Today, we all woke up at around 7:45 (give or take a few minutes) and had a breakfast of basically bread and fruit. Then we went to Chartres cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful. It expertly combines gothic and romanesque architecture, or so I'm told anyway. After various long bus rides, we had our final afternoon in Paris. Some went to the modern art museum, Centre Pompidou, whereas I went shopping at stores completely out of my budget. As of now, we are on...

After a 7:45 wake up, we got a good breakfast of mostly croissants, and orange juice. Then we went onto the bus and headed out to Chenonceau. The castle was awe inspiring. Once we explored the castle we headed outside to try the maze. Some of us went out to row boats in the river, giving a great view of the castle. After meeting up with Steve, and driving 20 minutes we stopped in Amboise for lunch. Most of the group had a great pizza lunch at restaurant near a ca...

Today we woke up at the country club and enjoyed a breakfast featuring, among other things, black currant, which is supposedly made from gooseberries. We then left the country club without playing a single round of golf, a wasted opportunity made less harrowing by the near-constant rain. Any dismay was lifted, however, upon reaching our destination: the beautiful Mont St. Michel. Mont St. Michel is a medieval abbey town built on a tidal island, and when walking u...

Today was a busy but interesting day! We started off with the palace of Versailles. We took a quick group picture in front of the gates, then headed in where we split up to explore the palace on our own. There were many quirky and modern pieces of art scattered throughout the palace; for example, a shoe made out of pots and pans, and a pink feathered/bedazzled helicopter. The rooms were exquisite, with gold trimming, marble pillars and stone busts everywhere. Per...

Our day started with: 3 rooms sleeping in late, 2 of our alarms not working, 1 frustrated tour guide. Luckily, once on the bus, a little sleep and resting soothed everyones nerves for the rest of the morning. As more and more quaint country houses zoomed by, we knew we were approaching Giverny, Claude Monet's house and gardens. As we stepped off the bus, the smells of the country side reminded us of home (mainly the smell of cow poop). We stepped through the...