Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 8 - Sun 16th August

• Skip and Peter went to get the bread at 8am. Breakfast was the usual - cereal, milk, bread, jam, juice.
• We struck camp and loaded the minibus. There were lots of goodbyes and scarf swapping.
• We left around 12 noon to set off to Dieppe for the ferry.
• After a brief stop at a service area for a picnic lunch, we arrived at Dieppe at 4.15pm.
• The ferry sailed at 6pm and ran to time so we were on the road at Newhaven by 9pm.
• We arrived back at Cuffley station with very tired Scouts just after 11pm, having had a very enjoyable French experience.
• Monday - unpacking, putting away, washing the minibus and returning it, catching up on life and washing etc.

Submitted by Diane

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 7 - Sat 15th August

• Breakfast was late (10am) following the fire vigil
• James was invested making the French promise followed by the English version.
• We all went to Argentan for a spot of shopping and lunch out
• Back at the camp site there was lots of tidying up to do - much of the French camp had already been dismantled (most of it was from natural materials) so only the tents and the dining area remained. Axel was to take all possible kit back to Franconville/Argenteuil in the trailer that night.
• We erected a temporary toilet screen and an extra tent (we had a spare) and produced a water container to use overnight.
• Marie-Therese and her husband Jean arrived about 7pm to stay for the night. She is the equivalent of our District Commissioner. She bought the barbecue food with her!
• All unwanted wood was returned to the forested area.
• The Scouts lit a fire for barbecuing the evening meal, but it was too big by far and took ages to die down to embers. Dinner was served at about 10.45pm - sausages, potatoes, pork, banana with chocolate, french bread and eggs baked on sticks - a feast!
• Everyone was in high spirits and bedtime was after midnight.

Submitted by Diane

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 6 - Fri 14th August

• The French Scouts prepared breakfast.
• Today was the canoeing and walking activity. We were to canoe to Putanges, have lunch there and hike back to the site.
• The canoes were delivered to the slipway just up the path from the campsite. Daysacks with changes of clothes and shoes were packed into waterproof containers which were tied onto the canoes.
• The canoeing route was along the River L'Orne to Putanges which turned out to be 7km and took nearly four and a half hours. The river was quite shallow in places and congested with fallen trees and branches and rocks. There were many opportunities to run aground and much time spent in the water freeing the canoes or pushing them through the worst parts. The river was, however, quite pretty and we encountered several weirs and mini-rapids.
• We lunched at Putanges in a field next to the river. Bread, cheese, chicken nuggets, juice and fruit cocktail (in fingers). Everyone dried out in the sun and changed for the return journey.
• The hike back to the campsite was a bit over 4km and it was very hot!
• Dinner was prepared by the Scouts - meat cutlets, carrots in sauce, cucumber salad, malt loaf, "chugging" desserts - and served very late in the dark.
• 11pm - 8am was an all night event of keeping the fire going as per Baden-Powell. Scouts chose half hour slots to sit with leaders (who did an hour or an hour and a half each), keep the fire going, eat goodies and chat about things. Certainly a different way to spend a night!
  

Submitted by Diane

The "Exploration" - an observation

• Awoke
• Ate
• Had photos taken
• Started hike
• Walked up a hilly bit
• Saw and smelt some evil-smelling cows
• Some boys caught up with us but we soon went our separate ways
• Walked more
• Took a wrong turn and went round in a big circle
• Went the right way
• Walked some more
• Saw some pretty broken glass
• Got to village but big shop was closed
• Waited by river
• Went to shop and bought food and drink & nutritious and delicious sweets
• Ate lunch by the river
• Sat around for ages
• Saw English boys and adults
• Went to loo (blimey, plumbing!)
• Carried on with hike
• Walked some more
• Rested a bit at intervals
• Asked for water
• Saw a paintballing sign
• Walked a bit more until we reached our final destination
• Put our stuff in the tent which had already been put up for us
• The adult-type people came to see us
• Inspected our bag of nutrition, talked to us for a bit and the left in the Scout-mobile
• Ate dinner of sausage, crabsticks & tuna and sweetcorn salad - mmm yummy!
• Went on the concrete foundation bit to play Britain/France has got talent whilst eating Smurfs (Jessica liked them!!!...)
• Went to tent after a quick round of hokey-cokeying
• Chatted and ate some sweets for a bit
• Went to sleep
• Concludes day one of 'the hike'
• Woke up and lay around for a bit
• Dressed and packed-up before breakfast
• Had breakfast of brioche and chocolate spread and orange juice to drink
• Went to the toilet so wouldn't have to burst on the road when walking
• Said goodbye to the lady who we were staying with and were given food
• Went off on our merry way
• Walked very fast and covered much distance in little time
• Stopped to ask many people for water
• Had to go back as had taken wrong turn, but never mind
• Walked, had a lovely lunch of everything we had left
• Walked some more, had a snack (in a Pique-Nique area)
• Saw many English people
• Arrived back at camp singing a song about something

