Bonjour!

It's time to catch y'all up on week 6/19-6/23!

6/19

Nico and I were a team at this camp. We had an hour and half long English class at 11am each day and a cooking class at 3pm each day. Between classes we helped with games and set up for the next activities. The theme of this camp was "ballerina." Four beautiful Mexican girls flew into Paris to be the camp counselors! Their energy was contagious and they really made the camp so much fun for the girls. Each day the girls watched a movie called "Ballerina." It's about a young French orphan who is from Brittany who dreams of being a dancer at the famous Opera Garnier in Paris. The movie then led us to actually visiting the Opera house.

Our first English class was spent getting to know the girls! We instructed them to draw a portrait of themselves and tell us about them in English. Here are a few!

Lourdes, the consecrated woman running the camp, suggested that we come up with something very simple to have the girls cook or bake. We decided on chocolate chip cookies. Let's just say each day got better. The first day...we'll see for yourself.

The girls watching Ballerina.

Our gracious host Aline was so kind. She spoke very little French, but wanted to teach us. We also helped her a little with her English.

The first night she made us a homemade quiche with salad, bread of course, and wine.

6/20

We woke up to a traditional French breakfast set out by Aline! Bread, jam, and fruit!

Our street.

Nico doing what he does best! The girls loved him!

On the second day we walked to the Trocadero to picnic under the Eiffle Tower.

Cookies were so much better! The girls went crazy for the cookies. Literally every time the girls saw us, they screamed "ZE COOKIES?!" 🍪

We were so tired we couldn't imagine walking 30+ minutes home. So we finally decided to take the Metro. The first time ever since we've been in France. We were a little upset we didn't work up the courage to do it sooner. It was so easy and not scary at all, just a little stinky.

6/21

On the third day we returned to Palais Garnier. We were so excited to see it again with an actual tour guide. We also got to go inside and sit.

6/22

On the fourth day it was back to the same schedule! We decided we needed to go out. Aline lived near the Statue of Liberty and that was something we haven't checked off the list yet! We had a delicious dinner and I discovered my new favorite summer beer!

As we were walking towards he the Statue of Liberty we started to hear very loud music. We also saw a bunch of young people walking around with beer and clear water bottles filled with everything but water.

As we made our way below the street we discovered a rave! It was seriously so much fun. Some of the best people watching experiences we ever had in Paris. Little did we know we were experiencing La Fête de la Musique. It's a street music festival held every June 21st in Paris, and is supposedly one of the year's most popular events. We stayed there for a few hours, drinking, dancing, and people watching!

6/23

It was out last day at the camp and our second to last day in Paris for a few weeks.

We loved the time spent with all of these girls! We are so happy we had the chance to help them learn a little more English than they already new and make a lot of cookies. The last day was long and most of it was spent preparing their play and dance they had to present their parents. All in english!

It was our job to help them with pronunciation.

It was adorable.

Afterwards the parents came up to us and thanked us for helping their girls during the camp and that the girls really loved having us as their teachers! A proud moment!

After camp we met with another couple who were also in Paris celebrating their anniversary! We met at the riverboat bar for a few drinks.

Here are a few pictures of our walk to meet our new friends!