Evening: Board an international overnight flight to Paris.

Afternoon: Arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Coach to barge in Montargis. Board barge. Program orientation. Safety orientation by the ship's crew.

Dinner: Welcome dinner aboard the barge.

Evening: All evenings are free to explore on your own or relax.

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: Begin the day with a coach excursion to the Maritime Museum in Briare for a lecture about the nearby canal-bridge designed by celebrated artist and engineer, Gustave Eiffel (of Tower fame). The lecture is followed by a field trip to the canal-bridge, one of the longest and most impressive of its kind. Afterwards you will return to Montargis.

Lunch: Lunch on your own in Montargis to sample the local cuisine.

Afternoon: Coach to Neronville where you can spend the afternoon exploring this small town.

Dinner: Aboard the barge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: Today’s journey takes you to Égreville and the museum-garden of Antoine Bourdelle, a sculptor known for his detailed, larger-than-life-size figures, and who was also an assistant to the great Auguste Rodin. Here, you will enjoy a lecture and field trip. After visiting this unique garden, continue to the medieval town of Château-Landon for a field trip and walking tour.

Lunch: Independent opportunity to sample local fare.

Afternoon: In the afternoon you will have a lecture and field trip to an atelier where molds for reproductions of sculptures are made - a fascinating process!

Dinner: Aboard the barge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Excursion to two smaller artist communities with strong ties to the Barbizon School of painting: Grez-sur-Loing and Bourron-Marlotte

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: The day kicks off with a field trip to the town of Grez-sur-Loing, to visit a bridge that became the subject of many Barbizon painters' works of art. After admiring the bridge over the River Loing, we meet our local guide and attend a lecture on the artists who lived and worked nearby. We then visit the town hall's collection of fine art.

Lunch: Lunch onboard the barge.

Afternoon: Join your local expert for a field trip to Bourron-Marlotte to the beautiful studio of a local artist for a coffee break in true artistic fashion: surrounded by the painter's artwork. We then take a coach ride to the scenic pleine verte where many famous Frenchmen had homes, including Paul Cézanne, and many others came to enjoy "Bohemian weekends." The day is capped off by a stop at the town hall's unique painting collection.

Dinner: Aboard the barge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Walking tour in Moret-sur-Loing, visit to the Château de Fontainebleau and Musée Rosa Bonheur

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: This morning, a local guide will come aboard the barge and introduce you to the charming town of Moret-sur-Loing with a brief lecture, followed by a walking field trip “in the footsteps” of British Impressionist Alfred Sisley, who lived and worked in the village. Visit the famous Château de Fontainebleau for a lecture and field trip. This chateau was redesigned, modified and furnished for Napoleon I as a symbol of his wealth and grandeur. It was here that he abdicated the throne in 1814. The gardens, designed by le Nôtre, are well worth a visit.

Lunch: Independent opportunity to sample local fare.

Afternoon: After lunch, travel to nearby Thomery where you will attend a lecture and field trip at the atelier of Rosa Bonheur, a Barbizon painter and sculptor who found much of her inspiration at Château de Fontainebleau and became known for her realistic and accurate paintings of animals, the subject she loved most.

Dinner: Aboard the barge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: After breakfast, travel by coach to the village of Barbizon, where the first stop is Auberge Ganne for a fascinating lecture about the Barbizon School of painting. Your field trip continues next door at the atelier of Jean-François Millet, who played a very important role in the evolution of French drawing.

Lunch: Independent opportunity to sample local fare.

Afternoon: The group continues to the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte for a lecture and field trip. In addition to the beautiful furnishings, you will see an exciting exhibition about the famous garden designer, André le Nôtre, best known for his work on the gardens of Versailles.

Dinner: Aboard the barge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: We travel by coach for a field trip to the Cimetière Père Lachaise, the much sought-after cemetery for celebrities. In its early years Père Lachaise was a poor district with many outlaws, winding streets and shady avenues, but today it is a popular stop for visitors. The cemetery is located on a hill where a wealthy merchant had built his home in 1430. Named for Louis the XIV's confessor; Father Francois de Lachaise d'Aix or Le Père Lachaise as he was affectionately known, the cemetery opened in 1804. After the opening, many famous individuals were buried (and others reburied) here, with the oldest identifiable remains dating back to 1141.

Lunch: Lunch on your own in Paris to sample the local cuisine.

Afternoon: Spend the remainder of the day exploring Paris: its wonderful museums, parks, avenues, majestic buildings, beautiful bridges crossing the river Seine, and of course the many terraces from which one can watch the locals go about their business.

Dinner: Aboard the barge.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Aboard the barge.

Morning: Early morning group departure by coach to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Meals Included: Breakfast