Camp Journal
Green & Yellow Groups: Parc Aventure
18th July 2021
Today the greens and yellows all spent the day at Parc Aventure. The campers enjoyed swinging through the forrest’s skyline and pushing themselves to the limit with their agility and balance. Matthew whizzed around the high ropes whilst Sasha and Jasmine developed a newfound love for climbing. Louise and Jojo pushes themselves and did the climbing wall and tried the drop. The campers also completed a language test and will start their lessons tomorrow.
– Floriane Day
“And I will walk 500 miles!”
17th July 2021
Today our campers had the most tremendous day hiking to FRANCE ! What a day they had going up chair lifts and hiking to their hearts content.
Today was also the new arrival day, which stirred up some excitement between campers that are staying and staff. Campers have had the opportunity to mingle and get to know the new arrivals, which is all extremely exciting! Tonight the campers will be introduced to a number of team building activities and ice breakers to get everybody chatting and introduced to new cultures and ways of life.
– Lauren, Group Leader
Red & Blue Groups: Aigle Pool!
16th July 2021
The reds and blues really embodied the true meaning of the phrase ‘rise and shine’ as they sprung out of bed this morning ready to take on their last day at Camp suisse. Nutella was devoured at breakfast and a movie spectatle was watched as campers steadily started to say their fair-wells after a fantabulous weeks at Camp. Julien, Aiden, Mircea and David stunned us all with a last match of ultimate frisbee as they killed It on the patinoire like true athletes ready for olympic victory.
Excitement filled the camp as the remaining campers boarded the coach to travel to the fabulously exotic destination of aigle pool for a splash-tastic day of fun and games. With a water-side climbing wall, zip- wire, restaurant, shop and Two stunningly jaw dropping pools, there is really nothing that aigle pool doesnt offer.
Mia zip-wired into the pool like a shooting star zipping accross the night sky before swimming more impressively than Michael phelps accross the state of the art pool. Equally, Elena, Flavia, carla and victoria flew down the wonderful Water- slide making rubber ring sliding an olympic sport. Tom daly would be put to shame by the mighty Juan’s incredibly mind- boggling flips off the diving board into the pool whilst awesome Alice put the definition of Water baby into Oxford english dictionary.
All in all a fabulous day was had by all and we are so proud of our incredible reds and blues !
– Beatrice Palmer, Group Leader
Green & Yellow Groups: Prepping for Prom!
15th July 2021
The greens and yellows spent another great day at camp. With the rainy weather persisting, they spent the morning either on the climbing wall with Shane, making friendship bracelets and prom decorations with Hannah, or inventing ping pong trick shots (Rube Goldberg style) with Cian.
Simona and Rea were particularly inventive with the trick shots, and we managed to get many successful shots filmed!
After some lunch, the green group set off from the centre to Torgon suspension bridge! Though the weather was not perfect, spirits remained high as Jasmine conquered her fear of heights- cheered on by the rest of the green campers.
Back at camp, the yellows enjoyed a competitive game of 5-a-side football.
The greens and yellows reunited for a lively game of bench hockey, where sticks were clashing and balls were flying! The clear stars of the game were Ombeline and Dannika- defending their benches dutifully, and scoring with skill and precision!
The campers then packed their bags and put on their best clothes ready for prom night- we are looking forward to a brilliant final night ahead, Hawaiian style!
– Mary Brown, Group Leader
Red & Blue Groups: Camping Trip 🏕🔥
After a hearty breakfast the reds and blues trekked down the muddy mountain this morning. Encouraged with songs from Katy and Bea, the group were in good spirits, enjoying the scenery all along the way. Paolo led the way with his walking stick, acquired yesterday, and Cali jumped bravely over several puddles. Arriving shortly before lunch, it was time for a hot shower and hot chocolate.
The afternoon was filled with games, movies, and excitement for our Hawaii-themed prom this evening! The PCL team have been making decorations all week and the catering staff are prepping a delicious meal. Anticipation is high as the campers get themselves ready for the most hotly awaited night of session one!
