Beaucaire

Our first taste of French culture has come as a complete change from what we were used to in Italy and Greece. A change from the mad scramble around cities trying to cram in the plethora of sites and buildings there were to see was greatly appreciated. Another bonus is that we do not have to supply our own dinner, meaning that instead of meagre portions of pizza or kebabs we have full four-course meals allowing us to sample the wonders of French cuisine.

An unique aspect of our time in Beaucaire is the vans. Because the places we visit here are not as concentrated as they are in Athens, Florence or Italy, we have hired vans to get around. Naturally, each van has developed its reputation, with Mr Boyce's "Party Van" being the prime spot. Also critical to the enjoyment of these sometimes hour long trips are the DJ's, who sit in the middle seat in the front and have full control over the radio. They have to switch between the different channels, finding songs that fit the van's mood as well as stations with good reception. Various DJ's rose to the fore, such as DJ Kayos (Nick Kay), DJ Macca (Me), and DJ Chronic (Conall).

Each evening there has been a group of boys going out for runs before dinner, taking advantage of the spare time to burn off some of the previous night's four-course dinner. They have been very interesting in terms of route, as Mr Buckingham makes it up as he goes. The first one was a great run up a series of hills to a vantage point where we could see the countryside all around and a huge distance up and down the Rhone, which was an abandoned monastery. Other trips have followed non-existent paths from which we soon turned back when we painfully learned that France hosts a great variety of stinging nettles and spiky plants, and the final one went all the way to Tarascon Castle and back, at the end of which Josh Neifeld collapsed onto a couch after getting a bit more than he bargained for.

— Ben McArthur