In Transit: Overnight flight from the U.S.A.

Morning: 1) Arrivals at Charles de Gaulle airport and transfers to the program hotel in Bayeux. 2) Participants who have scheduled pre-program nights in Paris will be transferred from the hotel in Paris to the hotel in Bayeux. Independent travelers should arrange with Road Scholar to meet one of the above transfers to the hotel in Bayeux.

Lunch: En route to the hotel.

Afternoon: Check in at your hotel and take the afternoon to unpack and relax. In the late afternoon you will meet with your group at the hotel for introductions, a review of the program itinerary and site orientation.

Dinner: Welcome dinner featuring the cuisine of Normandy.

Lodging: Churchill Hotel

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: ON SITE LECTURE: "The Landing at Omaha." Transported in period WWII vehicles, your expert leads you through the American landing on Omaha Beach. You will 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: Examine the Bayeux Tapestry, a lively description of the Middle Ages that describes the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The actual origins of the tapestry remain a mystery. Then, we pay our respects with a wreath laying ceremony at the US Normandy American Military Cemetery before exploring the cemetery and the visitor center. 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.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Lodging: Churchill Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart by private, air-conditioned motorcoach to begin our journey around France. FIELD TRIP: We explore a place the locals call "le Mont" - better known as Mont St-Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Depart Mont St. Michel and travel through Brittany to the Loire Valley and the charming village of Chinon, on the banks of the Vienne River. The medieval town was a favorite residence of Henri II.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Le Plantagenet

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FREE TIME: Enjoy the morning at leisure to rest, relax, attend religious services or visit the open-air market.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Visit the Castle of Chinon and learn the story of Joan of Arc’s visit in 1429 during the Hundred Years War. Walk the streets of the town, with its half-timbered houses that have changed little since medieval times.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel Le Plantagenet

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Explore some of the most beautiful of the Loire Valley’s chateaus; beginning with Amboise, a favorite residence of the French Monarchy. Among them was Francis I, a generous patron of the arts who initiated the French Renaissance by bringing many Italian artists to his royal castles, including Leonardo da Vinci. Visit the Chateau du Clos Luce, a gift to da Vinci from Francis the first, where he spent the last three years of his life.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue to the Chateau of Chenonceau. Beautifully situated upon the Cher River, it is called “the Ladies’ Chateau” due to the influences of the women who built it and influenced its design. Stroll Diane of Poitier’s elevated garden and the contrasting garden of Catherine de Medici. Return to Chinon.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel Le Plantagenet

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart to the TGV (high speed train) station and board the train to Bordeaux.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP on foot through Bordeaux’s historic center, including Saint-André Cathedral, a UNESCO listed monument. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Taste the famous “canelets” the signature pastry of Bordeaux.

Dinner: Savor regional cuisine.

Lodging: Hotel de Normandie

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: LECTURE: “Bordeaux wines: History and economic impact on the region” FIELD TRIP: Explore one of the most prestigious areas of the Bordeaux wine region, Saint Emilion. Learn the centuries of history and legend from the time of the monk Emilion and visit the underground cathedral carved deep into the limestone. Enjoy some free time in the village. HANDS ON EXPERIENCE: Taste the wines of St. Emilion.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Return to Bordeaux. Free time to stroll the pedestrian streets of the historic center, footsteps from your hotel, and explore independently.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel de Normandie

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart to Provence, stopping en route in Carcassonne. FIELD TRIP: Learn about the medieval crusade against the Cathars. The walled, city of Carcassonne is surrounded by 52 towers and two concentric walls forming two miles of battlements. Explore this medieval city with your local expert on foot.

Lunch: Inside the city walls.

Afternoon: Depart to the Provence region to the medieval, walled village of Saint Paul-Trois-Chateaux. The iconic village is one of France’s official truffle centers, where the Black Truffle of Tricastin (Tuber Melanosporum) is found. The village is also famous for having been the start of a stage of the 2011 Tour de France. LECTURE en route: "The Art of Living in Provence."

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: Stroll the streets of this charming town at leisure.

Lodging: Hotel L’Esplan

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Walking exploration of Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux. Medieval remains include vestiges of 14th century ramparts, the Eglise St Jean, rebuilt in the 12th century by the Knights Templar, and the vestiges of a 14th century synagogue. Meet locals and get a sense of daily life in a Provencal village. Depart on an EXCURSION through the back roads of the Vaucluse, where rows of lavender color the landscape in deep purple and hill towns are capped by medieval castle ruins.

Lunch: Taste the seasonal flavors of the region and the wines of the Vinsobres vineyards.

Afternoon: Continue to the hilltop town of Grignan, immortalized in the letters of Madame de Sevigne, an icon of French literature. Visit the castle, built in medieval times and renovated through the ages, the castle was the home of Madame de Sevigne’s daughter, who married the Count of Grignan. Return to Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Share conversation and an “aperitif” (French pre-dinner drink) with local residents.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Evening: Learn how to play “Petanque” – also called “boules” the traditional outdoor bowling game of Provence.

