Days 1 and 2

Days 1 and 2 (March 31 – April 1^st, 2006)  USA – Paris France

We took off from Saranac High School to Detroit Metro Airport in a limousine. Explorica, the company putting on the tour, could not get tickets from Grand Rapids and so took us to Detroit. The participants going on the trip were (in order of the picture)

·       Arielle JeRue

Leaving Saranac by limousine

·       Linda JeRue

·       Ruth Murphy

·       Bob Murphy

·       Donald Hesling

·       Patricia Hesling

·       We also had Spark the dog, a castaway from Ms. Tindall’s class

We left Detroit without trouble around 2:30 p.m. and made it to Dulles Airport in the Washington D.C. area. We had no problems leaving Dulles and arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport on time at 8:30 a.m. The flight attendant said Welcome to Frankfort, Germany and then said April Fools. I'm not convinced that she did it on purpose.

We got our luggage and met Mladen Ivanovich, our tour

director. He was born in Vancouver, Canada and lived in Hungary. Currently he is living in Rome. Three days before he had taken a tour group to Poland and Germany. He mentioned that it was quite cold. We waited for more than a couple of hours at the airport for the group from Indiana. They had one person lose their bag.

We headed for our hotel, the Hotel Campanile. We could not get our luggage in our room and so we put our luggage in one room and then went out to eat and get money. Once we got back, we went to the Louvre. We had a guide with us, which was quite refreshing to have things like the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and Mona Lisa explained.

Spark and Ruth Murphy at the Louvre

The gang at the Louvre entrance

The Venus de Milo (from the Greek island Milos) was one of the first sculptures that was appropriately proportioned and could stand without falling. It all had to do with the weight of the distribution of stone throughout the statue. The shoulders are in a form that is uncomfortable, but needed to help the weight distribution.

We even got a history on how the Louvre started as a fort (with moat) and then became a residence, then museum.

At 5:30, we walked to the Arc de Triumph from the Louvre to meet later. We didn't quite get there in time and so supper was a little late, around 7:30 p.m. We met the other group from Washington state there. They were mostly junior high students.

Don and Bob on the way to the Arc de Triomphe

We took the Metro back to the hotel to settle in and get rested after a long day. The group leaders met and discussed what they would be doing during the stay in Paris. After that, it was lights out for preparation of our wake up call tomorrow.

Day 3

Day 3 (April 2, 2006)  Paris, France

7:30 was our wake up call, but we didn't leave until 8:45. We had a good European breakfast to start our long day. The weather looked bad having just rained, but it turned out to be a great Spring day. We picked up our tour guide from yesterday, Regine. We then took the bus to Giverny and the home of the painter Claude Monet.

The Murphys and Heslings in front of the Manor of Claude Monet

Regine talked about how Monet and the other artists had a hard time being accepted in Paris because of the established artists. Monet and other artists formed a society in Giverny to practice their craft. Monet and the other were poor and had a hard time making ends meet.

Views from the grounds of Claude Monet

A famous view from the grounds of Claude Monet

A spring time view from the grounds of Claude Monet

His paintings were taken to the U.S. and became a hit. He and the other impressionists became rich. He bought a place in Giverny and with his money, created a giant garden, water garden (where he planted his lily pads), and painted and created art to his heart's content.

We toured both gardens and his mansion and spent time in Giverny. I went to the American Art Museum and learned about how American Art was influenced by the French. A lot of Americans after the civil war produced art/paintings and in the process, went to France to learn techniques. I also visited the church in Giverny which is where Monet is buried. All in all, it was an enlightening time about art and French society.

We took the bus back to Paris and started our tour of the city. Regine explained how Paris was formed, its boundaries designated by walls that were torn down and rebuilt further out, to include more villages that were outside the city. Now, the city is bound by a highway (the A-3, I believe) that goes around the city.

Regine also talked about how the Isle de France used to be filled with woods that the King would visit to hunt. Hunting was described as a major pleasure back then to men, so it was taken seriously. Women were considered minor pleasures.

Spark enjoying the Eiffel Tower

We ate lunch at the Champs d'Elysee and saw the usual sights of Paris. We missed the Opera House because we saw some protesters coming and didn't want to be caught up in the protests that were going on in Paris. We found out that the protesters were protesting the protests that were going on in Paris. The tour ended at Notre Dame, where we got to see the gargoyles and hunchback.

