Aur'Voir!

It is our last night of our 21 day journey through 8 countries, at least 18 cities. We had an amazing time that we will never forget. We miss everyone and can't wait to get back home. It is 1:30 in the morning and we have a long flight in the morning so when I get home I promise to do a detailed report of our trip including all the drama of the Barbies, SM, drone, and others. Oh we could write a book of the trip with all the various personalities on it.

Well we are off to bed and we will be home around 8:30PM on Tuesday. Here is another montage of pictures from the second half of the trip. Up until yesterday. enjoy!

PS - as I am writing this it is about 5:30 PM SLC time and I am uploading the pictures. The internet is kinda slow here, so it won't be up for a while. There are 80 pictures total and only has uploaded 3 before I went to bed. Sorry for the delay!

Bonjour!

Hello from Paris! We only have two days left and it is 20 minutes after midnight here. i need to go to bed but am feeling guilty I haven't posted pictures. We finally got good internet in Paris so I am uploading about 60 pictures - just a sampling from some of the places we have been. They are from Rothenburg Germany, Munich Germany, Dachau concentration camp, our drive to Italy into Verona, Venice, through Rome and Siena Italy.

We are just seeing SO much and it is going by fast. I think we are ready to come home to everyone as soon as possible. I might put up another montage tomorrow - we are going to Normandy Beach, France tomorrow - so that should be interesting. I'm not sure what time we are going to get back in. We are leaving to go home on Tuesday bright and early and should be in around 8:30 PM your time. We will see you then...

More later...

I had planned to upload a ton today - but this Internet connection is slow and I'm tired. We have a long day of traveling ahead of us. I hope you enjoy the three that I put up.

-Weston

PS if you click on one of the pictures I have captioned most of them and it should give you more details as to what the picture is about.

Where calling someone a Nazi is not funny....

After leaving Amsterdam we started on our trek into Germany. The terrain started to change from flat to hilly to mountainesque. We first stopped in the smaller city of Cologne. One of the sad things of Germany and many other countries in Europe is that so much of its architecture was destroyed in WWII. Many times the only thing left standing was the towns church or cathedral. The reason was not religious but really because the church or cathedral was used as a guide to find the city. They usually stood out from the other buildings and the planes could guide themselves to where they wanted to bomb. So in Cologne the thing to see there was the Cologne Cathedral. It is an interesting spired building that is very dark in color, almost black. In the background in a couple of these pictures you can see a bridge and a train station. Both of those were destroyed in WWII. Parts of the cathedral also came down but it did mostly stay in tact. We were able to climb up to the top and look over the city. It was very cool. Not the prettiest cathedral inside, but still fun. One funny thing is that we got yelled at by a priest - or I should say mom got yelled at. She opened her bottle of water when we got down from the 500+ steps and he said something like "put that down this is a church!" A church where there was no dress code, we just hiked up a graffitti filled steeple sweating up a storm and a church where flash photography is totally fine - and opening a water bottle is inappropriate apparantly. Anyway Jason said something and the priest turned back around and very angrily said to Jason "you got a problem?".....welcome to germany folks!....it was funny - so I took a picture of the guy. He's in Red.

Then after that we left to Heidelberg, Germany. It was the most picturesque German town I could possibly think of. It is actually a college town which housed the oldest university in Germany. It was built for the rich kids to go to so they didn't have to learn a foreign language to go to a University in places like Italy or England. The town had tight street corridors and open squares with statues. It even had a castle on the hillside we could hike too and overlook the city. It really couldn't have gotten cuter and neater than that.

The pictures of the mice and monkey at first have legends. If you touched the mice you'd be lucky if you touched the mirror of the monkey you'd come back to Heidelberg. Cute, huh?

Up in the castle on the front side there is a story of a Knight that was having an affair with the Queen. One day the King came home early and caught them. To get away he jumped out the window and landed so hard on the ground he left a footprint that is still there. Who knows if that one is true.

Anyway just some great pictures from this neat town. We spent the night a little ways out of Heidelberg.

PS - We tried to get pictures of most our hotels because hotels in Europe are interesting!

PPS - Amy you mentioned pictures of me. Yes, mom took more of those. These are just my pictures.

PPPS - we miss everyone!

