The Kimberley School Newsletter July 2015 | Page 6

Year 7 Visit to the Opal Coast

At midnight on 11th June, 78 very
excited Year 7 students gathered in a
dark leisure centre car park. As they
found their seats on the two coaches,
amidst piles of pillows and blankets,
the question was asked; “Does it take
longer to get to France than it takes to
get to Skegness?” And so began our
whistle-stop tour of the Opal Coast!
After a smooth journey down to the
south coast (including a stomachchurning 2am McDonalds feast!), we
boarded the Eurotunnel. With some
of the students studiously looking out
of the windows for fish, we arrived in
a rather wet Calais.
A short drive took us to a traditional,
family-run bakery in a beautiful
village called Le Fournil, where the
sun was shining. There, we were
greeted by the owner of the bakery, looking a little unwelcoming
and brandishing a very big stick…
Fortunately, he quickly cracked a
smile and we discovered that the
stick was used for moving croissant
dough from one area to the next!
Thanks to expert translations by Mrs

Panczuk and Mrs Pritchett, we learnt
how bread and croissants are made
by hand and why this is now a dying
craft. Year 7 were not too enamoured
by the idea of working from 10pm to
6am, 6 days a week! After having
a go at making our own croissants,
we were able to sample the bakery’s
wares. Imogen Spouge described the
bakery visit as “A great experience.
I really enjoyed it, and the food was
delicious!”

the chocolate factory was great. We
started out by entering the factory
itself. There, we learnt multiple
ways of making chocolate, how it’s
created, where it comes from and the
difference between white, milk and
dark chocolate. Afterwards, we got
free samples and treated ourselves
to chocolate from the shop. The most
interesting part was trying raw cocoa
beans, which were quite bitter” (as
described by Isaac Wilde).

Next stop was the market in
Wimereux, where all students bought
their lunch in French. Georgia Flinton
enjoyed this part of the day; “My
experience of the market was a good
one. I enjoyed practising the French
I’ve learnt to order my lunch and
looking at all the stalls”. The sun
really did have his hat on at this point
and lunch was enjoyed on the steps
of the Town Hall.

The final stop of the day was a shopping centre, where students were able
to explore the shops and part with the
last of their Euros. Then it was back
into the Eurotunnel, to return to a
very wet UK! The journey home felt
far longer than it had just a few hours
before, but most took the opportunity
to have some much-needed sleep.
There was a small amount of energy
left in some quarters though, for a
quick sing-song and some more food!
And that was it. Back to the dark
leisure centre car park, this time in
torrential rain. Our day was over, staff
and students were all exhausted, but
a fantastic time had been had by all.

Once everyone was fed and
souvenirs had been purchased,
another short drive took us to
Chocolats de Beussent, a traditional
chocolate factory. “My experience in