1958 France

France 1

France 1

(photographs provided by Mr Bill Gordon)

The French Tour

Last Summer, as I am sure most of the inhabitants of Strabane know, thirty-six pupils of Strabane Grammar School, accompanied by four teachers, went to stay at Tours, in the Loire Valley, France.

The excitement was intense for weeks beforehand, and when the long awaited 12th July arrived at last, we were off. After a calm crossing from Belfast to Heysham, the boat train arrived at Euston Station, London, nearly two hours late. We piled into taxis with all our luggage, and drove off to spend the night at a Salvation Army Hostel near the station. As this was Sunday, we all attended evensong at All Souls Church, Langham Place, and afterwards walked back to the Hostel.

The next morning, we were off again. In agony, we "lugged" our heavy case's to Euston Station, where we waited for the nine boys and Mr. Gourley, who had spent the night at a Men's Hostel. Then after a hilarious time on the escalators, we, complete with cases, crammed on to a tube train to Victoria Station. There we were given our seats on the boat train to Newhaven. After a comfortable journey, we embarked from Newhaven to Dieppe, on a tiny ship, absolutely crammed full. It was not a very enjoyable crossing, as it was a bit rough, and a few of our party felt unpleasantly seasick. However, by the time we reached Dieppe all had recovered.

France 3

At Dieppe we caught the train to Paris, where we went by coach to a cafe, where we enjoyed our first French meal. We then went for a walk around the boulevards, and returned in time to board the coach to take us to the station. However, we had almost forgotten that this was the 14th of July, France's National Day, and we found ourselves in a traffic jam. After dreadful thoughts of missing our train, we managed to get there in time. The heat was intense when we climbed into the uncomfortable train, parched with thirst. However, Mr. Gourley came to the rescue with oranges and two large bottles of lemonade.- Delicious!

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France 4

After a tiring journey, we arrived at Tours at 1 o'clock the next morning. We went by coach to our Chateau, which was, in term time, a school, and tip-toed upstairs to our dormitories and bed! The next morning, we got out of bed, and, after a breakfast of coffee and rolls, went to explore our surroundings. We found we had a large gymnasium, with two table-tennis tables on which we held two tournaments; and about six hot or cold showers, which were to prove very welcome in the very hot weather we had.

France 4