THE© FRENCH © EXCHANGE© .

© The first thing that I noticed when we arrived in the French airport was that outside all the Irish were standing on one side huddled close together. The French who were a lot more open were on the other side and there was the baggage separating us. Eventually Bernadette made us go over To the French and introduce ourselves. I instantly thought that they were very nice people. We were split between two mini-buses and set off to Amplepuis. The views from the bus were amazing. When we got to the huge college where we were staying, we were shown our rooms. The French lads insisted on carrying some of our heavy luggage. There was a very long walk upstairs to get to our dorms (which we had to do a few times everyday), but we managed. The boys had their dorms on one side of the hall and the girls on the other. There were four beds, four lockers and two tables to a room but because there were seven Irish girls and two French, equalling nine, we brought an extra bed into one of the rooms so nobody would be alone.©

© Down five floors in the basement were a sink, worktop, presses and fridge. There were lots of tables and chairs. There was a phone, a table-tennis table and a foosball table. That was where we spent most of our free time. Every day we went on different trips. These were brilliant. One night we went for a long walk, which was tiring because Amplepuis is full of hills, which were very steep, but we had an excellent time.©

© Another day we went to an open market which had everything in it really cheap. We got most of our presents there. We also went to a cloth-making factory and a sewing machine museum .The first sewing machine was made in Amplepuis. Near the end of the week we went to a man-made lake, which was gorgeous. We decided to make fools of ourselves and to go on the bouncing castle. We had just got on and there was a crack of lightning, some thunder and it started to lash, but we kept on bouncing anyhow. We went to a vineyard where we saw grapes being grown and told how and where they make the wine. On the second last night we had an Irish night, where we cooked stew and had a ceili. Some of the French even tried to do Irish Dancing (tried I said!)©

© On the last day we went to an open pool and nearly got drowned by a bunch of French lads but it was fun. When we got back to the lycee, the French had a surprise party for us. The next day when we were leaving we were all in the airport kissing and hugging, but leaving with the thought that we would see each other again in October, which wasn't too long away. I must say that that was the best holiday I have ever had and I can't wait till the French come over here. I hope that we can show them as good a time as they showed us.©

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