Please check here regularly next week for updates from the Y6 French Trip. Mrs Underwood will be posting updates from France during the day and each evening a gallery of photographs will be available for parents, siblings and friends to see the trip unfold.

Friday 23rd June

12.30pm The party all arrived home safely and have been collected by parents to go home and relay the action-packed week we have had. I am sure everyone will sleep well this weekend! Thank you to the children for being so amazing throughout the week and to the staff for working non-stop and makiing the trip run so smoothly. You are all 'Simply the Best!'

We have landed safely and are through passport control. We are now making our way to McDonalds and will update the scrolling bar with our estimated time of arrival once we begin the fnal leg of the journey .

The children were absolutely fantastic last night and all went to sleep so quickly - the best ever! Again at passport control they waited in silence for their turn and were complimented for outstanding behaviour. Well done CSPA!

Thursday 22nd June

11.40pm We are on board the ferry, already on our way and the children are settling down to sleep. We dock at 6.45am in Portsmouth, where we expect passport control to be as rigorous as last year, taking some time as they check each child's group passport individually and enter it into the computer! We will keep well in touch with school and I will make updates to the website scrolling bar as often as possible about our expected time of arrival. The children are all looking forward to their McDonald's in the morning!

8.30pm . Our last visit this afternoon was to the British Cemetery in Bayeux, where we approached the memorial in silence to lay a wreath. A fitting close to our visits this week. The children were outstanding in their behaviour - truly impressive.

We have all enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Petit Normande this evening and we are about to check in at the ferry port at Caen/Ouistreham. We have had such a fantastic week and your children have been an absolute pleasure!

4.30pm It has been a much cooler day today which has been a refreshing change. Our visit to the market in St Mere Eglise this morning was great fun and the children all tried their French to buy souvenirs and gifts from the stall holders, most of whom now know us well. They encourage and support the children with their purchases and all who were nervous before said they would be more confident next time. At the end of the morning, we made our way to a sportsfield just nearby where we had plenty of space to have our picnic lunch and also run off some energy with some organised games.

The afternoon was spent in the Airborne Museum, also in St Mere Eglise which is a very child-friendly museum and the children enjoyed working out the challenges in their study books whilst exploring the displays and exhibits.

We are back in the coach now for a little while to finish our trip with a final visit before dinner.

8.05am The children slept brilliantly last night after a very busy day. Today we have woken to cloudy skies for a change - a rather welcome relief to the recent hot weather. Our cases are packed and we will soon be emptying and cleaning our rooms and departing the centre for the last time. Children are excited to visit the market this morning to spend the last of their pocket money!

Wednesday 21st June

10.30pm Our bags are packed and the children are settling down to sleep after a final evening walk and a little talent show. The week has passed so quickly but we are all looking forward to making the most of our last day tomorrow and the start of our journey home..

8pm We have had a wonderful day at Mont St Michel. We travelled light and made our way to the abbey at the top where we were able to go into a service where the monks were singing latin verses. It was a truly awe-inspiring experience to see our children's faces as they stood in silence to watch for a few minutes. The afternoon was spent in the shade of the trees opposite the spectacle of Mont St Michel as the children had lunch and then sketched and watercoloured their drawings.

It is our last night and the children will be packing once dinner is finished and then we will all be entertained by our very own talent show which the children have been planning during their journey today. We leave the centre tomorrow morning to complete our final activities.

7.40am We have woken to another bright sunny morning. All children slept really well last night after the long day yesterday! We are having breakfast now, aiming to depart by

8.30am with our longer coach journey this morning. We are all prepared for the weather and walking ahead of us! Pocket money at the ready, children are keen to buy some souvenirs this afternoon.

Tuesday 20th June

10.20pm Spaghetti Bolognese was a pleasant surprise for many at dinner this evening and brithday cake for the second time. We are celebrating 3 children's birthdays this week! We have just had a walk by the Atlantic Wall, seeing the sunset and learned about a second, very different German battery there. Walking back along the beach, we discovered lots of oyster shells, possibly from the farm, further round the bay. The children have settled well into bed and need a good rest before our next trip tomorrow!

5.30pm We have had a glorious afternoon in the harbour town of Honfleur. We found a beautiful shady spot under the trees in the park to have our picnic lunch before making our way to the harbour side itself to do our sketching and watercolour painting. Ordering ice creams in French was a welcome relief from sitting on the cobbled floor and the children made great use of their paint sets, much to the admiration of many passers-by. We are making our way back to the centre now, hoping for a shower before dinner! The air conditioned coaches are fantastic!

10.50am We have enjoyed a visit to the 360 cinema this morning for an impressive 'all-round' film about the build up to D-Day and the events that followed. From the cliff top we were able to see the full spectacle of the Mulberry Harbour and using the panoramic scence painted by Mr Underwoo we learned about how and why it was created, towed over the Channel and installed, providing roadways for ships to unload and transport their cargo of vehicles, soldiers and artillery shortly after D-Day.

A walk through the typically French fishing town of Arromanches took us to St Peter's Church where we made comparisons to our church in Chalfont St Peter.

Back on the coach now, the children can relax for a while as we make our next journey at the end of which we will have lunch, buy ice creams and use our art sets for some drawing and watercolour painting.

Light cloud cover and an off-sea breeze is keeping us all cool and refreshed.

7.50am The children slept brilliantly last night and have woken up in great spirits this morning. We are enjoying a continental breakfast - the hot cholocalate and brioche are very popular! We are facing the sea and the sun is highlighting the view of the mulberry harbour in front of us. The weather looks glorious once again and we are excited about the day's activities. Water bottles are full and we have lots of additional water to top up them up again and suncream in abundance!

Monday 19th June

10.45pm We had a wonderful meal at the centre this evening, followed by an evening walk along the seafront to see a German battery. The children were delighted to spend some time on the beach as we approached sunset, making sand sculptures in their groups. All are now settled into bed and ready for a good night's sleep after a long, busy day!

7.10pm We have arrived at our residential centre and are sitting down to dinner. The children have been excellent all afternoon. A busy afternoon consisted of a meet-up with the penpals from our partner school in Bayeux, lunch in a lovely French restaurant, and visiting the cathedral and the tapestry. We have been supplying the children with cold water all day and keeping in the cool and shade. A lovely breeze has kept us all going! Showered and changed after a long day, we are all enjoying dinner and look forward to a brief evening stroll to look at the sea and discover our surroundings before bed. (Photos will follow later.)

11am Fascinating tales of the events of D-day 1944 kept the children totally engaged during our tour of Pegasus Bridge, the cafe and the museum. They marvelled at the size of the Horsa gliders and the remnants of an original glider. We even received our first compliment about the excellent behaviour of our children. A breather now, back on the coach as we travel to our next destination for lunch.

6.05am We have arrived safely in France! The children were superb last night and slept really well. We were woken at 4.45am for breakfast and docked at Ouistreham, Caen. The sun is shining already and we are back on the coach on our way to Pegasus Bridge & Cafe Gondree.

Sunday 18th June

12 midnight We are on board the ferry, about an hour away from Portsmouth.The sea is calm and smooth! The children have all had their snack, before settling down for the night with their blankets. We have the enitre lounge to ourselves and I am pleased to say that all is quiet and it looks like we will have a good night's rest before we dock at 5.45am (English time).

7pm

Thank you to all of our Y6 parents for making sure the children arrived promptly at the playground this evening. We are on our way to Portsmouth! The children are all excited and looking forward to the week ahead. Everyone is relaxed now we are on our way and full of smiles.