azur. We were welcomed in French by the owner, Gilles, and then went to get our dinner.

After settling in and exploring the immense grounds overlooking the Mediterranean we enjoyed a music quiz with and against kids from America and Italy.

To finish our first day we party rocked with the German Animateurs Leo and Max!! Dansez!
Although we spent most the day on the train, it was an enjoyable day for all and everyone is excited for the week ahead!

We are in Monte Carlo wooooooo!
from Zoe, Daisy, Claire and Hattie

p.s. Mum and Dad I miss you lots, and you too Maddy :)
Love Nick
xoxo

Day 2 - vite fait!

Salut à tous!

Just a quick summary today - it's late and we've had another action filled day!

After a much needed sleep in, we ventured to the Musée d'Orsay to see the most amazing works of impressionist art. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh are all housed in this beautiful museum, which is undoubtedly a work of art in itself. The students were all fascinated and were delighted to find out why this was such an important artistic movement. 

The Courtyard at our hostel -  Zoe and hattie taking some time out.

 We spent a large portion of the day shopping at the Grands Magasins. The shopping was clearly good as almost everyone bought something, and better yet, almost everyone wore something new out to dinner!

We all indulged on the cuisine of the South West of France, famous for large serves, duck, potatoes, rich sauces and of course... les escargots! Reports are still coming in as to who, how many etc, but I can say that garlic and parsley escargots were the clear winners when it came to flavour.

 Santé! Liam and Quinn at Chez Papa restaurant.

We ended the night my heading to Notre Dame, where we sang 'Joyeuese Anniversaire' to Maddy Rock. Hopefully she had a birthday to remember, at least if not for her macaron cake from Ladurée, arguably the best Macarons in Paris - or indeed the World!

Tomorrow is our last big day in Paris - it will be a busy day as we head to Les Invalides, the Champs-Elysées, Le Louvre, another classic French Dinner and finally a comedy show called 'How to be Parisian in One Hour' We'll also be able to practice our singing of Joyeuse anniversaire, as it will be Liam's birthday!

Can't wait.

Stay tuned,

Shawn Kasbergen

Les Premiers Pas....

Bonjour à tous et à toutes!

We've made it! The 6am arrival was but a distant thought as we glided through customs, caught our transfer and begun our Parisian odyssey. The first day was action packed in an attempt to counter any possible jet lag and to set up a correct sleeping pattern. 

We started with a traditional French breakfast (and much needed coffee) before heading to Montmartre and Sacre Cœur. The weather was beautiful and people from all over the world converged on 'la butte' to admire it beauty and views. We also had a chance to ride the Carousel - which some described as a 'life completing' experience.

After seeing the Eiffel Tower from a distance we took the Metro to the Place du Trocadéro, which affords exceptional vies of the Eiffel Tower - clearly we weren't too tired yet, plenty of energy in the photos below. We also had a 'surprise' visit from Fanny and Victorine - 2 French exchange students who spent 5 weeks at Scotch in 2011!  The look on the students faces when they came to see us was priceless!

We then hopped on our bikes and not only saw some major parisian sites, but also learnt some fun facts from our guides. Of course, we stopped for warm drinks and a crêpe or baguette at the half way point. 

All of this and we've only been here for 1 day! Stay tuned and we'll put more photos up as they come to hand. We all love seeing your comments and we're hoping to see some student contributions shortly.

All of us are currently in bed, getting some much needed rest and we'll be sleeping in tomorrow before heading to the Musée d'Orsay and to Galleries Lafayette for some shopping. We'll likely eat 'escargots' tomorrow too - never a dull moment on the France Tour 2012!

À plus tard!

Shawn Kasbergen - on behalf of the France Tour Team!