Londres, ville mondiale

Les élèves de section européenne des terminales G3 et G4 ont eu la chance de partir à Londres cette année du 25 mars au 28 mars.
Ils ont pu ainsi découvrir les notions étudiées en classe en cours de DNL (discipline non linguistique) histoire et en anglais euro.
Nous avons passé un excellent moment tous ensemble ; les visites étaient passionnantes, les familles très accueillantes et il a fait très beau §
N’oublions pas notre chauffeur de car, Maximilien, qui connaît Londres comme sa poche et sans qui le voyage n’aurait pas été aussi réussi !

Qu’en pense Apolline ?

We arrived in London on Monday, and started by spending free time in Greenwich park, home of the Prime Meridian, 0 Longitude and home of GMT all in one place. You can stand astride the line and have one foot in the eastern and western hemispheres at the same time. It was followed by a cruise on the Thames.
A long time ago, the river Thames used to often freeze in winter, and between 1608 and 1814, Londoners used to take advantage of this by holding Frost Fairs on its surface. So, this was their Winter Wonderland with market stalls selling food and drinks and many different activities like football, dancing, horse racing as well as ice skating. Even on one occasion, believe it or not, an elephant was led across the frozen Thames just below Blackfriars Bridge !
On the second day, we walked in London following down a path that led us to Chinatown. London’s Chinatown dates to the early 20th century, but it was originally based in Limehouse in the East End. Chinatown moved to its current location in the 1970s, and today, Gerrard Street is at the center of a neighborhood where dozens of Asian restaurants can be found.
Then we left the neighborhood and walked through Piccadilly to Westminster. This abbey was the scene of all the crowning from William the Conqueror to Charles III since 1066. Then we saw Buckingham Palace where a kid named Edward Jones managed to break in the castle. He stole food in the kitchen, and underwear in the queen’s drawer. We finished the tour with St James Park and the Horse Guards Parade.
In the afternoon, right after eating, we climbed aboard the London Eye. As with the Eiffel Tower, the London Eye was built with the intention of being temporary. It was built to stand on the ground of Lambeth Council on the banks of the Thames for no more than five years. Despite this, July 2002 saw Lambeth Council grant the Eye a permanent license.
On the third day we went to see the Monument. For it was originally built to commemorate the Great Fire, it was also built with a second purpose : be a site for scientific experiments. Hidden beneath The Monument is a tiny laboratory from where the column was once used as a giant zenith telescope. This visit was followed be free time spent next to St Paul Cathedral. The cathedral we know is actually the fourth to stand on this site. The land that the cathedral stands on has been consecrated since around 600AD. There have been several buildings since then, the Great Fire of London destroyed the previous one.
We ended the day by the visit of Spitalfields’ market. In the 17th century, many Huguenots fled from religious persecution in France and settled in Spitalfields. They brought their skills of silk weaving and created a thriving industry that made Spitalfields famous for its delicate fabrics.
On our last day, we visited the city of Canary Wharf, which used to be one of the busiest docks in the world between the 19th century and early 20th century. It imported goods such as sugar, rum and even elephants from all over the world. Hence the name of the bar Rum & Sugar, located in one of the old warehouse buildings on the North Quay Museum of London Docklands that we also visited right before leaving.
Written by Apolline, TG3.