She's Back!

Katie is home!

She had an amazing time, took over 400 pictures and brought home some wonderful memories..............

..................... and Chocolate from Belgium!

Away She Goes!!

The Long anticipated day has arrived!!!

Katie and her classmates had to endure the day at school before loading into the bus for the airport. They had an overnight flight to London.

Day 1

Wednesday March 9

They will drop off their gear at the hotel and then go right into seeing London.

Westminster Abby

Day 2

London

Piccadilly Circus

Fish and Chips

London Bridge

Take the Eurostar to Paris

Day 3

Paris

In the morning they will see

Les Invalides (Napoleon's Military Museum)

Free time in the afternoon:

Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

The Opera District:

Louis Voutton

GUCCI

Hugo Boss

In the evening they will visit The Notre Dame Cathedral

and then go to Montmartre (Mountain of Martyrs)

Day 4

Paris

A visit to Palace of Versailles

Built by Louis XIV and made famous by his Grandchildren

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

They will then travel to the Normandy Region of France.

The final stop for the day will be at Dieppe

Day 5

The focus will be on the D-Day landing sights of WWII.

Omaha and Juno Beach as well as the Cemetery at Beny-Sur-Mer.

The kids were all assigned a Canadian soldier to research before the trip.

At Beny-Sur-Mer they will find their grave and place a Poppy there.

Katie was assigned an American Soldier and will find his grave as well.

A very somber time as the kids realize that most of these soldiers were their age when they died. We appreciate Katie's teacher and the fact that he teaches that Freedom, weather American or Canadian, came at a very high price.

He Shared with us that this is not a Happy Day on the trip, but it is one of the most meaningful for the kids.

Day 6

A visit to Mont St. Michel. A monastery dating back to the 8th Century.

In the afternoon, they see William the Conqueror's Castle in Caen and visit the

Caen Museum (a tribute to the efforts during WWII).

Day 7

The Battlefield tour continues with

Somme and Vimmy Ridge.

Day 8

Belgium

First stop will be at Ypres

The Menin Gate: A tribute to the fallen at the Battle of Ypres

In the afternoon they will travel to Ghent where they will have a free afternoon in this beautiful city..... Then off to Dinner in Amsterdam.

Day 9

Amsterdam

The tour includes a stop at the Concentration Camp at Vught

A visit to the Westerkerk (West Church), and

Anne Frank House

Day 10

Flight home from Amsterdam

You may need to Google some of these places like I did, but this gives kind of an overview of what they will be seeing. Of course they have been studying all of this all year in History class so it will mean so much as they see it all first hand. What a great experience!!!

We can't wait to hear all about it when Katie returns. She has two cameras with her and a Journal so the trip should be well documented.