So far, so good

Those of you who are familiar with St Pancras International will instantly recognize the famous arch and will marvel at the way the autumn sunlight picks out the grinning features of our intrepid band. By the time that this picture was taken, they'd already been on the go for about 4 hours and yet they showed no sign of flagging. Even though one of their number turned up at Sherborne station with about 15 minutes to go and without his passport! Stringent legal requirements suggest that he should remain anonymous but it was, in fact H-g-i- L-v-s-n-G-w-r. However he outdid himself later on when he'd been at our base in Lille for under 5 minutes by dropping the room key down the plug-hole of the wash-basin.
The journey was predictably slick and efficient, in spite of the delays caused by the recent fire in the tunnel. Shortly after 4pm we were enjoying the last rays of the sun as we strolled through the peaceful streets of Lille on the way to our accommodation, where the boys divided themselves efficiently into the 3-, 4- and 5-man dorms.
The group leaders led a short sight-seeing tour of this part of town - the first picture shows the Porte de Paris built by Louis XIV exclusively for Shirburnians to pose under - and then we went for a much-deserved steak-frites and mousse au chocolat. It is a truth generally acknowledged that a well-fed Fourth Form boy needs nothing so much as a 10 pm bedtime, particularly when the next day will be spent enjoying a tour of Paris - and so it has proved. By 10.30 there was no sound other than gentle snoring - long may it continue!