Summer Camp Program

Our Camps

• La Cité des Templiers • Les Chevaliers du Larzac • La Vallée des Dinosaures • Formanoir • Le Château • La Grande Voile • La Cité des Cabanes • Le Moulin Bleu • L'Académie des Arts • Graff'Arts & Sports • Cocktail Mont-Blanc

A Word from the Kids

"LE CIRQUE DANS LA MONTAGNE" 

From my room I could see mountains (the Alps) it was really pretty. My best memory and favorite part of the Circus camp was the big show. It really made me feel happy that I did my best and that the show was really good, and that I helped it be that good! 
Sarah P., age 10, (USA) 

Bonjour! The VSF camp is the best camp that I have ever been to. The people, the food and the enchanting views of France were incredible. The camp was great and I could not have picked a more enjoyable camp. 
The memories and all the exciting things that we did. I came to the camp with no experience of the circus. I came out of VSF with a knowledge of the trapeze and I know SO much more French than before. 
The whole trip is DEFINITELY first class. The plane ride, bus ride and hotel were perfect. The visit of Paris was INCREDIBLE. I had never seen Paris, with VSF I saw EVERYTHING! We even took a boat ride down the Seine River! 
Now if you think that the food is bad or you are a picky eater. FORGET it! 4-5 courses! The cheese, the main dish, EVERYTHING! 
I made so many new friends! The people are so nice and its easy to make friends . The camp itself was so friendly and I was really happy with all of it. The counselors! I made friends with all of them and had great times with them, they were wonderful!. 
VSF camp is no ordinary sleep away camp. I was kind of nervous the first day but as soon as the days started to roll along I fell in love with the French culture and the people. VSF is definitely the best camp I have ever been too and I would definitely recommend it to everyone who is looking for Adventure, Excitement and Fun!!! Au revoir! 
Sophia C. Age: 11, (USA) 

"COCKTAIL MONT-BLANC
 

My experience in France with VSF was great. I had a lot of fun. And the best of all was to meet French kids. My French is better now. I'll never forget the French kids. I'll recommend this camp to all and I mean ALL my friends. The counselors are so nice. It was so easy to make friends and will be friends forever!!!  At first I was so nervous that I wouldn't make friends, cause they talk French. I get so nervous when I have to talk French. But I did and it felt great to know another language. 
The first days at camp are hard but after that everything is fine, you talk French and you have a lot of fun with the French kids. 
If you read this letter you'll think I exaggerate, but it is! I tell you something if you want to learn French, come to this camp, VSF! 
Claire D., Age 13, (AUSTRIA)
 
This camp is very different from normal camps, because this it is the first time I got true friends. 
The first three days are difficult but the rest is excellent. The counselors are very good to children and I know it because when I felt homesick they were there to help me. 
The French Kids over there are excellent to us foreign people. Now that I am in Paris I miss my friends. The last day, you are happy and sad, believe me all this happens and VSF organizes the entire trip so well. You don't have to worry about anything!!! 
José Pombo, Age 12, (SPAIN)  
 
This summer, I went to a camp in the Alps with VSF. It was very athletic. Every day we would do one multitude of activities. We went hiking, rafting and hydrospeeding, they were all a lot of fun. First hiking, sometimes we would go far as many as 3 days. We would carry our sleeping gear in frame packs and hike for most of the day. Wealso went rafting for 2 days. 
Some days we would drive up to the river, put on wet suits, rain jackets, life vests, and helmets. Then we would take the raft down to the water. Our guide was really cool because he would let us do fun things like shove each other in the water and jump into the water off of small cliffs. 
Hydrospeeding is a way of swimming through whitewater. You have a thing in front of you and flippers on your feet. You also have a full body wet suit. You swim through the water and hit big waves. It's really fun! Overall, I think the camp was really fun. I would recommend it to any active kind of kid. Plus you get the benefit of being in France and learning its language and culture, for Real!!! 
Julien G-Y., Age 13, (USA) 

This was my first summer sleep away camp! It gave me the best memories of my life. I thought that maybe it would not be fun, but I had so much fun that I forgot all the things I worried about, for example the language. 
When I came to this camp I did not understand at all but after I naturally understood French a lot more. 
The activities were fun and the counselors so nice. The French culture is very interesting! Next year I want to come back again because I really had so much fun! I learned how to be close to people. The food was great! Everyone was so nice that I miss them already. The countryside of France is so different from Paris. I think VSF is a great organization that will help your French improve, meet new people and have a lot of fun, GREAT VACATION! I want to come back next year!!! 
Juri I., Age 12, (USA) 
 
