Year 8 and 9 students went on a four day trip to the Opal Coast in Northern France last week. They spent time in the Cité Europe shopping centre in Calais and on the beach at Wimereux, a lovely seaside resort near Boulogne-sur-Mer. They also made a stop at a World War One war graves cemetery. The group stayed at Moulin aux Draps, a 3-star hotel in the countryside with ducks, goats and a sheep on site. They were looked after by energetic animateurs who helped them learn new French. On Saturday morning, the students visited the old town of Boulogne, experienced the traditional market and had a picnic lunch in the park before games on the beach. In the afternoon they enjoyed a visit to Naussicaa Aquarium, the largest of it’s kind in Europe with a wide variety of sea life. The day was finished off with a trip to a traditional bakery, where they had the opportunity to get hands on with bread baking and eating pain au chocolat. Sunday was spent at Parc Bagatelle theme park and in the evening, the opportunity to taste traditional French food, including snails. The journey home on Monday was broken by a last stop in a French hypermarket.