Trip to Paris, 18th – 20th February, 2010

At 6.30 am in a cold draughty Lime Street station in Liverpool, 23 GCSE Art pupils from s4 and s5 met up with Miss Morris [leader], Mrs Mitchell and Mr Jack for a trip to the City of Lights, the art galleries and all things Parisian!
A swift train journey to Euston was followed by a delay at Eurostar, which finally whisked us into the centre of the art capital of the world. Despite following a deaf guy with a distinct wobble [Mr Jack], the group made it to their hotel on the Boulevard Magenta. After a quick unpacking, we metroed down to the Seine, where on rounding a large building the Eiffel Tower appeared before us in all its splendour, causing jaws to drop and cameras to click and click again. Following a lovely meal at a nearby restaurant, we made it back to the hotel, looking forward to the morrow.

Thursday was Louvre day. This was proceeded by an exciting ride on the metro at rush hour , pushed in by the staff, packed in like sardines and pushed out again at the stop for the Louvre.  This gallery is so big that to spend 20 seconds in front of each piece would take 6 months!  So being selective, we toured the galleries, taking in masterpieces by the likes of Titian, Rembrandt, Delacroix and da Vinci, including of course the obligatory Mona Lisa. A spell of sketching in the Egyptian rooms followed.


Then it was a walk through Les Jardins Tuileries to the Champs Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe. It was near there that the staff found the cost of eating out in a Paris café, where 3 drinks and 3 pancakes came to over £30! [Scottish comment there from Mr Jack, who expected to buy the Mona Lisa for that much].

Another hair raising metro ride took us to the famed Eiffel tower, and a trip to the top, with an awesome view of Paris as the sun went down. As we reached the ground again, the lights went on, the tower blazing against a sky with a crescent Moon.  Then a longish walk back towards the hotel, quick change and back out towards another restaurant near the famed Folies Bergeres. Mr Jack, having even less of a vestibular system in the dark, was grateful for those who offered him an arm to prevent arrest for apparent drunkenness!


Speaking of Mr Jack, it was later revealed that his attempts to navigate the group through Paris masked an almost non-existent sense of direction, which relied more on the position of the Sun than a map! That was when he was not playing sheepdog at the rear, rounding up the photographers who were clicking at everything in site. Sohini and Daniel between them must have taken over 2000 pictures!


So, sadly, to our last day and a trip to the Musee d’Orsay, the former [amazing] railway station which now houses the largest collection of Impressionist painting in the world. They were all there: Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas etc etc, inspiring and wonderful to see the original works.


A final hairy metro trip back to our hotel, and then it was the Gare du Nord, London Euston and home.
The trip was a huge success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Brilliantly planned and led by Miss Morris, with able support [we hope] from her 2 lieutenants and a group of pupils who were happy, fun to be with and a credit to the school.

Written by Mr Jack