This is French Scout leader Florian Coupé’s first time in Gilwell Park. “It was on my bucket list”, Flo says, “as a place known to B.P. I’d really like to see the oak tree!” He was invited to present at Reunion by Craig Turpie and Nigel Halley whom he met at the World Scout Education Congress in Paris last December.
As of last week, he’s not quite sure what he’ll be doing here at Reunion, but over the past year he’s given talks, and run slideshows about La Cyclodyssée. He was one of three French scout leaders who cycled last summer from France to the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea. The journey took 220 days, and crossed 17 countries. He’s hoping to screen the documentary of the expedition that the team produced at some point.
So what was the point of Cyclodyssée? “Slow. Travel.” explains Flo, “we need to embrace the slow travel spirit”.
A quick search on The Reunion App suggests that the Cyclodyssée documentary will be screened in the Swan center at 20:00
The next adventure may be on the horizon, and Flo is looking for interest from the UK, “maybe some UK Scouts might be able to sail to the World Scout Moot in Portugal next summer?”