A gargoyle at Notre Dame Cathedral

The Hunchback of Notre Dame on the wall

Regine left us and we were sorry to see her go. We were

impressed by her knowledge and expertise. We stayed and shopped around the area before going to Franklin D. Roosevelt's Metro stop to meet Mike for supper. We had flams, which were a lot like pizza. Instead of a crust it was like a tortilla shell. They were like the ones I had when I was in Europe the last time. Everyone liked them and ate their fill.

We headed back to the hotel and arrived around 9:00 p.m. Mike talked to the group about expectations and tomorrow's possibilities. We were not sure about going to Versailles, as there could be strikes the next day. After the meeting, I helped the ladies in our group with the telephone cards and they were able to call home. Before bed, I was able to watch the last of the movie “Catch me if you can” in French.

Exchange rate was $100 for €80.

Day 4

Day 4 (April 3, 2006)   Paris, France

We got up a little later, as we had close to a free day. All the museums are closed on Monday and so the group went to L'Opera and visited Fragarnard, a place that makes perfume and cologne. Then we went to visit a friend of Bob's through Mike Levine. After the visit, we went shopping and stopped at Angelines, a restaurant that also makes chocolates.

Lunch with the JeRues au Paris

Spark with his lunch, a croque monsieur with frites

Afterwards, the group split up. The Murphys and Heslings took the subway to Vincennes to see the grounds where the famous treaty was signed. I took the JeRues to the Lafayette Galleries, which is a fancy department store in Paris. After a few hours of shopping, we went up to the roof of the store and got to see a grand view of the city.

The Opera House from the front

The rear of the Opera House from the roof of a nearby building

After that, we maneuvered our way to Mont Martre and all the shops going to the church on the hill, Sacred Heart or Sacre Coeur. We stopped at a place and bought bread shaped as a pretzel with a lot of olives on it (Yum!), an éclair, and a quiche. That fortified us to walk up the hill, shop, buy ice cream, and see the sights of Paris from Sacred Heart.

We met the others and had our supper at the open square near the church. We had Beef Bourganais, potatoes, and salad. We also had a fancy Jell-O-like dessert. The meals, as they have been so far, have been very French.

Sacred Heart, the tallest point in Paris

From there, we took the Metro back to the Eiffel Tower and got in line for a boat tour of the Seine. The tour talked about Paris, giving stories on the different bridges and sights to see. When we got back, we decided that we couldn't go up the Eiffel Tower and get back to the hotel by Metro in time, so we went back to the hotel. It took usabout a half hour to forty-five minutes to get back. We got back to the hotel at 11:30 p.m. The last trains run about an hour later.

The Eiffel Tower at night

Tomorrow's itinerary is in danger because it looks like the French will strike again, slowing down or stopping a lot of transportation. We're not sure what to do because we have to go to Italy tomorrow night by train. Mike has told us that the International trains will run, but we'll wait and see.

Day 5

Day 5 (April 4, 2006)    Paris, France

On the day of the Parisian strikes, we woke up and had to be packed and ready to go by 9:30 a.m. By the time we had the luggage locked up in the luggage room, it was 10 a.m. The Michigan gang decided to go to the Museum d'Orsay to see the impressionists art. The Metro was working, but only 2/3 of the lines were running.

We noticed that everything was slowly done, which is another way to show displeasure. It took longer to get to Orsay, and we took the route that included the train station. When we went up to the museum, they were finishing taping a sign up that said closed for the day due to the strikes.

We figured the Eiffel Tower would be in a similar situation, so we decided to try to make it back to our rendezvous point for lunch. We stopped for a rest and a drink before moving on. The big joke was that we had seen more of the underground of Paris then we have of the outside.

The gang at the metro (from left to right, Don, Bob, Ruth, Linda, Arielle, and Patricia)

We had a nice chicken/potato dinner. I was pleasantly surprised at how cultural our meals had been. After the meal, we went back to the hotel area and bought food for our train ride to Florence, Italy. We got our stuff and went to the Gare de Bercy to leave for Italy. We managed to get on our train and settle down in our cars. The Murphys and Helsings were in one couchette while the JeRues, Mike, and I were in the one next door.

On the train to Italy

We enjoyed the train ride and had good fellowship before settling down to sleep. The train was going to Rome and we had to be ready around 7:30 a.m. to get off at Florence.

