Independent School’s A Level Study Tour 2023 |16 June 2023

Visit to the Cité des Science

Fantastic France!

By Shariq Lespoir & Deborah Albest

On April 23, we started our long-awaited study tour to France!

It was an amazing experience – from the culture to the shops and even the really good food.

We stayed at Campus Saint Therese where there were plenty of things to do before and after each day’s outings such as basketball, table tennis, football, and rock climbing along with the cafeteria (and free WiFi of course!)

On our first day, we set out to visit the Unesco headquarters, where all the very important meetings with the very important high level people come to discuss the future of worldly events such as, education, equality between genders, the environment, just to name a few.

The people at Unesco were also interested about whether we have any concerns as youths of the Seychelles about climate change, and asked if there was anything we feel that Unesco should look into to change and even help with Seychelles.

We then made haste towards the Musée de l'Armée where the famous Napoleon is buried and gawked at all the medieval swords, shields and armor.

After grabbing a quick meal, we went on the Bateau Mouche, a river cruise to see all the main sights of Paris.

Lastly, we went to visit the Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. My group was lucky enough because we took an alternative route to avoid the flight of 200 steps while the others weren't so lucky: it’s shocking how after all these years of doing P.E. (physical education) some of us were still unfit to climb a flight of 200 steps. We were all overwhelmed with how many stalls and activities that had crowded the streets of the area, but time wasn't on our side this time around, so we could only look around quickly and buy a few souvenirs.

On Tuesday, we went to Rouen and Normandy, visiting the area where St Joan of Arc was burnt and Le Grand Bunker which contained many historical artifacts from WWII and some scary-looking mannequins of soldiers.

Then we went to the Calvados Pierre Huet (Cider distillery) where we were shown the process of cider making and how they make their Cider known as Calvados and run their business. One of the fun facts we learned is that there are more than 1 type of apple batches when it comes to making cider: there are sweet, bittersweet, bitter and acidic.

For Wednesday, we took a trip to central Paris; traffic was rather annoying so we got a slight delay, but all things went well after getting off the bus. We first headed to the Cité de Sciences in which there were exhibits about cancer, a planetarium, robotics, a gaming corner, and some other awesome attractions which we unfortunately didn’t have the chance to view as it would have taken a whole day or two!

Then we went to the Memorial de la Shoah where there are walls with the names and history of all the French Jews that died while Hitler was in power. There were also rooms of photos and artifacts from the time.

Lastly, we went and had fun shopping at the mall, scurrying around to buy what we could in our limited ‘shopping time’.

It was another day in Paris on Thursday: we went to the Stade de France where they held the World Cup once upon a time and we had a tour around the grounds. Some of the girls found the tour guide cute, and some fanatics actually wanted to go see the bathroom that Mbape uses during his time there! We did get to go into the locker room and run out like we were football players.

Then we went to Choco Story to learn how to make chocolate. A very tasty experience as we got to eat what we made! We also fit in a rather entertaining holographic experience inside Studio Rex where we viewed and learnt about the magic behind movie making and got to make a short video starring ourselves.

On Friday, we visited the area of Fontainebleau. We had the opportunity to roam around the chateau where Napoleon and many royals prior to him lived.

The architecture in France is something I think we all really took a chance to appreciate. From there we were taken to a nature trail in Barbizon forest, with some people walking all the way to the top to see the view, while others (like myself) walked to the first

group of rocks that we saw and walked back, exhausted from the fun we had at bowling the previous night. We were fortunate enough to have a bowling alley/arcade nearby to the campus and we didn’t let that opportunity go to waste!

For the rest of Friday night, our second outing to Bowling Oz, many indulged in a game of pool and a few even taking the karaoke stage to sing ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ and

Lionel Richie’s ‘Endless Love’. And I must say, I never thought I’d lose so miserably at bowling to our teachers, Mrs Morel and Mr D’Souza.

The day everyone had been waiting for finally arrived: Disneyland on Saturday. From the moment we entered the park, there were smiles on everyone’s faces. Although the lines for the rides were long, we enjoyed the time we spent together as friends, making jokes about my (Deborah) height requirements for the rides. We shared so many screams of fear and excitement on various rollercoasters.

Tubs of candy floss were emptied in under five minutes. Short people put on silly headbands so we didn’t get lost among the crowd. And the endless bags of souvenirs from the gift shops…wow!

The dreaded last day of the trip arrived. By Sunday, we were all tired and fed up with the cold, but despite these things, I think many of us would have preferred to stay. For the morning, we strolled along the Mouffetard market street, some of us stopping to get breakfast in a warm and inviting cafe, and the rest buying different cheeses and pastries.

Lastly, we walked through the Luxembourg Gardens. A few of us took time to appreciate our days spent together in France as we sat around the centre of the garden observing ducks, sausage dogs and horses pass by.

As we made our way to the airport, all our energy had been drained, spending the majority of both flights back eating or falling in and out of sleep. As we stepped out of the plane, the heat of Seychelles hit us pretty hard in the face. That was how we knew we had come back to reality, but also knew that we’d always have these memories to share with each other.

On behalf of the travelling students, we would like to thank all teachers, members of staff, fellow students, and parents who helped make this trip happen.

A big thank you to SACOS and Emirates for help with insurance and flight deals, and Jouel for sponsoring our study tour T-shirts. Thank you for the memories!