Monday January 19th

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a beautiful historical site located in Wiltshire, England. We will now tell you about our trip and experience.

First, we arrived at the parking area, and walked to the Visitor Center. On the road, we stopped at the toilet. Then, we went into an immersive room with circular walls on which we could see the evolution of the site through time. After that, there was another room with archeological artefacts such as bones, pottery shards and stone tools found on the site.

Then, we took a bus driven by a kind woman who said hello to everyone and arrived at the site on a little path: we finally saw… STONEHENGE!

The stones were about four or five meters high, so it was very impressive. It’s hard to describe how gigantic and beautiful they were. However, we tried to do that by taking many photos of our classmates admiring the stones. We also saw the majestic Heel stone, which stood alone 30 to 40 meters away from the main circle, and sheep with colored backs, who were eating grass nearby. Finally, to end our visit, we spent some time (and money) in the giftshop. We could buy cool stuff, such as: books, t-shirts, £4 little bluestones, or even handmade drinking horns.

To conclude, we can say that we learned a lot of things during that day. That was a great and funny visit to Stonehenge with our class.

Mael GAINVILLE BREAT and Charles-Ivan LEVISTRE

Tuesday January 20th

Jane Austen Center

On the 20th January 2026, our class went to the Jane Austen Center where we learned about her life and history !

First, a very kind old man who was dressed elegantly welcomed us at the entry and guided us to a waiting room. There, we saw a short movie which introduced us to Jane’s life.

After some time, an energetic woman came and brought us to a place with a family tree. She was talking very fast so it was hard to understand everything, but she made a lot of jokes so it was very entertaining ! We learnt a lot about Jane.

Then she brought us downstairs where we could learn a lot more about Jane’s Austen life thanks to the wall. We could follow her life on the wall while observing traditional 18th century English clothing. Then, we watched a short movie in a cinema room about Jane’s life.

Then, we could try old games. We dressed up like upper people from the 18th century. We could also try playing old games .

To conclude, we really enjoyed the visit of the Jane Austin center. The actors, the environment and the experience of the visit. We learned a lot about Jane Austin and in a very pleasant way.

Sirine QUAUCH, Gabriel de La FAIRE, Achille RICHOILLEZ and Alix de BARTHES de MONTFORT

The Roman Baths

On the second day we visited the Roman Baths, we took audioguides in English or in French. The audioguides gave us a lot of information for each room about objects we saw and the history of the place. In the beginning of the visit, around the principal bath, there were statues of ten Roman emperors.

From the balcony we could see the main bath which was beautiful. We could also walk around.

During the baths visit, we had an exhibition of found objects, we saw a bag of coins, some old structures specially some parts of an arch which was in the entrance, we saw part of a mosaic floor and an old coffin. In some places we found waterfalls leading to different baths. In the Roman Baths we could find a big temple dedicated to the goddess Minerva, she also was a goddess for the Celtics tribes, she had an altar where people came to pray.

The baths had a vaulted architecture, the ceiling was curved that gave a calm and agreeable ambiance.

We saw a lot of different rooms which had different roles. The first was a massage room, we really liked the lavender smell. There were two rooms for hot and cold baths. I personally really liked the room of hot water because it smelled very good and it was calm. After that, we saw the sport room and the wishing room. They were both very big and cold but the architecture was awesome.

At the end of the visit there was a room with a touchscreen on a table. On it there was a map of the baths and we could touch a room and see what happened there in Roman times. Next to it there was a faucet with hot spring water. We tasted the water and it was hot and not good.

Guillemette ROBINET, Charlotte GOSSELIN, Joséphine LEBRET LEROY and Gizem HAVUZ

Wednesday January 21st

Sophia Gardens

On Wednesday 21st January we went to Cardiff. We arrived at 9:45, then we walked to the field where we visited the hall, we saw pictures of the club and of cricket. We got to know 2 women from the stadium who made us visit Glamorgan’s stadium and taught us about cricket (Sophia gardens), The stadium has 16 000 seats. The symbol of the Cardiff club is a daffodil. The Cardiff cricket club is the only pro team in Wales. During the visit Sami dressed as a true player with protection and showed us equipment, then we tried on cricket jerseys and took a group picture. After the visit we played cricket as beginners, unfortunately the weather was rainy so we played inside. Players from the club explained the rules and after half an hour of training we played.
Cricket is an easy sport, the most difficult is to aim the ball on the bat, when we are pro the ball goes as fast as one hundred and fifty miles per hour.

