Beyond Paris: IES Abroad Excursions Ranked

This semester in Paris offered three optional excursions through the program. When the options were presented at orientation I immediately wanted to do all of them and now I can say that I have! Every excursion was great, but I’ve ranked them from worst to best and why you should definitely take advantage of them when you have the chance! 

#3 Riems

Riems is about two hours North-East from Paris in the champagne region of france. On our trip we toured two wineries and had a chance to explore the town and take a look at the cathedral. Even though this is number three on my list I still had an amazing time and would definitely do it again. I didn’t know very much about champagne or wine in general before this trip, I don’t think I’d had “real” champagne before the tastings, so I found the tours really informative. The cathedral and spending time in the town was probably my favorite part though, it was beautiful in the spring. We got pizza and ice cream and caught a bit of a marching band performance in the town square which was actually really cool. 

#2 Chantilly

Chantilly castle was beautiful and I really enjoyed this trip because in addition to the castle tour it included lunch and a horse show. It doesn’t get much better than that in my book. We got to watch real chantilly cream (vanilla flavored whipped cream that chantilly is known for) being whipped and were lucky enough to sample it too. This trip also included some free time to explore the grounds and look around the stables. 

#1 Giverny

And finally my favorite excursion: Giverny. This was exactly the break from the city that I needed, Giverny is the definition of a quaint old fashioned french town. It also helped that it was gorgeous the day we visited, the first day since I’d been in France that felt like summer. We started at the museum of impressionism which was beautiful. I've visited a lot of museums while in Europe and I always think I’ll get tired of them after a while but I never do. Then we had a break for lunch. I got fish and chips from a little cafe and one of the best ice cream cones I’ve ever had from a homemade ice cream truck. After lunch we explored Monet's home and gardens which were absolutely lovely. It made me wish I’d brought my watercolors, there was so much color everywhere! This was the trip I was most looking forward to so I’m not surprised that it ended up being my favorite. I would love to go back someday!

Paris is a great place to be because there is so much in the surrounding area that’s perfect for day trips. Traveling on your own is great, but it’s really nice every once in a while to have some things planned out for you. Having travel coordinated by your program with some time to yourself makes it easy to relax and enjoy the break from your day to day routine. So if I haven’t convinced you yet… sign up for excursions! Grown up field trips are fun!