– Hugh Duffy, Group Leader
Green & Yellow Groups: Olympic Museum
14th July 2021
Today the Greens and Yellows made the journey to Lausanne, ‘The Capital of the Olympics’. The campers got to visit the International Olympic Museum which was very exciting! There was so much interesting exhibits from the origins of the ancient Greek Olympics to the importance of Sports Manga (Japanese comics). There was also plenty of interactive games to test our sports skills and many ways to see how Olympic athletes push themselves to the maximum of human ability. Of course it was Ana’s birthday yesterday and celebrations were had all together in the local restaurant, Caprins. All in all, a fun and educational day was had by all the campers!
– Sam Kelly, Group Leader
Green & Yellow Groups: Art Jamming, Climbing, and Chocolate! 🧗♂️🍫🎨
13th July 2021
On a misty and cold morning in Torgon, the Yellow Group awoke to a morning full of colour and creativity whilst art jamming. After lunch, with three elective activities to chose from, the Yellow group campers were racing up the climbing wall, breaking a sweat playing football and tuning into their inner Picasso making decorations for the highly anticipated prom night.
Meanwhile, the Greens group set off on an epicurean adventure to the Cailler Chocolate Factory and later to the town of Gruyères for some cheese. Aurel, Alex and particularly enjoyed the chocolate factory whilst Pietro, Yiannos and Themistocles indulged in fondue.
The campers really made the most of the winter temperatures today!
– Floriane Day, Group Leader
Red & Blue Groups: Blast off into Space! 🚀
On a rainy day in Torgon the Reds and Blues decided that they’d blast off into space instead! Bottle rockets were our first activity of the day. We learned about aerodynamics, pressure and, most importantly, teamwork, as we carefully designed our rockets, tested them, fine-tuned them, and sent them flying! Aiden’s team won by a hair, with Carla’s team a close second and Riccardo’s team coming in third.
After a well-deserved hot lunch it was time for sports in the sports hall. The Epic-Football-Tournament was won by the black team, while the greens narrowly missed out following a spectacular performance by Paolo in goal. Cops and Robbers and British Bulldog also featured during our sports afternoon: a big change from yesterday when the kids all won a gold medal in chocolate and cheese eating.
– Hugh Duffy, Group Leader
Red & Blue Groups: Chocolate Factory & Gruyères
12th July 2021
The Red and Blue groups had a fantastic day discovering the delights of the Cailler Chocolate Factory and the Swiss town of Gruyères today.
First up, at the Cailler Chocolate Factory we witnessed every step in the Swiss chocolate making process (the tasting room was everybody’s favourite!). With our bags full of chocolatey treats from the gift shop, we hopped back on the coach and headed for the picture postcard town of Gruyères.
Paolo, Clemente, Julian, and Riccardo went with Philip to see the impressive castle at the top of the hill, whilst the rest of us toured the town and picked up souvenirs. Those who returned to basecamp early were treated to a fantastic show by local actors. Soon enough, with bags full of cheese and chocolate, we jumped back on the coach to head back to Torgon.
What a fantastic day!
– Hugh Duffy, Group Leader
Green & Yellow Groups: Languages and Ultimate Survivor!
The day started off a little calm after the excitement of last night’s big match! Despite the few tired eyes this morning, it was another fantastic day at Camp Suisse! The Greens and Yellows started off with language lessons; it was the final rehearsal before the big karaoke tomorrow night! The French class is ready to sing ‘Ramnez la coupe à la maison’ and ‘Dans le jungle’ of Lion King. The English classes are prepared with Shakira and Shawn Mendez.
After a hotdog and salad lunch, the Greens and Yellows headed off to the woods for Ultimate Survivor; one of our newly developed activity sessions that teaches the campers to overcome physical, mental and team challenges, all wrapped up in our realistic immersive scenarios.
The campers discovered their survival scenario, planned their survival strategy, and learnt survival essentials: they lit a fire from the sticks they found in the forest, then built fantastic shelters to protect themselves from the elements, and finally they filtered and purified water and took part in a first aid activity.
All in all a great day!
– Hannah Parry, Group Leader
