As teachers, we know all too well that teenagers love three
things: early mornings, traffic jams and snail farms. Not in the mood to
disappoint, Tuesday dished these up in spades!
This was no ordinary morning for the residents of the small market
town of Brie Comte. Bang on 9:30a.m. they had the pleasure of 40 Latymerians
eagerly charming and haggling their way to the best bargains in the Prep a
Manger challenge. Once the 3 euro per pupil budget had been spent on sourcing
lunch (or eclairs in some cases) it was back to the centre for some light
competition and a feed. Whilst Blumenthal himself wouldn’t have dreamt some of
the combinations of offer, it was Mr. Seymour’s carefully carved apple swan
that stole the show.
Montmartre was next on the agenda, and the hill up to the Sacré
Couer provided an opportunity for the pupils to redress the caloric balance for
the day (having already spurned Ms. Monahan and Ms. Harvey's offer of a 6:30am
boot camp). When finally at the top, memory cards were filled with selfies, and
the creperies and ice cream stands in the area did a roaring trade!
The afternoon then took a very authentic turn. Although the Euros
were ploughing on in the capital, the Parisians were adamant that playing host
to a continental football tournament would not get in the way of their national
sport: going on strike! Sadly for us the resulting road closures meant over two
hours in nearly stationary traffic. It turns out the England football team
weren’t the only ones crawling out of Paris feeling a little glum that
afternoon.
As evening rolled around the group experienced one of the more
niche entertainment options available this activities week: a trip to
Phillipe’s snail farm. Forty fascinated teenage faces acted as testament to the
character of the man who talked for an hour and half about topics including the
hermaphroditic reproduction of snails; a fascinating topic, coming soon to a
dinner-time conversation near you!
