Independence, Missouri - Martin, Georgia.

Depart today on your flight to Paris, France - Arrive in Paris.

  Paris Orientation Walk & Briefing

Arrive this morning or afternoon in Paris.  You are met at the airport and transferred to your airport hotel.

You have the remainder of the day to relax after your overseas flight.  Depending on your arrival time you might choose to join your Program Director for an exploration trip by motor coach and free time in Paris; or choose to relax at your hotel.

Later, celebrate your arrival in France with a Welcome Drink.

Accommodations:   Holiday Inn Roissy

Paris / Honfleur

From Paris you will transfer to the well-preserved port town of Honfleur, founded in the eleventh century.

En route, visit the Peace Memorial Museum in Caen, a state-of-the-art facility that does an outstanding job of presenting the events of World War II, including D-Day, very vividly. It's an excellent way to put into context what you're going to see at the Normandy beaches the next day. You'll have time here to have lunch on your own.

You'll arrive at the ship in the mid-afternoon and enjoy time to settle into your outside cabin, your private retreat for the next ten nights.

Gather with your shipmates to toast new friends and an enriching journey with a Welcome Drink and then savor the Captain's Welcome Dinner. The ship remains in port tonight

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Honfleur / Tour Normandy Beaches

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Honfleur tour / Bayeux Tour

After breakfast, enjoy a walking tour of Honfleur. Situated on a Seine estuary opposite Le Havre, the town was once one of the most important ports in France. It was from here that many voyages of discovery were launched, including the journey of native son Samuel de Champlain - founder of Port Royal in Nova Scotia and the settlement of Quebec in Canada.

The port changed hands frequently between France and England during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) and was finally won back by France in 1450.  In the 1800s, Le Havre displaced Honfleur as a major port.

After lunch on the ship, you are at leisure to explore Honfleur on your own.

Visit the Tapestry Museum of nearby Bayeux, which showcases a remarkable piece of embroidered fabric - 230 feet in length - depicting events of the 1066 Normandy invasion of England. Study the elaborate scenes created with wool yarn of russet and gold, and learn the history that inspired such a fascinating work of art. Perhaps you'll follow the tour with a glass of the calvados (apple brandy) for which this region is known.

The ship remains in port tonight.

Honfleur Walk / Cheese Tasting / Fecamp - Etretat / Benedictine Brandy Tour

Early this morning (depending on the tide), we'll depart Honfleur and cruise to Caudebec, passing under the Honfleur's 90-foot tall Tancarville Bridge en route. We'll also enjoy a cheese tasting as we cruise.

After lunch on board, we'll arrive in Caudebec. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure fully discovering this charming town and its historic main square.

Fecamp - Etretat / Benedictine Brandy Tour

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Rouen City Tour / Abbey St. Wandrille Tour

After breakfast you disembark in Rouen for a walking tour.  Rouen is an important French commercial city with a distinguished history dating to pre-Roman times.  But it is more "infamous" as the city where Joan of Arc was imprisoned, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake.  Here you'll see the 14th-century archbishop's palace where she was sentenced to death, and visit the Market Square where her execution took place in 1431.  On your own you might visit the Joan of Arc Museum, containing a fascinating history of the French heroine of the Hundred Years' War.

After lunch onboard you'll enjoy some leisure time. Perhaps you'll visit Rouen's wonderful Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral, whose facade has graced more than 30 Monet paintings. The great painter had rented rooms across from the cathedral in 1892, and he painted several canvases simultaneously, capturing nuances of light and weather that played across its Gothic facade.

Tour to Normandy's Abbey St. Wandrille in the quaint village of the same name. The Romanesque abbey, named after the monk Wandrille who founded it in 649, began as a missionary and spiritual center and has stayed true to that cause over its 13 centuries of history. Learn about the bishops and saints who spent time at the famous abbey, as well as the fascinating background of its founder.

Spend the morning cruising toward Les Andelys. On the way, learn the art of French cuisine during an onboard cooking demonstration, followed by a gourmet tasting.

We'll reach Les Andelys early this afternoon. After lunch onboard, perhaps you'll join us for a watercolor painting class onboard. Or you can spend some time exploring Les Andelys on your own. Once we gather again onboard, we'll set sail for Vernon. As we cruise, enjoy the opportunity to learn a few essential French phrases during a language lesson.

Arrive in Vernon and enjoy dinner on board this evening. Our ship remains docked here overnight.

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Vernon / Giverny Tour

This morning, disembark for an excursion into the countryside to see the lovely landscapes that inspired Claude Monet. The unique light of the area's Seine Valley in Normandy kept Claude Monet in residence for 43 years after he "discovered" the village of Giverny while looking out a train window in 1883. He stayed here until his death in 1926, and you'll find his grave in the family vault at the town's Romanesque church.

Explore the artist's home and gardens, left by his son Michel to the Academie des Beaux-Arts in 1966 and now a museum dedicated to the great painter. The house is furnished as it was when the leader of the Impressionist School lived here, including his precious collection of Japanese engravings.

