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DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight
to Paris.
DAY
2 ARRIVE PARIS - AMBOISE - LOIRE VALLEY (2 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport
by our Tour manager/guide, where we will board our own
private bus and transfer into the Loire Valley. Our
sightseeing begins with a visit to the Château d’Amboise,
a one-time royal residence that was used to greet royal
pilgrims en route from Paris to Santiago, Spain during the
Middle Ages. Leonardo da Vinci is thought to have designed
the spiral staircase, and the Petite Chapel
features a plaque suggesting the burial place of Leonardo.
We continue with a visit to Le Clos Luce, “The House
of Light,” a plush palace, where Leonardo spent the last
years of his life. The house does a wonderful job of
recreating the everyday atmosphere Leonardo enjoyed in his
final years, and there are sketches and models of Leonardo’s
incredible inventions. We continue to our hotel in the
Loire Valley.
DAY
3 THE LOIRE VALLEY
This
morning we visit the Loire Valley’s largest residence and
the brainchild of Francois I,
Château
Chambord.
This massive “weekend retreat” for Francois I took over 15
years and 1,800 men to complete. Highlights of our visit
will include: the Double Spiral Staircase
designed by Leonardo da Vinci, and a walk along the roof,
providing wonderful views of the Loire. Our afternoon
continues as we view the unique Troglodyte Houses.
· Your First Concert Performance will be today
DAY
4 THE LOIRE VALLEY - CHARTRES - ROUEN
AREA
(2 NIGHTS)
This
morning we journey to Chartres, where we will visit
Chartres Cathedral, the jewel in the crown of medieval
churches in Europe and a testimony in stone to the religious
fervor of the Middle Ages. Chartres Cathedral boasts an
unrivaled expanse of sculpture, as well as one of Europe's
most impressive collections of stained glass windows. We
continue to Rouen, a city in Normandy with a rich history,
dating back to the Romans. We will visit the Gothic
masterpiece, the Cathedral Notre-Dame, dominated by
its famous west façade and its two unequal towers. Claude
Monet increased the fame of the cathedral after completing
his four paintings of the west facade. We conclude the
afternoon with a stroll along the Rue du Gros-Horloge,
a bustling street with old half-timbered houses and the
famous Gros-Horloge Clock, to the Place du Vieux-
Marché,
the city’s main square. In this square, the French heroine
Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431, marked today by
the great Cross of Rehabilitation, which commemorates
her death.
DAY
5 DAY TRIP TO HONFLEUR & DEAUVILLE
Today we
will enjoy a relaxing day on the Normandy coast, beginning
with a visit to the fishing village of Honfleur, the base
for the 17th century voyages that led to settlements in
Louisiana and Canada. Bathed in the soft light of the
northern sea, it is one of the most picturesque French
ports, and its beauty appealed greatly to the painter Eugene
Boudin and his Impressionist colleagues. Our morning will
include a visit to the Eugene Boudin Museum, which
houses a variety of early Impressionist paintings, as well
as a collection of Norman costumes. This afternoon we begin
with a scenic drive along the Normandy Corniche, a scenic
route that winds through the countryside of Normandy and
affords fine views across the Seine Estuary.
· Your Second Concert Performance will be today
DAY
6 ROUEN - GIVERNY - VERSAILLES - PARIS
(3 NIGHTS)
Our day
begins in the small village of Giverny, made famous after
the arrival of Claude Monet in 1883. We will visit
Claude Monet’s House and Gardens, known also as the
Fondation Claude Monet. The house is decorated in the
original color schemes that Monet admired, and the gardens
are the subject of some of the artist’s best-loved works,
including the Waterlillies series. After time to
soak in the beauty of the gardens at Giverny, we continue
with a visit to Versailles, a palace commissioned by
Louis XIV around Louis XIII’s hunting lodge. Our visit
commences as we explore the ornate State Apartments,
highlighted by the magnificent Hall of Mirrors. After time
to explore the spectacular Gardens and
Fountains at Versailles, we continue to Paris, “The
City of Lights.”
DAY
7 PARIS
Our
morning commences with an ascent of the Arc de Triomphe,
a massive triumphal arch commissioned by Napoleon, which
today is a symbol of Paris and home to the tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. We continue with a stroll along the
Champs
Elysées,
Paris’ most spectacular thoroughfare, which offers a
beautiful look at Parisian life and architecture. We return
to the Place de la Concorde, before strolling through the
Jardin des Tuileries, the beautiful Neo-Classical
gardens, which lead to the entrance of the Louvre.
We will enjoy a Specialist-Guided Tour through the
museum, which will include: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa,
and many of the finest paintings and sculpture from Western
Civilization. This afternoon we visit the cathedral of
Notre Dame, begun in 1163 on a spot that had already
been a religious shrine since Roman times. Over the
centuries, the cathedral has been the scene of some of
France's most momentous occasions, including the coronation
of Napoleon. This evening we will dine in and stroll
through the Latin Quarter. This section of the city
dates back to the Roman times and is generally associated
with artists, intellectuals and political unrest. During
our walk we will view the Sorbonne, Paris’
oldest university.
DAY
8 PARIS (PARIS OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS)
We begin
with a visit to the
Musée
d’Orsay,
dedicated to the rich diversity of visual arts from 1846 to
1914, and featuring masterpieces by: Delacroix, Manet,
Degas, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin and
Lautrec. Later we will ascend to the top of the Eiffel
Tower, Paris’ most recognizable landmark, built for the
Universal Exhibition of 1889. This evening (time
permitting) we will visit the Sacre-Coeur Basilica, a
huge white church that dominates the Parisian skyline.
· Your Third Concert Performance will be today
DAY
9 DEPARTURE FROM PARIS
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our
tour manager/guide accompanies us to the airport for the return
flight home.
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