By Elizabeth Sartori, Patrol Leader, Kestrel Patrol

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 5 - Thurs 13th August

• New air-conditioned toilet facilities were commissioned for the male campers, with ensuite hand wash. Coupled with the 'power shower' hoses just up the lane at the local water mill - what more could you want ?
• Lunch was prepared by the French leaders - Croque Monsieur.
• The Patrols were to be back at 4.30pm or soon after. The first team arrived just before 4.30pm and waited to enter the campsite. The girls arrived next, followed by the second boys team.
• The dinner was a special dish- Tartiflette - served in the Alps to hungry skiers, this was designed to fill up the hikers and help them to sleep. It consisted of onions, potatoes, pancetta, creme fraiche and reblochon cheese.
• The Patrols prepared presentations of their experiences on the 'exploration' and delivered these to the audience around the fires.
• The Cuffley Scouts performed a couple of camp fire stunts (not to be outdone!)

Submitted by Diane

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 4 - Weds 12th August

• The Leaders prepared breakfast while the scouts got ready for the 'exploration'.
• After breakfast, the Scouts presented the kits they were to carry to the leaders for inspection. The leaders were checking the weight and contents to make sure they were manageable.
• The older scouts then departed on their overnight adventure and the young-ones and the poor old English leaders left on a special mission!
• They explored part of Argentan, a town nearby, and Putanges-pont-Ecripes the closest (small) town to the campsite. Here we bumped into the girls having their lunch.
• On returning to the site, the younger scouts took to the river, again.
• Skip and Diane went out to check on the girls team at their overnight destination with the French Leaders. Peter remained with the younger scouts to barbecue their evening meal and bake potatoes.
• The evening closed with songs around the fire and a summary of the day.

Submitted by Diane

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 3 - Tues 11 th August

• Woke up to heavy rain - Oh joy unbounded!
• Bread was purchased from a local bakery in Putanges - but the guys did not meet the baker's daughter!
• The Patrols submitted their shopping lists and continued planning for the cooking competition; the leader's drew up their menu, too.
• The cooking competition took place over lunchtime and was judged by four 'out of space' characters. The meal was entree, main course and pudding. Each course was judged separately so the process took quite a long time.
• Each patrol welcomed their guests and entertained them with music, singing, dancing and other frivolities.
• Each Patrol 'won' a course and the girls won the 'animation' (entertainment).
• The three Patrol Leaders went off with two leaders to arrange overnight camping sites for the 'exploration', an overnight hiking expedition in the local area to be completed over Wednesday and Thursday.
• There was more swimming and rope bridge crossing and showers.
• The centrally cooked dinner was tagliatelle carbonara - very successful and seconds all round.
• Then the Patrols sat down to plan the 'exploration'. They had arranged their destinations for the overnight stop so planned the routes. This was interesting in French and English!
• The three younger Cuffley Scouts were excluded from the exploration because of their ages (under 12) and so went off with a leader and flaming torches to explore the hillside.
• The sky was particularly clear and much star gazing ensued.
• Another leaders' meeting reflected on the positives and negatives of the day.

Submitted by Diane

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 2 - Mon 10th August

• Breakfast was prepared by the girl scouts; one boy's team washed up. We had cereal, bread and jam, juice and milk.
• The morning was spent working around the site. The boys needed to finalise their dining areas and the central 'table' area needed covers erecting to provide shelter.
• The three Patrols (teams) cooked lunch . They were given lamb chops, cous cous, beetroot, bananas and creme caramels to prepare and serve. The Patrols invited leaders to eat with them. The creme caramels provided an extravaganza of pudding eating and there was a competition to eat 3 biscuits in one minute!
• In the afternoon, plans were made for the cooking competition that was to be held on Tuesday. Skip and Peter organised some games which everyone enjoyed (crossfire, rupture cone with water carriers, and 'Lamb')
• The scouts all went for a swim in the river, attempted to cross the monkey bridge and then showered in the temporary camp shower.
• Guillaume and Bastien made the camp oven.
• After dinner, there was a wide game based on Battleships with a fire cracker finale.
• Skip turned his 'uncle'.
• At the leaders' meeting there was a summary of positive and negative points for the day.

