Depart From: Overnight in transit.

Morning: Arrivals at Airport of Brest Bretagne (BES). Group transfer from Brest airport to the first program site in Quimper, situated at the confluence of the Steir, Odet and Jet rivers.

Lunch: A light snack / sandwiches upon arrival at the hotel.

Afternoon: Check-in at hotel and have time to freshen up and relax before meeting for a welcome orientation and program briefing.

Dinner: Welcome dinner in a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Escale Oceania Quimper

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Note: Walking and standing on cobblestones and paved streets for up to 2 hours at a time.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: LECTURE: Begin with an "Introduction to the region of Brittany". FIELD TRIP: A walking exploration of the historic center of Quimper, capital of the ancient Cornwall region. Stroll over the footbridge to the Cathedral of Saint-Corentin, with its Gothic-style façade, constructed between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Visit the Musee Departemental Breton to learn about the cultural traditions of Brittany. View the traditional dresses, handcrafted furniture and hand painted ceramics called "Faience". The remainder of the afternoon is free to visit more of the museum of for independent exploration.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel Escale Oceania Quimper

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing on paved and unpaved ground.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FULL DAY FIELD TRIP: Depart by coach to Pointe du Raz. LECTURE en route: the "Outstanding Natural Landscapes of Brittany." At the Pointe du Raz, see the impressive panoramic view at the very end of the Cornwall peninsula, where the coast juts out into the sea. Drive to the bay of Douarnenez where legend says that the beautiful city of Ys was swallowed-up by the sea. Continue to Locronan. LECTURE en route on Brittany's religious heritage and cult of saints.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP on foot in Locronan, once one of the most important places of pilgrimage in Brittany and also a place for the production of cloth from the 15th to 18th century. Enjoy free time in Locronan before returning to Quimper.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: Enjoy an exclusive private performance of traditional Celtic music and dances.

Lodging: Hotel Escale Oceania Quimper

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Walking and standing for up to 2 hours on cobblestones and paved streets. Travel by motorcoach.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart Quimper to Pont Aven. PLEASE NOTE: The Fine Arts Museum of Pont Aven is closed for renovation through 2014. An activity with the museum staff has been substituted. LECTURE: Learn about the Pont Aven group of painters. The School, like a mediaeval guild, lived together in the inns, painting together outdoors and discussing art during the evenings. The arrival of Gauguin in Pont-Aven in 1886 was the catalyst, converting the energy and talent into an avant-garde artistic movement. FIELD TRIP on foot through Pont Aven to see sites that inspired the artists. Visit the Chapel of Trémalo, and the crucifix that inspired Gauguin’s “Yellow Christ” painting, an important work in the Symbolist movement.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue to Vannes. FIELD TRIP on foot to discover the old town of Vannes: its ramparts, harbor and half-timbered houses.

Dinner: Learn the difference between savory buckwheat galettes (main course) and sweet wheat flour (dessert) crêpes in a traditional Breton meal of crêpes in the land of their origin. A demonstration shows you how they are made and the many possibilities of fillings.

Lodging: Hotel Escale Oceania Vannes

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing on paved and unpaved ground.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: LECTURE: “Introduction to prehistory, archeology and ethnology in Brittany” with a university researcher specializing in prehistoric ceramics. FIELD TRIP to the Locmariaquer megaliths, some of the most significant Neolithic remains in Europe, including the Broken Menhir of Er Grah, the largest known single block of stone to have been transported and erected by Neolithic man, and the Merchant’s Table, a famous dolmen carved with images.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP to Carnac, which has the world’s greatest concentration of megalithic sites. Predating Stonehenge by around 100 years, there are over 3000 upright stones, most around thigh-high, erected between 5000 BC and 3500 BC by pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Return to Vannes.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel Escale Oceania Vannes

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing for up to 1.5 hours.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Late morning departure to Rennes, capital of the province of Brittany. En route, stop in Josselin, a charming, small medieval city.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Discover Josselin Castle. With its three majestic towers overlooking the river Oust and its flamboyant Gothic façade, this castle is a remarkable testimony to the feudal architecture of the Renaissance. Chateau Josselin is the ancestral home of the Rohan family, who has inhabited the castle for the past ten centuries. Enjoy some time to wander through the sumptuous rose gardens and park. Continue to Rennes.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Anne de Bretagne

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing for up to 2 hours on cobblestones and paved streets.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Discover Cancale, a typical fishing port. At a marine farm, learn the details of oyster farming and regional traditions with a film in English “Oyster breeding: a local tradition” followed by a tasting of oysters and fish pate.

