France Trip

We went to the town of Boulogne which is just over the French border. It seems so weird to go on a Day trip to France. We left at 4:30 in the morning and were back home by about 9:30 at night. We took a coach to Dover and then crossed on the ferry. The journey over was quite choppy and several of the kids were sick. Most of them though managed to wolf down a full English breakfast first. Went we arrived in France we went into the town and had a wander around a small market so the kids could practise using their french to ask for things. They were a lot of tourist junk and the kids loved it. There were only supposed to bring 30 euros but I'm sure they were loaded down. They bought their weight in model Eiffel towers, berets, junk jewelry, knock-off watch and gag products that give you a shock when you touch them. It poured rain most of the time we were in the market and kids had obviously not taken this into account when trying to give each other electric shocks. Minor burns ensued. It was a real learning experience. I snuck my group away to a cheese shop that was out of the market place so we could buy some soft cheeses. They did an excellent job for using their french. They were even haggling in french!Our next stop was Chocolat du Beussent, a small chocolate factory outside of the town. There had been so much rain that the narrow little roads had partially washed out in places. The place smelled very strongly of chocolate before we even got through the door. The kids musty have spent £1000 there easily. They gave us all a free gift which was nice as well.

Then we had lunch which was very rich and quite a challenge to arrange. Because many of our kids are Muslim they can eat meat and some can't have egg. The rest need halal meat. This was a request too far as far as the restaurant was concerned even though we tried to book it in advance. In the end though, everyone got when they needed. The kids are terribly picky so half of them didn't like it but it is good for them to try new things. The staff loved it though. You got all your soft drinks in tall glass bottle which was very nice. I bought as much french food as I could bring back and we feasted on it when I got home. Delightful! I now want to go back and see other less touristy parts. Hopefully I will go again soon!