5/30/25: Museums and Seine River cruise!

Bonjour from Abby and Yelena! 

We began the day with breakfast at the hotel and taking the metro to l’Orangerie, which held Monet’s water lily painting. They were breathtaking. It was so cool to look closely and notice each brush stroke that created these pieces. Many of us went back to the floor on which the painting was on multiple times, as there was just so much to see. 

Next, we headed towards the Louvre. Some walked through the gardens between l’Organerie and the Lourve and others took a bus. We grabbed some lunch in the gardens and much needed water, since it was VERY warm this day. We arrived at the Louvre and there were so many people! We waited in line outside which went pretty quickly and entered the Louvre. It’s overwhelming given how big it is! The group split up to go see different pieces of art, including the Mona Lisa! 

It’s hard to get a glimpse of her because of the huge crowd surrounding her. Many of us got a chance to see her, and we found the experience of being in the Louvre to be incredible and of great insight, especially from an artistic perspective.  

 

Later on in the afternoon, some of the group headed back to the hotel and others ended up exploring different areas of Paris. It was incredibly hot outside but we powered through! We had dinner on our own, and were looking forward to the boat ride later in the evening. 

There was some mix up regarding the boat ride, but we all ended up on the boat which was all that mattered at the end! We had the most fun waving to others while moving alongside them on the boat, and we also got some wonderful photos of the Eiffel Tower in the process.

Paris vs. Rouen - 5/29/25

Bonjour! Simone and Sydney here to tell you 2 parts of the same day: one in Rouen and one in Paris :)

Bonjour! This is Simone and I’m so happy to tell you about what our group did in Rouen!! We got up bright and early to catch the train to Rouen, so the first thing we did when we got there was find some coffee from a local coffee shop (which was so good that we went back there for lunch!) 

After getting coffee, we walked around and explored the city and were so surprised to discover that today was the Fête de Jeanne D’Arc (the Festival of Joan of Arc), which is a medieval/renaissance festival with a huge market, shops, and performances/demonstrations! We walked through the festival and shopped around while trying to find the famous Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen. We actually thought that the first beautiful church-looking building we saw was the cathedral until we looked it up and saw that we were totally wrong. When we saw the actual cathedral, we were blown away! It was so beautiful. 

After the cathedral, we headed back to the cafe from this morning and got some lunch. While at lunch, we found out that there was a cat cafe nearby, so we decided we had to stop by after we finished our lunch. 

Then we headed to the Musée National de l’Education (National Museum of Education) and saw lots of interesting exhibits, including a model of what French classrooms used to look like. One addition I found really interesting was a poster from 1875 with first aid information on it. 

After the museum, we walked around the city a bit more, making sure everyone got to see the three (!!!) beautiful churches, and scoping out places to grab a quick dinner before we had to go back to the train station. We saw a phoenix demonstration/performance in front of the cathedral, got food at this amazing pizza place, and then caught the train back to Paris to get gelato and meet up with the rest of the group!!

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Bonjour! This is Sydney and I was a part of the Paris group today :)

Erin, Georgi, and I decided to give our bodies a break from the train and enjoy an extra day in Paris. We started our day by visiting the Pablo Picasso Museum. I remember studying a lot about him in my art classes growing up, so being able to look at all his work in person was on my Paris bucket list. We were amazed to learn that thousands of his paintings, drawings, sculptures, and poems were moved into this museum and we took our time looking through them all. In one of the rooms, we also saw a group of little kids drawing which was a cool little moment. 

We ended our time at the museum at the cafe and sat on the balcony soaking up the beautiful day. We wandered the streets around the museum and found a cute local jewelry window front, where we picked out some pieces for ourselves and loved ones. 

Another place on our Paris bucket list was the dome in the Galleries Lafayette, which is a huge luxury brand mall. We walked around, shopped a bit, and then headed back to the hotel for a little break. 

We decided to go and meet Juliet at the Pantheon to explore and were in awe of its beauty and size. We ventured down into the crypt to see the tombs of Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, and Voltaire. 

Our group was on our own for dinner, so we met up with Erin’s hometown friend who is also studying abroad in Paris, at an Italian restaurant. Our waiter was switching from English, to French, to Italian the entire time we were there and it was extremely impressive. 

Our final event of the night was reconvening with the Rouen group for a little gelato and a walk along the Seine. It was a successful day in France and we are sad these days are coming to a close!

Bonne journée!

6/1/2025: Versailles and Closing Circle

Versailles and Closing Circle!

Hi this is Georgi and Erin back for another blog post! 

Today was our last full day in Paris so we had to make it count. We had a relaxed late start to the morning as we boarded the train to Versailles! We were amazed by all of the gold, paintings, and beautiful structures by exploring iconic rooms such as the Hall of Mirrors and Gallery of Battles. In Patrick and Juliet’s words… “this is why there was a revolution.” The gilded walls and lavish royal lifestyle represented a definitive disconnect and significant symbol of power compared to the struggles of the French population at the time which lied at the heart of the revolution. 

After Versailles, we got back on the train (which took way longer than planned) back to the hotel for some rest, recovery, packing, and last minute souvenir shopping! 

We gathered as a group for one last dinner all together where we experienced so many final laughs before we departed for our closing circle. A tense arm wrestling match did ensue.

Sitting on the Seine across from the Notre Dame in true Parisian fashion, we discussed what we learned about our original interests going into the trip and what we had learned about ourselves over the past two weeks. It was very personal and bittersweet to be able to see how far we had all come and grown since we all met for the first time at our first meeting. 

Realizing we ended a bit late, we raced to our very last event of the trip. Running up stairs, onto connecting trains, and across metro stations we made it with a minute to spare to see the best view of the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It was a spectacle and a perfect way to close.

 

Bon voyage to all the travelers on Monday! We can’t wait to see everyone in the fall :)