We had a full day today, finishing off our exploration with a night ascent of the Eiffel Tower. We didn't get back to the hotel until midnight. When I've slept in my own bed for a night, I'll post the last pictures and talk about the end of the trip.
See you all at 9:50pm at Logan International Airport tomorrow (Tuesday, March 17th).
Please...
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day Six: "The Beautiful City"
The first three pictures are from yesterday's Channel crossing: the White Cliffs of Dover and the beach at Calais.
The rest of the pictures are from our remarkably full day in Paris. We met our Paris guide at L'arc de Triomphe at 9:30 this morning and started our exploration of the city. The students saw all of the classic sights of Paris but also had the chance to see some areas associated with their study of the French Revolution and A Tale of Two Cities. The 10th and 11th pictures are respectively La Place de la Concorde and La Conciergerie. La Place de la Concorde is the spot of the most famous guillotine used for executions during "The Terror" (there were actually three/four other guillotines); this particular guillotine took the life of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It also served as the scene for the final moments of A Tale of Two Cities; Sydney Carton thought his immortal words, "It is a far, far better thing I do..." from this spot before his execution. The plaza was originally named after Louis XIV, but after the Storming of the Bastille and the dissolution of the monarchy, anything even remotely connected to the aristocracy was relcaimed by the "Republic". In the 1800's the plaza received its present name which means "Plaza of Agreement (or Peace)". The next picture, La Conciergerie, shows one of the most notorious prisons during the time of "The Terror"; many aristocrats were brought here for a brief stay before their inevitable execution; some were even slaughtered right in the prison. From the novel, Charles Darnay spent some time imprisoned here after his capture in Paris.
After our bus tour, David took us on a walking tour of some of the older districts of Paris. Winding our way through narrow alleys and streets and crossing the Seine over numerous bridges with panoramic views of the city, we passed through the courtyard of the Louvre (we'll spend the morning there tomorrow) and the Tuileries (the palace gardens) before ending up at La Musee d'Orsay.
The museum is a coverted train station and is truly a wonder of architecture and design. It houses art primarly from 19th century France; although there are example from other European Masters (Klimt, Munch etc.), but the highlight of the exhibitions is the collection of Impressionism. As you can see, students had the opportunity to see some of the most famous pieces of Impressionist art from the Masters: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Manet et al.
Today's walk showed students the best and worst of which a city is capable. We were inspired and refreshed by the magnificent art at La Musee d'Orsay and sobered while considering the horrible events that occurred at La Place de la Concorde and La Conciergerie. This was actually Dickens main theme in A Tale of Two Cities; that at any one time, humans are capable of both extreme good and extreme evil. One city can be, at the same time, inspiring and sobering. The students may have been a little tired at the end of the day to discuss this point, but we'll review it with fresh minds.
Talk to you later.
Paul
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Yesterday's Pictures (if it doesn't work now, it's not going to work...)
We just got back from a lovely dinner just outside Place Louis-Blanc. The students also had a chance to stroll up and down the Champs-Elysee for an hour before we ventured back to the hotel. They're now preparing for bed before a busy day tomorrow. Here's the absolute last ditch effort to post pictures. Cross all possible fingers. YAY!!! IT WORKED!!!!!!
There really aren't too many interesting pictures from today, but I'll take a lot tomorrow as we're exploring Paris.
Talk to you all later.
Paul
Day Five: Our Travel Day and My Second Attempt at Yesterday's Pics
Again, the Internet access is not kind towards the uploading of pictures, but I'll keep trying.
Today we checked out of the Holiday Inn and boarded the bus for Dover to catch our ferry to Calais. It was a rather uneventful crossing. We just got on the ferry, sat down, wandered around the shops, and made our way to Calais. The whole time on the boat was actually only about 75 minutes total.
We then met our French bus driver and started the four-hour drive to Paris. Again, a thankfully uneventful ride. We checked into our Paris hotel; it feels like a French Days Inn. The rooms are a little bigger than the London hotel but not quite as big as the Kent hotel. I've got about five minutes to finish this post, as we are taking the Metro to the other side of the city for dinner. David will lead us on a short walking tour after dinner; then we will head back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow's authentic tour of the Centre Ville.
I'll try the pictures again if I can get a better connection.
Paul
Today we checked out of the Holiday Inn and boarded the bus for Dover to catch our ferry to Calais. It was a rather uneventful crossing. We just got on the ferry, sat down, wandered around the shops, and made our way to Calais. The whole time on the boat was actually only about 75 minutes total.
