Day 5.

The day started with our usual breakfast of bread and coffee. At 0830, we set off to the Versailles Palace—an emblem of France’s colourful history.

Louis XIV ‘S
2000 rooms and galleries,
20 000 servants,
2000 horses, and
2 mistresses all amounted 2 the rich history as well as our en2siasm for the day.

In addition, we visited the State apartment of the King and Queen, the King’s Chamber and the wonderfully lit Hall of Mirrors. (Hi Joel Thio, my lovely classmate! :D )

Hall of Mirrors

There was an organ made of pure gold which unfortunately, we did not get a close up. All the picturesque ceiling paintings and gold-marble embellishments were well, fit for a king. Even though it is winter and they are no flowers, the Versailles gardens were delightful— so we camwhored (as usual).

Then, we were left to our own devices at Forum des Halles (shopping mall). With the three hours given, we settled our own lunches; explored the mall and the areas around it. Some of us even got to try out the cool automated public toilets which self-flushed and self-washed with each use.

Sadly, we were reminded of The Homework as we made our way to Biblilotheque nationale de France. The teachers got us each an entry ticket—each costing 3.3Euros (approx $6.60!!!!). We were quite taken aback by horrid fee. To think we even complain about Singapore’s libraries! This came under “lessons learnt today” in our reflection booklets. We mugged till a little past six and had dinner at a restaurant amidst the Latin quarters.

Biblilotheque nationale de France

Annabelle, Wanyi.

Day 3.

Bonjour Madames et Messieurs ,

It's our third day in the beautiful, clean, artistic city of light, Paris. Hope you guys are not bored in school! (:

The Sun came out today for the first time since we arrived. We kicked start the morning by visiting Sacre Coure, a majestic church built in the 18th Arrondisement ( District), 300 feet above Paris. The Paris skyline from the church was breathtaking and... melodious with a jovial looking musician playing La Vie En Rose on his violin. A grandiloquent structure of Jesus Christ towered over the church, with his hand placed over his heart (thus the name Sacre Coure translated literally as Sacred Heart of Jesus). To his right stood Saint Louis who had brought the real Crowd of Thorns from Jerusalem to France a few centuries ago; and on his left was Joan of Arc who had led the French to end the 100 Years War centuries ago. As we entered the church, we took off our berets (anything on top of our heads were not allowed) and took a few moments to say a prayer.


After that, our tour guide, Monsieur Gee took us around Montmarte Square, the artists' district of Paris where we took many beautiful photos of the streets brimming with life, true art and rich history. We scrambled to discover the sights and sounds of the area. Along cobbled pathways, there were ice cream parlours, chocolate gift shops, bakeries and the list goes on. A bunch of us went to the nearby ice cream shop to try the gelato ice cream and took as long as we could to savour it since it does not melt in winter. Haha.(=It was the first time we had lunch on our own so we tried the famous French quiche and sandwiches. Better than Delifrance aye? On top of that, we went to a nearby chocolate gift store and met the cute and enthusiastic shopkeeper, Monsieur Gilles who really showed us the meaning of going the extra mile for service. He offered us loads of chocolate and struck friendly conversations with us in fluent English. Here's a portrait of him.

We had to rush out of Montmarte as we were running late for the upcoming national fencing competitionl; and made our way out of Paris, to the suburbs. On our way there, Kat conducted a crash course to help us revise our French. At least we were more equipped with words other than Bonjour and Merci.

About an hour later we finally reached our destination. The event held was the Womens' Foil Individuals Competition. The competitors came from neighboring European countries such as Italy and Germany. Competition was intense among the competitors judging from the constant display of great bladework from them. Our very own fencing Vice-Captain, Justin ran by us the basics and rules of this sport supposedly played the best by the French which is not hard to believe since even the terms for Fencing are in French (En garde. Prêt. Allez" which literally means "On guard. Ready. Go.") We sat in true appreciation and amazement, watching the display of passion and sportsmanship by the fencers.

After the competition ended, we were invited for reception with the mayor of the district, though we politely declined because we had to get back into Paris before night fell. Dinner was at Chinatown, 13th Arrondisement back in Paris and we felt back in Singapore again as we were surrounded by the familar smell of cooked food.

Our INP (Instant Noodles Party) beckons so Au Revoir! We need the midnight snack to prepare ourselves mentally for our first school visit at Thomas Mann College the next day.

Goodbye for now and will keep you guys updated! (:

Day 2.

Bonjour mon amie! Day 2 in France! Time seems to be passing quite slowly and the weather's pretty harsh but no one's complaining 'cause the sights and sounds of Paris are just too amazing!



We began the day by visiting the world's famous Louvre museum where the much talked-about Mona Lisa resides. Other than her painting, (which FYI, stands in a bullet proof glass case and is the only painting in the museum without insurance 'cause it's too expensive) we also got the chance to take a look at other works of art like the sphinx (a gift from Egypt ) and Venus De Milo, from Italy. (Apparently, French artworks only take up about 50 % of all art pieces in the museum)





We went for luncheon at a French-Chinese restaurant and brushed up on our rusty Chinese. (Surprisingly there are many Asian restaurants in Paris and it felt great to taste chilli again!)



With food in our stomachs, we visited the Church of St Vincent De Paul. The church is an amazing piece of architecture, and even though its 80 years old, its still as sturdy looking as any new church. We got to see St Vincent's preserved body in a beautiful glass case and initially thought it was a wax product of Madam Tussades but Non! It was the incorruptible body of the holy man himself.



After which we turned into hunchbacks and made our way to the famous 800 year old Notre Dame. It drew people from all over the world and we were lucky to have had the chance to visit this historical landmark. With the melodic sounds of the choir reverberating through out the church hall and lit candles embellishing the aisles of the church, it felt like we “teleported” to the Vatican City. Unfortunately, photo taking was forbidden in the church so we can only upload the facade of Notre Dame.






