At the end of the Summer Term, members of the LIV accompanied by  members of staff travelled by plane and coach to Provence for a four day visit to the area. Our first destination was Le Pont du Gard. Here we observed the beautiful architecture that is this magnificent bridge. 

On a second day, we visited the city of Arles with its famous amphitheatre, well known for its friendly bull fights to this day. After walking round a part of the amphitheatre, we had time to fill in our worksheets and take some pictures. In this town, we also visited the famous cafe that Vincent Van Gough painted and tried to even do our own versions.

We then began another coach journey to the beach at Stes Maries de la Mer. Here we enjoyed a pleasurable boat trip around the Parc Naturel Régional de Camargue. On this trip, we saw various birds, including Grey Herons and Little Egrets, white horses and the traditional black bulls, that are a common sight in Provence and are widely bred for the traditional bull fights. 

The following morning our destination was Nîmes. Here, we had a brief look at the Temple Carré – a roman-looking building, dedicated to art.  After this, we had to put our French to the test. We were told to go off and buy our own lunch at the market in Nîmes. This consisted of stalls selling anything from fresh fruit to eggs, cheese and raw meat. 

We then moved on to the city of Aigues Mortes, where we were greeted by a man and his pet monkey!. A lot of us got a shock when we went to the toilets as we had to get our purses out and pay to use les toilettes.

We then headed out to La Cure Gourmande – a sweet shop, selling all the specialities made in this region, including chocolate olives, hard boiled sweets and a range of biscuits. 

As this was our last night, we had a room inspection and then a rather interesting disco. We headed up to bed feeling rather suppressed as we knew we would be leaving tomorrow.

We were a little sad on our last day, however, not enough to suppress all our energy of almost finishing a school year. Suitcases packed, we stepped out the door of the centre in Sommičres. We then spent the next hour or so looking round the market stalls that unfolded right in front of us. These stalls sold everything from food to toys, clothes and accessories. 

Unfortunately this was over all too quickly and we were all sad to leave all the sights and smells of Provence.

We then had our last coach journey back to the airport and caught our flight back to Luton.  Overall, this trip was a great success with lots of fun and enjoyable activities and memories. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and were very sad to leave after this wonderful mini break from school. I will always have very fond memories of this trip, as it didn’t just teach me a lot about Provence and its culture but I have got to know a lot of people better and even make some completely new friends.

We all wish to thank the four members of staff: Mr Lauret, Miss Robbins, Mme Gauthier, and Miss Jeffery for taking and organising such a fantastic trip.

Sophie Morrill LIVX