DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Paris.

DAY    2            ARRIVE PARIS or RENNES - ST. MALO
                          (5 NIGHTS HOMESTAY)
We will be met at the airport by our Tour manager/guide, and we will board our own private bus and transfer into Rennes, a regional capital with a long and important history. We will take a Walking Tour around the historic city center, featuring magnificent half-timbered houses, before visiting the Musee de Bretagne. The museum provides a stimulating introduction into Brittany's history, including examples of traditional furniture and costume, displays on Brittany's prehistoric megaliths, and a magnificent collection of art from the 14th century to the present. We continue north to St. Malo, where we will meet our Host Families.

DAY    3            LANGUAGE CLASSES - ST. MALO
This morning we will begin our French Language Classes. This afternoon we explore St. Malo, beginning with a visit to the forbidding-looking Château de St-Malo, known as the "Bastille of the West." Its towers shelter the Musée de l'Histoire de St-Malo, a museum filled with insight into the role of St-Malo within Brittany and the rest of France, as well as souvenirs of the once-notorious pirates Duguay-Trouin and Surcouf, the most famous of the St-Malo privateers. After our visit to the château, we will have a bit of time to wander through the narrow streets and alleyways of St. Malo's historic core where memories of the town's origins as a medieval fishing village approach you at nearly every turn. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Cathédrale St-Vincent, known for its 1160 nave vault in the Angevin, or Plantagenet style, elegantly marking the transition between Romanesque and Gothic. We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    4            LANGUAGE CLASSES - MONT ST. MICHEL
This morning we will begin our French Language Classes. This afternoon we explore Mont St. Michel, one of the most enchanting sights in France. We will make the steep climb up Grande Rue, lined with 15th and 16th century houses, and explore the Mont, before we visit the Abbey, known as the "Marvel of the West." Ramparts encircle the church and a three-tiered ensemble of 13th-century buildings called La Merveille, which rise dramatically to the pointed spire of the abbey church. We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    5            LANGUAGE CLASSES - COMBOURG
This morning we will begin our French Language Classes. This afternoon we travel to Combourg, where we will visit the haunting Chateau de Combourg, which overshadows the quaint town of Combourg. We will enjoy a guided tour of the castle, which features furniture and décor form the 15th century as well as artifacts relating to the life of the author Rene de Chateaubriand. We will enjoy time to explore and shop in Combourg before we return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    6            LANGUAGE CLASSES - DINAN
This morning we will begin our French Language Classes. This afternoon we visit Dinan, one of the best-preserved towns in Brittany, noted for houses built on stilts over the sidewalks. The 18th-century granite dwellings provide sharp contrast to the medieval timbered houses inside the walled town. Our afternoon begins at the Jardin Anglais, a terraced garden that huddles up to the ramparts and offers amazing panoramic views over the valley. We continue with a Walking Tour of Dinan, which will include: the sloping rue du Jerzual, flanked with buildings dating from the 15th century; the Porte du Jerzual, a 13th- and 14th-century gate; and the old city's Tour de l'Horloge which boasts a clock made in 1498 and a great bell donated by Anne de Bretagne in 1507. We will ascend the 75-foot belfry, to enjoy a panoramic view of medieval Dinan, before visiting Château de Dinan and the Musée du Château. The medieval castle contains a 14th-century keep and a 15th-century tower, built to withstand sieges. Within the stones, you'll see the space for the portcullis and the drawbridge, as well as view an exhibition of the architecture and art of the city, including locally carved sculpture from the 12th to the 15th centuries. We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    7            LANGUAGE CLASSES - D-DAY INVASION BEACHES -
                          BAYEUX AREA (1 NIGHT)
This morning we say "au revoir" to our host families and enjoy our final morning of Language Classes. Our afternoon will be dedicated to the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day. Our afternoon commences with time to explore Pointe du Hoc, the enemy command post of the entire invasion front, which is filled with monuments and memorials. We continue moving along the coast to Omaha Beach, where you can still see war wreckage. The men of the 1st and 29th American Divisions occupied the beach, and a Monument commemorates the heroism of the invaders. Later this afternoon, we visit the American Military Cemetery, where over 9,000 Americans who died in the Normandy campaign are buried. Our day concludes as we visit the German Battery at Longues-sur-Mer followed by Mulberry Harbor at Arromanches. Late this afternoon we continue to our hotel in the Bayeux area.

DAY    8            BAYEUX AREA - PARIS (3 NIGHTS)
We will begin our morning in Bayeux, a city rich in Norman history and the first French town to be liberated during the D-Day Invasion on June 7, 1944. We will visit the Musee de la Tapisserie de Bayeux, a museum housing the spectacular Bayeux Tapestry. One of the most famous tapestries in the world, it is actually embroidery on a band of linen 231 feet long and 20 inches wide. The tapestry depicts some 58 scenes in eight colors and tells the story of the conquest of England by William the Conqueror. We continue to Paris, "the City of Lights." This afternoon we will take a Seine River Cruise, which will take us under many of Paris' graceful bridges and past many important landmarks and monuments along both banks - a perfect introduction to the beauty of Paris.

DAY    9            PARIS (THE REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON)
Our morning commences with an ascent of the Arc de Triomphe, a massive triumphal arch commissioned by Napoleon, today a symbol of Paris and home to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We continue with a stroll along the Champs Elysees, 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 leading to the entrance of the Louvre. We will enjoy a specialist-guided tour through the museum that 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, a section of the city that 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    10          PARIS (PARIS OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS)
This morning we will ascend to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Paris' most recognizable landmark, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889. We continue with a visit to the Musee d'Orsay, dedicated to the rich diversity of visual arts from 1846 to 1914, featuring masterpieces by Delacroix, Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin and Lautrec. Paris is one of the most important centers of fashion in the world, and this afternoon we will visit the elegant stores of Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette for a first-hand look at the latest trends in fashion. This evening we will ascend to Montmartre, an area of Paris made famous in the late 19th century as an artists' haunt. We will spend time in the Place du Tertre, a square known for its local artwork, before visiting the Sacre-Coeur Basilica, a huge white church that dominates the Parisian skyline.

DAY    11          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.