On April 11, 2025, students and staff from Morgan, headed to JFK airport in New York and got on a flight to Paris, France. Most students who went on the trip took French, but there were also some students from Spanish classes. Some teachers also went on the trip, the teachers that decided to go were Mr. Milcent, Mrs. Madura, Mrs. Hagness, Madame Finnegan, and Mrs. Lalima, the principal at Eliot.
When students signed up for the trip, there was a huge process just to get themselves prepared. Students signed up about 6 months before the trip so that they could have enough time to go through the long process.
Once students signed up, they either had to pay all the money right away or they could pay it over time. The cost for the trip was $3,469. This cost included the flights, baggage, hotels, breakfast, dinner, transportation (buses and cruises), and entries into all the activities that they did. Students had to bring euros or a credit card with them to pay for lunch and any shopping for clothes or more food that they wanted to buy.
Students were also required to have a passport in order to leave the country. Given that the sign-up date was 6 months before leaving, students without passports had a good amount of time to get a passport in time.
Before departure, there were six meetings that students and their parents or guardians had to attend to receive all the information that they needed. In addition, there was an app that all participants had, and it had all important information including the flight information and the itinerary.
During these meetings, which were often held at night, the itinerary was reviewed, flight information was given, any questions were answered, and a packing list was handed out. Since France is a cloudy place, students had to pack clothes that were appropriate to the weather and what sights they were seeing. Some Château’s (castles) required arms and legs to be covered, so students had to plan accordingly.
The first day of the trip, students were very jet-lagged, given that France is six hours ahead of Connecticut. Despite being jet-lagged, students visited Notre Dame Cathedral as their first stop. They got to go inside of it and walk around in the beautiful church. The cathedral caught on fire on April 15, 2019 at 862 years old. The cathedral was then reconstructed and reopened on December 7, 2024. Sophomore Kiera Flannigan loved the cathedral, “The stained-glass windows were one of my favorite parts because of the history behind them and how beautiful they are, and also I love the way it was constructed because it shows how passionate people were about their religion.”
The second day, the group took a guided tour of Paris with a local guide. They saw multiple monuments like the Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, and the highlight to many students of this tour was seeing the Eiffel Tower. Junior Katherine Barrera liked the Eiffel Tower, saying “seeing the Eiffel Tower was insane, I was so shocked to see it that I couldn’t believe it was real. I liked the overall experience of being there to see it.”
This day they also visited the gardens of Versailles. To finish the day off, students took a Seine River cruise. On this cruise, students had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night, the Louvre Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Musee d’Orsay.
The third and fourth day was filled with visiting huge castles and buildings. These buildings were Chartres Cathedral, Château de Chambord, the Loire Valley, Château de Chenonceau, and Château d’Amboise. Sophomore Hendrick Bausch enjoyed the castles and their history, “It was really cool to see how the monarchs really lived back then.” The next day included some of the same activities, a walking tour of St. Malo, St.Vincent Cathedral, and Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey.
On Thursday, April 17, students and staff took a tour of Normandy and the beaches. They also visited the American Cemetery in Colleville, France. This is where all the people who died in World War II are buried. There are about 9,000 graves, including men and women. Learn more here.
During the tour, there were also more sights added on that the travelers got to see. This was one of Madame Finnegan’s favorite parts of the tour, “I liked that we were able to see everything on the itinerary, and also we were able to visit some other places such as Giverny which is Monet’s house and Leonardo da Vinci’s house.”
The last day was the day most students and staff were waiting for. They visited the Louvre Museum and saw all the art inside. The most famous painting that they saw was the Mona Lisa. Students have mixed feelings about the Mona Lisa, some liked it and some did not like it. Junior, John Collins had a strong opinion, “There are too many people to get a great look, and it’s a good painting, but there are so many other great paintings to look at in the museum.”
This trip to France was very educational and taught the travelers many things that they did not know about before. French teacher, Madame Finnegan, agreed that this was a good experience for students, “Students were able to see the differences in how people live and the food etc. Also, students who don’t know that much French learned what it’s like to go to a country without knowing the language.”