Days 6 and 7

Day 6  (April 5, 2006)      Florence, Italy

The train ride was over and we got out at 8:00 a.m. at

Florence. Unluckily, someone from our group lost her passport and money by leaving it on the train. I felt bad and was glad it wasn't some one from my group.

We loaded our stuff on the bus and then started a walking tour of Florence. We met our guide and she gave us some facts about the city, like:

·       Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo hated each other.

·       The Medici family were the first known in the area. They used their money to improve Florence and created works of art.

·       They financed creators to come and make works like Michelangelo's David to enliven their city.

·       The Medici's also enjoyed science. They invited scientists to come and study/experiment in their palaces. Galileo built his first telescope here and Da Vinci worked on his helicopter idea here as well

·       The Medicis also loved music and hired quartets and quintets to play music. I think some musical instruments like the piano had prototypes first made here.

·       Florence is home to the third largest church in Europe (after the Vatican's church and one in England) which is the Duomo)

After the walking tour, the group went walking around and had lunch. We were all amazed at how much cheaper things were here than in Paris. I had a calzone and it was very “bready”.

We met again and got on the bus to go back to our hotel, the Hotel Piccadilly. We rested for about an hour and then walked down to take a tour of the Acadamia Museum. It is where the house the actual David and other paintings and such.

There were a lot of people in town because all week had no entrance fee for anyone to visit a museum in Italy. In a way to promote culture, the Italians were opening the museums to everyone for free, so students from other countries were taking advantage of this.

After we got back from the museum, we did some more resting before waking to our last stop of the evening, supper. We had genuine pizza, salad, and some delicious ice cream for dessert. After that, we all split up to see the night life of Florence, call home, or just get back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep and relaxation.

Day 7  (April 6, 2006)      Florence, Italy

Everyone slept in and got ready to go out and visit Florence at 9:30 a.m. The only thing scheduled was a visit to the Uffizi museum at 4:30.

The girls went shopping and so the guys were on their own.

We went to the market and explored. We bought some souvenirs and haggled for them. There was a lot of leather items, T-shirts, and small market items like watches and sunglasses there. The people who sold the watches and sunglasses were usually illegally doing it and as soon as they saw police, they would close up shop quickly and move away.

Then we continued towards the Pitti Palace, taking advantage of the free pass to museums. This was a home of one of the Medicis. There is a passageway from the Uffizi (which means office, where the Medicis worked) to the Pitti Palace across the river. It was used by the Medicis so that they didn't have to go among the common people. We didn't make it all the way up to the palace, but we did see the botanical gardens that were there. There was even a nice view of the city from there.

The city of Florence from the Pitti Palace

We walked back and tried to go to the anatomy museum, which was closed at 1:00 p.m. Bummer!

We walked back and had a nice meal at a restaurant that had a place for us to sit outdoors. Unfortunately, midway through our meal, a storm passed that produced a lot of hail. It covered the ground like snow for about a minute or two. We got off towards our meeting point, stopping for some gelato or ice cream on the way.

We went into the Uffizi galleries and got an hour long tour on the different paintings and stuff in there. After the tour, we looked around the museum. I saw the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit and was amazed. It talked about all the different things he developed, from making math geometric shapes like hyperbolas and parabolas to how he mapped out the body. It shows how he mathematically figured out how to draw the human body based on circles and squares and their properties. I would have loved to spend more time there to see his other inventions and such.

We went from the museum to dinner, having a pasta starter and then veal with salad. Ice cream was for dessert. We walked back to the hotel and got settled in because we would have an early wake up call tomorrow. 

Exchange $100 = €78.

Day 8

Day 8 (April 7, 2006) Assisi and Rome, Italy

We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunately, someone from our group had stuff stolen from their hotel room while they were eating. That bummed the group out.

We finally got off to Assisi and had a quiet 2 hour plus bus ride. We stopped and saw a demonstration on how to make pottery and had a chance to buy goods. A lot of us did.

We got to St. Francis' place and got a brief history about him. He was originally from France and led a decadent life style. He was stricken with disease and prayed to God for a cure. He got better and followed through on his pledge to give up everything and start helping the poor. He is certainly an inspiration to what God can do if you drop everything for Him.

