Hard to wake up everyone this morning. On our way to the Eiffel tower early via the metro. Immediately, Annie’s team found a way to make it fun by making a train to stay together and singing songs. Fairly quiet. The French are all on holiday!! So we got to the pilier sud where only the brave soul taking the stairs go. Yeah, no line up. The kids are a bit suspicious. The girls are line up thinking they’re going to race so they line up, Andréanne right behind them. After a few flights, the running subsided. Once we reached the 1st floor, the boys started to take it seriously and the real race began. Guillaume was first at the 2nd floor beating Marc-Andre by half a second, followed closely by Evan and Theo. The first girls made their entrance: Lauren, Remylee and Megan. Good job!

Up we go to the top floor by elevator. Much faster. The view was fantastic and everyone was spotting landmarks and taking pictures. We then walked (again) to the Musee Rodin walking past the Invalides. More pictures. We had great discussions about Rodin’s life, how he sculpted and his work. But the kids just can not walk anymore. So we took the metro to the Champs Elises and had lunch in a cafe there and walked (again) to the arc the triomphe. Caleigh is in heaven, we walk by a Louis Vutton, Daniel is weeping, he is so happy. Back to the hotel be metro again… Getting much busier , now they understand why I was making so many rules! Some of the girls still have shopping to do. What will we do? But it is he 14th of July. Not everything is open! Meanwhile, Christine and Annie have stolen Yago’s toque and the running gag runs all day. Now Andréanne is in it too. Thank god I am there to be the serious one . He finally gets it back one hour before being picked up after much teasing and story telling. We are sad to see some of the campers go and there is lots of hugging etc… Got to pack, take our showers now before we leave for the fireworks as we are being picked up at 5:30am tomorrow. Be warned, they are all planning on sleeping and relaxing when they get home and please NO BAGUETTE!

Well today the kids felt very special. They realized the importance of reservations in Paris. Off to the Louvres by foot early, a good 25 minutes walk on Rivoli. We arrived at the pyramid and saw the mile long line up. Made a bee line to the group entrance and went right in! Way cool!
The guide tried very hard to make them understand the importance of looking at the masterpiece PRIOR to taking pictures. As she said, if you want pictures of the paintings, there are professional ones on the internet. You want to take the time to see them with your own eyes. It was like they were under marching orders to take lots of pictures. I blamed the parents .
She was incredibly interesting explaining the foundation of the “palais” as we walked underneath, then sculptures from the antiquities, ” the Venus of Milo” and the ” Victoire de Samothrace” followed by the paintings from the renaissance and of course the Mona Lisa. Boy was that hard to listen to her and THEN take pictures. What a crowd! The guide felt very relaxed letting the kids loose to take their pictures from different angles but I cringed until they were all back!
Off to the Orangerie by way of the Jardin des Tuileries. Despite the gray and chilly day, we made it without getting wet.
Again the long line up that we avoid, it is almost embarrassing!
We had the opportunity to gaze at the Nympheas by Monet in the specially made rooms. Then downstairs to the collection of Paul Guillaume which included some Renoir, Picasso, Degas and Gauguin who we heard of in Arles. The campers are starting to make connections. Some were walking straight and taking pictures of random paintings but we asked them to take the time to read at least some labels and give us at least the name of one painter that they liked. So now they had to think . I am convinced that in time, they will remember some of them.
Back to the Notre-Dame cathedral but not before having sample HUGE hot dogs. The French even make those in baguettes!
Now this was another HUGE line up and we went right in. We got lots of dirty looks. Did we know there were this many stairs?
The gargoyles are the biggest hit and no one worried about the height.
Next stop kwashiorkor down the crypt of the cathedral where we could see vestiges of he roman era, the medieval times and the contemporary. It was interesting but not enough to keep Daniel from falling asleep. Those kids are tired, and wait after tomorrow. Better not planned anything big Friday night.
We ended the day with a shopping spree around the cathedral, a yummy crêpe and a roller blading show by street performers. The fire juggler was shut down by the police… Too dangerous…. What is happening in Paris!!!
Going over the metro closures tomorrow for the July 14th celebration.
Another big day coming up!!

