At the weekend we stayed with our families. Some of us met up in groups and others did separate activities with their families. For instance Scott went to a party, Caelan went sea kayaking in the Med, while Alise and Nicola went to a dance show at the Albi theatre. Others visited the nearby medieval town of Cordes sue Ciel.

On Monday we took the train to Toulouse then the Metro and the bus to the Cité de l’Espace ( Space City). It had replicas of rockets. We watched a film in the Imax theatre about the Hubble space telescope. There were lots of interactive activities to do and we also enjoyed the play park. We went into the Mir space station and the weather station. Scott was our weather man!

After the visit we bought souvenirs in the shop.

On Tuesday we went to the theme park Cap’ Découverte with our French pen pals. There were lots of sporting activities. We started with the paintball then had lunch with our pen pals. In the afternoon some of us tried the zip wire called “Tyrolienne”, the ski lift, the bob sleigh and the downhill go kart. Mr Graydon went on the zip wire four times and Mrs Lundbye screamed her head off and Nicola and Scott were deaf afterwards!

At 5 o’clock we visited a mining museum and foud out about the life and working conditions in coal mines. We went down in a “cage” the lift that miners would have used to go down. On the way back from the museum, the Albi Sporting Club ( rugby) bus picked us up and we went back to the school in style!

On Wednesday morning we visited the Lapérouse museum, a famous French explorer who was born in the town. We had a guided tour of the museum in English and we learned about expeditions, life, conditions and the purpose of expeditions. We even saw the paint box that Lapérouse used when he was traveling. After the visit we had a goodbye meeting at the school when Madame Catalo the headmistress presented us with a polo short or Tshirt with the school logo. We drank some watermelon and melon smoothie or orange juice, ate pizza, shrimps, cakes etc… Afterwards we went into town with our pen pals to have lunch and buy last minute presents.

Due to an air traffic controller strike we arrived back at Edinburgh airport in the early hours of the morning.

We spent Friday morning at the school with our pen pals, following their timetable. Some of us were able to talk about Arbroath in the English class, as pupils were doing a quiz on Scotland and Arbroath. The English teacher who is in fact American, was referring to us as the “Scotties”. At interval pupils were very friendly, we played table tennis or chatted and afterwards we played board games during their study time in their foyer. We discovered two new card games which everybody enjoyed. At lunchtime we ate again in the canteen and the food was better than the day before but healthy. We had tomatoes, salad, melon or sardines for starter, beef stew with pasta, chocolate sauce with pears, pineapple, yoghurt or cheese. Afterwards some of us went kayaking on the river Tarn with two of the PE teachers whose main sport is kayaking. For most of us, except Caelan it was a new experience. Some of us were struggling and Mr Graydon tried to push us by promising us an ice cream. A small group went into town, had a soft drink in a café watching people go past and afterwards we went on  the small train that took us around the town.

This morning for breakfast we had chocolate milk, croissants dipped in milk, cereal, bread or coffee. Some of us had to get the bus to school and everyone is very tanned compared to us!

School started at 8 or 9 o’clock, as not all pupils start at the same time. There are a lot less pupils but they were all crowding around us, as they were all very curious. The building is really old and pretty. All the desks are in rows (twos), there is no uniform and school is not as strict as in Scotland, apart from mobile phones. They get two hours for lunch but the food at the canteen was not very nice: set meal, no choice but it is healthy!

            In the afternoon we visited the Toulouse Lautrec museum: some pupils find it interesting others boring. We ordered drinks and ice creams in French. We then visited the cathedral which is the biggest brick building in the world. The outside looked like a fortress but inside it was really very beautiful.  We lit some candles and looked for hidden pictures on the walls.

            Afterwards we went shopping: we bought souvenirs, ordered some slush puppies in French.

Some of us also tried “macarons” which were very nice.

            We visited a fountain in the main square and were running through it, trying not to get wet but some of us got soaked. With the hot weather we dried very quickly ( apart from Kally!).

            We returned to our pen pal’s and some of us were lucky enough to go swimming in the family’s pool. In the evening we played some board games or football. They watch less Tv than we do in Scotland. We had our tea between seven and nine o’clock. They take their time eating and the food is very healthy.

During her last week at Arbroath High School, Louise Métayer, the French assistant, held a cooking workshop where pupils had the opportunity to make and taste crêpes, tarte tatin and other pies.

This event was well attended by S1 and S2 pupils. Throughout the year Louise ran the French club on Thursdays at lunchtime and pupils were given the opportunity to make short animated films for the link school in France.