Last June, just after school got out, 16 of Minnewaska’s Art club students made life-long friends and memories in the countries of England and France. Mrs. Fossen planned a trip for 29 people that will stick in all of our memories for the rest of our lives.
We spent four of twelve days in England, of which were mostly exhausted in London. We also traveled through the British country side to Oxford and Stratford upon Avon, where Shakespeare once lived. While in London, the group spent much of its time recovering from jet-lag , but some how we found away to keep up with Mrs. Fossen and her never-ending days. She did an amazing job of packing a little bit of everything into the trip.
Some of the more memorable experiences in England were traveling by the Underground (or Tube); visiting Westminster Abbey, the place of Princess Diana’s funeral; viewing the practice parade for the Queen’s birthday celebration, The Trouping of the Colors; seeing the garden’s of Henry the 8th’s castle, Hampton Court; visiting Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, the National Gallery, and the British Museum; and seeing both the production Grease and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s interpretation of Hamlet, even though some used this time to catch up on sleep.
On June 10th the group was up at 4:30 am to get ready for the shift to France. We all remember the “It’s this easy to get rabies” sign while waiting for our ferry. After landing on French soil we had to drive to our second of four hotels. One insteresting cultural difference was the `pay’ bathrooms, which required a franc of two to open the door or flush the toilet.
Clearly the one of the more exciting experiences for seven of the group members was swimming in the English Channel and listening to Sarah and Philip sing Norwegian songs in Dinard. By this time we had all become accustomed to the adults being late on a regular basis. From Dinard we traveled on to San Malo and Mont. San Michel, which is an old Abby built on a huge rock which becomes surrounded by water when the tide is in, but then is surrounded by land after the tide goes out. The tide shifts at 18 miles per hour and many have lost their lives trying to out run the rushing water.
From there we began our tour of the chateau’s of the Loire valley. Most impressive of all was Chenaunceau, which has a bridge and gallery built over the Cher river. We made a small detour to visit Leonardo’s last place of residence, Clos Luce, which is lucky to still be standing after the strain one group member put on it. In the basement were replicas of many of his grand inventions including a helicopter.
Finally by the afternoon of June 13th were made our way to Paris. Our first stop was Louis 14th’s gaudy and eccentric Versailles which can sleep 20,000 people at once. This grand chateau is unbelievably huge and had some of the most impressive fountains and gardens known to man, still today.
By now we were all accustomed to the rain; it was expected daily. Our first taste of Paris was on a boat ride along the Sine river, which runs throughout the heart of Paris. For many of us it was the first time we’ve seen the famous Eiffel Tower. While we were taking picture of the tower we had an interesting encounter with a homeless American, who was damning American tourists. Of course we saw all the major sites Paris has to offer, such as Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Pompadue Center, and the Musee’ d’Orsay. One morning we went out to Giverney, Monet’s house and gardens that inspired his famous water lily paintings. We also stopped by Pere la Chaise Cemetery to see the amazing tombs and Jim Morison’s grave site.
On our final evening of the trip we went to the top of the Eiffel tower, and of all the places to see someone from how, we ran into a couple from Brainerd and Belgrade.
On June 17th we all boarded our plane for the uninteresting nine hour flight home.
The most memorable events, of course are some of the funniest, which include Shari getting on the Asian tour bus instead of ours and getting lost in the maze at Hampton Court, Matt’s amazing ability to trip and stumble over just about everything, our tour guide dozing off during Hamlet’s soliloquy, our “worst pass-port picture contest,” Diane getting locked in the Underground bathroom, Sarah talking about the Russians in her sleep, the odor of our room on the Ferry, and most of all, dancing at La’ Boehme restaurant in Paris.
We all have come to know each other in a way we never imagined and will never forget the most amazing time we had in the midst of Europe!
