SIXTY years ago Gillian Hirst embarked on a brave journey by train and boat to war-ravaged France all by herself at the tender age of 15.

Her journey was the first ever exchange visit between Ilkley Grammar School and Coutances and it happened because for personal reasons she had to go at Easter rather than with main group scheduled for the summer.

The teenager had to struggle to get by with her 'schoolgirl French' while travelling in France from Calais to Paris, then on to Granville and finally the Coutances area to stay with her pen friend, Nicole Frelaut and her family.

On the way, Gillian, now 75, said she had an embarrassing moment on the train between Calais and Paris. She got a little mixed up and declared in French 'I am an Englishman', causing the other travellers in the carriage to break out into raucous laughter.

Ironically, the summer exchange visit never happened because of the British and American wartime activities in the area. "The British had bombed Coutances, flattening all the houses to make it easier for the Americans to go through," she said.

And Gillian, of Kings Road, never got to Coutances itself, staying with Nicole in the nearby seaside village of Coutainville

Because of post-war ration-ing, Gillian said things like food and petrol were sparse, and Nicole''s family primarily lived on a staple diet of fish soup, red wine, Camembert cheese and bread. But that didn't stop Nicole's family from doing all they could to provide for Gillian, who admitted she had a hearty appetite.

Gillian recalled with a smile something that Nicole had told her in recent years: "We had to go out and visit my uncle in a nearby village to buy 'black market' meat. All because you needed a lot of food!"

She also said that they provided her with breakfast in bed every morning and gave her some bread to tide her over at lunch until the main meal in the evening.

Gillian, who came from a family that didn't drink because of their religion, found it unusual that she was offered red wine.

"I had red wine, which I still have a taste for today!"

Even though she had wine, Gillian still maintained a level of propriety when she visited Le Manoir, the local French school.

She insisted on wearing her school uniform from Ilkley Grammar.

Gillian said: "Nicole said I looked dreadful in it, but I wouldn't go to school without wearing a uniform. I always had to do what was right!"

Although she rarely had the chance to speak English, Gillian said she was impressed when the pupils of Le Manoir recited William Wordsworth's poem Daffodils in English in her honour.

On the trip, Nicole and her mother Madame Depezeville took Gillian to visit local landmark Mont St Michel, an island off the coast, and a war memorial at Avranches dedicated to the American soldiers that liberated Coutances.

Even though Gillian has not been on any Coutances exchanges since 1946, she has been back to France to visit Nicole, seeing her as recently as two years ago in Paris.

Gillian said: "I've always been in contact with Nicole."