Accompanied by sunshine and warm weather throughout our six-day trip, we enjoyed exploring a number of France’s iconic attractions.

Our first stop was Parc Astérix in Paris and we had a fun-packed day on the roller coasters and water rides as well as some time to browse the shops and purchase a few souvenirs.

The next day was spent in the Loire valley exploring the Château de Blois, one of the favourite residences of a number of French kings and queens. We saw where Cathérine de Médici stored her poison and enjoyed creating our own photographic versions of some of the paintings. Soon it was time to board the coach again and head towards Poitiers, our base for the next few days.

We had an incredible day at the Puy du Fou Park, watching re-enactments of Roman chariot races and gladiators accompanied by lions and tigers. The Dance of the Phantom display was enchanting as we watched over a hundred birds of prey circle over our heads, retelling a story of ‘how it used to be’. The raid of the Viking village was a memorable and exciting finale to our day.

Our final visit was to Futuroscope, a stat-of- the-art technology park, where girls made the most of the good weather to enjoy the water attractions and incredible interactive playgrounds, whilst of course making time for the simulators and wide variety of 3D and 4D screenings.

The Cirque du Soleil son et lumière was a fitting climax to our trip to France.

Mrs Y Menzies, Head of French