The initiation was funny and interesting, a lot of students missed the ball. In Cardiff there is another stadium called principality Stadium, but this one isn’t for cricket.

Thanks to our teachers and the staff of the team.

Guilhem DELACROIX, Romeo PALOMBO, and Timothée CORVAISIER

Cardiff Castle

On Wednesday we went to Cardiff where we visited the castle. This castle was built by the Normans and it is the oldest building in Wales. The first castle was built around it with a medieval style and a tower while the second was built around it with a more modern style.

At the beginning of the visit, we went to the first castle, there were many dangerous stairs but it was worth it because when we arrived at the top of the tower the landscape was amazing and we had a beautiful view of all of Cardiff.

Then we visited the second castle. We first saw an impressive dining room with angels on the ceiling and a beautiful traditional fireplace. After that we passed through a little corridor and saw a richly decorated room with an Arabic style. Following the corridor, we discovered plenty of rooms with colorfully painted walls like a wonderful office. Continuing the visit, we saw a portrait room. The visit to the castle ended in a great library. To get out of the castle we had to go past a very creepy corridor which was used during the Second World War as a shelter.

To conclude, it was a really interesting and nice visit that was not ruined by the British rain.

Jeanne LELEU, Lucie HOLLAND, Louisa AYAD, and Céleste VALENTIN

Thursday January 22nd

The Great Hall

After one hour and a half in the coach, we arrived at Winchester, under the rain of England. We arrived in front of a big door of the great hall, a part of William the Conqueror’s castle.

We entered and saw a huge room that was quite empty. There was just the round table of the famous knights, hanging on the wall.

The room was about 30 meters long, and the ceiling was approximately 15 meters high.

In the back of the room, there is a heavy door, that was lead to a cute little garden. There was a fountain with 4 water jets. We found a little path around the garden surrounded by greenery and small trees.

In the main room of the castle, the hall, many costumes were available for us to try on, so we dressed up as medieval people, especially Charles-Ivan and Mael. They fought with swords, Charles-Ivan won. Louis dressed up as a dragon, he was so majestic.

After visiting the hall, we went into the city center where we saw a lot of tourist shops that sold a lot of useless little stuff like magnets and mugs for a lot of money.

To finish the visit, we had a bit of free time to see the city of Winchester, but it was raining so we went to Starbucks, got a coffee and Louis spent 7 pounds on a disgusting matcha.

Paul DUBOS, Sami FARHAT, Louis BARBOT, and Gabriel PICARD

Families and Food

Hosting

After a long day in the coach, we arrived at Trowbridge in the evening and our host families were waiting for us. Our was a very nice woman called Mandy, she took us in her car. We arrived at a beautiful house after a 20-minute drive.

Settling in

She showed us our bedroom and our bathroom. We had two bunk beds. After we settled in, we saw a book with house rules that we had to follow. Her house was modern.

Exchanges

When we were in the car with Mandy, we had time to speak with her. We spoke about our different cultures and we could ask questions about her family and her lifestyle. We were very happy to talk with her. We had to make our own sentences, because she did not speak French at all.

Lifestyle

In the evening, when we arrived at home, we ate early and then we could take a shower. In the morning, Mandy woke us up at 6:00. Thirty minutes later, we went to breakfast. We had to be ready to leave the house at 7:10.

Meals, food

For dinner and breakfast, Mandy gave us delicious meals. We noticed that English people don’t cook anymore and that fruit and vegetables were available out of season. Every student in our class had pizza the first day. For breakfast we had cereal and toast with tea or coffee if we wanted. She prepared our picnic every morning. We got crisps, sandwiches made with burger buns, pieces of fruit and a chocolate bar.

We observed that food in England was wrapped in plastic. Products were often sold in big sizes and were very expensive in general.

Lise RICARD, Marie BUJEAU, Baptistine JUMENTIER and Marine LANGLET