We had lunch and spent some time in town and enjoyed the sights. Then we got on the bus again to finish the trip to Rome. The traffic increased noticeably as we entered the city limits. Before we got to the Hotel Raganelli, we had a meal of chicken and French fries.

After we got in, we put our stuff away and then prepared for a night tour of the city which was given by Mike. The weather was agreeable and we stopped at the Trevi Fountain and Plaza Nuvona to see the sights.

Tour director Mladen Ivanovich and Brien Simpson at the Trevi Fountain

We also enjoyed the Forum, the Coliseum, and the Vatican by city light. We didn't get back to the hotel until 11:30 p.m. Mike and I went to the Police station to fill out the report and got back to the hotel to go quickly to bed.
  

Days 9 and 10

Day 9  (April 8, 2006)      Rome, Italy

We got up and left the hotel around 7:30 a.m. so that we could go to the Vatican museum. We entered the museum and used the Whisper headsets that allowed us to hear what the guide was saying while being away from her. We saw the tapestries and art of the Vatican as we headed for the Sistine Chapel.

Once we entered the Sistine Chapel, everyone stood in awe. Patches of what the chapel looked like before it was cleaned demonstrated how bright the colors were that Michaelangelo used. There was theories that the artist painted it dark on purpose. He even ended up creating his own plaster to complete his frescos as he did not like the quality of plaster that was made for him.

After the chapel, we went inside the cathedral to see the preparations that were being made for Holy week. There were a lot of people inside touring and looking at the objets des arts. Pope John Paul II's symbol was installed on the floor inside the cathedral. There were a lot of chairs set up in the square outside the church in preparation for Palm Sunday.

St. Peter's square in preparation for Palm Sunday

Bob Murphy posing in from of Basilica of St. Peter

We ate lunch and shopped around the Vatican and then took a bus to the Colosseum. We still had our headsets on and it was probably the most stress I had on the whole trip. While we were warned by our guide about pickpockets, she proceeded to tell us when she thought pickpockets got on the bus. She mentioned that she was quite sure that two gentlemen in the back had picked pockets before, which caused us to be uptight. Then some gypsies got on and she warned us about them also. Between the warnings, the loudness of the gypsies, and all the people on the crowded bus, it was very tense.

Unfortunately, a member from our group had her pocket picked and she lost her passport, money and the group's tip money. She realized it during the bus ride. That cast a pall on the day as she went off with Mike to do a police report. Italy was not looking pretty good during our trip because of these thefts.

We continued with our tour starting with the Colosseum. As we gazed around the structure, we found out that the stones and stuff was taken by the Romans from the Colosseum to help build the Vatican. The pillars at St. Peters square and the front of the church used rock from the colosseum. There is a white line around the colosseum that shows where it originally stood before parts of it were stripped away.

Inside the Colosseum

The Arch of Constantine

We saw the Arch of Constantine, named after the emperor who incorporated the Catholic church into the Roman empire. From the Arch, we went through the Roman Forum.

One of the curious places was where the pyre for Julius Caesar was. There were flowers there that had been put there on the Ides of March. When I asked our guide who was doing that and why, she replied that it was American and British college students who come to the who put the flowers in the place of the funeral pyre. forum and reenact Julius Caesar's last day. They are the ones who put the flowers in the place of the funeral pyre.

The place where Julius Caesar's pyre is celebrated

We finished our tour and said good bye to our guide. Mike met us and we walked up to the Spanish Steps. The group noted how much walking we had done and how healthy we were eating.

We saw the Spanish Steps and there were a lot of people there on this Saturday. We went shopping for a few hours and I got a chance to learn more about downtown Rome by walking around, reading the maps and looking for shops. I found the Plaza Nuvona again and it was much more festive than last night. I had some cinnamon gelato, did my shopping, and waked back to the Spanish Steps. I enjoyed the nice weather while I waited for the rest of the group.

The Spanish Steps

We met and took the metro to ear our supper of pork and pasta. I thought the food was prepared very well. After the meal, we took the bus to the hotel and saw said some good byes to the Indiana group. We were going to have a 3:45 a.m. wake up call and so we packed and got ready for bed.

Day 10 (April 9, 2006)  Rome, Italy to Home

Despite the early wake up call, we made it to the airport in plenty of time. We waited quite a bit during our layover in Frankfort, Germany.

We arrived in Detroit and was driven home to Saranac by limo. We arrived after midnight pleased to be home.