The two-week
Euro Tour was designed to give students an opportunity to try new
activities and to visit many different places and cities in various
countries.
The trip started
off with an overnight drive to Paris where they spent their first
two nights in France. Most students took the opportunity to see
the famous Paris landmarks and sampled the Parisian nightlife. Our
next destination took us to a tiny village in the heart of the Vercors
region of France to go walking and rock-climbing.
At the end of
their two-day stay in the Vercors, the longest and most tiring road
journey of the trip took us through the Alps Maritime and south
to the coast near Nice. Here we stayed three nights and visited
Monte Carlo, Cannes and Nice. Most students had especially wanted
to visit the coast during their two week trip and our accommodation
during this section had perfect sea views and a huge balcony - this
really was the South of France.
At the halfway
point of the trip and another road journey to look forward to, the
group said a sad farewell to France before crossing the border into
Italy and Tuscany. Destination Florence, and the little town of
Fiesole where we stayed for the Easter celebrations. Florence is
a beautiful city and the students soon managed to explore both its
well-known sights and lesser ones, including market places selling
all sorts of fashions and souvenirs. The mini buses were definitely
becoming more crowded and every spare seat was taken up with shopping
bags of all description.
The drive to
Cortina, via Venice for the day, meant an early start of 4am. It
was worth it though, as they were able to make the most of the beautiful
weather to explore this unique city.
What the group
awoke to the following morning, which had been hidden by nightfall
when they had eventually arrived in Cortina at midnight, was an
array of snow covered mountains in every direction. These were the
Dolomites, a section of the Alps that borders Italy and Austria.
Here the group hill-walked, skied and snow-boarded as well as slept
very well, as by now the long days, good food and sunshine were
taking their toll.
Another early
start meant we could cross over into Austria and stop in Innsbruck
by lunchtime. As the students explored the city the drivers slept,
before driving into the early hours and eventually stopping to camp
in Germany near the Belgium border.
Soon the trip
was over and the statistics of 3687miles of driving and 5 countries
visited all added to the stories that are sure to be told by all
the students. A fantastic fortnight - a fantastic Euro Tour.
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