Walking along the tree-line boulevards in the Bright Parisian sunshine, a warm autumnal breeze blows gently around the designer shops of the Champs Elysées.

One might easily be listening to a television programme, highlighting the attractions of an autumn city break in Paris, but these are the indelible memories of a group of St. Louis Grammar School students who have just returned from a fantastic four-day visit to the French Capital.

The 35-strong party of language students visited Paris , with a focus on enhancing their language skills, but the ‘Paris Experience’ offered a lot more.

The Kilkeel students experienced a different culture, a new cuisine and a vast appreciation of history, art and even the global experience offered through Disneyland-Paris.

Expertly led by Mrs Sinead Kearney and aided by Mrs Catherine Lynch, Mrs Dervla McDonagh and Mr Stephen McVeigh, the ‘French Trip’, now in its seventh year, has become a very popular educational experience for the students of the Mourne School .

The trip included transportation by coach around the French capital so that the students could absorb all that Paris had to offer during their four-day stay.

The itinerary included a visit to the Louvre, where the students marvelled at such artistic masterpieces as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. They also visited the cathedral of Notre Dame, but alas there was no sign of Quasimodo! Add to that the Sacré Coeur Basilica, the famous Montmartre Area and the futuristic areas offered by the Pompidou Centre and La Défense!

However, no postcard can do justice to the Eiffel Tower experience, with its marvellous view over Paris or the twilight excursion along the River Seine, with the Tower illuminated to show all its splendour.

The group also spent a day in that mind-blowing Disneyland Paris complex, complete with all the thrills of ‘ Thunder Mountain ’, ‘ Space Mountain ’ and the joyful Disney parade, with the day brought to a close in ‘Planet Hollywood’.

The group arrived home safely, enriched with a fantastic experience that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.