Max in France

Max arrived in France. The first thing he noticed was that it was cold and the leaves were falling off the trees. He was pleased he had packed his coat.

"I thought it was Sping" Max said to Mrs S.

"It is Spring in Australia Max, but we are on the other side of the world and it is Autumn here. Did you know that in some countries, Austumn is called Fall?" Mrs S asked Max.

"No, I didn't. Maybe that is because the leaves fall off the trees" Max said.



Max got on a bus and he saw a beautiful tall building. Do you know what it is?



Max came back at night time and he saw that the lights were on. Every hour, on the hours, the lights sparkle for about 15 minutes. It is very pretty.

One day, Mrs S took Max to the "Metro". It is a train station that is underneath the ground. This is a picture of the Metro station called "Cite"

Can you notice the ads on the walls? Can you read the words? It is written in French. (Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

The first stop was to a very unusual looking building. There was a very big triangle in the middle of some very old buildings. Max wondered what it could be.

Inside the building (Do you know what it is called?) there were some very big paintings. Look how big this painting is.

Max saw a very famous painting called the "Mona Lisa." See if you can find a picture of the Mona Lisa.

There were sculptures and even some artwork from Egypt. Max remembered seeing things like this when he went to Egypt.



As Max walked around the Louve (Did you guess this is where Max was?), he saw an artist painting. She was copying one of the paintings on the wall. He also saw children lying on the floor drawing some pictures as well.

Max then got on a bus and went around Paris. (Did you guess this is where Max was?) He saw some very big buildings. They were very old.



He saw a river. Do you know the name of the river? See if you can find the answer.

Along the side of the river were large green boxes. Max noticed that one of the boxes was open. As he walked closer he noticed that it was not a box but a shop. Inside the shop were some very old books for sale. As he kept walking, Max saw lots and lots of shops. They were selling old books, posters and some even had postcards of Paris.

As Max looked out the side of the bus he saw a petrol station that was in the middle of the road!!! That's funny, Max thought.

The next day, Mrs S told Max they were going to a very special garden and Palace.

When they arrived, they had to walk to the Palace. There were lots of people going to the same place. It must be very special if so many people are going, Max thought.

As Max walked around the palace, he thought it was very beautiful. There was lots and lots and lots of gold everywhere. The doors inside were HUGE.

Then Max went outside and saw the beautiful gardens. "Wow" said Max.

Can you see how big the walls of the Palace are?

Max thought the people who trimmed the trees were very clever.

After walking through the gardens, Max was thirsty so he drank a hot chocolate.

The next day, Max went back inot Paris and saw a very large arch in the middle of a very, very, very busy roundabout. Max climbed the stairs (it was a very long way) until he reached the top.

This is what Max saw from the top of the Arch. Do you know the name of the Arch?

That afternoon as Max was walking back to the hotel where he was staying, he saw some bikes on the side of the street. Mrs S explained that people could hire the bikes and ride them around Paris. They could leave them anywhere in Paris as long as they were taken back to one of their special parking spots. Max thought that was very clever.

When Max got back to his hotel, he thought...."I love Paris"

Max hears from Eloise and Granny Mags.

Max is so excited because he has head from Eloise and Granny Mags whom he met in London. Max thought he would see if he could find out all about where Eloise goes to school.

He found this school http://www.st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk/ but the students look much older than Eloise. Then Max found this school http://www.stbedes-junior.surrey.sch.uk/ and he thought maybe it was this one..

See if you can find the right school.

Max meets Lee

As he waited at the airport with Mrs S, Max got very excited because he was going to Paris. He was hoping to see his cousin Pierre.

When he got on the plane, he met Lee. Max thought Lee was very funny. Max laughed when a lady accidently spilt water all over Lee's trousers.

Lee offered to take Max to see the Captain of the plane and also show him some of the special places on the plane. Can you guess where Max went?

Max in the UK

Max arrived at Gatwick airport in the UK with Mrs S. He spent four days looking around London and he made a new friend. His name is Sam.

Can you guess where Max is?

This is a house where a lady by the name of Anne once lived. Her husband wrote many plays. His name was William. Do you know who it is?

This is a special place where a guard would stand. What type of place do you think it might be?

Max stood on a very, very old wall. The wall is made of stone and is very famous. The name of the wall starts with "H". Do you know where Max is?

Max visited a home of a Duke, his wife the Duchess and their five children. They all live in a castle. It is very, very big and very old. Do you think you would like living in a castle?

Max visited a city in Scotland and walked to the top of a very high hill. On top of the hill is a Castle. Max sat on one of the cannons that were used to protect the people who once lived in the castle. The name of this City starts with "E". Can you guess where Max was?

