French Les Voyageurs
Bienvenue dans le monde de la traite des fourrures!
The adventure starts at our base camp where 8-10 adult participants will learn about the history of the fur trade, practice canoeing skills, create small and big crafts, and live la vie des voyageurs!
Your three fluent guides are well versed in including adventurers from all backgrounds and language levels. We’ll build a community of French-speaking enthusiasts, serenade the trees with historical and modern French songs, and take off on a canoe trip to discover northern Minnesota’s waterways. The rhythm of life on the waters will allow us to learn and practice French. We will find time to reflect and exchange observations in French. Finally, we will return to our base camp to celebrate and share stories.
This program is for adults, ages 18 and over. It is offered at the Voyageur base-camp, just down the road from Lac du Bois, the French Language Village.
Get ready for the rendezvous at French Voyageurs!
With native foods like wild rice and maple sugar, voyageurs in the 1800s learned to live off the land like their Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) neighbors. Even today, nearly 200 years after the height of the beaver fur trade, many people enjoy learning about that historical time and re-enacting it in outdoor museums or re-enactment festivals. One of the many things we love to do here chez les Voyageurs is eat amazing food that we cook ourselves over an open fire each day.
Typical Day
* Une Petite Note:
Times are estimates. Because we live in the woods, we often change plans for weather or as needed.
8:00 Reveille
Villagers are awakened with a voyageur song.
8:30 Morning Activité
We begin the morning with singing and the Presentation de Repas around the Feu de Camp.
9:00 Dejeuner
Villagers enjoy a hearty breakfast every morning.
10:00 Leçon
A lesson or activity to learn about voyageur history.
10:30 Canotage
Canoeing is our most important activity in preparation for our Grand Voyage.
1:00 Diner
There's nothing like canoeing to work up that voyageur appetite!
2:00 Sieste
Zzzzz...
3:00 Leçon et Temps Libre
Afternoons are dedicated to free time, which includes activities and crafts, as well as French and wilderness skills lessons.
5:00 Preparation du cuisine
Villagers learn hands on how to prepare gourmet meals outdoors at our site.
6:00 Souper
Our meals are often typical voyageur dishes, but we also enjoy French African recipes and a variety of international cuisine.
7:00 Les Tâches
Villagers and staff keep up our wilderness site all by ourselves, and our evening chores include such tasks as chopping wood for the Feu de Camp or helping collect water from our water pump.
8:00 Activité du soir
Evening activities are special treats, such as canoeing on Turtle River Lake at sunset.
9:00 Chansons
We end the day with songs and a fun-filled campfire time.
9:30 La fin de la Journée
Bedtime.
Base Camp
We will live in shared outfitter-quality tents and sleep on the ground in sleeping bags.
Bathing
We will wash in the lake or take bucket baths using biodegradable soap. Please make sure the soap you bring with you specifies that it is biodegradable.
Facilities
At base camp we have a port-a-potty, the same kind you see at large public events.
At camp sites, we can expect to have the U.S. Forest services latrines, the same kind you have seen at national parks in remote sites. On the trail, we’ll be out in the woods. In certain weather-related or other situations, we should also expect to spend some nights at a site without a latrine. In these instances we will also use the trail system.
Participants are expected to:
- Know how to swim and rescue themselves should a canoe capsize
- Be able to maneuver a canoe
- Carry equipment and handle a load up to 50 lbs/day for the week
- Canoe, cook and live outdoors in all weather, including rain
clvevent@cord.edu
(800) 450-2214