Inspection visit of the Opal Coast, the perfect destination for primary school trips!

Our “Tour de France” continued with a visit to the Northern Opal Coast region, our most popular destination for primary school trips. We set off from Normandy looking forward to an exciting couple of days of beaches, cheese and chocolate and generally embracing our “inner child”!

We arrived in the picturesque seaside town of Le Touquet just before lunchtime, and checked into the Riva Bella Hotel. The hotel’s location was fantastic, right in the heart of Le Touquet and just 100m from the beach, meaning that we had time for a brief paddle in the sea before heading off for our next visit!

Our first visit was to the Chevrerie de Montcavrel goat farm, where we were warmly welcomed by two excited sheepdogs and Eliane, our tour guide. The farm was a dream come true for animal-loving Dan: as well as the goats (les chèvres), Eliane introduced us to all the various rabbits, horses and cats that lived on the farm and explained the fascinating process of making cheese in the farm kitchen.  We were all rewarded by delicious cheesy samples and even bought some to take home.



Continuing the gastronomic theme, our next visit was to the Chocolaterie de Beussant-Lachelle, a chocolate shop well-known for its spectacular artisan chocolates, and very popular with school groups of all ages. We were greeted by our tour guide, who gave us a brief talk about the process of chocolate-making and (even better) some more free samples! 

We made a quick stop at Hippotel, a lovely two-star hotel where many of our Opal Coast groups choose to stay, to say hello to Francois, the exuberant manager of the hotel.  As ever, he welcomed us warmly and showed us around. We were all very impressed with the hotel’s green, peaceful location and top-of-the-range facilities - it is certainly our favourite hotel for our primary school groups! 

The next day was our final day in France, but there was still one more visit to make before catching the Eurotunnel home. We drove to the nearby town of Montreuil-sur-Mer to visit Hannah France, an Englishwoman abroad who set up an excellent French language school in a beautiful old maison. We loved Hannah's classes and activities for school groups, and were particularly impressed with her French language-themed town trail. We were also interested to learn about the importance of Montreuil-sur-Mer as a reconnaissance base during WW1, and Hannah’s ideas for combining French language classes with historical visits.  Can't wait to offer Hannah's classes to our school groups!

We set off back to Calais in high spirits, full of enthusiasm and ideas. These were a fantastic few days and our school groups will now benefit from our in-depth knowledge of the location. If you’d like to find out more about our tours of the Opal Coast, your will find plenty of information on our website or give us a call on 0121 271 0121.

www.diverseschooltravel.co.uk

By Laura Whitaker

Normandy for school groups. Intrepid travellers from Diverse carry on with their adventures!

Another couple of days out of the office - a familiarisation trip to Northern France - Normandy and Opal Coast in particular - both very popular destinations for primary and secondary schools. 

We hit the road towards Normandy bright and early.  First we arrived at the Village Vacances Cap France in Merville-Franceville, and were delighted to be staying there: it’s right on a beautiful beach, has its own mini golf course, and much, much more. Really the perfect accommodation for school groups!

From there it was a short drive to the Mémorial de Caen, which consists of three buildings, each dedicated to a specific section of modern history.  This museum is quite particular in that it has a slightly different approach to most war museums - it doesn't just focus on historical artefacts (though it does, of course, display some) but the emphasis is laid on different media, such as photographs, posters and films from the selected era, which give a more visual experience. We particularly enjoyed the museum’s literal interpretation of Europe’s “downward spiral” into the Second World War: the 1919-1933 exhibition is laid out along a sloping corridor, which itself spirals downwards towards the next exhibition.

It’s a really interesting visit on a school trip to Normandy, and one we highly recommend!

It was there that we met our guide Olivier, who gave us some time to explore the museum before taking us on a tour of the D-Day landing beaches, and dazzled us with his intimate knowledge of the area.  He helped us spot traces of the conflict, still visible in the landscape today. Being there, where it all happened (especially after having seen archive footage from 1945), is a truly humbling experience, the full scale of which is virtually impossible to put into words.

Jenn and Laura at the Landing Beaches

Afterwards, we had just enough time to catch the last showing at Arromanches’ 360 cinema, a totally unique experience. A mixture of archive footage and historical fiction is projected onto 12 different screens in a circular room. 

Another great feature of this cinema is its cliff-top location: by stepping onto the roof there is an amazing view of the beach below, where sections of Mulberry Harbour still stand. We were lucky enough to be there at dusk, and the breath-taking view was the perfect end to an enriching day. We just wished we’d had more time to spend there!

This year from March through to the end of August Normandy will commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy with ceremonies, firework displays, street dances, parades and re-enactments.

There is a huge variety of rewarding, educational and memorable trips we can organise in Normandy for your school group - please see our website here and get in touch! 

But, onwards and upwards, we moved onto the Opal Coast next - which deserves a blog post all of its own!  Watch this space...

www.DiverseSchoolTravel.co.uk

by Jennifer Leonard