What a pleasure to leave England behind in the rain! Bit of an early rise, admittedly, but everyone made it to Poole Ferry Terminal in plenty of time, and a few minutes later Highcliffe and Ballard students were chattering excitedly like old friends. (This is one aspect of the Exchange that we had not necessarily anticipated 3 years ago when Ballard came on board - but the number of friendships between the two English school that have been struck up over the years has been very positive...)
So...on to the Vomit Comet, which fortunately only lived up partially to its name. A fairly calm sea-state meant that most of us survived the crossing with our breakfasts intact! Some of the girls entered a competition and won the chance to have a guided tour of the captain's bridge - and I went along to document the event for posterity, of course!
Once in France, we quickly found our coach and headed off, via the coach driver's house so he could fetch his GPS!
The journey to Cholet seemed to pass very quickly, via the Baie du Mont St Michel, where we had a quick glimpse of the second most visited monument in France (can you guess what the number 1 is?)
Excitement and nerves went up a gear as we made our way into Cholet itself, and finally as we arrived at the Collège Trémolières, with our reception committe waiting!
We were welcomed heartily as usual, with home-baked cakes and drinks, plus a slideshow of the Exchange Pairs and a little presentation about what the week held in store for us...
Once everyone had met their partners and the ice had been well and truly broken, it was off with the families for a first evening in France!
I will do Day 2 when I get back from our Big Bike Ride - we are off in 15 minutes to Ribou lake...
A ce soir!!!