L'Arrivée au Château de Sauveterre

The Mowdenians arrived at Schipol Amsterdam to receive the news that all Toulouse flights were cancelled due to snow in Toulouse. The airport was closed, so we spent the afternoon at Schipol looking at duty free shops and using up our meal vouchers. Eventually, we were allowed to board the 20.25 flight out, which arrived in a chilly Toulouse at 23h00; having checked in at 8.am that morning in Newcastle, this had been a very long day of travel, but the children remained cheerful and excited throughout.

Vendredi, 9 janvier

Slightly bleary-eyed, we came down to breakfast and met the other 65 new Sauveterrians, who had arrived from London Gatwick rather earlier in the evening than us. We all set about unpacking and finding various lockers, pegs, cupboards and drawers allocated to us for all our belongings.

By 10.00am we had all unpacked and were in class meeting our teachers - everything in French from the word go!

The grounds are all white with a fine layer of snow and the temperature this morning was a crisp -5°C! In break, we all had our photographs taken to help the teachers to learn our names, but it was very chilly and we were keen to get back inside!

Our first French lunch was "Rôti de Dinde et Frites," followed by the traditional "Galette des Rois" in which a hidden "fève" can be found so that a king or queen can be crowned at each table. James was one of the lucky winners.

This afternoon, lessons continue with the teachers trying to find out our levels of French so that all pupils can be grouped into classes and setted by Monday morning.

It is now 3.00pm and James Onslow has just arrived from Milan!

The weather has become milder, but with that has come rain; the pitches are not really playable, so we have all had a gently introduction to La Course. We went round the circuit in groups of about 20, aiming to complete the distance in between 3 and 4 minutes.

In the evening, we wrote faxes home which were sent to home email addresses via the scanner.

Samedi, 10 janvier

This morning's activities were, a trip to L'Isle Jourdain Market, an art lesson, a journal  page, an introduction to the French computers and a language lesson learning how to ask questions. For lunch we had delicious saucisses de Toulouse and after lunch we had a reading session. In the market, we were asked to find an unusual object for around 3 euros, which produced some very strange looking fruits and vegetables!

 

   We all played a wide game in the Château park and woods all afternoon, which gave everyone a good chance to explore whilst having great fun. Saturday ended with a film in la salle d'assemblée.

Dimanche, 11 janvier (l'anniversaire de James Onslow)

We enjoyed a lie-in after our exhausting first few days; Lanky and Ruaraidh went with two other boys and Mr Spencer to La Boulangerie to collect bread, croissants, pains au chocolat and some "tourteaux," a local cake which is baked for Epiphany, but on this occasion, to help James Onslow to celebrate his birthday.

We set off for out first Sunday excursion before lunch. Our coaches took us to Le Château de Lespugue, a ruin from the Hundred Years War, where we had a lovely picnic under bright blue skies and glorious winter sunshine. The Pyrenees were close by, magnificent in their white coat of snow. We walked off the picnic along the road of Les Gorges de la Save, where there are some great caves to explore.

Finally, we returned for a play around, some supper and an early bed. An excellent first weekend at Sauveterre.

MWWS