Friday in Paris

Another early morning. The day started with a thorough briefing regarding the expectations for the day. In a nutshell we were to produce an action plan for our partnership before lunchtime. My partner, Monsieur Thierry Asselin from the village of Luzarches in the Oise region of France. He is the Director (Headteacher) of a small school - Ecole Louis Jouvet - and his English was as limited as my French.

We spent the first hour looking at our school website and discussing the similarities and differences between our schools. After much faltering discussion we managed to put a project plan together and agree that the school would be the partner for Mr Duff and his Year 5 class. The link will start as soon as possible with the exchange of introductory letters and an identity card.

Following the work we left to visit some of the sites in Paris. I opted to go to see the Eiffel Tower and join the queue with the rest of the group to get to the top. After being in line for over an hour we were able to join another queue to get to the lifts. The wind blowing around the area meant that temperatures were very low and everyone in the group was very cold. The view at he top was worth the wait and the plummeting temperatures. We were lucky enough to see the view in daylight and also to see the sunset - a truly lovely experience.

Later in the evening the group completed the touristic experience by taking a cruise on the River Seine in a Bateau Mouche. Again it was freezing but well worth it to see all of the fabulous sights lit up for the night.