Submitted by Diane

Camp with the Franconville Scouts - Day 1 - Sun 9th August

• Early start just after 5am! The packing of the van was done on Saturday.
• We drove to Newhaven to catch the ferry to Dieppe. The crossing was to take four hours.
• From Dieppe, there was a three and a half hour drive to Giels-Corteilles in Normandy where we were to meet our hosts.
• We found the Giel-don Bosco Agricutural College but NO SCOUTS! They were tucked away at the far side of the site.
• The camp site was lovely, a flat plateau next to the River L'Orne.
• There were three French Patrols, two of boys and one girls. Our three boys pitched their tent alongside one of the boys' patrol's and the girls set-up alongside the girls patrol.
• There were fifteen French Scouts and four leaders; we had six scouts and three leaders.
• The evening meal was cooked by the boys, washed up by the girls and was followed by a wide game in the woods above the site.
• The wide game involved a walk with incidents which included riddles and puzzles to be solved by the Scouts. The second hidden person and incident were not found and we returned to camp, rather late and feeling tired.
• Our hosts were from Argenteuil and the Group is linked with Franconville, the town twinned with Potters Bar. They are a Catholic Group and one of the leaders has links with the College.
• The camp was fairly 'basic' using natural materials where possible. The dining shelters, tables and seats were all made from wood and the cooking was all being done on French-style altar fires.
• There were en suite natural air conditioned 'stargazer' toilet facilities, too.

Submitted by Diane

Franconville - Town twinning 8th - 10th May

Day 1
We met at Crews Hill station at 8:00am, then got on the train and headed for Kings Cross. When we arrived, we went through some security checks, then rushed to our platform and boarded the Eurostar, heading for Gare du Nord. On the way there, Skip was introduced to Nintendogs on Nintendo DS. We talked a lot and did crosswords and Sudokus, and Skip “made friends” with some ladies who were sitting opposite him. It was great fun. But there was a lot more to come!

When we reached Gare du Nord, we met our hosts, it appeared that Skip was staying with one family, and Emily and I with the other. Unfortunately, neither of us knew much French, and the families did not know much English, but luckily Skip was there to translate. We got on yet another train, with our hosts, to Paris, where we spent the rest of the afternoon. We visited lots of monuments, including the Notre Dame Cathedral, a crypt and generally just wandering the streets, where we bought some lovely souvenirs. We were going to go up the Eiffel Tower, but unfortunately the top floor was closed, so we gave it a miss.

We then travelled back to our hosts houses on a Double-Decker train, had a laugh about whether it was best to say ‘Comment t’appelles- tu’ or ‘Comment tu t’appelles’, and got to know some of the people we would be staying with. Everyone was invited back to the house where Emily and I would be staying for dinner. After that we went straight to bed. We’d had a long day of walking and our feet were aching and sore.

Day 2
Emily and I did not have a very good sleep - there was only one double blanket and it was not very big. We got up and had breakfast; chocolate milk, bread and toast and we met their guinea- pig, whose name was Chocolat! We spent most of the day at a castle called ‘Chateau de Versailles’, on the outskirts of Paris. In the garden there were trees and grass as far as the eye could see; there was even a boating lake! It was absolutely beautiful and Skip bought us all huge ice-creams too which were really nice. We went bowling that night, and Skip thrashed us all! I was rubbish, but afterwards we played air hockey and table football and I was better at that.

We went back to Skip’s hosts’ flat and they had set out delicacies on plates, I didn't really like the look of any of them, but I had to be polite and eat some. I ate some bread and potatoes and a few tomatoes, which I liked, then I decided to be brave and tried some spiced ham which I really didn't like. There were a few more things like asparagus and cooked tomatoes absolutely smothered in garlic, which I couldn't eat either. Skip encouraged us to eat this “sausage” which looked rather questionable , and we persuaded him to not to tell us what it was as we thought saying it might put us off our dinner. We found out afterwards it was intestines, yum!

Day 3
We went to a big theatre where the mayor of Franconville recited his speech, followed by some little girls doing a flower fairy dance. Then the mayor of Viernheim read his speech in German, with a bit of French and English, when he had finished, we saw some clowns doing an act involving a piano, which was really funny. Finally a letter by the Mayor of Potters Bar was read by the Chairman of the Potters Bar Twinning Committee, after which there were some more dancers. Afterwards, we had a lovely lunch in the large theatre auditorium and we made friends with a friendly German schoolboy who spoke very good English.

We then travelled to a nearby Scout HQ with our hosts, where some younger French Cubs were mixing up some mud and water. They were so dirty and their uniforms were splattered with it. Apparently they were making the base of an altar fire, a type fire which is set on an elevated base, so that the ground underneath is protected.

After saying goodbye to everyone, we got our bags and left for the station. We got on the Eurostar and a short time later we were back in “sunny” England. Overall I’d say it was a brilliant trip and I would love to do it all over again! I am certainly looking forward to the opportunity to take part in the joint camps that we have planned for the future months.

By Becky Harvey, Patrol Leader of the Eagle Patrol