PPPPS - Yes, I was sweaty in the pictures....it was a hike up stairs and it was really really humid. And I'm fat.

Sex, Weed, and Anne Oh my

Welcome to Amsterdam...For so many of you your mind quickly goes to is that the place with the drugs and free sex laws? And maybe you think about that little girl who was in the holocaust who lived there. Well I think you'd be buggin' the locals. Apparently the locals hate this about their fair town. It is unfortunate that the neat history and amazing architecture of this Low Country has been overshadowed by its new tourism industry - which from what I was told bugs the local crowd and they simply "put up with it."

Well that aside we had an amazing time here - we drove a long time from Brussels and ended up in some suburbanish town where our hotel was. We had some downtime and that is when I put up my first post on the Internet from London. We walked the neighborhood and mom and I ate at a Pizza place you can see in the pictures. The next day we toured the city and saw some great stuff. We went on a boat tour of the canal, we saw the flower market, a huge flea market, and then went to Anne Franks House. That was especially moving. I've been here before but I don't think I was old enough to comprehend the importance of the Anne Frank house. That was definitely my favorite part of Amsterdam. Last time I was there it was the end of my trip and I was tired and wanted to go home. I think I appreciated the city a lot more this time. it is really quite a neat city. It is a bit on the dirty side and they HAVE to do something about their traffic control. I felt like no matter where we turned we would be hit by traffic, and I'm talking bike traffic. We get it Amsterdam, you use bikes - that is so neat and we love that you are doing you part to save the environment but do you have to be so rude and violent? they go fast, and don't stop. You better watch out for them. There were many intersections where you had to watch for bikes from both directions, cars from both directions and trains from both directions. All this while navigating our gaggle of 50 around. It was awesome!

One of the highlights was when we got to the I AMsterdam block letters then some people came up to me because they noticed my Seattle t-shirt I was wearing. They asked me about Seattle, where I was from, and then wanted to take some pictures of me on the letters for some travel magazine for Holland. I said I would (although to be honest, I'm not sure they really asked) and next thing I knew I was holding myself in an "extreme" pose, as the lady put it, on the letter. I was sitting in the "a" and stretching one leg out and holding had my hands up above my head on the top part of the A...it was so odd. Mom got some pictures of it happening, and they aren't in this batch...but it was funny.

enjoy!

Belgium Waffle anyone???

Sorry it has taken so long to post so here is a whole bunch. This first set is a short trip we made along our way to Amsterdam. We first took the Chunnel under the English Channel and then into Brussels Belgium. It was amazing the Grand Place, or Grand Platz is a huge square with some of the most ornate buildings you can imagine. I'm sure the pictures don't capture that. But it was amazing. We wondered the small corridor streets and found the famous peeing boy statue. The legend goes a bomb was thrown into the town center to destroy those great buildings and a small boy saved the town by peeing on it. It is immortalized in that statue. Nice, huh? Maybe seagulls eating the crickets is a better story?

We had a lunch in a cool old pub in the square but the service and food sucked. Our tour guide, Vico - who is GREAT - even got in a fight with them over it. He watches out for us a lot. He even sets up the Internet every so often so the kids can call hom for free. So they don't mind public calls and they do it. Very nice.

Anyway the highlight was of course when I ran out of our lunch place - where they served Tuna to the vegetarians, by the way...and ran down the street to buy myself a waffle! OH IT WAS SO GOOD! You'll see in the pictures which one I got. Anyway sorry there are so many building shots - but it was just so cool! Enjoy



BTW - the Antwerpen sign - I got one when we were here 10 years ago because of the Tom Shane commercials....I thought I'd try again.

Europe Stop One

Hey anyone who cares I am not going to write too much and save it for our stories later - but here are pictures from our time in London. The first day we went to the Tower of London which I had been to before, but it was new to the newbies (mom and J) we then went on a walk around town taking the Underground which is always fun. We were traveling in a gaggle of 50 people so it is a little difficult but the kids are surprisingly responsible and timely. We only had one throw up on the plane and one get left at a restaurant - both of which were rectified pretty quickly. :-) We also did the Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and wandered around Chinatown on the first day. The second day we went to St. Paul's Cathedral (no pictures allowed inside) then by Parliament, watched the changing of the guard, went in the London Eye, and saw Buckingham Palace and went to see Wicked - which I slept through the first act. Third day we headed up to Anne Hathaway's house and Shakespeare's house in Stratford England. Honestly those were kinda dumb. Although the towns were cute and it was fun to see a part of England I never have.

