Hope springs...

April 8, 2013 Photo of the day: "Hope springs..."

After a taste of spring and sensory overload last week in France, it was hard to come back to the same gray, chilly Wisconsin spring. Rain and even the s word are predicted for the rest of the week, affirming T.S. Eliot's observation that "April is the cruelest month" (The Wasteland). Yet this afternoon, I noticed tender pink-tipped tulip leaves pushing through the weathered mulch. The image may not be beautiful, but the promise of colorful, fragrant blooms is enough for now.

Spring Break 2013 en France

PHS Spring Break 2013 in France

MLH, Alexis, Kayla, Macauley, Abby, Mona, Sarah

Thursday, March 28, 2013: Overnight Flight

Flight AA42 ORD - CDG O'Hare International Terminal

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Day 1: Friday, March 29, 2013: PARIS

Sunrise over Ireland (after 8 hour flight)

We landed at 7:30 am and dropped our luggage 
off at the Hotel Montparnasse Alésia

We began our tour of Paris with a stroll on the Left Bank

Place de Saint Sulpice

Saint Sulpice Church featured in the Da Vinci Code 
because the Rose Line runs through it.

We strolled through the Luxembourg Gardens


We had crêpes in the shadow of the Panthéon


We took a boat cruise on the Seine

The girls were troopers and managed to stay up
for 36 hours in order to adjust to the 7 hour time difference!

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Day 2: Saturday, March 30, 2013: PARIS

After a typical French breakfast,
we spent Saturday shopping on the Right Bank


Day 3: Sunday, March 30, 2013: PARIS
Joyeuses Pâques

We started our day with a tour of Paris


Les Invalides

L'Arc de Triomphe

La Conciergerie

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont (Midnight in Paris steps)

We went to Easter Mass at Notre Dame de Paris
The Cathedral is celebrating its 850th Anniversary

 We spent the afternoon strolling through the Marais...


Le Centre Pompidou

La Fountaine Stavinsky


...& browsing through books at Shakespeare & Company

On Sunday evening, we returned to the Arc de Triomphe,
and climbed the 284 spiral steps to take in the view


Day 4: Monday, April 1, 2013: PARIS
Our last day in Paris began with a tour of Le Louvre

We walked across the Pont des Arts

and had lunch in Saint-Germain-des-Prés
It feels like such an honor to dine in the same cafés 
as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Jean-Paul Sartre et al!

On Monday evening, we explored Montmartre

The "Je t'aime" (I love you) wall

Le Moulin Rouge

Le Moulin de la Galette

Les Deux Moulins - café d'Amélie

Le Passe Muraille

La Place du Tertre

La Basilique du Sacré Coeur


Day 5: Tuesday, April 2, 2013: PROVENCE
On Tuesday morning, we took the TGV to Avignon

The view of Le Pont d'Avignon

After lunch, we continued to Le Pont du Gard,
a Roman aquaduct dating from the first century B.C.


We spent Tuesday night in the Roman city of Nîmes


Day 6: Wednesday, April 3, 2013: PROVENCE
Wednesday morning, we continued to Aix-en-Provence


I had a lovely lunch with my dear friends,
Sandrine and her daughter Julia
François & Laetitia and their son, Alexandre

Wednesday evening, we arrived in Nice 
on the Côte d'Azur, the French Riviera


Day 7: Thursday, April 4, 2013: COTE D'AZUR
Thursday morning, we visited the Russian Orthodox Cathedral
and Cimiez (Roman ruins, gardens, monastery)

Russian Orthodox Cathedral


Thursday afternoon, we climbed up to 
the perched village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Later when it started to rain, we had a lesson
and played a game of pétanque (French bocce ball)

We brought home a trophy :)

Day 8: Friday, April 5, 2013: COTE D'AZUR
Friday morning, we explored Vieux Nice
with its amazing open air market

Lavender ice cream

Friday afternoon, we traveled to Eze, 
another perched village with an exotic garden
We toured the Fragonard perfume factory


Our final destination was the tiny principality of Monaco




Day 9: Saturday, April 6, 2013: HOME
Saturday morning, we woke at 3 am
to begin our 22 hour trip home via Spain and Chicago

Quel bon voyage!