France 2025

We are on the bus headed to the Charles de Gaulle airport. You can track our flight status here .

After sunrise in St. Malo, we took a long bus journey through Normandy to get a sense of D-Day first hand. After the transfer from Tours to the coast we arrived in Arromanches. We watched a 360 degree film made up of original footage from the British, Canadian, German, American, and French archives. We hopped back on the bus and went to town for some free time and lunch. Then we moved over to Omaha Beach to walk our cemetery. The experience was humbling. We did another bus transfer back to Paris. After checking into the hotel, students had free time to explore the area or rest. From there we headed off to our final dinner together. A few students went for a night walk with Ms. Spaulding. We “sleep in” a bit tomorrow and then head back to the airport to fly home. 

After breakfast our driver took us to Mont St. Michel. While it rained there all week, we were treated to another spectacular day of mostly sunshine with some puffy clouds. Mont St. Michel was a bit crowded due to it being Holy Week, but it was worth the effort. The views from the island monastery were  breathtaking!! Then we drove to our home for the night, the old walled city of St. Malo. We quickly checked in and the students had free time. One group was brave enough to go swimming! Others shopped and explored the stunning old city. We had dinner next to our hotel at a restaurant specializing in crepes. We had salad and then a savory crepe for the main course, and of course, desert was another crepe, but his time either with chocolate or caramel! We celebrated Tony’s 18th birthday with some sparklers and treats. From there, a few went up to bed. The rest walked around and on top of the city wall in a full circle, taking in the views, snapping sunset photos, and just enjoying the...

Today we set out to explore two of the famous chateaus of the Loire Valley. We were able to sleep in a bit, and some students went for a job along the river. Our first stop was the Chǎteau de Chenonceau, which spans the River Cher (at one point a key dividing line in WWII separating occupied France and unoccupied France). From there, we went for lunch in Amboise and then on to another Renaissance era chateau, Chǎteau de Champord. Finally, we headed back to Tours for some shopping and dinner. We enjoyed a stroll through the old section of town as we made our way home at night. Tomorrow, we are off to Mont St. Michel!

Today we headed out of Paris early. Our first stop was Versailles. We started with free time for hiking, biking, and just soaking in the sunshine and incredible environment. We ate food on our own and then headed into the gardens which were full of forests, fountains, lakes, paths, gardens, flowers, hedges, etc.. We had over an hour to explore the area on our own before meeting up by the stairs to the chateau. We had a 1:15 pm timed entrance to explore the chateau and the famous Hall of Mirrors. From there, we drove to Chartres. We walked the streets of this lovely town, ate food, and explored the Chartres Cathedral and its famous stained glass. We proceeded on our final leg to our hotel in Tours. After checking into our rooms just in time for a sunset view, we walked to dinner and enjoyed a lovely evening, before arriving back at the hotel quite late and ready for bed. Tomorrow we explore the famous châteaus of the Liore Valley.