Then on the third day we hiked to the train station bid England farewell and went under the English Channel in the Eurostar Chunnel and went to Brussels, Belgium and then to Amsterdam (of course we are doing the cheap route and we are like 15 mins outside of Amsterdam in some creepy suburb. Those pictures are to come.

We miss everyone!

PS (after reviewing the photos many need explanation - so one is that Macdonalds that is on Fleet Street is where the Pie Shop was in Sweeney Todd musical show - ironic, isn't it? - The door was Bloomsbury where Harry Potter was published)

Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Tot ziens, and Arrivederci

I have so many things to post about right now - leaving school for the summer, leaving my teaching career, summer projects, and others - but most pressing right now is my departure with my little brother, Jason and my mom to our European trip for 3 weeks! We leave tomorrow bright and early! (6:30 AM!) then we fly to Houston stay there for 5 hours and then off to London. It is very exciting!

If you'd like to keep up on our tour I will try to post on this blog but if not the tour company does a blog of our trip so you can see our progress there. I have no idea how good it is going to be but you can check it here.

So we will see you soon! In case you are curious here is our itinerary:

Day 1 > June 04 > Start Tour

Day 2 > June 05 > Hello London

Meet your Tour Director and check into hotel

London city walk

Step outside your hotel, for a stroll through the streets of the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, formal parks to punk rockers. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques.

Thames River

Trafalgar Square

National Gallery Visit

Piccadilly Circus

Covent Garden

Leicester Square

Soho

Fish & chips dinner

Nothing’s more British than fish and chips—there are eight fish and chip shops (“chippies”) for every McDonald’s in the country. Head to an authentic pub with your Tour Director for a taste of this national food, generally served with malt vinegar.

Day 3 > June 06 > London Landmarks

London guided sightseeing tour

Join a licensed local guide for an in-depth look at London, from the royal haunt of Buckingham Palace (the official London residence of Queen Elizabeth II) to the slightly more democratic Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park, where anyone can pull up a soapbox and orate to his heart’s content. You’ll see the changing of the guard (season permitting), the clock tower of Big Ben with its 14-ton bell, and Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. After a stop at the Houses of Parliament, continue on to the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral, the masterpiece of London architect Christopher Wren.

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Tower Bridge

Hyde Park

St. Paul’s Cathedral visit

Day 4 > June 07 > Stratford

Stratford excursion

Anne Hathaway's cottage & Shakespeare's birthplace visit

Visit William Shakespeare's childhood home, furnished in a style typical to the Elizabethan period. Then tour the thatched cottage where his wife, Anne Hathaway, lived before her marriage. The adjoining Shakespeare Tree Garden is planted with trees and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays.

Warwick Castle visit

Rising up from a cliff overlooking the Avon River, Warwick Castle is one of the finest medieval castles in England. Built between the 13th and 17th centuries, the castle has turrets, towers, and a turbulent past. Enter through a passageway cut in a slab of solid rock. See the "apartment block" containing the chapel, great hall, staterooms, and apartments. Then climb a narrow spiral staircase to the top of Guy's Tower (named after Guy of Warwick, a legendary warrior featured in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales). From the tower, look out over the lush countryside of Warwickshire. That small hill to your right is the castle mound, the site of the original 11th-century wooden castle. End with a stroll of the sweeping lawns planted with grand trees.

Day 5 > June 08 > London--Amsterdam

Eurostar Chunnel crossing to Brussels

Take a seat in London. Stand up in Brussels. Cross the English Channel in the Eurostar, a super-high-speed train. Faster than you can say . . . anything in Flemish, you'll arrive at the Belgian capital.

Brussels Tour Director-led sightseeing tour

Chocolate and comics (home of Tin Tin creator Herge). Surrealism. French fries. The headquarters of the European Union. Art Nouveau. Brussels combines Hapsburg-era elegance with modern business and big-city bustle. See the city's historical heart on a walking tour led by your Tour Director. Start at the cobblestone Grand-Place, a central square lined with ornamental gables, medieval banners, and gilded façades. Look at the 15th-century Town Hall and the King's House, lining the Place. Then walk to the Manneken-Pis, a statue of a boy shooting water from his . . . well, bring a camera. Tired from so much strolling? Buy a bag of Belgian pralines for fortification.

