Two of my students are going to spend the month of February in Preston. It will be part of their training to be able to work in the tourist industry. They will live with an English family and work in a charity shop, museum, tourist office ……..     Seventeen french students will be going together, flying from Nantes to Manchester.

So, in preparation, we spent the lesson yesterday looking at maps of where Preston is in the country, seeing photos of some of the sites and learning to give directions from a street plan of Preston. After learning the phrases ‘Turn right, 2nd exit on the roundabout, one way … etc’, I asked them to direct me from the University to the Library. Not easy, especially since you can only cross the Ringway at certain points.

Before Christmas I introduced them to British money – not easy for people who normally travel within Europe and  rely on the euro. By the end of the lesson I think they had decided to pay for everything by credit card.

Despite everything, they are looking forward to the trip. For me, I look forward to receiving them back in March with good Lancashire accents!

Before travelling to England at Christmas, we had the good fortune to be able to call in at Bayeux to see the tapestry.  It is housed in a U-shaped glass display cabinet and extends for 64 metres even without the sections presumed to be missing. It is in fact an embroidery, not a tapestry and it has survived amazingly for nearly a thousand years. According to the tapestry, the dying king Edward sent Harold to William, Duke of Poitiers, to proclaim him rightful successor to the English throne. Harold swore allegiance to William, but when he returned to England and King Edward died, he had himself proclaimed King. Hence 1066 and all that. The gallery was almost empty when we arrived and we were able to take our time studying it, with the help of a commentary.

We then had a walk around the town and decided that it merited a much longer visit at some point in the future.