During my trip to Scotland I realized that many of the students were really keen on taking photos and had very sophisticated cameras. So maybe, if you happen to have travelled abroad this year, you could enter the National Geographic Photo Contest.

Here is the link http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/traveler-magazine/photo-contest/2013/ where you'll find all the useful information to enter.

Personally I may well make do with looking at all the entries on the website and try and guess who'll win. The photos are superb.

What do you think of this one, taken by Rei Murakami in Agra, India ?

Unfortunately I couldn't publish any news about our trip to Scotland. Indeed my hostess did not have a wifi connection. Here are a few photos to give you an impression of what we visited and what we did up there. Enjoy the magnificent landscapes and the beautiful weather we had. Ok it was cold, and very rainy on Friday, but on the whole reality was much better than what weather forecast websites had planned.

On the left, Walter Scott's house, in Abbotsford. On the right, Jedburgh, where we stopped by chance to have lunch. A very nice lady made 34 delicious sandwiches in record time. The sun was hot. Everybody was happy. This was definitely my favourite moment in the trip.

If you are going to Scotland next week, there are a few things you shouldn't forget:

A warm pullover or a fleece jacket.

A raincoat or/and an umbrella.

Your gloves, that you had already put away into the attic's cupboard.

Good walking shoes, as the program Ms Vial has concocted for us is copious. (Many thanks by the way !)

Your good temper, and that should be easy not to forget, not thanks to the sunny weather that we won't have, but just by thinking of all our friends who'll be working hard in Reims.

Your identity card or passport AND you European Health Card!

I hope you knew about this blog or all my advice will be wasted. If you didn't I'll inform you about it on Monday and you and your parents will be able to catch up with all the notes you've missed, as well as read the news I'll send from Scotland. I hope my host family have wifi. If you see nothing new published here, it will mean they don't...

This map shows the area where our host families live, most of them in Dalkeith.

Next Monday I'm heading for Scotland with the "2nde Internationale" class !

I will try to publish some photos and impressions of the visits there, of our encounters and discoveries. Don't hesitate to write messages in the comments !

To help you wait for Scotland's inimitable landscapes, here is a video taken from Sylvain Chomet's film "L'illusionniste". If you haven't seen it, do watch it. It's a gem!

Let's make this blog live again !

No students took part in the game, which is rather disappointing. Maybe they're too shy ? Or my game was too difficult...

Well today to make them feel confident in English I'll advise them to create an account and then log in as often as possible on this website:

http://www.englishcentral.com/videos#

C'est gratuit ! Enregistrez-vous (Register), sinon on vous demandera de le faire au bout de quelques visionnements. Vous pourrez améliorer vos compétences en compréhension de l'oral, mais aussi en expression orale à la seule condition d'avoir un micro sur votre ordi. Vous pourrez visualiser vos progrès, vos acquis et votre classement.

Pour certaines fonctions on vous proposera de modifier votre compte (upgrade), mais ce n'est pas nécessaire.

FIND THE MEANING OF THESE 12  RIDDLES !

The person who finds the greatest number of answers will receive a surprise prize. Sorry, English native English speakers, who are not members of our school, can't play....

              1                                              2                                            3

                     4                                               5                                      6                        

                      7                                           8                                        9

                 10                                         11                                           12

Give your answers in the comments below.

We have several visitors who regularly come here and who live abroad. I thought it would be kind to introduce our city to them. Some of my pupils have written short articles to that purpose.

"In Reims there are a lot of shops in the city centre and many restaurants and bars. Next to the city centre there is the cathedral and a big park. In the city there are a lot of schools and public transports to move around the city."

Jayde and Lise.

"Reims is a city with a lot of monuments like the cathedral which was partly destroyed during WW1. There are a lot of shops too in the town centre and a beautiful stadium. In the Montagne de Reims there are a lot of vineyards and villages which make Champagne in cellars."

Nathan

"Reims has a beautiful cathedral which is situated in the centre. There are a lot of old "Art-Déco" houses and champagne cellars. There is the canal which crosses the city. Recently the tramway arrived for a better traffic. There are many clothes shops. The football club is in the First League."

Julien and Florent.

"Reims is a big city where 200,000 inhabitants live. Reims is a city where there are a lot of schools and universities to study. There many visitors who come to Reims to visit the cathedral and its historical city centre. The city was bombed during WW1 and the cathedral burnt. Reims is famous in the world for Champagne and other specialties. There are may parks where events are sometimes organised. There are a lot of shops in the city centre."

Claire and Chloé.

"Reims is situated in the Marne department and Champagne-Ardenne region. With 184,984 inhabitants, it is the eleventh town in France. Rheims (English spelling) is a big and famous city where you can find shops, arks, schools, bublic transports, museums and above all the cathedral.

A lot of kings were crowned in the cathedral.

You can go to sports halls as well  and play music in a big Academy (the Conservatoire) as well.

In Rheims there's Champagne, pink biscuits and the stadium is beautiful."

Elena, Loubna and Seda.

(Olivier Gergaud. Free.fr)

The Casual Vacancy is out this Thursday !

J.K. Rowling, reknowned for writing the world’s famous saga Harry Potter, is publishing her new novel The Casual Vacancy on Thursday, September 27th. The highly anticipated book is also Rowling’s first adult novel. Leaving far behind the world of magic and the torments of youth, the author wrote a book about politics, drugs and sex. The title The Casual Vacancy refers to politics : it is a situation in which a seat in a delibarative assembly is vacated before the assembly’s term. This situation may arise through the death, the resignation or the disqualification of a sitting member and leads to the quick need of filling the vacant seat. Rowling’s story starts with the death of Barry Fairbrother, a local representative living in the imaginary town of Pagford…

That’s about it for the pitch since it’s very difficult to get any information about the book. There’s been almost no leaks about this new release, which is already a bestseller, reaching number 2 at Amazon before it hits the bookshops! As a keen reader of the Harry Potter series, I look forward to reading this new piece of fiction. I love Rowling’s inventive, effortless way of writing and I hope to find her fine qualities again in this novel. If you share my enthusiasm, look out for The Casual Vacancy at your local bookshop or shop online. Rowling’s novel will be published in French this Friday, September 28th under the title Une place à prendre.

Violaine AZEMA. 

This blog needed advertising and we've got to move with the times ! That's why I took advantage of my weekend to create a FACEBOOK page. If you want this page to be easily found on Google and other search engines, go and visit EASY AS PIE's page and click on "J'aime" !!!

If you don't know what a FACEBOOK page is or if you feel there's no point in having one, then read this : http://www.squidoo.com/facebookpage

Now, my piece of advice :

Beware of becoming a facebook addict !

It may seem difficult to understand, but it's beautiful to look at !

The BBC Website will give you more information. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19664574