Group Mobility to France

6-13/4/2025

A Week Full of Learning, Friendship and Exploration

As part of the Erasmus+ programme KA121 “Natural Energy Resources in a Sustainable School” project, six (6) students and two (2) teachers of the Hortiatis High School participated in a group mobility at the Lycée Fernand Daguin (General Lyceum) in Bordeaux, France, from 7 to 12 April 2025.

The Lycée Fernand Daguin consistis of the General Lyceum and the Technological Lyceum. The school is located in the same campus with the Professional Lyceum Marcel Dassault in the area of Mérignac, Bordeaux. The schools provide a wide variety of educational fields and opportunities to about 2.300 students and serve under common administration and facilities (common canteen and dormitories).

https://www.lycee-daguin-merignac.fr/

Throughout the week the students and teachers of our school had the opportunity to experience everyday school life by participating in workshops on the use of Hydroelectric Energy and attending school lessons. The participating teachers were informed by the school administration and the French teachers about the structure of the French educational system and discussed its strengths in relation to the Greek educational system. At the same time, the participating students and teachers visited the IUT University where they learned about the study programs and attended a wind energy utilization workshop. They also visited the local district heating unit in Mérignac utilizing biomass from old trees, the Cité du Vin wine museum in Bordeaux and its heating and cooling unit utilizing geothermal energy, as well as the most important UNESCO sites of cultural interest in the historic city of Bordeaux. The bonds of friendship between the Greek and French participants were strengthened for future relationships and collaborations. We warmly thank our French partners for the excellent organization and hospitality!

Sunday 6 April 2025 – The departure

Our journey began on Sunday noon, as we were at the airport by 11:30 a.m. for our flight to Bordeaux. After a pleasant flight with a change at the Munich airport, we landed safely at the Bordeaux airport. We were impressed by the little vineyards in the airport utilities, as a “welcome” of the world capital of wine city of Bordeaux. The hosting families and a French teacher welcomed us and the students spent the rest of the day with their French peers.

Monday 7 April 2025

The first day at the Lycée Fernand Daguin in Mérignac began with a tour at the school, which is quite large with 2.300 students and 265 teachers/ administration staff. The French teachers showed us around the facilities and different areas of the camp, which accommodates the General Lyceum and the Technical Lyceum Fernand Daguin as well as the Professional Lyceum Marcel Dassault.

Then, we all attended the welcome ceremony during which we presented our schools and also the main points on the use of hydroelectric energy in our countries. Afterwards we attended lessons, which gave us insight into the French teaching methods and the classroom conditions.

We took a break to have lunch at the school canteen, where students and teachers eat lunch every day and then we visited the local district heating network facility “Mérignac Energy Center”. The plant utilizes renewable energy source (biomass from old trees) for heating residences and enterprises, while the use of wood from old trees also reduces the risk of wildfires. The engineers of the plant explained us how they cut down weak and old trees into small pieces of wood for burning, the flow of the burning process and the local heating network of the unit.

After our visit to the “Mérignac Energy Center” we had a stroll at the center of Mérignac with its impressive church and then we returned home and relaxed with our host families.

Tuesday 8 April 2025

Our second day at the French school began with laboratory lessons focused on alternative forms of energy. The first experiment was about hydropower. Working In small groups, we used propellers in micro scale to lift specific weights utilizing he hydropower of running tap water and we experimented on the parameters which maximize the lifted weights.

The second experiment was about heat transfer in liquids and solids simulating the mechanism of the geothermal energy transfer inside Earth. Both activities were very interesting, as all the students had an active role and the experiments were related to real-life situations. We also had the opportunity to analyze to our French peers the etymology and Greek origin of the words “geothermal energy”. The workshop ended with a presentation of data analysis on hydraulic energy in France.