We then met our French bus driver and started the four-hour drive to Paris. Again, a thankfully uneventful ride. We checked into our Paris hotel; it feels like a French Days Inn. The rooms are a little bigger than the London hotel but not quite as big as the Kent hotel. I've got about five minutes to finish this post, as we are taking the Metro to the other side of the city for dinner. David will lead us on a short walking tour after dinner; then we will head back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow's authentic tour of the Centre Ville.
I'll try the pictures again if I can get a better connection.
Paul
Friday, March 13, 2009
Day Four: Our Own Little Pilgrimage
Hello all,
For reasons unknown, the internet connection at the new hotel is rather spotty and won't let me upload any pictures right now. This is unfortunate because it was a tremendous day with some truly beautiful sites to share with you all. I'll try to do my best without pictures and continue to attempt to post pictures later.
We checked out of Hutton's this morning and boarded the bus for Kent, the southwestern part of Britain. It was a beautiful, uneventful ride through the countryside with rolling farmlands on both sides of the bus. It was pretty neat to think that Chaucer's pilgrims traveled over the same hills roads on their way from London to Canterbury. The bus drove around the original Roman and medieval walls of the city before dropping us off. After we walked along the ramparts of the walls, we promptly made our way to the cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Church. The original structure is almost 1000 years old and was the site of the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas a Becket. Students had the opportunity to explore the cathedral and cloisters on their own and then do some shopping in the pedestrian district of the town.
Students got back on the bus for the short drive to Dover to visit Dover Castle and the Secret War Tunnels under the keep. The original castle was built by the Normans and had been in use as a fortification up until the end of World War II. During the Napoleonic Wars, British forces built an elaborate network of tunnels and garrisons. Those tunnels were then adapted for use by the British Army in WWII; the "Miracle at Dunkirk" was orchestrated from the control rooms built into the white chalk cliff walls. The "miracle" was a plan by a British admiral to evacuate secretly 380,000 British troops from the French port city of Dunquerqe after they had been cornered by German forces. Look it up; it's a pretty neat story. Students had a tour of the hospital in the tunnels and experienced a multimedia presentation (complete with sounds, lights, and even smells) that showed what it would have been like to work in the hospital. After leaving the tunnels, students had the opportunity to explore the castle on their own; many of them walked along the ramparts and battlements that overlook the English Channel and wander through the medieval tunnels that still exist today. I'd show you all the neat pictures of this, but the Holiday Inn Express seems to look down on uploading pictures. I thought this was a business hotel... whatever. I'll try again, and if that doesn't work, I'll try sending them in an email to you all. I'll go in the back door if I can't get in the front (I'm not expecting a "Miracle at Holiday Inn" however).
For reasons unknown, the internet connection at the new hotel is rather spotty and won't let me upload any pictures right now. This is unfortunate because it was a tremendous day with some truly beautiful sites to share with you all. I'll try to do my best without pictures and continue to attempt to post pictures later.
We checked out of Hutton's this morning and boarded the bus for Kent, the southwestern part of Britain. It was a beautiful, uneventful ride through the countryside with rolling farmlands on both sides of the bus. It was pretty neat to think that Chaucer's pilgrims traveled over the same hills roads on their way from London to Canterbury. The bus drove around the original Roman and medieval walls of the city before dropping us off. After we walked along the ramparts of the walls, we promptly made our way to the cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Church. The original structure is almost 1000 years old and was the site of the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas a Becket. Students had the opportunity to explore the cathedral and cloisters on their own and then do some shopping in the pedestrian district of the town.
Students got back on the bus for the short drive to Dover to visit Dover Castle and the Secret War Tunnels under the keep. The original castle was built by the Normans and had been in use as a fortification up until the end of World War II. During the Napoleonic Wars, British forces built an elaborate network of tunnels and garrisons. Those tunnels were then adapted for use by the British Army in WWII; the "Miracle at Dunkirk" was orchestrated from the control rooms built into the white chalk cliff walls. The "miracle" was a plan by a British admiral to evacuate secretly 380,000 British troops from the French port city of Dunquerqe after they had been cornered by German forces. Look it up; it's a pretty neat story. Students had a tour of the hospital in the tunnels and experienced a multimedia presentation (complete with sounds, lights, and even smells) that showed what it would have been like to work in the hospital. After leaving the tunnels, students had the opportunity to explore the castle on their own; many of them walked along the ramparts and battlements that overlook the English Channel and wander through the medieval tunnels that still exist today. I'd show you all the neat pictures of this, but the Holiday Inn Express seems to look down on uploading pictures. I thought this was a business hotel... whatever. I'll try again, and if that doesn't work, I'll try sending them in an email to you all. I'll go in the back door if I can't get in the front (I'm not expecting a "Miracle at Holiday Inn" however).