Made it safely to Paris and even had burgers and fries for lunch. Is this heaven or what. Lewis managed to stay awake the whole drive and steered us well. We lost Annie and Christine for a bit but with the power of their GPS and their incredible skill at U turns, they found the MIJE!!!
The kids love the decor of the historic residence and even more the feeling of being in the middle of everything.
During dinner, Christine and Annie were reminiscing and really reciting all the lines of the movie “Guerre Des Tuques” to the dismay of Alex, Yago, Eitan and Guillaume. At one point, they were laughing so hard, the boys were cracking up just from looking at them. Quite the spectacle!
Off we go to the Centre Pompidou but wait there are souvenir shops on the way. Martine showed them to power of bulk buying and the art of bargaining. Never pay ticket price. Yago is waiting for his tshirts to get a better price and Lauren and Mia are surveying to see who else wants to get a Paris sweatshirt. Watch out tomorrow night, we are shoooopping. Except for a few that have ran out of money, “but but I don’t think I bought anything! How can that be?”
We were all in agreement that pompidou really is not the nicest place in France but the fountain was kind of neat! There were no street entertainers so… You guessed it, Kamil danced! Andréanne was singing and Christine was dancing with the kids. Couldn’t get Daniel to boogie… All talk!
On our way to get the Glaces Berthillon. Annie couldn’t wait and was jumping up and down when Martine told her to order first. All the kids ordered one… What? Are you really going to order a vanilla? Eitan went for coconut, Mia for cassis and Carson for black chocolate etc… Yummy ! As a bonus we had an accordionist at the corner of the street by the bridge playing old French songs, soooo Christine was waltzing with alex! We are too busy checking out the fisherman and eating!
On our walk back, could it be Carson relating a long story to Marc-Andre in French? And Theo explaining life in thunder bay to Louise in French? And Lewis debating the best video game with Kamil in French? And Evan arguing with Guillaume the Frenchy in French?
You might say, they saw me or heard me coming but even if that is the case, the transition to French was very smooth, undetectable! That is nice to hear.
Wait Christine was leading us to another u-turn? This time on foot… She just loves those!!! Andréanne is taking over!!
Blake thinks this is the nicest AJ we have been in so far. Good. Best of all, we are right by the Seine and we got to walk to the Ile st-Louis tonight and can walk to the Louvre tomorrow, the cathedral etc… Cross your fingers that it does not rain!
I think all is quiet. Off to bed. Got a few very busy days ahead.

All I can say is that the French have a different definition of a beginner circuit for a via ferrata. That was one hard climb with a beautiful view of the Mont Blanc but no time to take pictures. Both hands on deck. I am incredibly amazed at our boys and girls who gathered their courage and marched on without complaints. A lot of Oh My God by Mia and Caleigh but that is nothing new . 3 special mentions:
Nicholas was incredibly helpful to the hikers following him and particularly Jackie guiding her to find where to put her feet and hands. He really impressed the guide.
Another mention to Yago who encouraged and helped Daniel who followed him and was quite reluctant and afraid of the process.
Last special mention to Alex who helped both Theo in front of him both with his “moustiquet” and his feet placement as well as guiding Blake behind him.
Kudos to all 3.

Erika chose to stay behind with Christine. Good for her to have the maturity to make that decision. Off to
making bracelet:)
Louise, despite being hesitant, decided to go for it and after passing the bridge (scaryyyyy), she really enjoyed herself as she was singing with Annie to relax herself. Lewis was behind just plugging along very concentrated and helping Eitan who was a bit under the weather but insisting on going.
Megan was the last of her group and carried the end of the rope. She looked like a fish in water and really helped Lauren who struggled in front of her. The guide was really impressed with Evan who had no fear. He was right into it between Carson, who filmed the whole thing and loved it, and Marc-Andre who was in front and both helping him. Remylee and Maryam were closing the group with Martine and were very brave looking at the view regularly. And can you believe that Kamil finished it. As Blake said, this is a once in a lifetime experience. You do it once and then never again!

The saint-Bernard were a huge hit. All 17 of them. The owner explained to the kids the history of these dogs from where they came from (Doc of Tibet) to why and when they were used for rescue. The reason why there are long hair and short hair ones as well as their personality and nature. We met their biggest one who weighed in at 92kg and their oldest one who is deaf at 13 which corresponds to 130 in human years.
Back to the hostel for an evening of free time which automatically means the beauty parlor is open. Watch out, they have their eyes set on Blake’s hair!
The boys are playing pool and then football, love the outdoors here. The teenagers are catching up on their sleep. Surprise surprise surprise.
Off to Paris tomorrow, Lewis is guiding us in!

