Will’s Boarding School adventure in France, An Experience to Remember

Student Blogs

The Journey Begins

Hi, I’m Will, and I am writing about my time in Saint Denis, France so far and how I’ve made it into a useful experience!

Arriving

I started my six weeks in France with a three-hour flight from Dublin to CDG (Charles de Gaulle) Airport on Monday, 5 January. As soon as we arrived, it started snowing and continued for the rest of the day.

This was both good and bad. On the downside because of the heavy snow on the roads, our taxi ride was delayed by three hours because one of the taxis broke down. On the upside, who doesn’t love a snowball fight?

During the wait, I got to know five new people, all from Ireland.

School

School here is hard to warm up to, but once you warm up you won’t want to warm down. The day is structured with us boarders waking at 6:30am, and getting ready, i.e, showering eating breakfast e.t.c. Classes start at 10:00 on Monday, but 8:00 every other day. We finish at 17:00 normally but 16:00 on Friday. After a normal day, we head back to our rooms and chill for a bit, until we are called for study time. This is an hour of study from six o’clock to 19:15 where you can finish homework, or as I like to do, sleep.

Dinner time comes next, and we’re let back into our rooms at 20:00. You will probably have all of your classes with at least one Irish person so don’t worry about that.

A Day in the Life – (Weekend Edit)

Right now, the weekends are the highlight of the trip pour moi. However, I have been really lucky with the family I’m staying with. They are lovely and have a son (Alex) of 16 years old so we are practically best friends. The parents are lovely and own a beautiful in the heart of Loches, which is the town that the school is in. They have taken me numerous places, par example, the zoo, and the Alex’s tennis match. They are ok with me going out with friends like the time I went to Tours on the bus, photos below.

A Trip to Remember

The lessons are not as difficult as you might expect, and the teachers understand that international students may not understand everything straight away. The first week can be the most challenging as you settle in, but trust me, you will get used to the boarding experience and soon feel right at home.

Sometimes you will go out on trips with the school. These trips are great and you should savour every moment of them.

The food in the canteen is a roll of the dice. It is either really good or sometimes you discover something completely new. I would recommend going every day and keeping an open mind—you might find a new favourite dish. If not, there are also places in town where you can get food.

This is a once in a lifetime experience that 0.1% of people get to experience. Live in the moment while you are here, because there will be times when you and your new friends add to the joke so much to the point where you can’t breathe from laughing, and you might be able to get that at home, but this time you’ll be speaking in French.

Thanks so much for reading my blog.

À bientôt,

Will

Author

Carmel