England-France

Faculty: Lauri Smith, Paul Shelton
Class Meeting Night: Tuesday

STUDENT COST: $2250

We start our European adventures with three days in London.  We will visit the Tower of London, the British Museum, the National Gallery and Shakespeare’s Globe theater. We will see famous sites such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace.  Students will have the option of seeing plays and musicals each night in West End. Next, we are off to the City of York. Surrounded by its medieval walls and with its narrow medieval streets, it is easy to feel transported to an earlier age.  At the center of the town sits York Minster, one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in England.  While in York, we will also bike and explore the Yorkshire countryside on our way to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, an estate with the ruins of a medieval monastery and a lovely seventeenth-century mansion. 

Next we head south to Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.  Along with time to visit the Shakespeare sites, we will also travel to Warwick Castle, the best-preserved medieval castle in England. 

Finally, it is off to Bath, a Roman city and heartland of Jane Austin country.  Explore the Roman bath complex, see the medieval abbey church, visit the Jane Austin Museum and the fashion museum, stroll by Regency homes and have high tea.  On our last morning in England, we will visit Stonehenge, before catching the Eurostar to France.

Entering France our first destination is the delightful town of Reims in the Champagne district.  While there, we will go to the Musée de la Reddition where Eisenhower established his headquarters in France during WWII and accepted the German surrender. 

From Reims, we are off further east to the well-preserved town of Colmar in the Alsace region of France.  With its German flavor and known as “Little Venice” because of its canals, we will venture to the old Dominican monastery. A visit to the home of the creator of the statue of liberty is on the agenda, as well as a hike and walk in the Gazon du Faing with its amazing views of the Alsace region.

Moving on to the Burgundy region of France, we stay at the ramparted town of Beaune, and explore the Hotel-Dieu, one of the oldest hospitals that began in 1443.  From Beaune we will be taking a day trip to Autun, a town that was founded by Augustus in the late 1^st century B.C. where we will explore its ancient Roman theater and the magical Cathédral St. Lazare.

As we travel on to Amboise in the luxurious Loire valley, we will visit Chateau de Chenonceau, a famous pleasure palace owned by a series of aristocratic women.  In Amboise we’ll visit the house where Leonard Da Vinci died in and see working models of his sketches.  Off to Paris we’ll visit the Chateau de Chambord and on the way and explore the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame by night.  We end our adventure in this glittering European city for three nights exploring the Louvre, Muse’ de Orsay, Eiffel tower, Arc de’ Triumph, and enjoying French café’s.

Preliminary Itinerary