Vive la France!

On Thursday 11 October 2012, St Christopher’s school celebrated its inaugural French Day, the aim of which was to give the St Chris community a taste of French culture.

The Senior School Hall was transformed into the illustrious Paris district of Montmartre and on our very own “Place du Tertre”, caricaturists and mime artists exhibited their skills to create the ambiance for which the artistic centre of Paris is renowned. The smell of fresh crepes, sandwichs au fromage, macarons au chocolat, mille-feuilles, langues de chat, croissants and chocolate brioches filled the air.

Some students sat on the set up “terrasses”, and with a slight touch of insouciance, listened to “Milord”, “Elisa”, “La Boheme” or “Aux Champs Elysées”.

Paris being the fashion capital of the world, there was only one way to end the festivities: a fashion show. Students took to the stage for the final catwalk to the cheers and applause of their fellow St Chris peers.

Many students later admitted “for a moment in time, we all felt like we were somewhere else”.

The atmosphere was also very Parisian at the Junior School, giving the feeling that you were in a French street with mime artistes and musicians busking. Students had the opportunity to have portraits sketched from local artists and buy souvenirs.

The day culminated with the French assembly where Francesca Giovanetti from 6D sang Non rien de rien, by Edith Piaf and other students performed and acted in a French movie and introduced news in French.

This event would not have been possible without the invaluable help of all members of staff in our Language Department and to parents, especially Hélène Lascelles-Llyod, Nadia Le Falher, Jan Wheeler, Valerie Dourmap, Keith Watson, Virginie Dreyer and Afaf  Al Khalifa for their various contributions and to all parents who helped on the day.

A special thanks goes out to our sponsors Géant, Carrefour, Paul’s Café and  Sofitel.

The winner of French challenge day is Bradley Altman from 6E who won a prize sponsored by Sofitel.

Food not sold at the Senior School was donated to the lorry drivers waiting to cross the Saudi causeway; and judging from their broad grins in the photo below, they very much appreciated the gesture.