Lodging: Hotel L’Esplan

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Head to the Pont du Gard, the aqueduct that was one of the wonders of the Ancient world. Walk the paths around this awe-inspiring construction, built in over 2000 years ago yet still in very good condition. Continue to Arles. FIELD TRIP on foot through Arles, including its Roman Amphitheatre, Antique theater, the 12th - 14th centuries cloister of Sainte-Trophime and the places painted by Van Gogh.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue to Avignon. Situated on the banks of the Rhone, the city’s destiny changed during the period in the 14th century when it became the seat of the Papacy. Visit the Palace of the Popes to learn about the intrigue, politics and wealth of the Avignon popes. Return to Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Hotel L’Esplan

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: EXCURSION: Meander through the back roads that follow the Rhone River, to La Garde Adhemar, a perched village overlooking the Rhone Valley. A walk through the Botanical Gardens is a feast of sights and scents, with its aromatic collection and medicinal plant collection. Continue up the Rhone River valley to Lyon, situated at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone Rivers. On the summit of Lyon’s highest hill, La Fourviere, take in an awesome view over the city and surrounding countryside.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Descend from La Fourviere hill on the funicular. Explore the Old Town of Lyon on foot. Walk through the fascinating “traboules”: Although a couple of Old Lyon's traboules date from Roman times, most were constructed by silk weavers in the 19th century to facilitate the transport of silk in bad weather. Resistance fighters found them equally useful during WWII.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Lodging: Hotel Best Western Charlemagne

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: LECTURE: Silk made Lyon a major industrial city in the sixteenth century when Francis I had weavers from Italy brought to Lyon to set up a factory. It was here, in 1804, that the Jacquard loom was invented. FIELD TRIP: Learn the intricacies of silk production have evolved through the ages and its importance in the economy today, with a visit to a silk workshop.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Free Time to explore Lyon independently.

Dinner: Experience the food traditions of Lyon, also with origins in the silk trade, at a traditional restaurant called a “bouchon”, where the emphasis is on a convivial atmosphere and hearty cooking

Lodging: Hotel Best Western Charlemagne

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Depart to Beaune, at the heart of the Burgundy wine region, and visit the Hospices of Beaune, with its exquisite Burgundian-Flemish architecture and preserved medieval décor. The Hospices hold and annual wine auction which is known as the “greatest charity sale in the world” whose proceeds benefit the hospital. HANDS ON EXPERIENCE: End your visit with a wine tasting.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Continue on the journey around France, traveling from the Burgundy region to the Alsace-Lorraine. Arriving in Colmar, a FIELD TRIP to the Bartholdi Museum explores the history and works of the French sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty.

Dinner: Taste the specialty of Alsace, a “choucroute garni” (Sauerkraut with sausages and potatoes). A vegetarian selection will also be available.

Evening: Field Trip: Explore Colmar on foot at night, when the lights twinkling on the Lauch River reflect upon the timber-framed buildings – a mixture of French and German architecture that make Colmar one of the most pleasing towns to stroll in the region.

Lodging: Hotel Le Rapp

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Drive to Strasbourg and walk with your local expert through Strasbourg's la Petite France, a corner of the Grand Île (the Main Island) where the Île river splits up into a number of canals, and cascades through a small area of half-timbered houses. Learn about medieval life in the UNESCO World Heritage city as you stroll this historic quarter and view the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Lunch: Enjoy a specialty of Strasbourg, the Quiche Lorraine.

Afternoon: EXCURSION: The Alsace Wine Route travels through picturesque villages and vineyards. Stop to stroll through the streets of a picturesque village and taste wines of the region. Return to Colmar.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare. Perhaps you’ll try “tarte flambee” the Alsatian version of pizza.

Lodging: Hotel Le Rapp

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Depart to Reims.

Lunch: In a restaurant near the cathedral.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Discover Reims cathedral, one of the most beautiful examples of gothic architecture of the 13th century, where Clovis, first king of the Francs was baptized in 498 and where many of France’s kings were crowned. Continue to the Capitulation Museum, where on May 7, 1945 at 2:41 a.m. where General Eisenhower had set up his supreme headquarters, the Allied Forces brought an end to a war that had waged for more than five years, by obtaining the capitulation of the Third Reich.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Lodging: Suite Novotel Reims Centre

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Depart to the center of the champagne production, the village of Epernay, to learn how this sparking wine is produced during a visit of a champagne cellar.

Lunch: Taste champagne made by a small, independent wine maker and lunch on local cheese, bread and charcuterie at the wine cellar..

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP/ On Site LECTURE: Retrace the stories of the World War I battles of Château-Thierry and Belleau Woods at the memorials that commemorate the men who fought and lost their lives here. Continue to Paris.

Dinner: In a local restaurant.

Lodging: Villa Beaumarchais

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Learn about Monet and Impressionist painting as you drive to the village of Giverny . Visit Claude Monet’s house and garden with its famous water lily pond.

Lunch: In a local restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Continue to Versailles, the opulent palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Visit the palace and its Hall of Mirrors then enjoy some time to explore the gardens on your own. Return to Paris.

Dinner: Your choice to explore local fare.

Lodging: Villa Beaumarchais

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Explore the iconic symbol of modern Paris, the famous Eiffel Tower on an exclusive “behind the scenes” visit. Learn the history from its construction by Gustave Eiffel in 1889 to its present day use in telecommunications. Learn how the elevators are controlled in the machinery room. Gain special access to the technical area under the first level of the Tower, with its breathtaking view. Continue to the Louvre, where you can explore at your own pace, guided by your personal MP3 audio guide created exclusively for Road Scholar.

Lunch: Your choice to explore local fare.

Afternoon: Free Time. Included option to explore the Cathedral of Notre Dame with your local expert.

Dinner: ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: View Paris from the water, a completely different perspective, during a Farewell Dinner aboard a Seine River cruise boat as you celebrate your journey around La Belle France.

Lodging: Villa Beaumarchais

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Group departure transfer to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Meals Included: Breakfast