Grand Place

Manneken Pis

Travel to Amsterdam

Day 6 > June 09 > Amsterdam Landmarks

Amsterdam Tour Director-led sightseeing tour

Canals and crocuses. Bicycles and bluebells. With more canals than Venice (and more flower merchants than perhaps any other city in the world), downtown Amsterdam is an explosion of color and light reflecting off the water. Take a glass-topped canal boat ride--the best way to see the gabled houses and nearly 1200 bridges. Visit a diamond factory to see how the stones are cut. And take a tour of Anne Frank's house, where three different Jewish families hid for more than two years during World War II. See the bare rooms where they lived before being betrayed and deported to concentration camps.

Canal guided cruise

Diamond factory visit

Anne Frank’s house visit

Day 7 > June 10 > Amsterdam--Heidelberg

Travel to Heidelberg via Cologne

Towering over the train station is the Kolner Dom cathedral, which took seven centuries to finish, only to be scarred by 14 bombings during World War II. During your stop in Cologne, admire the cathedral’s striking architecture, and even go off on your own to climb the 509 stairs to the South Tower for a great view of the Rhine. Nine bells are housed in the Glockenstube, and in one corner, weighing in at 24 tons, is the Petriglocke, the world’s heaviest working bell.

Heidelberg Tour Director-led sightseeing tour

Surrounded by mountains, forests, and the Neckar River, Heidelberg showcases a quintessential German landscape. Join your Tour Director as you drive through this granddaddy of all college towns, with its scores of bars, cafés, and shops. Get a beautiful view Germany’s oldest university —founded in 1386—from the Marktplatz, Heidelberg’s main square. Notice that behind the university lurks the Students’ Prison, used from 1778 until 1914 to imprison students for up to four weeks for minor offenses like drunkenness, practical jokes, and dueling. (Imprisoned students still had to attend lectures — think of it as the 19th-century equivalent of being grounded.) Then head up to Heidelberg Castle, which is still a little wobbly from its partial destruction during the Thirty Years’ War, a 17th-century attack by the French, and a major lightening hit in 1764. The castle’s courtyard is home to the largest wine barrel in world, the Great Vat, which holds about 50,000 gallons of wine (possibly another contributing factor to the castle’s romantically off-balance appearance).

Castle & wine barrel visit

Day 8 > June 11 > Heidelberg--Munich

Travel to Munich via Rothenburg and Dachau

Dachau visit

A grim glimpse into the past, Dachau was the first of Nazi Germany’s camps and a model for the 3,000 work and concentration camps to come. Your Tour Director will lead you through the gas chamber (although never used) and crematorium, which have been restored as a chilling memorial to the 206,000 prisoners who were interned in the camp from 1933 to 1945. The museum examines pre-1930 anti-Semitism, the rise of the Nazi party, and photographed and documented lives of prisoners.

Day 9 > June 12 > Munich Landmarks

Munich guided sightseeing tour

Join a professional licensed tour guide for a whirlwind look at Munich. Founded in the 12th century by Henry the Lion, Munich now roars with the hustle and bustle of modern German life. As you pass by Marienplatz (named after the square’s gilded Virgin Mary and Child statue), mechanical knights joust and coopers dance to the folk-music chimes of the Neues Rathaus’s Glockenspiel. The twin onion-bulb towers of the Frauenkirche Cathedral frame this whimsical display, while the scents, sounds, and colors of the nearby food market attempt to draw your attention elsewhere. Resist temptation and continue on to Olympiapark, a new suburb built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Pass by several museums, such as the BMW Museum, Alte Pinakothek (home to Munich’s most precious art collections), and the Deutsches Museum of science and technology.

