Gallery of Previous Trip

Gallery 2 of Previous Trip

Paris Sightseeing Tour

Replacing our Montmartre walk this year for reasons of timing (the hotel is nearer to Disneyland than it is to Paris) this will be a short tour of the famous sights of Paris, including the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées and the Sacré Coeur (opposite).

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Paris : the Eiffel Tower

This was designed by Gustave Eiffel (who also invented the suspender belt!) and at its inauguration in 1889 was widely condemned for its ugliness.  Now opinion is different, and no-one can fail to be impressed by the sheer scale of its engineering achievement.  With our tickets we can go to any level, and the courageous who go to the very top are rewarded with one of the world’s most stunning views.  Usually we have time, if any pupils want, to walk down rather than take the lift.

From the Eiffel Tower we walk down to the Quai Branley to take an hour-long river cruise on a "bateau mouche" to Notre Dame Cathedral and back, passing many other famous sights of Paris on the way (though not the original Statue of Liberty shown on the right - it's in the wrong direction!)

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Paris: Disneyland and Studios

Opened in 1992, “Eurodisney” as it was then called looked like being a disaster, but now fully justifies two whole days of this activity.  There’s something to please everybody in what is a truly international environment.  In the Park some participants rush for the notorious corkscrew roller coaster Space Mountain (and seem to spend most of the day on it), but many others recognize that the “tamer” rides such as the genuinely breathtaking Pirates of the Caribbean can be more rewarding.  In the first evening we go to the nearby vibrant Disney Village and eat at Planet Hollywood.  How many stars can you spot?

Walt Disney Studios is this year's addition to the experience. They are ideal for our activity, providing a heady mixture of the educational (the Studio Tour, Cinemagique, Armageddon) and the entertaining (Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Crush's Coaster, Tower of Terror, Moteurs).

Ypres : the Menin Gate

Ypres is probably best known nowadays as the site of three horrific but decisive battles between German and Commonwealth troops in the First World War, but it was once a great trading city, ten times larger than Oxford.  Called the City of Peace, it is twinned with Hiroshima, the first city to suffer a nuclear attack, as Ypres was one of the first to suffer a chemical one. A pretty and friendly place, it is famous for its chocolate shops, which pupils may have an opportunity to stop at during a walk which will include the impressive Menin Gate memorial to the 54,896 soldiers under British command whose bodies were never found.

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Calais: Cité Europe Hypermarché

This is a very large shopping centre with a range of goods and some bargain prices not seen at home.  Time to buy presents, but note that pupils are not allowed to purchase the following: tobacco products, alcohol, lighters, replica or toy weapons, fireworks or "inappropriate" articles.

Their English site