Friday Headlines

the weekly newsletter from EHS

Château Adventures in France

10 May 2024

On Monday 29 April, 39 excited Year 6 girls arrived, bright and early at school, ready to depart for France. The long-awaited French Trip was finally here! After delivering cases to the driver and saying final farewells to parents, we were off, motorway bound and heading for the South. At the services, the girls treated themselves to a breakfast – with Starbucks sales greatly boosted! We arrived at Dover in good time and enjoyed a smooth ferry crossing whilst the girls enjoyed a packed lunch.

Finally, several DVDs later, we arrived at our destination, the Château du Broutel in Rue. The girls were shown to their dorms, given a quick tour of the château grounds, taken to the dining room for dinner and then we began settling into our home for the week.

Whilst we stayed in the Écurie building, we enjoyed the opportunity to appreciate the entire château and its surroundings – a magnificent 18th Century building set in over 40 acres of well-kept grounds, and of course…the resident cat!

Over the next few days, we were all kept busy, with a timetable of both cultural and adventure activities. A market trip, a visit to a snail farm and a visit to the beach, complete with ice cream, provided plenty of opportunities for the girls to practise their French speaking, listening and reading skills. The adventure activities this year involved Orienteering, Blind Trail, Obstacle Course, Low Ropes, Initiative Exercises, Aeroball, Survival and Den Building (Bivouac) – which proved to be a great success!

Many were pushed a little out of their comfort zone….and greatly enjoyed it! The Tracking and Camouflage activity and Camp Fire were firm favourites in the evening. Food once again featured highly, with everyone making the most of the croissants, pains au chocolat, fresh fruit, cereal and yoghurts for breakfast and the variety of tasty dishes for lunch and dinner - always accompanied by French bread and cheese. The girls, of course, also enjoyed some evening trips to the château tuck shop!

We returned to school on Friday evening tired, but in high spirits after a lovely week. Many of the girls took full advantage of the opportunity to try something new and really enjoyed working with the château staff and activity leaders. The girls also received compliments for their exemplary behaviour by customs officials and for their teamwork by château staff and were a credit to EHS. A huge thank you, or should I say ‘merci mille fois’ to all involved in the trip for a wonderful week!

Mme Hennous

Back to Friday Headlines

Château Adventures for Year 6

Click image for full view

News