FIFTY students swapped the cobbled streets of York for the style central that is Paris last Thursday as they embarked on a sponsored hitchhike in the name of RAG.

The students, who mostly opted for male and female pairs for safety, set of from York at 6pm Thursday and hitched to the white cliffs of Dover.

After a less than comfortable night at the ferry port, the sea journey took them over the Channel and they arrived at their destination, a hostel in the centre of Paris, late on Friday evening.

The next day saw them visiting tourist hot spots such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe. They were also given the chance to broaden their cultural knowledge, and impress their history of art friends back in York, at the Louvre modern art gallery.

Feeling ready to unwind, the charitable students spent the evening in the Latin Quarter where they ate and drank (Bacardi, if we are to believe the adverts) until four in the morning.

On Sunday, the students incorporated history with exercise as they conquered the steps up to Monmartre, set on Paris's hillside.

After soaking up the view of France's capital from this favourite spot, they boarded their homebound coach late afternoon and arrived back in Britain in the early hours of Monday.

Thanks to the generosity of their friends and family at home, sponsorship covered all accommodation and travel expenses and excess donations went to the ten RAG beneficiaries, including the charities Mencap, Student Action and Wateraid.

Updated: 09:47 Friday, December 03, 2004