The monkey then told them that his name was Pierre and that he had a cousin called Max who lived in South Penrith in Australia. This started Mr Sharp wondering, (could this be the Max he knew)?
He then asked Pierre if he knew Max’s address. Pierre said that he moves around a lot but that he normally lived in a library in a school called Mary MacKillop. Mr Sharp told Pierre that he knew Max and had been reading his adventures on his website. After talking to Pierre for some time about Max’s adventures, Mr Sharp had an idea.
He went to the lady in charge of the toys and said he wanted to buy Pierre. He told the lady that after travelling around France with him in a car, he would take Pierre to meet Max at the school and they could live together.
The toy lady told him that Pierre was a very special monkey who looked after all the other stuffed toys. She said that he had been doing this for a long time but that she would ask him if he wanted to be sold. She went over to Pierre and they started talking in French, neither Mr or Mrs Sharp could understand them.
A while later she came back and told them that Pierre thought that the other animals needed him so he would not like to be sold. Mr Sharp was disappointed that Pierre did not want to be bought and was feeling a little sad when the toy lady said, “He did like the idea of driving around France. He has been working hard and should have a holiday, so I have told him he can go if you still want to take him but only for two weeks”. Mr Sharp then spoke to Pierre to make sure he wanted to go and Pierre said “Yes Please”
They then went for a walk around Paris and arrived at a big beautiful old building which has a glass pyramid in front of it. Pierre was very excited and Mr Sharp told him it was a very big museum with many famous paintings, statues and other things inside. Pierre wanted to have his photo taken with the building behind him to show his friends at the shop.
See if you can find out the name of this famous old museum in your library?After seeing many wonderful things from all over the world in the museum, Pierre was taken for a long walk through Paris and when he could see a very tall tower in the distance he wanted to go to see it up close. He had his picture taken with the tower in the distance behind him.
When they got to the tower Pierre was very excited and asked all about it. Mr Sharp told him that it was the Eiffel Tower and that it was built over a hundred years ago. Mr Sharp told Pierre many other things about the Tower. Pierre asked if he could have a photo taken close up to the tower.Just as Mr Sharp was going to take the photo he saw a lady walk over to Pierre and she spoke to them. The lady said that she was from a country called South Africa and asked why Pierre was having his photo taken. After Mr Sharp explained, the lady got very excited and said, “We are travelling around France with Daisy, she belongs to a little girl who is in hospital in South Africa. When she couldn’t come with us she asked Daisy if she would take her place and have lots of photos taken.” Then she asked Pierre if it would be ok if Daisy joined him in this photo. Pierre told the lady that he would be pleased to have her in his photo. Mr Sharp and the lady both took photos of them with the bottom of the Eiffel Tower behind them.
See if you can find out from your library some of the other things that Pierre might have been told about this very famous tower?The next day Mr & Mrs Sharp took Pierre on a train ride to a city called Rouen in another part of France. Pierre was very excited; this was his first time he had left Paris. In Rouen
They booked into a hotel which was built in the year 1750, which is before the first convicts arrived in New South Wales on the First Fleet.
What year did this happen?
How many things can you find out about the First Fleet?
That evening, Pierre and Mr Sharp watched a soccer World Cup semi-final which France won. Just after the end of the game, it became very noisy in the street outside the hotel. There were car horns blowing, drums being beaten, people shouting, singing and laughing.
Mr & Mrs Sharp took Pierre out to see what was going on. There were hundreds of cars going along with people waving the French flag and singing French songs. Everyone, including Pierre was very excited because of course, he is a French monkey.
He wanted to get his photo taken with some of the people and his flag to show the others in the shop when he went home. When Mr Sharp asked a group of people with a flag if Pierre could have a photo with them; they were very happy and held Pierre for the photo.Who was the Saint who was burnt at the stake in Rouen?
See if you can find out from your library why this happened and when?
On Sunday, Mr Sharp drove to Anacy, a beautiful old town at the beginning of the French Alps. The town is on the edge of a big lake with speed boats, sailing boats and snow covered mountains in the background. Pierre had his photo taken on the way to Anacy, (he was not wearing his seat belt), ordering lunch, (he had a banana split) and one with the lake behind him.
That afternoon Mr Sharp drove Pierre to a town at the foot of a high mountain with snow all over it. This town is called Chamoniox and the mountain is the highest mountain in France.
Pierre wanted to have his photo taken looking at this mountain. Pierre was then taken on cable cars to the top of the mountain; it took two different cable cars to get to the top. Pierre had another photo taken there.
See if you can find the name of this mountain and how high it is?
From the top of this mountain, with Mr Sharp, Pierre went on a 5 kilometre cable car ride from France into Italy. Pierre had the window down looking out and his nose and fingers were very cold. Below in the snow there were people camping and climbing the mountains.
In Italy Pierre had lunch and then saw a statue of Jesus on the cross. This was put there to help keep everyone on the mountain safe. Pierre wanted to say a prayer for those on the mountain and for everyone returning to France in the cable car. Pierre told Mr Sharp that he had also prayed for his cousin Max and all of the children and teachers at Mary MacKillop.
Find out the names of three other countries that have boarders with France.
After making the return trip safely, Pierre was taken to an ice cave in a glacier which had rooms cut into it and all the furniture, bath and toilet were made of ice. Just before he left the cave, Pierre met a great big mountain rescue dog named Alaska. He wanted a photo taken with him. He later told Mr Sharp that he was a bit worried because at first Alaska seemed to think he was lunch.
What is a glacier? You will find the answer in your library.
Everyone slept soundly that night and the next day it was in the car again and back to Paris. Arriving at the hotel late at night Pierre and the Sharps went straight to bed because the following day was a very special day in France and especially in Paris.
Next morning they were all woken by a loud rumbling sound and the room shaking. Mr Sharp and Pierre were first to the window and what did they see? ‘Tanks’, there were eight army tanks rumbling down the street and they stopped right outside the hotel. Pierre could see the Tank Commanders in their uniforms with their heads sticking up out of the tanks. Pierre couldn’t wait to go into the street to see if he could get a photo with him sitting on a tank.
Later Mr & Mrs Sharp took Pierre downstairs to see them. The soldiers let all of them sit on a tank while another soldier took their photo but at the last moment Pierre went silly and hid behind Mrs Sharp.
Later in the morning there was a big Parade down a main street with soldiers in fancy uniforms, some riding horses, some in tanks, and some in big trucks. There were sailors and people from the air force and jets and helicopters flying overhead. The jets let out a trail of red, white and blue smoke. This is the colours of the flag of France. That night there were a lot of red, white and blue fireworks fired into the air and by the end of the day everyone was ready for bed. This had been France’s National day.
See if you can find out the name of this day?
Try to find out why it got this name.
The following day was the end of the trip for Pierre. He told Mr Sharp that he was happy and sad. He said that he was happy to back to look after the other toys but that he was sad to leave Mr & Ms Sharp. He also thanked them very much for taking him and for the photos he had been given. When they got to the toy section in the shop, Mr Sharp put Pierre back onto the top of the pile of stuffed toys and then said goodbye. Mr Sharp then spoke to the toy lady and told her how well behaved Pierre had been, but he didn’t tell her about him not wearing his seat belt and hiding when the soldier took their photo. He did tell the lady that he would let her know the next time he was going on a trip and asked if Pierre could go also. The lady agreed. On the way out, Mr & Mrs Sharp could hear Pierre excitedly talking in French and although they couldn’t understand the language, they had a rough idea of what Pierre was saying.
What do you think Pierre would be talking about?
Which part of his holiday do you think he would say he liked the best?
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