Best Travel is the name of the travel agency who organised our day trip to Lille on Friday 7th December 2012 and they certainly lived up to their name! We had the best NPCS staff and students, the best coach drivers and the best time ever.  Neither a defective out-bound Eurostar train nor initially rainy weather could put a dampener our fun.

We set off at 7.30 on Friday morning intent on spending the day soaking up the festive French atmosphere in Lille.  A couple of hours on the motorway followed by a 186 mile per hour Eurostar Channel crossing were the only hurdles we had to overcome. The Channel crossing was enhanced by the inconvenience of having to share our carriage with an Aston Martin.

Euralille Shopping Centre was our first port of call followed by the festivities in the town square. We were delighted to see a McDonald’s restaurant in the town centre, but after an hour of queuing for our food, we realised that the French do not quite understand the concept of ‘fast food.’ We saved the best for last and ended up at the famous Christmas Market where we feasted our eyes on festive food and traditional arts and craft.

The highlight for many of the students was a ride on the Grande Roue, situated in the middle of a winter wonderland setting. Other students enjoyed sampling French culinary delights in the Christmas Market. I must admit, however, that the highlight of my day came at 11.45, by which time all the students had been collected promptly by their parents and carers and I could look forward to going home to a lovely, warm bath.

Many thanks to Mr Warner and Mr Sayid who kept everyone in line; to Ms Duperron who gave on-the-spot French lessons and to Ms Simpson who was a calming influence. All I had to do was keep reminding students to stop asking questions like, “Are we there yet?”

Many thanks too to all the students who behaved impeccably and who were excellent NPCS ambassadors.