Heading to l’aiguille du midi this morning, some kids definitely did not pack according to the list. What do you mean you do not have pants? Or a hat? Or a windbreaker? Yikes.
Quite warm down in Chamonix so there were a lot of skeptic, but you’ll see!
They were freezing at the top as you can see from the pictures. Nice to see them huddle together as ifnthey knew each other for years! But the view was breathtaking. Definitely worth the drive.
Down we went to the Mer the Glaces via the quaint train. Did Yago really fall asleep on the shoulder of a stranger? I am very social he says. Really? 350 stairs down and then back up. Training for the Eiffel tower! Lots of neat information concerning the ever moving level of the glacier.

I got a great compliment today. Louise asked me what day it was today. I told her Sunday and asked if that was good or bad. She said it was OK. Blake who was nearbyand said it was bad because there were only 4 days left. I told him he was lucky since his parents were meeting him here to go to italy. Yeah but camp is way more fun…ahhh what a nice kid
We had dinner at the Sanjon a typical “savoyard” restaurant meaning lots of cheese. The ambience was great and the cheese fondue was excellent. Several kids tried the ” croute savoyard” as an appetizer. Blake absolutely loved it… It was his most favorite dish and came over to reiterate it several times. Caleigh basically licked the plate. Mom I have the recipe if you want it. At the end of the meal, the kids came over to sing me happy birthday and gave me a beautiful necklace with my name on it that they had found in Cassis, the girls of course, how incredibly thoughtful. Alex and marc-andre tried to take credit. Sorry guys you still have work to do.
At the restaurant, we refused to help them with finding the bathrooms so they had to ask for help to the staff. Carson was first and that did not phase him at all. They are fearless with their French now. Is that lewis laughing so hard? Marc-Andre is apparently hilarious. Please take a breath!
We had 90 minutes of shopping before dinner and all made their purchase on their own without a problem. Nicholas and Carson are disgusted with the prices of the lacoste and such. Should it not be cheaper here? Who told you that? Oh wait now Daniel is dancing in the street!
The confidence they have developed is great to see. Theoren and Yago who we barely heard at the beginning of the trip and now pipping up. Boy are they funny. Theo seems to be friend with everybody and Yago now has actual conversations with the counselors. In French that is. He treated us to a little concert with glasses of water that Daniel was happy to provide at different levels so the sound was different. Quite entertaining. Oh wait Kamil is dancing again ! And Maryam has to live with that, imagine! Marc-Andre keeps checking the coffee level of the counselors. Did We get refill? Not fair! Can’t wait to go back to play.
The whole group is acting as one big family and that’s my favorite part of the trip. Is that Evan again teasing Guillaume on the way back to the van? Apparently oblivious to the fact that Guillaume is twice his size, but a gentle giant. And there is Blake so content with his meal he is skipping back to the van.
Again a big football game with the 10 boys when we returned from dinner but this time Alex joined them for a little football 101. The boys could not be happier. It is like the big brother hanging with them. Eitan who normally would have joined them is under the weather. Does Annie really want me to gargle with salt water? Do I have to? He is an incredibly patient and a gentle boy. On the girl side, Mia is the mother hen, her and Maryam spent 30 minutes straightening Lauren’s hair yesterday and tonight prettying up all the girls for our night out. They looked great. Louise and Lauren have sparkly nails and Lauren did martine’s nails for her birthday. Orange for tournesol. Jackie is sporting cute make up as is Megan. Quite the beauty parlor. Is that Erika laughing again oh wait she is crying she is laughing so hard. Remylee is still smiling, that smile is always there! Meanwhile Daniel did Evan’s hair… Cool style! The girls all think he is so cute.

All and all a great evening and a great day. Who needs Paris!