The gardens have been replanted, and as you stroll through them, you'll see with your own eyes the landscapes that have graced countless Monet paintings. Here is his familiar Japanese bridge and water garden shaded by weeping willows, with its pond still full of the water lilies that so permeated his work.

"I want to paint like the birds sing," Monet said. We think you'll agree that the idyllic setting in Giverny would lend itself to his dream. (Today's Giverny tour is available April through October only. A walking tour of Vernon is offered in place of Giverny for other departures.)

Later in the afternoon, make new friends as you experience a Home-Hosted Visit to the home of a Vernon family.

Return to the ship for dinner and a relaxing evening on board.

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Vernon / Conflans / Van Gogh Country Tour

In the coming days, you'll be exploring sites where Impressionism thrived. After breakfast this morning you have a chance to get some background information during this morning's onboard presentation on The Impressionists.

Alight from your ship for an excursion through Van Gogh Country. The Seine, the Epte, and the Oise are the three French Rivers referred to as the Rivers of Light. It was to the areas around these three rivers (which neighbor each other in this vicinity) that the Impressionist artists flocked to paint the landscapes and scenes that are so recognizable throughout the world.

You'll have a guided walking tour of Auvers-sur-Oise, the village where Vincent Van Gogh came to live after his release from the asylum in nearby Saint-Remy. He and his brother, Theo, agreed it would be best for him to remain close to his physician, Dr. Gachet, who was the subject of several of his portraits during this time. For three months (May, June, and July), Van Gogh remained here until his suicide in 1890, creating some of his most brilliant pieces. Remarkably, he produced almost 80 paintings in this short time including the turbulent Wheat Field With Crows that was one of his last works. See the house where he lived and visit his grave. This picturesque village also welcomed Corot, Pissarro, and Cezanne among others.

Later in the evening, your ship arrives in Conflans, where it will remain overnight. Dinner is on board tonight.

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Versailles Tour / Cruise to Paris

Embark on an optional half-day excursion to the incredible Palace of Versailles - the former home of 3,000 princes, ministers, and servants. Your guided tour will take you through the palace's Grand Chambers, the dazzling Hall of Mirrors (where the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I, was signed in 1919), and the beautiful Royal Chapel. You'll marvel at the luminous decor in marble, chased bronze, and gold leaf, as well as rococo-style woodwork and Italian-style painted ceilings. As you explore, you'll discover how much the palace has been expanded and embellished since Louis XIII first built a modest hunting lodge at Versailles in 1623.

Lunch in onboard ship today, as our captain charts a course toward Paris. Perhaps you'll decide to find a seat on the Sun Deck this afternoon, so that you can watch the unfolding panorama as your ship glides past legendary landmarks and the skyline of the French capital and cultural heart rises into view. You may well find yourself surrounded by the magic of the city over dinner on board.

Optional Tour - Versailles

Paris Tour / The Louvre

After breakfast this morning, you enjoy a half-day tour introducing you to the city's classic highlights. You'll see the Eiffel Tower from different perspectives as you travel along the famed Champs Elysées. View the Arc de Triomphe (commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and completed in 1836) standing at the end of the Champs Elysées at the large central roundabout where twelve elegant, tree-lined avenues converge.  You'll also see the magnificent Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Place de la Concorde.  Savor a taste of the city's newer additions, including the Musée d'Orsay and the I.M. Pei-designed entrance to the Louvre Museum.

After lunch onboard, join us for an optional tour to the renowned Louvre Museum.  Your first glimpse of the Louvre will be the I.M. Pei-designed entrance, which created a great deal of controversy when it was built in 1989.  Called the Pyramide du Louvre, the steel rod, cable, and glass pyramids at the three main Louvre entrances are today considered a fine example of the blending of modern with classic architecture. The treasures inside the museum are world-famous, and the collection of sculptures and paintings by the Great Masters unrivaled.  Stroll through gallery after gallery, marveling at works by the likes of Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rubens, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Matisse.

OR

Your afternoon is at leisure to do as you please. You can return to the ship with the motorcoach, or remain behind in the city on your own.  You may want to visit the Musée d'Orsay in more depth, known as much for the building in which it is housed as for its superb collection of impressionist, post-impressionist, and art nouveau artists.  In 1898, the architect, Victor Laloux, won a competition to build a new train station on the site for the 1900 Paris World's Fair.  The station was built in only two years and was operational for the Fair.  The architect concealed the modern station with the facade of a classic stone hotel, creating a structure that naturally integrated with its elegant neighborhood.  The building served a number of purposes after 1940, when it was no longer suitable for more modern trains.  It was classified as a Historical Monument in 1976 and opened as a museum in 1986. 

In the early evening join us for a Farewell drink on deck and then savor a Captain's Farewell dinner on board.

Optional Tour - Louvre

Accommodations:   M/S Bizet

Depart for U.S.

Return to Independence, Missouri