Lunch: Enjoy regional specialties at a seaside restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP on foot through Saint Malo, a walled port city on the English Channel notorious as the home of French privateers and pirates. Hear the tales of “Bretons and the sea – past and present”. Return to Rennes. LECTURE en route: Hear the tales and legends of Brittany including those of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel Anne de Bretagne

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Walking and standing for up to two hours on cobblestones and paved streets.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Discover Rennes on foot and learn about the city’s Celtic remains; its medieval timber-framed buildings and its high-tech present.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Free time in Rennes.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Anne de Bretagne

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Walking and standing on cobble stone and paved streets. Travel by motorcoach. At Mont Saint Michel, there is a walk of 0.56 mile from the bus car park to the shuttle, (each way) and many flights of steep steps to climb, as well as dark and narrow passages in the Abbey. Bring a small flashlight and if needed, a collapsible, rubber-tipped walking stick or cane.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart Rennes and drive to Normandy, to the Mont Saint Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Perched on a small rocky island that is connected to the mainland at low tide, Mont Saint Michel is a Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel Michael. EXCURSION: After wending your way up the hilly streets of “the Mont” to its summit, explore the abbey at your own pace with personal audio-guide.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Enjoy some free time before continuing to the city of Bayeux.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Lodging: Grand Hotel du Luxembourg

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: ON SITE LECTURE: "The Landing at Omaha." Transported in period WWII vehicles, retrace the movements of the American landing on Omaha Beach. Learn about the ferocity of this battle and look at the landing from a number of perspectives.

Lunch: In a restaurant near Omaha Beach.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: A wreath-laying ceremony at the US Normandy American Military Cemetery pays respect to fallen troops. Take time to examine the cemetery and the visitor center. Continue to an On Site LECTURE: “The Ranger Assault at Pointe de Hoc”. Then, an EXCURSION: “Calvados and Cheese, Normandy's Pride”. Sample the region's renowned apple brandy at the Chateau d'Englesqueville, where the first US monument to WWII soldiers was built. Return to Bayeux.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Grand Hotel du Luxembourg

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Walking and standing for up to two hours in the museums. Travel by motorcoach.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Meet André Heintz, now 93 years old and a former member of the French Resistance in Caen, a city that was one of the main targets of the D-Day landings. From 1940 to 1944, when the city was liberated, Heintz gathered information to give to the Allied forces about German positions. En route to Caen, hear his story. FIELD TRIP André Heintz gives his personal tour of the Caen Memorial, a history museum exploring the traumatic events of World War II. Not to be missed in the Auditorium, the film about the D Day landings.

Lunch: In the Caen Memorial cafeteria.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP to Arromanches. Your WWII expert explains the importance and creation of the "Mulberry Harbors" and the stubborn German Battery at Longues-sur-Mer. Visit the D-Day Museum in Arromanches. Return to Bayeux. LECTURE en route by Andre Heintz "Bayeux and the French Resistance."

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Grand Hotel du Luxembourg

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Walking and standing on cobblestones and paved streets. Travel by motorcoach. The Rouen hotel is situated in the heart of the historic center, which has limited access for motor coaches. There is a walk of 0.34 miles (about 7 minutes) from the drop-off point, to the hotel. Your luggage is carried from the coach to your hotel room and back by porters.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Examine the Bayeux Tapestry, a lively description of the Middle Ages that describes the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The tapestry is nearly 230 feet long and depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings. The actual origins of the tapestry remain a mystery, but legend has it that William's wife Mathilda and her ladies-in-waiting embroidered it. Visit the museum using personal audio guide, and watch a film in English about the making of the Tapestry. Depart to Honfleur, a gem of a harbor village situated where the Seine River meets the English Channel, Honfleur has preserved the traces of a rich historical past with its picturesque streets and timber-framed houses. The changing light on the Seine estuary inspired Courbet, Monet, Boudin and many other painters of the Impressionism movement. Stroll the picturesque Vieux Bassin (Old Port) at leisure.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Free Time in Honfleur, perhaps to visit the museum dedicated to the paintings of Eugene Boudin or the church of Sainte Catherine, one of the largest wooden churches in Europe. Depart to Rouen in the late afternoon.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Mercure Rouen Centre Cathedrale

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Walking and standing for up to two hours on cobblestones and paved streets.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP on foot of the historic center of Rouen, the capital of Normandy: Our Lady of Rouen cathedral (painted by Monet), the flamboyant gothic church of Saint Maclou, the old market square where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake, and the charming cobbled streets of the Middle Ages.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Enjoy free time in Rouen, perhaps to visit the Fine Arts Museum or people-watch from the table of a sidewalk café.

Dinner: In a local restaurant, featuring Norman cuisine.

Lodging: Hotel Mercure Rouen Centre Cathedrale

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Travel by motorcoach. Walking and standing on paved and unpaved ground.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart Rouen. FIELD TRIP: Visit Giverny, the home and gardens of Claude Monet. As during Monet’s time (1883-1926), the house is painted pink with green shutters. The traditional French gardens display a palette of seasonal colors for the painter-gardener. Take a stroll around the lily pond with its Japanese bridge and weeping willows, portrayed in Monet’s paintings or walk over to the musée des impressionnismes (former Giverny Museum of American Art.)

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue to Paris, arriving late afternoon.

Dinner: Farewell dinner in a local restaurant.

Lodging: Villa Pantheon

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Group departure transfer by coach to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Meals Included: Breakfast