La Boutique : La boutique is where villagers come to find camp souvenirs.  There are many items at la boutique like tee shirts, sweatshirts, photo albums, and cookbooks that are specific to Lac du Bois and Concordia Language Villages.  In addition to these, la boutique carries lots of realia such as such as African dolls and jewelry, French board games, and books and CDs of francophone authors and artists.  Should a villager forget something important at home, or just run out during the session, la boutique also sells necessities for life at camp, like sunscreen, cameras, flashlights, and stamps.  La boutique is open to the villagers every day during free time.  At the start of the session, villagers learn some key phrases (like “combien ça coûte ?” “how much does that cost?”), so before making a purchase, every villager speaks some French.

Beaux Arts : Beaux arts is the arts and crafts building.  It has all sorts of art supplies for the villagers to use, which les fonceurs (those who come for four weeks to receive high school credit) especially like to take advantage of to use for their projets (class projects).  There are also many directed activities that take place in Beaux Arts—le batik, les bracelets, la peinture en boue (mud paintings), les dessins (drawings), les masques africaines (African masks), et cetera. Also, just this past summer, we’ve re-fired up the old kiln and now offer la faïence as a Beaux Arts activity. La faïence is a traditional art form from Brittany, France that involves painting, glazing, and firing pottery!

La Confi : La confiserie, or “la confi,” is where villagers can come to buy bon bons (candies) and boissons (beverages) during free time, so, of course, it’s a very popular spot on site!  Before going to la confi, villagers stop at la banque, where they can take out authentic Euros (just like they use in France).  At both la banque and la confi, there are special phrases the villagers learn and use to ask for money from their account and to make a purchase—that way everyone gets to try out their French!  In addition to using real Euros, European treats are imported to stock la confi, so villagers are really able to get a taste of France!

Le Café : Just like a real French café, villagers can come to le café to eat and drink the treats that they buy at Lac du Bois’ confiserie.  Le café is full of villagers during free time, who come to enjoy the shade, the conversation, the food, and maybe a card game!