Residenz visit

Alte Pinakothek

Deutsches Museum

BMW headquarters

Olympic site of 1972

Frauenkirche

Neues Rathaus

Marienplatz

Hofbräuhaus

Nymphenburg Palace visit

Day 10 > June 13 > Munich--Venice

Travel to Venice via Innsbruck

Day 11 > June 14 > Venice Landmarks

Venice guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets

Bubbling up on more than 100 islands in a lagoon off the Adriatic, Venice is an absolutely unique and unquestionably beautiful city. The weight of its opulent architecture – bulbous domes, gothic spires, and lacy marble – may be sinking the city by 10 inches a century, but your local guide will make sure you don’t sink out of sight as you tour the intricate labyrinth of streets and bridges. Step into Piazza San Marco, an airy expanse of arches, sunlight, and pigeons. The multi-domed Basilica on one end, completed in 1094 but decorated for centuries afterward, is the final resting place of the apostle St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint. The mosaics beneath the basilica’s outside arches depict the arrival of St. Mark’s body, stolen from Egypt in 828 by Venetian traders. The frothy Venetian Gothic Doge’s Palace stands next door. Continue on to a glass-blowing demonstration. Venetian glass has long been considered the best in the world, and its production was such a state secret that during the Middle Ages, any Venetian glassblower who attempted to ply his trade outside the city was immediately arrested.

St. Mark’s Square

Basilica

Doges’ Palace visit

Glass-blowing demo

Day 12 > June 15 > Venice--Rome

Travel to Rome via Siena

Rome city walk

Baroque-en hearted? Revive your spirits with a walk past Rome's most beautiful and unusual Baroque fountains. At the foot of the Spanish Steps, elegant cafes once favored by visiting Brits and Americans surround the central fountain. The water pressure here was so low that the artist had to sink the fountain into the ground to get any water going through it, so he went ahead and designed the fountain to look like a sinking ship. There's no shortage of water pressure at the nearby Trevi Fountain, a Baroque extravagance designed by master sculptor Bernini. At the Pantheon you'll see the largest concrete dome ever constructed. An oculus, or hole, in the dome lets sunlight into the beautiful temple, dedicated to all the gods.

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Piazza Navona

Day 13 > June 16 > Rome Landmarks

Rome guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets

Gods and gladiators, glory and gore. Ancient Rome lives on in its spectacular monuments, flavoring the frenetic present with tastes of the past. Don a space-age Whisper headset to get the inside scoop on the most spectacular, the Colosseum, a grisly battle arena that seated more than 45,000. An enormous retractable roof awning system kept spectators cool on sunny days. The nearby Forum provides a glimpse into everyday ancient life, with markets, meeting places, and temples all combined into one vast space. Move into Christian Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica, the triumphal Renaissance church flanked by rows of columns radiating outward like welcoming arms. Within the church Michelangelo’s masterpieces are on display, the “Pietà” in the main church and the recently restored ceiling frescoes and “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel. Continue your trek through time at Piazza Venezia, site of the enormous monument to Victor Emmanuel II, Italy’s first king, and of the Palazzo Venezia, where Mussolini set up his headquarters and from whose porch his mother was said to eavesdrop on citizens below. (The Sistine Chapel is closed on most religious holidays and Sundays, except for the last Sunday in each month).

Sistine Chapel visit

St. Peter’s Basilica visit

Colosseum visit

Forum Romanum visit

Piazza Venezia

Day 14 > June 17 > Rome--Florence

Travel to Florence via Orvieto

Travel to Florence, stopping to see Orvieto's Cathedral on the way. This Gothic cathedral was started in 1263 to commemorate the "miracolo del sangue”, a miracle witnessed by a priest in nearby Bolsena. He was celebrating Mass when blood began to drip from the Host he was consecrating, and today the cathedral is one of the most celebrated in Italy. The façade is a riot of sharply carved marble, colorful mosaic, and bas-relief. Many of the carvings feature disturbing stories from the Bible, including a vivid image of the Inferno, where the sinners writhe and suffer in lifelike detail.

