3 innocent teens, all alone in a luxurious camping ground for a week…. What could possibly go wrong?!

I had the best week ever “camping” with Caroline and Floriane in a 3 bedroom mobile home equipped with a TV, kitchen and coffee machine (jealous mum and dad?). On Saturday afternoon we were dropped off at a camping ground in the teeny tiny town of Gastes. The “camping ground” however was not at all what I’ve grown up thinking camping was; bunking with 10 smelly people or in a tinsy tent, this, was paradise. When we saw the mobile home we would be staying in we all freaked out, I mean. I had a double bed! We set up everything (Caro and Floriane had gone grocery shopping when I was in Paris) and then left to go check out a lake a short 15-minute walk away. I expected a puddle in comparison to the ones I’d previously seen in France – but it was actually a real decently sized lake, it looked so similar to Lake Rotorua with the hills around it that my brain kept tricking me telling me I was home.

We met up with one of Floriane’s friends called Alex, and we ended up spending the majority of the week with him and his friend Loic. That night we didn’t do much, we just chilled by the lake until it got dark, went back to the camp, ate and talked for hours into the night. We spent the following few days swimming at the lake, playing soccer (I discovered I’m terrible) and eating ice cream. The weather wasn’t great but it didn’t matter because the lake was as shallow as Lake Rotorua so it was always warm. We pigged out loads on crepes and baguettes, I tried a new cheese called” Gouda de Cumin” which I’ve fallen in love with.

I had taken my computer with me, so one night I decided to give them a taste of NZ humour, I couldn’t find the movie “hunt of the wilder people” in French, but I did find “What we do in the shadows”. Their facial expressions were priceless during the film, they absolutely loved it and totally understood the humour – however, at times it did get a little too weird for them and they just looked horrified. The next night they showed me a French comedy/romance called “Amour sur place ou a emporter” and I laughed so hard I cried. Until then I’d had the impression that all French films were depressing but this was solid gold. I stayed up the latest I have ever before and we went for a midnight swim and had half a dozen picnics on the beach.

The final night was Bastille Day and a fireworks display lit up over the lake. The originally very quiet beach was swamped and a huge tent with a DJ and flash lighting was set up. I wasn’t too keen at all to dance (I love it with my friends, but it public noooo way hozay) as I tend to look like a dying fish but my friends forced me onto the dance floor and we danced for hours. It turned out to be a really good time and we didn’t get back until 2 am! I was shocked that I didn’t feel tired at all, as we had also stayed up hideously late for the last few days.

On the last day, I made the best discovery ever, I can eat Magnum ice cream! Normally in NZ, I can’t because of the allergen warning, but it France it doesn’t have one so that means I can. It’s fairly safe to say the shop owner made a profit that day.

And that was basically my week, I had such a blast hanging out with my best friends, the thought of leaving France now scares me. It’s strange because I used to count down the months I had left in France and now I try to make it seem longer in my mind because I don’t want to go.