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Les Vacances Magnifiques en
Europe!
On Thursday, July 14,
twenty-six travelers from Elmwood and Peoria embarked upon the trip of
a
lifetime! We departed from Chicago
O’Hare International Airport and landed at Fiumincino Airport in Rome,
Italy,
on Friday, July 15. Although some of us
had bit of trouble sleeping on the
plane, we were
quickly invigorated by the sights and sounds of one of the most
beautiful and
historically rich cities in the world. We
were greeted by our ACIS Tour Manger, Luke Feeney, who
immediately
got us started on 2 days packed full of sightseeing and exploring
throughout
Rome. Our visit included the Colisseum,
the Roman Forum, the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's
Cathedral, the
Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navonna, and the wonderful shopping area around
Piazza
di Espagna. On Sunday morning, our Italian bus driver,
Claudio,
drove us on to Assissi to see the amazing church of St. Francis of
Assissi. Heading on to the north, we
arrived that afternoon in the beautiful city of Firenze (Florence),
where we
immediately went to visit Michelangelo's amazing sculpture of David. Our visit in Florence also included a
wonderful walking tour of the city, shopping on the Ponte Vecchio, and
even to
an Italian dance club – Space Electronique – which for some travelers
was a
highlight of the trip! On Tuesday morning, we left Florence and
moved
further north through Italy to see the famous leaning Tower of Pisa. Of course, we all had to have our mandatory
photo of everyone trying to straighten the Tower out, or at least hold
it
up. After leaving Pisa, we crossed the
border into France, and had a breathtaking drive up the Mediterranean
coast to
our next stop, Cannes. Our hotel was
beautiful – only 3 blocks from the Mediterranean – and most of us could
hardly
wait to get our feet into the water. The
weather was perfect, and the water some of the bluest
we had ever
seen. We took some wonderful side trips
to the perched village of Eze, Monaco, St. Paul de Vence, Nice, and
Grasse,
where we toured a perfume factory. The
villages in the south of France were everything you might
imagine…picturesque,
ancient, with very small winding roads, sometimes not navigable by car! Our visit to the beach on our last day was
unforgettable with 75 degrees, bright sun, and a brilliant blue sky –
Some of
us never wanted to leave! On Thursday, our French bus driver, Olivier,
took us
on to see the sights of Provence, including Arles, Nimes, the Pont du
Gard, and
the Camargue, where authentic "French cowboys" actually live and
work.
After our wonderful visit in the south
of France, we were ready to go to the "City of Lights" – Paris! We arrived there on Saturday, and after the
warm weather in Italy and the south of France, we were ready for the
cooler
temperatures for our busy days of sightseeing and walking around the
city to
see the Tour Eiffel, Musée du Louvre, Les Invalides, Le Centre
Pompidou, the
Chateau de Versailles, and a beautiful evening boat ride on the Seine
River. Of course, most of us could not
resist the amazing opportunity to shop at the beautiful Parisian shops
and
people-watch at some of the hundreds of sidewalk cafes all over the
city.
We all returned home on Tuesday, July
26th with many wonderful memories. Most
of us are already saving our money for our next trip
to in
2007…Want to join us?…Start saving! |