This year, 11 boys and girls from Lower and Middle 5 led by Mrs Parkhouse and accompanied by Mr Croston embarked on a long journey by minibus, ferry and train to visit Norwich’s French twin – Rouen.

On our arrival at Rouen station, the pupils were met by our host families where they were to spend the next four nights and they set off to experience French family life. The families were amazingly kind and wanted to make sure everyone took home the best possible impression of French life and food as they possibly could.

The next day, we started on three days of intensive French lessons every morning, starting at 8.30. After the obligatory baguette for lunch, the pupils enjoyed a range of different activities ranging from finding out more about Rouen’s beautiful gothic cathedral and Joan of Arc to making the ultimate French treat under the experienced guidance of a maître-pâtissier - macarons, some of which may even have made it home for families to taste. We also took the opportunity to visit the Sunday market, the fantastic art gallery with a wonderful collection of impressionists as well as David Hockney’s ipad drawings of the Norman countryside and we all took the opportunity to buy a few treats to take back home. The final highlight was the chance to visit a local collège and spend some time with the pupils there, experiencing a couple of lessons.

This was the first time we have visited Rouen as a French department and it was a great experience for everyone and the pupils made the most of every opportunity.