Reading Week Revised

One important thing to accept about a Study Abroad experience is that not everything will go as planned.  I originally had 3 trips planned for Reading Week (Fall Break).  I am now going one of the original trips and one smaller trip.  I am perfectly content with this revised version of Reading Week (it's actually relieved a lot of stress).

My new schedule begins with a 3-day trip to Paris:

(Details from International Friends)

Day 1 - Meet your guide at London St.Pancras train station at 06:15am outside the LK Bennett shop - opposite Eurostar check-in. Our train departs at 07:31am, and just over two hours later we arrive in Paris. Check in must be completed at least 30 minutes before the departure time of 07:31am. Please ensure you allow enough time to check in, we strongly recommend you plan to arrive at Eurostar check in at 06:00am to meet our guide at 06:15am - look for the guide holding an "International Friends" sign. 

On arrival your friendly tour guide will accompany you to our coach for a half day coach sightseeing tour of this amazing city. Sights you will see include Montmartre, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elsyees, Louvre Museum, Place de la Concorde, Eiffel Tower and more. The tour ends with check in at our fantastic 3* city centre hotel. After check in (and some time for food), join the guide and travel by metro to enjoy a Bateuax Parisiens boat cruise (approximate time 16:00-17:00), by the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

This tour includes commentary on the spectacular river Seine from which you can see many of Paris's major attractions, and ends with the opportunity to climb the Eiffel Tower (entrance fee is extra) to get a 'bird's eye view' of this wonderful city. After allowing time to climb the Eiffel Tower the guide will accompany the group back to the hotel.

During the evening, you will have the option to join your guide for dinner in a nearby local restaurant. This is a great opportunity to try the local food, whilst getting to know your fellow travellers (food, drink and any public transport is extra). Our 3* hotel is in a great city centre location, with a large choice of good restaurants within walking distance. The hotel also has a restaurant.

Day 2 - After  breakfast, meet the guide at 9am for a full day of sightseeing by metro. The first stop is Montmartre for the Sacre Coeur, Place du Tertre and Moulin Rouge.

Then on to Ille de la Cite and the world famous Notre Dame Cathedral, with time for lunch and shopping on the banks of the Seine. The day finishes with some free time for shopping in Opera or on the Champs Elysees. Here you can shop in the department stores Galeries Lafayette or Printemps, see the Opera Garnier (entrance charge), visit the food shops Hediard or Fauchon, or maybe enjoy tea and macaroons at La Duree. Or you can join our half day tour to Versailles.

Half day trip to the Palace & Gardens of Versailles
A fully guided half day tour to the stunning Palace of Versailles.

Built in the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV to project the absolute power of the French monarchy, it served as the polital capital and royal court for over 100 hundred years, until in 1789 the revolutionary mobs massacred the Palace Guard and dragged Louis XVI and Marie-Antionette to Paris to cut off their heads! Undoubtedly the grandest and most famous chateau in France. Price includes coach or train to Versailles, tour guide and entry to the Palace.  

Evening free to enjoy the Paris nightlife. From our hotel Bercy metro station is a two minute walk, and all areas of Paris City centre are easily accessible in minutes by metro.

Day 3 - A morning excursion by metro to the Louvre Museum (entry not included, free on the first Sunday of every month) and your chance to see the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo's Dying Slave or to follow the trail of the Da Vinci Code!

Our guided tour of Paris finishes after lunch and some final free time for shopping on day 3.

We return to our hotel, collect our luggage and you will be collected by coach by 15:30pm and transferred back to paris Gare du Nord station for the return Eurostar Paris to London.

My Reading Week concludes with a trip to London on Halloween to see "Phantom of the Opera" at Her Majesty's Theatre.  I'm going with 3 other girls, we will stay at a rather swanky hostel, The Safestay at Elephant and Castle, and then wander around a TEA AND COFFEE FESTIVAL in London on Novemeber 1st.  I could not be more excited!!! :)

I will have from the 27th of October to the 31st to just relax and enjoy Canterbury and/or explore the surrounding area.  I am planning on finding a place to ride a horse, revisiting Dover to see the actual castle, and enjoying some serious R&R...oh, and of course reading and studying for class and stuff ;)