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Oops, I forgot to explain a picture from the last post...
I don't just go around taking pictures of TGI Friday's. The little blue spot in the upper right hand corner is a plaque. The blue plaques around London show various spots in London's literary history. That particular TGI Friday's is on the former location of Warren's Blacking Factory, where Charles Dickens had to go to work at the age of 12. His father was thrown into debtor's prison, and Charles had to work twelve-to-sixteen hour days to help get his family out of jail. The students did a great deal of research into Dickens's personal life and how it motivated him to become such a vocal social critic. Dickens's broken childhood created a soft spot for children in his heart; all of his novels have sympathetic child characters (Oliver Twist, Pip, David Copperfield (probably the most autobiographical), Tiny Tim, Little Lucie Manette, Little Nell etc.).
As tasty as TGI Friday's mozzarella sticks are, I took the picture to connect to the work that the students have been doing.
As tasty as TGI Friday's mozzarella sticks are, I took the picture to connect to the work that the students have been doing.
Day Three: A Tasting of the Many Fruits of London's Cultural Stew (It's late and I can't think of another title.)
Today's pics are somewhat limited as far as variety of students is concerned. Today we had a free day in London (no scheduled activities), so the chaperones got together and decided to offer a couple of different options for the students. Mr. Jacob and his wife wanted to take students to the Tower of London; Mrs. Garrity and Mr. Lovell wanted to take students shopping at Harrod's; and I wanted to take students to the British Museum. Nobody really wanted to go see mummies and the Rosetta Stone (heathens...), so I joined the Tower of London group. All the pics of today's post are from that trip.
We got to the Tower of London and promptly got a lesson in medieval siege warfare from a soldier and a peasant woman. Later on, seniors Kyle Casey and Gus Talarico got to try their hand at defending the Tower of London; they manned a perrier, a human-powered trebuchet. The video shows Kyle and Gus (with two students from Florida State) launching a urine-filled horse's bladder (actually a pink water balloon) farther than any team ever.
Later in the day all three groups met at Trafalgar Square to regroup. Mr. Jacob and his wife took students to shop in Camden Town; Mrs. Garrity took students on the London Eye; Mr. Lovell took students back to Covent Garden; and I took students back to the hotel to rest up for that night's Jack-the-Ripper Walk. The rather scary-looking fellow in the bottom picture is Sean, our guide for the walk; I can say without overstatement that Sean was one of the most fun, engaging and knowledgable tour guides I have ever met. He spun tales of gore and mystery while entertaining the students with jokes and personal attention. It was a great deal of fun exploring the back alleys of London at night and a great way to wrap-up our last day in London.
Students that didn't go on the walking tour had the option of attending a performance of the musical Blood Brothers, a long-running West End show.
All in all, a great day in London and tomorrow we hit the road for our own pilgrimage to Canterbury. I'll try to get a hand on some pictures of the other day trips from Bill, Linda and Runeko.
Best,
Paul
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Day Two: Brimmer's Brush with Royalty
After a not-quite-long-enough eight hours of sleep, we started our first full day of the trip. There was a traditional English breakfast at the hotel (eggs, sausage, beans, toast, muesli, etc.), a pretty nice spread actually. We then met Stuart, our official Blue Badge London and Windsor guide for the day. We boarded the bus to tour some of the major points in London. We saw all the "famous" sites from the bus (Big Ben, Parliament, St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, etc.) and then disembarked by St. James Park to walk to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. Apparently we got a rather special treat, as we saw the Royal Horseguard moving towards their barracks. Stuart said this is an extreme rarity. After the Changing of the Guard we traveled to Windsor and Windsor Castle to visit the Queen's favorite residence. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the State Apartments, but I can safely say I've never seen as much gilt in my life. It certainly provided some spark for our discussions on the divide between the rich and the poor. The students then had some time to explore Windsor before heading back to London for some dinner at Hummus Brothers... only one guess as to what their specialty is. I've tried to include as many pictures of students rather than the actual sites. They had a great day. We have a "free day" tomorrow, and the chaperones have planned some activities ranging from the British Museum and Tower of London, to The Tate Galleries. Tomomrrow night students will have the option of seeing a show or going on a Jack-the-Ripper Walk. I'll keep you all posted.
Enjoy the pics.
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