Please visit this section of the website for regular updates about our progress in France.

Friday 19th June

7.00am

We have landed in Portsmouth! The chidren slept brilliantly all night and are looking forward to our stop-off at McDonald's this morning. We will keep you updated of our progress and expected arrival time in Chalfont St Peter.

Thursday 18th June

8.00pm

We have just enjoyed our final meal of the trip at Le Petit Normand and we are now making our way to the ferry port in Caen. We are looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow morning and will keep you informed of our arrival time.

2.45pm

A visit to the market in St Mere Eglise this morning meant the children could spend their remaining pocket money on some souvenirs and gifts. Outside the church, the children learned about the American soldier whose parachute became entangled on the church steeple during the course of D-Day. We then moved onto the farm museum just a few minutes away and the children explored the exhibits in order to learn a little more about French culture.

8am

We are all packed and ready to leave the centre for the last time. Today we visit the market and church in St Mere Eglise with a trip to the Farm Museum at lunchtime. where we will investigate a little more about French culture. During th afternoon we make our way to the Battle of Normandy museum and the cemetery as our final reflection point. The week has just flown-by and the children have been a real pleasure to be with.

Wednesday 17th June

10pm

We have had our final meal at the centre this evening - spaghetti bolognese which seemed to go down a treat with the children and staff! Our last evening gave us an opportunity for a quick talent show at the beach and then back to rooms to pack suitcases as we leave tomorrow morning. The children have been superb again today - we are very proud of them.

4.45pm

We have had a spectacular visit today. The children have been superb climbing without any grumbles all the way to the top of Mont St Michel where we were able to walk 84 children into an ongoing service. There wasn't a sound and we received many compliments about the outstanding behaviour of the children. We then enjoyed our packed lunch with Mont St Michel in the distance which provided a perfect subject for our next watercolour painting and an opportunity to visit the biscuit factory to buy some souvenirs. We are now on the coach making our way back to the centre for our final dinner before a talent show on the beach.

8.10am

We have woken to bright sunshine this morning for our journey to Mont St Michel. Children have had a good breakfast to prepare them for the long march up the 400+ steps to the top! Please check the gallery for new photos from yesterday. Tuesday 16th June

10.20pm

This morning our visits began with the 360 cinema with a really powerful film about D-day in Arromanches and the Mulberry Harbour. Using Mr Underwood's painting of the panoramic view of the historic feat of engineering the children learned about how it was created and 'floated' all the way from the south coast of England across the Channel. Next, we walked through the town to St Peter's Church to make a comparison with our own parish church in Chalfont St Peter.

The weather has been beautiful today with some lovely sunshine for our afternoon in Honfleur which included sketching and watercolouring of the harbour-side buildings. Sand sculptures on the beach was a popular end to the day followed by milk and biscuits before bed. Another great day and all are looking forward to our visit to Mont St Michel tomorrow.

7.50am

We have woken to a bright sunny morning. The children all slept brilliantly - I think they were exhausted! We have just had breakfast and made our packed lunches and are looking forward to visiting the 360 cinema, learning about the Mulberry Harbour and walking to St Peter's church in Arromanches this morning. Everyone is in great spirits and doing well.

Monday 15th June

10.15pm

Children are excited to have finally found out their rooms allocations and were able to shower and change (oh yes they have!). A popular dinner of chicken and chips, salad and a dessert of locally sourced apples for a tart to finish provided the energy we needed to walk along the promenade in very windy conditions to see the German battery which caused a lot of damage on D-Day but was taken eventually by the Royal Hampshire Regiment.

All are settled in their rooms and will look forward to a good night's sleep in a bed after a long, long but really enjoyable day.

Roll on tomorrow!

4.25pm

We have enjoyed an amazing 3 cours e lunch at the Petit Normand - all children cleaned their plates! Walking through the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, listening to a commentary on the story of the Battle of Hastings, we received a wonderful comment about how interested and involved our children were.

The children met their penpals on the green outside the cathedral and tried out their French, asking each other questions. Again, inside the cathedral a tourist asked which school our children came from as they were so well behaved - impressive! Afterwards we settled to some sketching of the beautiful building itself and some even began to apply their watercolour.

We are on our way at last to the residential centre where everyone will have the chance to wash and change before dinner.

10am

We have enjoyed our visits to Pegasus Bridge and the cafe where we were delighted to hear the personal memories of Mdme Gondree about the lead up to D-Day and her recollections of the German occupation. At the museum next to the bridge, our children were enthralled by the vivid stories given by iour guide. We saw the bullet holes and damage inflicted on the original bridge, now preserved next to the replica Horsa glider. We are now on our way to Bayeux for lunch at the Petit Normand which everyone is looking forward to! Children have been fantastic this morning - really attentive and interested. Photos will be added later this evening from our day's activities.

6.30am

The children settled really well last night and with an early start at 5am, everyone has had breakfast, washed and boarded the coaches. We are travelling at the moment to Pegasus Bridge to visit the landing sites of the D-Day gliders and the Cafe Gondree before visiting the museum there. Weather is a little overcast, but we are all in good spirits and looking forward to the day.

Sunday 14th June

19.34pm (English time)

Thank you for being on time everyone! We are en route to Portsmouth on the A3. Roads are clear and the children are all happy and very calm!