Hashtag Adventure Camp, and an impromptu trip to Paris

There's a hornet the size of my thumb disrupting our nightly meeting. #adventurecamp

I found a tiny spider in my contact lens case. #adventurecamp

I drank sausage grease at lunch last week, much to the horror of onlooking campers. #adventurecamp

I'm in Paris, and my hair smells like campfire. #adventurecamp

On our way back to camp from Bordeaux, the door underneath the bus opened and five suitcases tumbled out onto the highway. #adventurecamp

I've been really "getting into camp," as they say, so a last minute trip to Paris was a little jarring. Two days before our campers were due to go home, I was told I was assigned to convoyage, the process of escorting campers to Bordeaux by bus and Paris by train. Some campers are brought to and picked up at camp by their parents, but the majority meet at a regional hub and come to Miramont as a group. 

So, on the last day of camp, I and two coworkers, Curry and Ozzy, left at noon with 30 campers and take an hour and a half bus to Bordeaux, then a three and a half hour train ride Paris (due to delays, it actually took more like 5 hours). We met the parents at the train station, said goodbye to our new friends, and set off to our hotel Vincennes, a neighborhood/city right outside of Paris. After a quick pizza/salad dinner (vegetables! fresh vegetables!) we crashed quickly.

Hotel du Chateau partners with American Village, so most counselors sent on convoyage stay there for a night or two between trainloads of children. One of the perks is a free breakfast. We didn't know what to expect. Based on past hostel experience, I was thinking we'd get some baguette, some jam, and maybe an apple. When I stumbled downstairs in the morning, I was kind of shocked at the display. The small lobby had been transformed into a tiny restaurant. Every place was set with latte mugs, glasses, and plates with a croissant, baguette, jam and butter on each, plus plates of jam packets. I failed to take a picture, but lifted an image from the hotel's website:

Off to the side was cereal, tea, yogurt, compote (applesauce), and nutella. One of the staff came around and served coffee and juice. After three weeks of camp atmosphere, this was incredibly refreshing, even though it continued the carbo-load I've become accustomed to.

Curry and Ozzy and I had a free day on Saturday before meeting the kids at the train station Sunday morning. We hit up a market in Vincennes in the morning, and Ozzy wanted to visit Montmarte, a neighborhood you might recognize from the film Amelie. Curry, from a town close to the camp, had only visited Paris once as a child, so everything was a new experience for her ("I miss my countryside," she constantly said.) 

Curry, Ozzy, et moi in Montmartre

After Montmarte we went shopping on the Champs-Elysees. I'm trying to save my money but ended up buying a t-shirt from the United Colors of Benetton, a dress from H&M, and my prize purchase, a pair of Bensimon shoes. It seems like almost every camper had a pair of these shoes, and I really wanted a pair- fortunately I came across some at a cute shop in Vincennes while we were searching for dinner:

My first pair of Ben Simons!

A photo posted by Sophie Wallerstedt (@sophiewalle) on Jul 18, 2015 at 11:07pm PDT

On Sunday, we convoyaged back to Miramont without much issue. We have four new counselors: T-Bone, Hemingway, Bubbles, and Cliff. I've switched from being an ESL teacher to an activities counselor, and I'm enjoying the change. On the first day we played Capture the Flag, and man those new kids are competitive! Their level of English overall is not as high as those from the last session, but they seem much more "into camp," so I'm pumped about that.

The weather is still hot and sunny, but this morning it's been uncharacteristically cloudy and drizzly. It's my day off, so I think I'll go on a hike and take some pictures for you all!


Sophie