Another beautiful day beckoned us to a slightly later start so we would arrive at Sophie Barrat in time to meet our guests and their coach so we could follow them to Versailles.
Versailles was stunning in the astounding excess that the court of Louis XiV and his ilk lived amongst – e.g. 1100 horses and 3000 visitors each day. We learned the fans used at court were used not to
keep the courtiers cool, but to waft away the halitosis created by rampant dental decay. The buildings and gardens were simply phenomenal, and could only be slightly improved, according to one BRJ student, by replacing many of the statues with likenesses of herself.
We were welcomed after our tour of Versailles back to a 'disco' in honour of our students which entailed an 'haute cuisine' buffet and a kind of break dancing-competition in which the different nations tried to out dance each other. Despite a valiant effort by our students, it looked like a rare French victory – that was until Mr Curtis stepped up. Game over. French trounced. Agincourt all over again.
