Hardelot - Day 4

With our holiday almost at an end, we packed in as much as we possibly could into our final full day! Mrs Pape had to wake us all up again (they've done a great job of tiring us out!) and we had a quick breakfast of baguette before heading off to the bakery to see how the baguettes we had just eaten were made. As the baker spoke absolutely no English, Mrs Pape had to translate it all for us - who knew she was word perfect in French?! Well, almost anyway! 

After the tour we were whisked off to Boulogne where we went for a quick walk along the sea front (we were an hour early for the sweet factory!) - we tried to see the UK, but unfortunately it was too misty.  By this time the sweet factory was ready for us, so we went inside and met a crazy man and his translator, who gave us fantastic demonstrations of how to make both hard and soft sweets. It was fascinating and we found out all kind of facts - plus we now know how to make hard candy at home - so be prepared for some messy demonstrations in kitchens!  We were allowed to try the sweets we saw made; they tasted great and Billy was amazed at how quick they were to make, and how easy it was too!  Elise and Olly had a go at pouring the sweets into the mould to make hard sweets - they were fantastic and the Boss wanted them to stay and help him - Miss Salmon wasn't too sure their parents would be happy with that, but if you are just let us know and we'll send them back to the factory!  Mr Fuller, however, wasn't as good and made a huge mess of it!  It wasn't until the end that the Boss told us that he had taken part of the nozzle off!

Bob then drove us to the Ceramics Factory, where we sat outside and had lunch.  As we were early for that too, we were all allowed a run around outside before we went inside.  The boys found another zombie bunker and developed a game called 'Zombie', which was some kind of strange hybrid between Bulldog and Hide & Seek!  

We became zombies!

Unbeknown to the teachers, it was VERY muddy where we were playing, so when we entered the ceramics factory, with its pristine white floor, it became rather less pristine!   

After being handed a translation device, we started off on our tour of the museum.  We had to press numbers to find out information about the different pieces of pottery.  Mrs Pape and Jenna thought it was very interesting, and the rest of us enjoyed looking at the variety of pottery that had been made in the town.   The best part of the ceramics factory was at the end, when we all got a chance to make our own cups!  We had to use tools to help us mould and shape the clay and we were led by a lovely lady called Stephanie.  
 

Making pottery with Mr Fuller!

 The cups came out with varying degrees of success - but we'll leave you to be the judge of how great your own child's was!  Bella deserves a particular mention at this point as, not only did she make a cup, but she also managed to make a teapot and a cat figurine from the clay she was given!  She's a Henry Moore in the making!

Bella's finished product!

 Once we had finished, we all headed back to the Hardelot Centre - by this time it was so late that we barely had time to get showered and ready for dinner, but we managed!  Dinner was boeuf bourgninon, which everyone enjoyed (the cheese course was another matter - we now all smell of stinky feet!).  This evening we voted to have a talent show instead of watching a film and we have been regaled with magic tricks, a rendition of Twinkle Twinkle and an amazing dance to the Harlem Shake by some of the boys!  The great thing?  There's videos so you can all see your children's wonderful talents!!

One of the big memories of this holiday is the number of us that are card sharks - George taught everyone how to play Blackjack, Chris taught the boys poker, and there were card tricks galore!  Thaila kept Mr Fuller entertained with her card tricks for much of today's journeys - I'm not convinced they were actual tricks though, more just moving the chosen card to the top or the bottom of the pack and announcing it in a grand manner!

Hot chocolate has just arrived, so its off to bed for all of us now in preparation for our last day tomorrow - we have all had a great time but are really looking forward to seeing you all and showing you all the fab gifts we have been able to buy.  We hope you've enjoyed reading the blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it!

~Cameron Class & the teachers

Today's blog was brought to you by Elise, Katie, Billy and Miss Salmon.