Back to school with a BBQ fundraiser

Welcome back to a sensational school year with our art tour only a couple months away! Next vacation we will be flying out to France, Barcelona and Dubai!
Our last barbeque fundraiser is on this week at the school's swimming carnival. Lets hope we get fine summer weather without the scorching temperatures experienced during the holidays.
We will need all student travellers to assist with selling our sausage sizzle.
Don't forget to wear your house colours!

2014 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Fantastic fireworks as Sydney lights up the sky!

http://www.sydneynewyearseve.com

On the 1st day of January 2014 we only have 100 days to go until we depart on our fantastic tour. We can spend some of our relaxing summer break preparing those suitcases for the trip ahead! Post Christmas and New Year sales are on, so check the state of your suitcase, walking shoes and comfortable clothing. 

Paris and Dubai also welcomed in the New Year with loads of colour and style. Dubai added the wow factor with the Guinness Book of Records labelling its display as the biggest ever! Over 400,000 fireworks were launched over 100km of shoreline as well as off the Burj Khalifa. Wonder what April in Dubai will bring?

 Paris NYE fireworks: trendsimages.com

Dubai NYE fireworks: STR/AFP/GettyImages

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Merry Christmas

Christmas greetings to everyone.

The Swarovzki crystal Christmas tree at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney

and Christmas at our overseas destinations.

Les Galeries Lafayette, Paris

Christmas in Paris

 Carcassone

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

3rd Payment Instalment and Travel Insurance

Just a reminder to our travellers that the third payment instalment was due in November and is now overdue.
Travel insurance is required for all our travellers and has been requested in previous emailed communications. For DEC approval we need policy numbers and photocopied documents before the close of school this term - by 3pm Friday 20 December. Please check your documents to ensure you are up-to-date.

Christmas Market Day Success

It was a breezy summer's day at Gordon's Christmas market for our stall that was well attended by all travellers - students, parents and staff.  Thanks to our early starters who set up the stall at 7am on a Sunday morning, and to the parents and students who manned the stall throughout the day.  Special thanks to Bronwyn, who not only help set up the stall in the early hours of the morning but remained all day, encouraging prospective buyers, right up to pack up time.  

We sold cards, tea towels, jewellery, books, toys, plants and Christmas decorations, to a quiet, yet constant light stream of customers. With our remaining stock, we will have a mini Christmas market at school for students and staff.

Early in the new year we will have a parent and student meeting to discuss spending money, travel sims and what to pack in their suitcase.

Merry Christmas to everyone and happy holidays!

Joyeux Noël et bonne année!

New 2014 exhibition at Les Baux's Carrières de Lumières

Starting on the 7 March next year, Les Baux's magnificent Carrières de Lumières will begin a new exhibition called 'Klimt and the Viennese Artists: A Century of Gold and Colours'.
The show will take you on a journey through 100 years of Viennese painting including the wonderfully bright colourful works by Gustav Klimt and Hundertwasser as well as the distinctive art of Egon Schiele. This new illuminated exhibition offers an original perspective on Klimt and his contemporaries through portraits, landscapes, nudes, colours and gilding that revolutionised Viennese painting in the 20th Century.
Here is an example of what you may see! Wow!

Medieval Carcassonne

We've made a change to our itinerary in Southern France, now visiting the medieval fortified city of Carcassonne on Easter Sunday. Rather than stopping at Montpellier, we will make a detour and visit this amazingly picturesque city in the Languedoc region. Made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997, Carcassonne looks like something from a fairy tale. In fact, Walt Disney got his idea for the castle in Sleeping Beauty from the fortified city. 

The 1991 Warner Bros film, 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' used the exterior views of the walled city of Carcassonne as Nottingham in the film.

It is also the location for the 2012 'Labyrinth' miniseries based on the 2005 best-selling book by Kate Mosse.

See a preview of the miniseries and Carcassonne in all its splendour:

http://youtu.be/TSeKCTtEnBI

In Carcassonne, the turreted rampart surrounding the city is made up of two walls, dating between 400AD and 1300AD. Within the fortified walls, Carcassonne was impregnable and the La Cite with 52 towers, a moat, drawbridge, Chateau Comptal and the St Nazare Basilica have remained relatively intact throughout the centuries. The city has experienced many battles including the crusades and the Inquisition. 

Carcassonne will be a fantastic addition to our itinerary!