In January 2019, the Code Lyoko subreddit was visited by u/Mamatou, one of the ex-students of Lycée Lakanal – the school on which Kadic was based. Her post immediately drew attention of Centrum’s community. As we were really curious about the life of students there, we decided to ask u/Mamatou for an interview… and she agreed!
The process of creating this interview was quite long. First of all, users of Centrum had a few days to come up with the questions they’d like to ask. Then, I had to translate them from Polish to English and send them to our interviewee. As the list of questions is rather lengthy (31, to be precise), u/Mamatou needed some time to answer them all.
Before getting to the questions/answers, I’d like to thank u/Mamatou once again for giving us this great opportunity – we’ve never talked with a Lakanal student before, so we’re really grateful that you devoted your time for us.
Please briefly introduce yourself to the readers (what your name is, when were you attending Lakanal and for how long etc.).
My name is Mathilde, I’m French, studying literature (French, Latin, Greek and English) and for three years I studied in “Lycée Lakanal”. It is a quite huge school with 2500 students from 10 to 22 years old. It is quite famous for its “Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles” (in France, after high school, some student don’t go to university but to renowned Schools ; they get ready to enter these Schools in what we call “prépa”, then after a few years some enter a School and some, like me, enter a university). Also, I was a boarding student.
Was CL somehow memorialized by the school? If so, how?
I don’t think so, one of my teachers mentioned the show once, but the direction doesn’t really care I guess.
Do the rooms in the Lakanal resemble those in Kadic? What about the canteen, the gym, the library and the classrooms?
The dormitory rooms have been renovated recently, and it was after the show came out, so I guess they were more resembling before… But the hall and the windows are the same, for example. The gym is pretty much the same, as well as the stadium : you can recognize it in an instant! The classrooms are resembling too ; but the canteen and the library we see in the show seem bigger than in real life (there are several of them though).
Have you heard about someone who tried to sneak into the Factory? Or maybe you tried to do so yourself?
Sadly, we haven’t found any abandoned factory near the school! 😉 But for fun we searched for a secret path in the park (a part of the park is forbidden because of trees that might fall : isn’t it suspicious…?).
In Kadic, there were quite a lot foreign students. Is the same true for Lakanal? Were there any students from Poland?
There are some foreign students too, but not as much as in Kadic I guess so I couldn’t answer.
Have you noticed any easter eggs in the show that seemed to be dedicated to Lakanal students?
I haven’t re-watched it attentively yet since I’ve studied there, so I’m curious about it and I will make sure to try to find some.
Do you think that some of the Kadic teachers were inspired by Lakanal teachers? Which ones?
I know very few teachers so I could not answer this.
Are there any students who attend(ed) Lakanal, but don’t (didn’t) live in the school’s dormitories like Yumi?
Most of the students are like Yumi, in fact very few are boarding students (I was among the lucky ones). The dormitories are huge but there are just too many students.
In reality, can Lakanal students really wear whatever they want? Or maybe there is a school uniform of some sort?
There is no uniform; there is even a day each when we come with a disguise!
Can the students stay in their dormitories during holidays (Christmas, summer etc.)?
The dormitories are close during holidays, except for the people working there. Since a few years, students are allowed to stay during the weekend, but it wasn’t even an option before.
In Kadic, rooms for boys and girls were on separate floors. Is the same true for Lakanal? What the students thought about it?
Boys and girls are one the same floor nowadays, and no one is bothered.
Did you often see CL fans from outside the school who were lurking around Lakanal? Did they ever cause any trouble for the school/students?
I’ve never seen a fan near the school, I guess they are not that many to feel the need to check it out.
What can you say about the canals? Do they really exist in the same/similar form that was shown in CL? Could the passage from the school to the factory exists?
I think it is an invention of the show.
During your days in Lakanal, were there many incredibly intelligent students like Jeremie?
There surely are many intelligent student! It is a quite renowned school.
Does every student get their own room in the dormitory or do they have to share room with another student? Which one is more common?
Both kinds of room exist: older students get a room for one person, younger have to share it with two roommates.
Have you met any student who decided to go to Lakanal because of the show?
I have heard some student mention it as an additional reason for choosing to go there; I am one of them! I was trying to choose between two schools, and I guess it made it easier.
Was fleeing from the lessons as easy as shown in CL? 🙂
We didn’t have Jim around to keep an eye on us, so I would say it was quite easy! But maybe it wasn’t as easy for younger students.
Was it easy to cheat in Lakanal? What is students’ opinion about cheating and how severe are the consequences of getting caught?
For older students, it was quite easy because our teachers trusted us and told us we were working for ourselves, not for marks. But very few of us actually cheated, and those who did were either ignored, either despised.
Do you know any place in Paris that could have been an inspiration for the Hermitage?
I don’t know a particular place that could have been an inspiration for the Hermitage, but the architectural style is quite common in France.
Did many people know that Lakanal was the source of inspiration for Kadic?
I think only hardcore fans of the show and some students of Lakanal know the inspiration.
Did it influenced the school community in any way? For example, were there any school events or jokes related to the show? Or maybe there were some students/teachers who were nicknamed after characters from the show?
Not really, but there is one day per year when we can come disguised, and I remember that once a group of students were disguised as some characters of the show.
Did the show accurately represented the location of rooms like the principal’s office and the canteen?
I think they made some rearrangement with the location of the places for the show.
In the show, Jim was the one in charge of the dormitory. What is the case in reality? Does the function of “dormitory director” even exists?
Indeed, there are some dormitory supervisors as well as a dormitory director (who is way more sympathetic than Jim!). They also recrut some of the older students (usually three) as dormitory supervisors for the weekends, when there are fewer students (They were my friends by the way, so they were nice when we were late or when we had little parties).
Was CL: Evolution actually filmed in Lakanal? If so, how did it influence the lifes of common students?
CL Evolution was not filmed in Lakanal, it would have been difficult to obtain the authorisation I guess.
What is your opinion about CL: Evolution? In general, what is students’ stance about this show?
I remember that when the show was announced, with a big casting in the whole country in order to find resembling actors for the characters, it was quite a big event and the fans were very exited ; but this lead to a greater disappointment when the show aired, and it is quite disliked in France because of the bad acting of the actors (who were not professional actors).
During you stay in Lakanal, did you notice any students who tried to mimic characters from the show (behaving like them, wearing similar clothes etc.)?
Except for the day when we disguise (called “Mardi gras”), as I mentioned earlier, I haven’t. But who knows, this is a big school!
Do you follow closely the French fandom? What do you think about it’s state?
The show is very appreciated in France, because most kids of my generation grew up with it. So the fandom is quite large, but I think it is mostly composed of late teenagers and young adults.
Did you notice any disadvantages of the fact that Lakanal was used for the show?
I can’t think of any disadvantage 😉
Overally speaking, what do you think about your experience at Lakanal? Would you choose this school again?
I would definitely choose this school again, it was a beautiful place (especially the park), not far from Paris but not directly in the big city, and most the teachers were good.
Will you visit us in Poland one day? 🙂
Sure! 😉 I had no idea there were CL fans in Poland, it makes me even more curious about the country.
Maybe there’s something else that you think is worth sharing with us (funny anecdotes, your personal thoughts on some matters related to CL or its’ fandom etc.)?
A little tip to recognize a CL fan: put the music of the beginning of the opening, and a few seconds later you’ll have them singing it with all their heart 😉