A fantastic time was had by all in Grenoble this year with many tears from both French and English partners when it was time to leave. Some firm friendships were made and some of our students already have plans to return to Grenoble either in the summer or on the French Exchange again next year.

We were warmly welcomed by our host families when we arrived at the train station in Grenoble on the Saturday night and we soon found out that many of them had arranged exciting days out for us for the next day which was spent "en famille" – for some this included going up into the mountains to ski!

During the week we took part in many trips such as a visit to a French Resistance Museum, a walking tour of Grenoble, a trip in the cable car to La Bastille in Grenoble, a reception at the Town Hall, a guided tour of the Château de Vizille and not forgetting our annual snowshoe walk in the mountains!

We also spent a morning at our partner school the Lycée Les Eaux Claires where Wallingford students took part in a range of lessons including a Sixth Form basketball lesson where Jody, Harry and Jack represented Team GB fantastically. The French partners had also prepared some presentations in English about what they had found interesting about life in the UK during their visit to Wallingford in February. Wallingford students were surprised to hear that the number of CCTV cameras we have, the fact that our houses are built of brick and the high standard of the food in the UK were all worthy of mention.

Mme McGarrick, Mme Audemard and M Harpin would like to thank all the students who took part in the French Exchange for being such great ambassadors for both Wallingford School and the UK. We were really impressed with your positive attitude and it was a pleasure to spend the week with you. Merci beaucoup tout le monde!

- Mme McGarrick