Moment in History continued |
Atlantic flight were two rolls of
film, one green tie and five hours. They found their uniform
was recognized as a symbol of integrity. None of their luggage
was opened when they went through customs.
In Paris they stayed at a Girl Guide hostel, La Nef, located
in central Paris. Just standing on the 2nd floor balcony of
their rooms watching the Paris traffic go by was exciting! They
visited the American embassy, ate dinner at a sidewalk cafe,
and visited two French Brownie troops. After a few days exploring
Paris they set off on an all night train and bus ride to Our
Chalet, the Girl Guide/Girl Scout World Center in Adelboden,
Switzerland, where they spent a week.
The girls of Troop #310 agreed that Switzerland was “by
far the most beautiful country we were in.” The bus stopped
at the foot of the hill on which Our Chalet is located. A jeep
took their rucksacks, but they were expected to walk up the
mountain. They immediately fell in love with everything about
the place. They were assigned to stay in the attic which was
one big room with 40 straw mattresses on the floor. The Texas
girls found the view from the attic windows to be just “spectacular.”
They joined a troop from Ireland, a troop from Cincinnati, a
girl from New Zealand, and one from Denmark in the attic. The
second floor rooms had “Guides from Holland, Switzerland,
Belguim, and England.”
The days were spent hiking and riding a bus to near by places
of interest. On one hike they found enough snow for a snowball
fight – a unique experience for girls from Houston. Evenings
were spent hearing the story of Our Chalet and having indoor
campfires. Every national group performed |
 Members
of Troop #301 watch a fisherman in Paris try his luck in the
Seine River. |
back to Paris. The Houston girls found it unusual
to begin an eight course dinner at midnight. But they adapted.
Their sight-seeing included Monaco to see the aquarium and the
casino, swimming in the Mediterranean, and programs on the beach
with local guides. On the way back to Paris they stopped to
see ruins of Roman amphitheaters, ancient cathedrals, and Avignon.
It was the first time the girls saw things that were built before
America was discovered.
Another group went to the French Alps. They had numerous hikes
in the mountains. They cooked their own meals, buying supplies
along the way. The highlight was spending a night in St. Veran,
the highest village in the world.
A third group went to Normandy. This was just eight years after
the D-day invasion of the Normandy beaches in WWII. Devastation
was still very obvious and an eye opener for the Houston girls.
They had a great time seeing MontSt Michel, the world famous
abbey that is only accessible by land at low tide. This group
also visited some of the famous chateaus in the Loire Valley
The fourth group went to Pyrenees. The highlight for this group
was a trip into Spain. They did not have a visa to visit Spain.
The “sneak” was accomplished at a little country
store located right on the border. The girls bought post cards
and quickly wrote them in order to have a Spanish stamp and
postmark on them these post cards arrived in Houston two months
after the girls returned!
Here we have to leave Troop #310, no article was found that
told of the trip back to Houston from Paris.
Girl Scouts of San Jacinto have continued to travel the world
since Troop #310 pioneered the way. |
by dancing or singing. “Groups of Belgian,
Swiss, and Scots who were camping nearby” on the grounds
of Our Chalet also attended the evening activities.
Next stop for the girls of Troop #310 was in Neuchatel, Switzerland,
where they camped for a week with some Swiss Guides. One day
they took a boat ride on a lake to see a Roman Amphitheater.
They loved the Swiss cheese fondu. Other days they visited ancient
castles and buildings, a boarding school, and a church service.
After Neuchatel, Troop #310 set off for about a week of home
hospitality in the north of England. They went by train, then
a boat across the English channel, and on to London by train.
There was time for a bit of sight-seeing in London. They were
glad to be able to read menus and understand the waiters. They
traveled by bus to Chester-le-Street, where they met their home
families. Their hosts ranged from doctors to coal miners and
every one was with a different family. During the time here
they joined the local guides in a variety of sight seeing and
activities.
On the way back to London Troop #310 stopped at Stratford-on-Avon
to see a Shakespeare performance. For the first time |
on their trip they stayed in an “honest-to-goodness”
hotel. The next morning they did their best to see every shop
in town that looked like Elizabethan England.
Next stop was Oxford where they were met by a group of English
Rangers – same age as Senior Girl Scouts. With the Rangers
they had a hike, a bus ride, and another hike in order to get
to the hostel in Oxford. The next day the Rangers showed them
around Oxford University before Troop #310 caught a train back
to London. In London they stayed at Our Ark, the World Center
at that time in London. The girls had a whirlwind three days
with English Rangers to sight-see London, shop, and celebrate
the birthday of one of the girls. Then back to Paris. Their
channel crossing this time was from midnight to 4 a.m. Fortunately
there was a group of Scottish Boy Scouts aboard with whom to
talk and sing and laugh. The boys even provided a hilarious
version of Highland Fling complete with bagpipe accompaniment
on the rolling deck.
Back in Paris the girls got reorganized and went off to the
Headquarters of the Ranger Gathering. There were 1,200 delegates
from 26 countries. Troop #310 members were divided among four
groups, each group was going to a different section of France.
Each group had members from 9 or 10 different countries. Finding
a common language was difficult, but smiles and songs helped
make friends.
The first group of the Gathering went to Provence. This was
a bus tour from Paris to the southern part of France and |
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