Tuesday
We were lucky to have a perfect day to cross the channel. Impeccable behaviour got us through immigration without a hitch and our coach driver, [Super] Mario, even got us vouchers to supplement our packed lunches with a free meal.
The Canadian Cemetery provided us a few moments of quiet reflection before we arrived at our hostel for our first three course evening meal: pizza slices; fish fingers, couscous and ratatouille; chocolate doughnuts. Some even tried a hearty cheese!
We then headed to Boulogne beach for games and singing performances.
Wednesday
We started the day with a buffet breakfast and hot chocolate before going to the fish market on the quayside. Artisan fishmongers sold their own catch and cheerfully answered our questions in English and French.
Next we went to Boulogne's colourful and atmospheric main market. After some detective work finding out facts about the place, the children roamed the stalls independently in small groups testing out their haggling skills on vendors of trinkets, clothing and watermelons.
We had a picnic lunch under the palm trees in an Ancient Egyptian themed garden below the stone fortifications of the Old Town.
Our next stop was the goat farm where the children made pain au chocolat in a variety of shapes. Madame then took us to see, touch and milk the goats including the 'buck' Troubadour who was apparently in love with all the females!
Thursday
After a swift change of plans, we ventured again along the quayside to Nausicaá, the National Sea Centre in Boulogne. Descending into the depths of the building, the children experienced an array of aquatic animals through vast glass windows.
We then went to the swimming pool to experience our own dip in the water. This year, we enjoyed football, volleyball and basketball nets in the various pools as well as the lazy river and foaming bubbles.
After a picnic lunch, we headed back into the countryside to the artisan boulangerie, where Monsieur showed us the whole bread baking process from flour to loaf via a hundred-year-old wood fired oven. He even tested our maths. And all in French.
Back at the hostel, the children ate the pain au chocolat he gave us in the courtyard and then sang The Greatest Show in our evening best to Monsieur and Madame, our hosts.
Our final dinner was a delicious chicken sausage roll followed by a turkey escalope with mashed potato, carrots and petit pois and finished off with a chocolate muffin. This set us up for the short trip to the ten pin bowling alley where the children showed the adults how it is done.
