Estonia is a little country in the north of Europe. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, it's dotted with castles, churches and hilltop fortresses.This county is very cold at this time of year but even though it's not listed as a well known touristic country, it's a good experience to go there. For 1 week, 15 students from Carcassonne travelled to Tartu to discover the country, culture and to visit their correspondents.

 

After being in contact with correspondents, finally met them again after a year. To get there we took the car, plane, bus and train: a full day of travelling. When we arrived we all separated and went straight to our correspondents houses.

 

The weekend was our free time with our friends. Some visited the national museum whereas others went to the shopping centre. After, we assisted at the Estonian school show which celebrated the school's anniversary : this is part of their culture, teachers and pupils participated in this.

 

On Sunday, we went to a swamp where good vibes where present even though the weather wasn't good: it was very cold and snowing a little. After a long walk traveling across the swamp and back, we stopped and had a picnic together around the fire in the middle of the forest. Everyone enjoyed the uncommon experience of grilled sausages, marshmallows, and making s'mores. On the way back, we saw a mansion where they used to make wine.

 

To begin the week we had various activities planned for us. Once divided into groups, we each did different activities such as baking, sewing and making butter knives: these are normal lessons that do not exist in France and we played their sport, pull rope. Next, we assisted in the English class where we could clearly see that they weren't a lot in each class (about 15 students).

We also helped some of the students from the Blog: we helped them with their French and created apps together! 

 

The following day, we had the privilege to be greeted by the mayor of Tartu. We also visited the town hall, the city and searched for various monuments.

We went to an amazing science museum where we all had a lot of fun: there was a show and many things to try out including a bike suspended in the air on just a thin wire.

 

Before we knew it, it was already nearly the end of the trip. We said goodbye to the correspondents and we took the train to Tallinn, the capital. We arrived at the hostel and after checking in we went to visit the different monuments and the city. We were invited to the French Institute, they represent France abroad: this is where people can come to get help to learn french.

 

On the 27th, it was time to return back to france. The end of this trip arrived so quickly, but we had learned a lot about their culture,lifestyle,traditions and food. This was an interesting experience because we were with people that we didn't know, to begin with, but also we had to adapt ourselves to their ways of living. As each and every country, Estonia is unique with fascinating history. 

Sandhya (I went there with Dorian and Hugo!)