En attendant le prochain échange ...
Compte rendu rédigé par l'équipe du RNC
Affiché au RNC à côté du panneau de photos
French Exchange Trip, June 2010
On the morning of Monday 28th June, passers-by on Venns Lane must have wondered why a group of seven students and four members of staff were grinning and shouting “fromage” at a camera. This was the beginning of our exchange trip to Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon where we were visiting a school for blind and visually impaired students, returning the visit they had paid to RNC in May.
Our journey was smooth and uneventful. The only problem we encountered was that British Airways managed to leave one of our group’s luggage at Heathrow. As the temperature in Lyon was 34 degrees this was somewhat annoying for the owner who had no clean clothes for the first day.
Our hosts were waiting for us and we were welcomed by Monsieur Corradi, Le Directeur and then taken to the dining room for a welcome meal prepared by the teachers. English and French students chatted together, renewing friendships which had been forged in May. We eventually tumbled wearily into bed, looking forward to the hectic programme planned for the next few days.
The next morning the students enjoyed an early breakfast of hot chocolate and croissants and we were all taken for a tour of the school. We sat in on a primary school lesson where the charming children had prepared their introductions and we asked them questions in our best French accents with varying degrees of success. The students then tried their hands at basket weaving which proved harder than it looked as our wonky napkin rings bear evidence to.
After lunch and a session on the climbing wall (not staff, I hasten to add), we caught the Metro to L’Institut Lumière, where the first moving pictures were made. The Metro was a bit scary to us country bumpkins from Hereford as the doors closed rapidly with little warning. Only once did we leave a member of staff and a student behind at a station and they then caught the next tram so we were reunited fairly quickly! A picnic in the lovely Parc de La Tête d’Or followed and then a walk by the River Rhone and a drink on a boat moored on the quay. By now it was nearly midnight and we were all ready for our beds when we eventually got back to the school.
A lie-in next morning? No chance as we had to be in the old town for a guided tour at 9.00am. We began in the Cathedral with its fascinating astronomical clock and then were guided round the cobbled streets and the mediaeval buildings with the underground passages or “traboules”. Then back to Villeurbanne by Metro for a reception at the City Hall with the Mayor and a visit to the “Gratte-Ciel” or skyscraper. In the 1930s there was a social housing initiative where high rise buildings were erected and flats with all mod cons such as gas and inside toilets were made available to Lyon residents. Some apartments have been restored to their original state with original furnishings and fittings. This was a fascinating insight into social history.
We were now beginning to flag as we then travelled to Le Musée d’Art Contemporain for an exhibition on Ben – Benjamin Vautier a popular French modern artist whose unconventional work enlisted many different responses from a group. Then we were off to Fourvière where the old Roman forum dominates the town. We were very privileged to have been given tickets by the Mayor to a concert. The atmosphere was amazing as we sat in ancient surroundings high above the town listening to a number of interpretations of Beatles songs. A fight onto the crowded Funicular and Metro back to our accommodation followed. We were all impressed by the courtesy of French travellers who always offered their streets to our students and treated us with respect and consideration.
Our final morning was spent in the school and then a brave few (Nicola, Janet, Alison and Jeremy) braved the roads of Lyon to cycle alongside the tandems ridden by the school’s staff to Miribel about 15 kilometres away. A beautiful lake awaited us and this was a welcome sight in the midday heat. After cycle rides around the lake and another picnic we could not resist the water which was amazingly warm and we swam and relaxed in the lake for most of the afternoon. After returning to school some of our group had the stamina to walk to a nearby museum of sound. This museum allowed one to experience the music of all the different cultures living in Lyon. We then returned to Rene Pellet for our final evening.
Our farewell meal was a barbeque but here was not a sausage or burger in sight. Delicious salmon and langoustines, goats cheese salad and tasty dips were followed by scrumptious gateaux all washed down with local wines. We were accompanied by improvised music with Matthew on the recorder, Stephen on the piano and Laurie, Halima and Kate singing. Their haunting rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” was very moving and most of us will remember this evening for a long time.
It is difficult to choose one highlight of the trip. For some it was the old town and the Roman forum. For others it was the cycling and swimming in the beautiful lake but for many of us it must be the friends we have made and the welcome we were given. In the words of Stephen, “thank you for a fantastic week and a time of my life that I will never forget. I now have friends for life! Now I have friends for life!”
Thank you from all of us for arranging this trip and giving us a wonderful experience. I hope the exchange continues next year to allow others the same opportunity.
NS / JD July 2010