Well this was a hooooot day. It went up to 35 degree. Our guide at the Baux was super interesting. A linguist by training, he spent time explaining to the children the origin of several words and expressions that we use now. Such as “set the table” or “mettre la table” which comes from medieval time when the nobles moved from one of their castles to their other and camped on the way. They then had their servants “set the table” by placing 2 legs and setting the board on top. Therefore setting the table. Or the word “Provence” which comes from 2 latin words that the roman used to describe the region as it was the first region they conquered or in french the “premier vaincu” which derived from the latin words that sound like Provence.
He also explained how the people of that time used their right hand to eat but never their left because the right hand was for what went into your body and the left one to take care of what came out of your body. Therefore being a lefty was very bad. Lots of disgusted look on that one. And it went on and on. Truly fascinating. The launching of the catapults was very entertaining as were the eagles. Everyone who wanted to, got to try archery and I took a picture of everyone.
Everyone was quite happy to take refuge in the air conditioned van and so we said good bye to the south of France and packed our bathing suits at the bottom of the suitcase. Off to Chamonix. Lots of coffee for the drivers!!
Since leaving Nice, Nicholas and Lewis have been taking turn navigating for the lead van and doing a fantastic job of it. The girls are too busy chatting. Today Lewis took over and was fantastic. He was thoroughly disgusted with the GPS that could not follow us as we turned on the way up the Alps. Is that really the road turning 360? Do I really have to follow that? Dont look down! Andréanne and Christine were wondering what they signed up for! the view is breathtaking but don’t look! Remylee and Louise now have their favorite French song as they heard them often enough on the radio! Mia must have made 15 gimp bracelets. Quite the production in the back seat!

Finally we are here. It is now pouring rain, but our guide is assuring us that we can go up tomorrow but earlier as they apparently have weather forecast they can actually trust here and he knows that the storm will come at 11 and he wants us to be able to see well before the clouds come. We’ll see!!

This was a fantastic day as you can see from the pictures. It is great to see halfway through the trip how everyone is getting comfortable with everyone. Boys and girls are finally mixing at the tables for meals!
We started our day with a very interesting visit to the Manade Blanc where we witnessed the work of the guardian as they separated bulls. Mr Blanc explained the life on a manade and the culture of rice. We sampled a very savory bull stew, specialty of the region cooked by his wife. Several boys wanted me to give their mom the recipe, particularly Eitan! Mr Alain, who was our driver of the tractor, a retired bull worker, delighted us with his stories. It was priceless when he decided to explain to the boys the method of castration of the bull. Alex tried to stop him as he did not think he could handle it. Eitan’s face was worth the price of admission and all the other boys gathered when they started realizing what was being discussed. Giggles and yikes were on and on. He showed us some great pictures of the courses also.
Off we went to Arles and the interesting life of Van Gogh. Wait Lauren has to go to the toilet for the 5th time. Caleigh is coaching her on techniques to hold it! Wait Kamil is dancing again. What an entertainer! Why is it that Evan is the smallest and has the biggest back pack and Mia is the tallest and has the smallest one?
We invested on after sun lotion today. It appears that Maryam’s sunscreen was not strong enough. Even though we all applied it regularly yesterday, we are all looking for shade today! Pierrette, our local guide was very lively and entertaining, delighting us with stories on the life of van Gogh and showing us cafes and view of the Rhone that he painted. We are actually standing in the street looking at the real version of the picture! so was he or was he not crazy? Now we know the story of the ear that he cut, the left one by the way.
She also spoke of the amazing roman history of that town. A few years ago, they discovered in the Rhone a bust of Julius Cesar dating of 4BC that is now on display in the Museum. We are standing besides the Roman “Thermes” or spas dating back to the 4th century.
Off to the roman arena and the courses carmaguaises. We were warned by the locals that today is a junior race and so not as spectacular as the man were in training, some as young as 16. Well I don’t think we could survive a “big” race. Remylee could not stop screaming as did Annie and Christine while the gang of grade 7 boys were cheering the bulls and the ” raseteurs”. Nicholas even convinced one of them to come high five the boys as we were on the first row. The girls could not have been more disgusted with the “violence”. Mia and Lauren do not like it. Alex, Eitan and Yago are so into it. We have not seen Yago laugh and smile so much since the canyoning. They do not want it to end!
There was a bull who jumped the first fence right in front of us. I thought my heart stopped. Nobody else seemed to care! Marc-andre wants to know if he can practice that sport in Canada, it looks so fun. Absolutely not. 6 bulls took turn in all and the boys have their favorites. Some of the boys were given one of the “gland” that was captured as a memento by the trainer. Yeah!
That was an experience unlike anything else.

Back home for a relaxing evening and our last night in Arles and hotels with TV more importantly so we need to take advantage of that. Annie is watching bocce ball tournament!
Off to the mountains tomorrow after the Baux de Provence. Who will stay awake for the 5 hours drive? Hopefully the drivers:). So I need to go to sleep!