Our Trip to England – Day Four

On Thursday 20th, we went to Portsmouth.
As we were at the entrance of the Royal Naval Museum ahead of time, the pupils were asked to settle on the benches nearby and draw an element of what they could see around them which was interesting or representative of the city to them.

Most of them chose to draw the Spinnaker Tower, which is the actual emblem of Portsmouth. Some others drew a small boat, a gull or an old beautiful sailing boat.

At 10, we entered the museum, split the group into two and started the visit. One group visited the HMS Victory while the other group visited the Royal Naval Museum and then we swop.
We had lunch in the picnic area. It was a cold day.

The HMS Victory is one of the only remaining flagship of the eighteenth century and it was restored and transformed into a boat-museum. The guides explained in English and the teachers translated into French. It was very interesting to learn how sailors used to live and fight during battles. The pupils were very impressed by the small size of the boat, the low ceiling and the organization of life in a very small space. What impressed them most was the story of Lord Admiral Nelson’s life and his death on the boat during the battle of Trafalgar.

After lunch, the pupils were given instructions and allowed to go shopping on their own. Most of them stayed in the nearby Gunwharf shopping centre but a few ones dared to go into the city centre, quite far away, to buy clothes and souvenirs in other shops.