Visit Orvieto Cathedral

Day 15 > June 18 > Florence Landmarks

Florence guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets

Immerse yourself in the charms of old-world Firenze, a red-brick splendor set in the rolling green hills of Tuscany. The birthplace and focal point of the Italian Renaissance, Florence still has the masterpieces to prove it. Brunelleschi’s elegant Duomo (dome) dominates the skyline, and around every corner is an architectural triumph filled with wall after wall of incomparable art. Your local licensed guide will take you to Giotto's Bell Tower and the aptly named Gates of Paradise, the bronze east doors of the Baptistery that spurred the burgeoning Renaissance. The boy guarding the Palazzo Vecchio with his slingshot is just a copy of Michelangelo’s David; the real statue is over at the Accademia. Don’t overlook the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli at the Chiesa di Santa Croce, and definitely don’t overlook Florence’s amazing leather goods. Check them out when you visit one of the area’s famed workshops.

Palazzo Vecchio

Piazza della Signoria

Chiesa di Santa Croce

Ponte Vecchio

Duomo visit

Leather workshop

Gates of Paradise

Giotto’s Bell Tower

Dante's house

Day 16 > June 19 > Florence--Lucerne

Travel to Lucerne via Lugano

Day 17 > June 20 > Lucerne Landmarks

Lucerne guided sightseeing tour

Before a backdrop of snow-capped Alpine mountains and green, cow-filled pastures, join a local licensed guide on a tour of Lucerne’s famous sights. Weave your way through a maze of narrow, winding streets until you reach the River Reuss and the medieval Kapellbrücke Bridge. Stop to marvel at the bridge walls, decorated with murals that recreate the 14th-century originals destroyed in a fire. Journey the cobblestone streets in the Old Town to see the Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument), the somber sandstone wild cat gazing down into a reflecting pool. Sense sheer courage as you ponder this artfully chiseled statue created to honor the Swiss Guards who died defending the Tuileries in 1792.

Löwendenkmal

River Reuss

Kapellbrücke

Day 18 > June 21 > Lucerne--Paris

Travel to Bern

Travel to Paris on the TGV (Europe's fastest train)

Paris city walk

This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Look up at the great stone buttresses, grotesque gargoyles, and massive stained-glass windows.

Ile de la Cité

Notre Dame Cathedral visit

Ile St. Louis

Latin Quarter visit

Visit one of the original college towns. Since the Sorbonne’s founding in the 1100s, the Left Bank has attracted not only intellectuals but also the cafés, bookstores, and cinemas that tend to accompany them. It’s also attracted its fair share of famous residents – a plaque marks one of Hemingway’s apartments on rue du Cardinal-Lemoine, and the imposing neoclassical Panthéon holds the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie.

Louvre visit

The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world-one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details, you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. But check out the art on the walls. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

Day 19 > June 22 > Paris Landmarks

Paris guided sightseeing tour

What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate, 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence, the ultra-chic shops of the Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, and the gardens of the Tuileries. You'll pass the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836, and the Place Vendôme, a huge square surrounded by 17th-century buildings. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded), the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater), and the Conciergerie (the prison where Marie Antoinette was kept during the French Revolution).

Arc de Triomphe

Champs-Élysées

Eiffel Tower

Champ de Mars

École Militaire

Les Invalides

Conciergerie

Tuileries

Place Vendôme

Opera House

Versailles guided excursion

The ultimate palace, Versailles was built by Louis VIX, and housed the royal family and its groveling court from 1582, when the Sun King moved in, to the French Revolution. Everything in Versailles is worth a look, from the 250-foot-long Hall of Mirrors, with themed salons-"war" and "peace"-on either side, to Marie Antoinette's faux country hamlet. When being a queen became too much to bear, she would pretend to be a commoner, tending her sheep and wearing peasant clothes. (Please note Versailles is closed on Mondays.)

Seine cruise

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.

Day 20 > June 23 > Normandy

Tour director-led sightseeing of Normandy

D-Day beaches

See the D-Day beaches where on June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied troops landed in an effort to recapture the coast from Germany. All along the beaches, deserted German bunkers have been turned into memorials and the stark white crosses and stars that mark the cemeteries are grim reminders of the war.

Arromanches Museum visit

Ingenious military engineering allowed the Allied forces to land at Arromanches on D-Day. Barges towed 600,000 tons of concrete across the English Channel, sinking them to create an artificial harbor, and then 33 jetties and 10 miles of floating roadways allowed the troops to land in France. Learn about this feat and other at the Arromanches Museum, where dioramas, interactive displays, and models detail the Allied landing.

Day 21 > June 24 > Flight Home from Paris