From 21st to 27th of March my school friends and me went to Nice to have a study holiday which is useful to improve French, one of the languages that we study at school. This journey wasn't a holiday but a way to get involved in different situations in another country, it is also helpful to learn new words and expressions.

OUR TRAVEL

That Sunday we left for France by coach with two of our teachers: Mr Venturelli and Mrs Pagani. We met in front of the school in Caravaggio in the afternoon and, after the departure , we travelled for about five hours.
We arrived in Nice at about six o clock p.m. After that we reached the school we would have attended the following days, where we met Mr Gerth, the person in charge to our visit.
At the same time, the first host families started to arrive to drive us home.

OUR HOST FAMILY AND THE HOUSE

Our host family lived in a quiet area of the city. Mrs Anne-Marie and her husband (masters of the house) had a rather big apartment with a big dining-room, a kitchen, a bathroom and three bedrooms: the first one was Anne-Marie and her husbands, in the second one there were two boys (a Chinese student named Dennis and a Mexican student named Roberto) and the third bedroom was for us. Our bedroom was cute and comfortable. It had green walls and there, there were two beds, a big wardrobe, a small TV and a table with two chairs. Everything was perfect ! The following day Anne-Marie and her husband went on holiday and so, for this reason, arrived Christine, Anne-Marie s best friend. Christine was an English woman who moved to France thirty years ago. She was a very good person, very nice, funny, open-minded and dynamic.
The woman cooked us a lot of delicious plates (Italian food, Chinese food, American food and others).
Every day, in the evening, at dinner time, we all used to speak about different arguments like the life in Italy, our hobbies, the activities done during the day It was really pleasant but also very important and useful to practice our French.

SCHOOL: A NEW WORLD

The school in France is very different and we think its better even if, sometimes, it can be very hard and difficult. In France school starts at eight a.m. and it finishes at one p.m. then the students have lunch at the school refectory. After a short break, lessons begin again until five p.m.; after that, students go home and they must do their homework.
Luckily we didnt attend a similar school, as matter of fact we went in a French school where there were people of different ages: actually in the school where we went there was a nursery, an elementary school, a secondare school and a high school. In that school there were a lot French students, but we had particular lessons: we were divided in two groups and we went to school from nine a.m. to half past twelve p.m. Classes werent boring. Our French teacher, Berngre, was young and she knew what young people like doing so, she tried to teach us French grammar playing games, joking and singing too. The only thing that we havent understood yet is why French students are always walking around the school?! What a mystery!

A PICTURE OF NICE

The Greeks founded Nice in the 5th century before Christ and then, in the 1st century before Christ Romans conquered it. Finally, the county of Nice was annexed to France in 1860.
Nice is in a good position: as a matter of fact, it is situated between hills which protect it from wind and clouds. But Nice is also near the sea: it is one of the most important tourist and economic seaports and the second airport of France.
Nice is a very big city, 400000 persons live in it. It is also a very particular city: it is divided in two sides: in the east side there is the old city and the harbor; instead in the western side there is the modern city. This wonderful town lies in Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur of which is the prefecture.
The weather is usually mild. Actually winters and autumns are cool; on the contrary springs and summers are hot and dry. Nice is also called The town of flowers: as a matter of fact there are a lot of local markets which sell beautiful and perfumed flowers.

Our French teacher, Berngre, was young and she knew what young people like doing so, she tried to teach us French grammar playing games, joking and singing too. The only thing that we havent understood yet is why French students are always walking around the school?! What a mystery!

EXCURSIONS: A REAL ADVENTURE

In Nice, our schoolmates and us visited most of the city; we went to three museums: Matisses museum, Chagalls museum and Mamac museum (a modern art museum). One day, we passed the entire afternoon on the beach. The sea was wonderful but the water wasnt hot. The last day, on Friday, we went shopping in famous shopping centers like: Nice Etoile, Galeries Lafayette, Virgin Megastore and others. We used the tram to move through the city.
During the week, we also visited Cannes and Monaco. We reached the city of Cannes travelling by train. When we arrived there, we saw the Palace of the Festival, The Croisette and all the stars handprints. We could admire luxury hotels and the famous and expensive boutiques.
Another day we visited Monaco. Unfortunately that day the weather was bad and so we couldnt see a lot of things. We visited the cathedral where there are Grace Kellys and Prince Ranieris tombs, the royal palace and Grace Kellys beautiful garden. I could see the F1 circuit, too.

We loved this new experience very much. France is a beautiful country where there is more freedom than in Italy. We love France also because it has a lot of beautiful cities, people are polite and sensitive and besides we had a fantastic experience. We will never forget this long trip to Nice and well hope well return to France in the future.