Towards the end of the day we embarked on a river cruise to witness the sights and sounds of the most romantic city on earth. Despite the slight drizzle it was still "Tres Manifique"! Plus we started our very own Bonjour-Au revoir service and greeted every Parisian we saw on the banks and bridges of River Seine. Rumour has it that when people pass under one of its bridges, make a wish and steals a kiss from the person beside, the wish would come true (Amos and Justin jumped at the first offer. Just kidding!!) Well really, nothing compares to the breath-taking scenes in Paris. We saw the Christmas Ferris Wheel on Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower River Mobile Homes, oh we'll let the pictures speak for themselves.


For now we're off to INP ( Instant Noodle Party). Till then a tout a l'heure.

Day 1: The Start.

Bonjour!!

After a 14hr flight of constant turbulence, unexciting movies, unstoppable toilet flushing sounds, and consistently interrupted sleep, we finally touched down in PARIS on the 15th of January at around 6:35am Paris time (1:35pm, when we should have ended our usual Friday timetable, HAHA) . The sky was still dark for once in many of our lives. And so after collecting all our luggages, off we were to pick our exuberant and handsome tour guide, Monsieur Gee=D

First stop was the Arc De Triomphe (central star): the main junction of 12 different roads!! It's a 150ft tall architectural marvel dedicated to Napoleon to celebrate his victories, though sadly, he wasn't able to see the completion of this marvel. Spending around 20 minutes there, we braced our first winter harshness in Paris at 0 degress celsius. We had a few Rudolphs around and lost feeling in our ears.

After the Arc De Triomphe, we drove to the square at Ecole Militaire to have a picturesque view of the Eiffel tower. Half of the 1000ft tall Eiffel tower was hidden by fog that shrouded most of the city. Not long after, we were flocked by (most probably illegal) souvenir merchants that wanted to sell their key chains to us. After buying a few, they grew in numbers and became more aggresive in their persuasion. Rather unnerving experience I must say.

The next stop was Musee De Larmee. The burial home of the bones of Napoleon Bonaparte. A little bit of a European history lesson: Napolean Bonaparte was the King of France for 11 years, and had won 8 major battles, before losing at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. He was captured and exiled to an English Island off the Indian Ocean called St Helena. It was only after 20 years after his death that the English returned his bones back to France, where it is now buried in the Musee De Larmee. Furthermore, this place was a hospital for veterans of war and is now currently housing 30 injured soldier. The architecture of the place remarkable, with a golden altar of Jesus Christ in front of Napoleons tomb. It is hard to believe that the the French, 300 years ago, could muster skills enough to build an enormous magnificent structure of solid PURE gold and carved lime stone. The details of the Animals and Humans were very precise.

Lunch was really French. French bread, French soup, French chicken and French fries.

We visited another highly criticized art museum after lunch. Musee De Pompidou is made of aluminium pipes and glass in the midst of traditional limestone buildings. The contrast in design between the building and the whole of Paris was amazing. It houses many modern art pieces, many of which were explicitly in the nude, sexually connotated or arousing. For obvious reasons, we shan't post the censored pictures here. It is amazing to know that the Parisians are really appreciative and open minded about such art. There were even little ones seen listening attentively to an art lecture or simply sketching the portraits in the musuem.

Finally our last stop was none other than the Eiffel Tower of Paris. We were so excited walking from the Pompidou to our bus, but it was such a kill-joy to have our bus engine die on us. The boys had to push the bus in the cold winter to Mr Tay's dismay(=. Thankfully a second bus arrived in the nick of time.

We made it to the second floor of the Eiffel tower(about 140m above the ground), where the view was spectacular with the entire Paris city skyline to take our breaths away. Of course, we HAD to take a thousand pictures(= We decided to walk down the stairs from the top. Grand Stand practice in France! It was pretty exciting to feel the winter wind against our cheeks as we climbed down the endless flights of stairs. Amos was particularly afraid of heights and refused to look down. After a long ordeal we finally made it down to the ground floor. And to think there were actually people walking up.

Then it was dinnertime. French bread, French soup, French chicken. But no French fries. We had French potatoes instead.

It's been a long day and we're exhausted from the jet lag, the cold, the touring, and the sleepless plane ride. So, au revoir!!

Pre-trip Preparation.

On 7 December, as a prelude to our trip to France, CJC played host to 2 French athletes, Julia and Aurélien, who were in Singapore to attend the YOG Friendship Camp.

The morning started off with a tour of our school compound. While language proved to be a barrier as most of us could not speak French, the opportunity to interact with our friends from France gave us a peek into French culture and education and vice versa.

Taking our visitors around the school

Introducing the CCAs available at CJC


Julia and Aurélien meeting our Principal, Brother Paul


Mingling with our friends from France in the canteen


Following the tour, we engaged in a friendly game of Captain's ball with Julia and Aurélien, which allowed us to get to know them better, and bridged all cultural and, most importantly, language differences. It was certainly a demonstration of the universality of sport!

Pictures with the YOG noticeboard!

While Julia and Aurélien's visit was brief, the morning was definitely one of Respect, Friendship and Excellence, and we hope to meet them again in our upcoming trip to France:)

Additionally, in preparation for the trip, we have attended a couple of lessons to learn some basic French phrases. While it was difficult to pick up a new language in such a short span of time, it was nevertheless a fun and enriching experience that will come in handy in France.

With the trip just days away, we look forward to putting our newly acquired skills into practice, and of course, learning more about the different facets of French culture, from its exquisite cuisine and language, to its rich history and socio-economic background.

Do check back for daily updates of our trip, but till then, au revoir!