Max meets a new friend in the Underground

When Max was in London, he caught a train that went under the ground. While he was waiting for a train, he met a little girl and her grandmother who were at the "Underground" station called "Oval". Max can't remember her name but she was wearing a red scalf and had long blonde hair. She was 7 years old, was on holidays from school and was learning all about the advertisements seen near the station. Max wanted to say hello.

Max visited London and saw this building. The bell in the tower has a special name. Do you know what it is? It starts with "B"

As Max was walking along the River Thames, he saw a very long car. It was called a stretch limousine. Max asked if he could sit in the car. The man said yes. Doesn't Max look happy?

On October 26, Max went by bus and two trains to a town named Windsor. A very special family live in Windsor. Can you guess who they are?

Mrs S took Max up to a guard and told him that Max was from a school in Australia and she knew he could not speak to her (they must not tlak to anyone when they are on duty). When the guard heard her say this, he changed the way he was standing. Mrs S said "Thank You". Max felt very special.

Max also went into a special room called "Queen Mary's Doll's House" There was a huge doll's house that was made for Queen Mary as a present. It was very special. The guard outside the room held Max so he could have his picture taken with her. Thank You.

Max visits Rome

Today Max visited St Peter's in Rome. It is a beautiful church filled with many beautiful pictures that are mosaics not paintings. The ceilings are very, very high. While Max was there, he sent a postcard to his friends at Mary Mackillop.

Max then went on a bus and visited a very old building. It is so old the walls have fallen down. Max found out that a long time ago, people who were slaves used to fight in front of many people. Can you guess what it is? Hint: It was a round building with rooms under the floor.

Max then got on the bus again and this time he saw many more churches. They were beautiful. He wanted to take a photo but he could not because there were murals on the walls and if everyone took a photo, the murals would be destroyed.

I am off to Italy - again!!!

Today, Saturday, September 29, 2007 I had a trip to the International Terminal at Sydney Airport, Mascot. I took this trip because Mrs S is taking me to Italy for a holiday. This is a photo of me as I am about to enter the departure lounge. After I entered the departure lounge I had to go through customs and then I waited at Gate 59 before getting on a Singapore Airlines plane that flew me out of Australia, heading for Italy. I had a couple of stops on the way, one at Singapore and then another at Frankfurt before finally I flew into Vienna. Can you find out what countries Singapore, Frankfurt and Rome are in?

Max gets ready for his overseas trip

Max was getting very excited. He realised that he needed to get ready to go on his BIG overseas trip so he had a bubble bath and Mrs S washed his clothes.

When Max had visited schools, the students and teachers had given him badges that Max attached to his jacket. He asked Mrs S if he could leave his badges at her place because he was afraid that he might lose them when he was on holidays. Mrs S said that would be OK.
"How many sleeps until we leave?" asked Max.

"3 sleeps left Max." said Mrs S.

Max @ Mary MacKillop

Max spent a week with his friends at Mary MacKillop.

His friends got a big surprise when they saw Max. He had an earing!!! I wonder who gave Max the earing???





Max had a great time seeing all his friends, Benny, Bernadette and Care Flight Bear. He really enjoyed seeing the children too.


Max noticed that they are all grown so tall so he asked Mrs E and Mrs N if he could site on top of the water bottle! He was so pleased they said yes.

Max hears about Tommy, Buzzy and Boxer

Max has heard that there is another toy and his friends who have their very own blog!

Max would like you to visit their blog too and learn all about Tommy, Buzzy and Boxer.

Visit them at their blog.

Max visits his friends at Mary MacKillop

On Tuesday, Mrs S took Max back so he could say hello to all his old friends at Mary MacKillop.

As they walked into the library, Max and Mrs S saw the children who were now in Year 3. They were very excited to see Max (and Mrs S).

Mrs S left Max with Mrs N before Mrs S walked around the school to say hello to some of the children.

Max was very excited to be back because he was able to see his old friends Benny, Bernadette and Careflight Bear.

Max told them that he was going on another holiday to three countries that were so far away they had to travel by air.

He asked Mrs E if she knew where he was going when she arrived back in the library and she told Max that he was going to visit Italy, England and France. Just then Max remembered. (I think Max was so excited to be back he had forgotten.)

"Who will take me back to Mrs S?" Max asked Mrs M when she visited the library with the musical instruments.

"It's OK Max. We will make sure we take you to Mrs S," said Mrs M.

"That's good. I don't want to miss the plane," said Max.

More photos from St Francis Xavier Florey.

The girls from my Year 8 Pastoral class took me on a tour of SFX.

I visited the Science Lab

and the Resource Centre.

I used computers

I did Art and Applied Technology
and generally "hung out" in a large Secondary college!