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

DAY    2            ARRIVE STRASBOURG (5 NIGHTS HOMESTAY)
Upon our arrival this morning, our tour manager/guide will meet us at the airport and accompany us into Strasbourg, where we will take an Ill River Cruise, one of the most relaxing and romantic ways to see the beauty of Strasbourg. This afternoon we will meet our Host Families.

DAY    3            LANGUAGE CLASSES & STRASBOURG
This morning we will begin our French Language Classes. This afternoon we will take a Walking Tour of Old Strasbourg, including covered bridges and towers from its former fortifications, plus many 15th- and 17th-century dwellings with painted wooden fronts and carved beams. A highlight of our walk will be the stroll down rue des Grandes-Arcades southeast to Place Gutenberg, one of the city's oldest squares, with a central statue by David d'Angers of Gutenberg, who perfected his printing press in Strasbourg in the winter of 1436 to 1437. We will also view the former town hall, now the Hôtel du Commerce, which was built in 1582 and is one of the most significant Renaissance buildings in all Alsace. Our walk will also include La Petite France, the most interesting quarter of Strasbourg, where 16th-century houses are mirrored in the waters of the Ill River. In "Little France," old roofs with gray tiles have sheltered families for ages, and the cross-beamed facades with their roughly carved rafters are in typical Alsatian style. During our walk, we will also visit Strasbourg Cathedral, which was built on the remains of an early Romanesque church. Our visit will include a tour of the cathedral and the opportunity to ascend the Tower, for an amazing view of the city, the Rhine Plain, the Black Forest and the Vosges. We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    4            LANGUAGE CLASSES & COLMAR
This morning we will have our French Language Classes. This afternoon we explore Colmar, considered to be the best-preserved city in Alsace. Much of this colorful river port town remains as it was during the 16th century when wine and other merchants used the canals of Comar to ship their goods. So extensive and picturesque are the canals that Colmar has been called "Petite Venise," or "Little Venice." We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    5            LANGUAGE CLASSES & CHATEAU DU HAUT-
                          KOENIGSBOURG
This morning we will have our French Language Classes. This afternoon we will journey south to visit the most popular attraction in Alsace, the Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg. This castle has been rebuilt several times throughout its 1000-year history, most recently at the end of the 19th century by Kaiser Wilhem II, as the site takes full advantage of its high location, permitting endless views of the Rhineland, the Alps, and the Black Forest on one side and of vineyards, wine villages and the Vosges mountains on the other. We will cross into the chateau over a drawbridge and explore its re-created rooms and fortifications. We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    6            LANGUAGE CLASSES & SAVERNE
This morning we will have our French Language Classes. This afternoon we will travel west to the town of Sauverne. En route we will visit the extraordinary 12th century Abbey Church of the Chateau of Haut-Barr, built into the mountains. In Sauverne, we will enjoy the afternoon exploring the Chateau des Rohan, the favorite summer home of princes of Strasbourg, and the village itself with its timber-framed Renaissance houses. We return to our host families for the evening.

DAY    7            LANGUAGE CLASSES - REIMS (1 NIGHT)
This morning we say "au revoir" to our host families and enjoy our final morning of Language Classes. After lunch we travel to Reims, a city with great history and importance in France. Our afternoon will include a visit to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims, one of the world's most famous cathedrals, which was restored after World War I, largely by U.S. contributions from John D. Rockefeller; it escaped World War II relatively unharmed. St-Rémi, the bishop of Reims, baptized Clovis, the king of the Franks, here in A.D. 496 and all the kings of France from Louis the Pious in A.D. 815, to Charles X in 1825 were crowned in the Cathedral.

DAY    8            REIMS - VERSAILLES - PARIS (3 NIGHTS)
This morning we journey 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." This evening 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.