Right after finishing the first four hours with the experiments, we went down to the school canteen to eat a unique meal. The menu included green beans with beef steak and pâté. After lunch, we visited the IUT University of Bordeaux, where we learned about the study programs and opportunities of the IUT University, visited a laboratory analyzing photovoltaic panels and attended a wind energy utilization workshop.

Finally, we returned to the school for one more hour of class lesson. In the evening, all the Erasmus+ students took a walk around the city of Mérignac and enjoyed a soft drink at a local cafe.

Wednesday 9 April 2025

The third day at the French school started with joining the class and attending two hours of lessons.

After the lessons, we took the tram and set off for the Bordeaux centre. Our first stop was the geothermal power plant of the famous wine museum “Le Cité du Vin” by the river Garonne. The engineers of the plant explained to us the process of the heating and cooling plant of the museum, which utilizes geothermal energy with drills by the river.

Then we had a lovely picnic on the grass of the museum’s garden and enjoyed the spectacular view over the river Garonne.

At afternoon we visited the unique and state of the art museum “Le Cité du Vin”. With the use of technology we travelled to the wine history through centuries and all over the continents, we learned about the evolution of different grape varieties, the production process of wine, the different varieties of wine and the way they are served.

At the end of the visit, we went up to the rooftop of the museum, where the teachers tasted wine and the students enjoyed juice, while we all admired the astonishing view over the city of Bordeaux

Once the visit at the museum ended, we had free time at the city centre and strolled along Sainte-Catherine Street for shopping and souvenirs. To wrap up the day, we tried some traditional French crêpes before taking the tram back to our hosting homes.

Thursday 10 April 2025

The fourth day at the French school started with joining the class and attending four hours of lessons.

The Greek teachers and a French teacher had a meeting with the director and the vice director of the hosting school, during which they were informed about the structure of the French educational system and discussed its strengths in relation to the Greek educational system.

After the lessons, we took the tram and set off for the city centre where we met with our guide for a tour among the Unesco monuments of Bordeaux, which is the second, after Paris, city with the most registered monuments in France.

The guide emphasized in the golden era of the 18th century, when Bordeaux was the second (after London) significant harbor wordwide, known for the trade of coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, indigo but also a major trading centre for slaves.

After the guided visit, we had free time at the city centre for shopping souvenirs and enjoying ice-cream before taking the tram back to our hosting homes.

Friday 11 April 2025

On Friday, we started our day by arriving to the school and attending lessons. After the lessons we had the pleasure to watch a presentation by the Bordeaux Department of Europe Direct about the various opportunities the European Union offers to the young Europeans. Then we all played an educational game about our everyday behavior and its effect on our ecological footprint. Finally we exhibited our ideas for diminishing our ecological footprint by working in groups and making some posters that we finally presented in a plenary session.

Following the activities with Europe Direct, we worked in groups on our final presentations and posters regarding the outcomes of the educational activities of the whole week and data analysis on hydropower in regard to other renewable energy use in France and Europe. After having lunch at the school canteen, each group presented their work to the other Erasmus and French students of the European class.

Of course a graduation ceremony couldn't be missing, where all the Erasmus attendants got their certificates along with some gifts.

In the evening, we returned home and spent time with our hosting families. The Greek teachers, invited by their French colleagues, had the opportunity to taste traditional French dishes and spent a lovely evening in a local restaurant.

Saturday 12 April 2025

Saturday was a day for activities with the hosting families. In the morning some of the students visited the French Art Museum “Fabrique des Lumieres” and some others visited the famous Dune of Pilat, which is the tallest sand hill in Europe along the French Atlantic coastline. After the morning activities everyone spent time individually with the hosting families, some went for dinner, some for shopping and some of them for a walk.

Sunday 13 April 2025, the return travel

On Sunday morning, we bade farewell to our hosting families and the French teachers and headed to the airport of Bordeaux for our flight back to Thessaloniki. We changed flight at the airport of Frankfurt, where we spent our final moments reminiscing our lovely experience of the Erasmus+ week in France and feeling grateful for the hospitality of our French friends!

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