Salut! My name is Lauren and the camp I went to in France was the Best! 
If you think rock climbing is the best thing on earth, try canyoning. rock climbing down rivers and waterfalls with rock slides! As you go down, the water splashes against your face. It feels as if you were in a dream. 
Not only are there water slides but also little cliffs to jump from. It's so SWEET! The camp I went to was a major sports camp. We went camping everywhere. We also went river rafting and hydrospeeding. 
The best surprise was walking on a glacier on Mont-Blanc. I'm definitely going back with VSF next summer! 
Lauren F., Age 10 , (USA) 
 
My overall experience in France was great because I got to feel what it is like in a totally new culture with very different foods and people. 
I enjoyed going shopping in exotic places, visiting the Eiffel tower and Notre-Dame. My French definitely improved because almost evrybody there was French! When I come back next year, I will try something new! 
Marshall F., Age 12, (USA)  

My best experience was when I was hiking on Mont-Blanc. We were on a narrow path with a cliff on one side and a steep hill on the other. At some point, it even rained a little bit, but we kept on going anyway and finished the hike. That was a very exhilarating and fun experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. 
The food at Le Cirque camp was excellent, even though I am a picky eater, I still ate most of the food, and everyone else loved it too. 
My French improved a great deal because if you are in a totally different environment that home, and everyone is speaking a different language, you don't have a choice, you have to learn and understand. 
My overall experience was very fun, and I would definitely do it again. 
Martin G., Age 12, (USA) 

To anybody willing enough to listen: THIS IS FOR YOU! 
VSF's French camp is SOOO COOL! OK, Maybe you've heard that a thousand times and then found out that the camp stunk. This time it's different. Take it from me, when you go to a country you've always dreamed to go to, do sports you like and actually learn something from all that, isn't that called a miracle? 
When I heard about this camp - I loved the idea, when I went there - I could not find the words to describe it. I made lots and lots of friends! All of my friends at home say I'm shy but this time it was different. Everybody was nice and tried to do anything to communicate with me. The word "nice" underestimates how the French kids acted. 
We did so many things in just 3 weeks and still had free time to play or even go shopping. We went rafting, hot dogging, hydrospeeding, canyoning, backpacking, hiking and walking on glaciers. Before camp - I had never done any of those activities, I had a really great time and loved it. This was my first time in France and I could not have thought of a better way to spend my summer! VSF takes care of everything leaving you just to have fun and enjoy yourself. If you think that I just wrote all this for my health - you must be crazy. What I think is that you shouldn't be shy or afraid. If you want to come here and make your dreams come true - then act. If you just sit there thinking about it - nothing will happen! It's up to you, but I'm here to tell you: IT'S GREAT! 
Tatiana M., Age 11, (USA) 

Going to France is one thing, but hiking in the French Alps is a complete other adventure. For the past three summers I've been coming to France with the VSF organization, I also came two other times with my school, this was the fifth time. I thought I knew France pretty well and could fend for myself and survive in this familiar "second-home". 
.People would ask: "have you been to the Alps?" "Yeah sure" I'd say. But you don't know the Alps until you've hiked them. and then you know if you are actually everything that you thought you were. 
For me all that mattered was one word and one word alone "summit". That one word is what kept me going on and on and on; up further and further. On the last day that Summit made it all worth while, looking down into the evergreen valley not even the mid summer day's French rain could ruin that moment. Seeing the shack where we stayed the night before some 2001 feet below I couldn't help but yell out with Joy! Down hill from here, all the way.This was a summer of rafting on raging rivers bushwhacking on the high mountains of France and hiking through storms. A summer of laughs, games cards and sleeping in tents with great friends, water and more water if it comes from the sky or the river, a summer of a lot of walking. But I learned a new word in French this summer. "solidarité". Solidarity, it's what kept us all together, if we didn't work as a team anything could have worked. No one to cook the food since the dishes off in a cool Mountain steam. No one to help each other up after slipping in the mud (which everyone at one point or another inevitably). Solidarity was the word of the summer for me, and if I had to choose one thing that this camp taught me, that would be it: how to help and be there for others, to work as a team (if I had to choose a second it would be how to got buff. Hike). To conclude this short tale I have to say that I got more than I bargained for, not only was it a great experience "hiking in the Alps" (that just says it all). But I also improved my French immensely and learned lessons about life. Trust me there's nothing quite like it. 
Zoli G., Age 14, (USA)