Favorite Part

Throughout the past two weeks, each and every experience was an unforgettable one.  Some of my favorites include the ride on the London Eye, Disneyland Paris, and the individual trip to Palace of Versailles.  The London Eye was amazing for so many reasons but really just because it was such a unique experience.  We were able to see the city of London and some of its most popular attractions.  Disneyland Paris was one of the best days because it was like being a little kid again running around the park to all the different rides.  It was also really awesome because I have been fortunate enough to visit Disney world in Florida and also Disneyland in California, and can now say I’ve been to Disneyland Paris.  As I have learned so much about the Palace of Versailles in my history classes throughout high school it was incredible to see the real thing in person.  The courtyard and gardens were probably some of the most beautiful landscaping I have ever seen.  The trip as a whole was an unbelievable experience and one to remember for a lifetime.  

Kelsey Scamman

Day 5; Jaguar and Range Rover Plants

      Although this was one of our earlier mornings, I was too excited to sleep on the bus. Waking up at 5am seemed easy, with the rest of the busy London-ers this morning. We all shuffled on to the bus where most of us resumed sleeping, but this was my first time out of London, and my first time to get a chance to see a little of the country side. I was in maximum "tourist" mode, taking pictures of the sunrise hitting the green and yellow- flowered hills as the bus sped by. I felt as if I was in a movie seeing farmers getting ready to tend to their sheep in the fields! But nothing could get me more excited then when we finally arrived to our destinations; the Jaguar and Range Rover manufacturing plants.
      I had chosen to go to the Jaguar plant because ever since I was younger that was "the" car to have. When I think of Jaguar, I think of power, pride, and speed. Walking into the foyer of the factory was so exciting, being able to see the newest models of the XJ, XF, and XK made me even more ecstatic to be there, and to learn how this ever growing company makes these diamonds in the rough. Even though we had to wear vests and dorky goggles, I couldn't wait to get inside and see the busy shuffle of the factory floor.
     At first, I was surprised by how organized it was. In my head I was imagining a huge dark building, with confusing pathways and loud crazy noises. But this plant was so clean, so bright and almost, well simple. The noises were soft hums of machines and cracks of ignited sparks, I just wanted to learn about every process to making these perfected sports cars; which I did. Our tour guide was wonderful, he would stop at every station and explain how each machine and employee worked. He would ask us questions to get our minds thinking, through which I feel we better understood why they did what they did. For example, they use aluminium metal for most of their parts and for the body of the car because it is lighter, and more efficient when it comes to dynamics and speed. And one of my favorite things that I learned about this plant is how the employees communicated. If, for example, the station where tires were being put on needed assistance, the employee would pull a string which would initiate a jingle to play throughout the factory. Each station had their own jingle, so when "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" would echo throughout the plant, someone would know to assist the tire placement station. I thought that was so smart because it is a fun way to communicate with each other in the most efficient and effective way. Which brings me to something else that I learned from visiting this factory, that time management is one of the most crucial aspects of being successful in a business. The Jaguar plant taught me that yes, they do need to get their products finished and sent to the customer (because their customers are usually custom ordered or special requests) as quickly as possible, but they also need to take the time to make sure their product is perfect. Quality over quantity is one of the motto's they go by, which makes perfect sense to me. If they find that the dimension of a bumper is off even by a centimeter, it will make the rest of the manufacturing process a failure. They take pride in their products, which is why they are gaining more and more demand around the world today. This trip was definitely worth the hour drive at 5 in the morning, and the business techniques concerning the manufacturing of products and appealing to your target market will be useful throughout my life.

Maggie Keane, Class of 2014

London

Throughout the past two weeks my favorite part of the trip was in London when we went to Westminister Abbey. It was interesting seeing all of the history that our tour guide showed us. Seeing the memorials of all the historians that I have learned about in the past was very intriguing. I learned so much here and it captured an interest for me. Also, seeing where Kate Middleton and Prince William got married was very fascinating. We were able to walk along the same path as Kate had when she walked down the aisle and learned fun facts about their wedding. This day was undoubtedly my favorite because of the culture and history that we learned from this visit to West Minister Abbey.

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Courtney Coelho
Bryant University
Class of 2014

Versailles

Visiting the Palace of Versailles was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The Palace was originally a hunting lodge for King Louis VII, but was turned into a more ornate chateau by King Louis XIV during the 1600s. The town of Versailles is about a 45 minute train ride from Paris and the Palace is only a 10 minute walk from the Versailles station. When we got there, we saw the extensive gardens and then went inside to tour the rooms. Everything is beautiful and ornate with gold detail, and all of the windows have picturesque views of the gardens. We also saw the famous Hall of Mirrors where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 to end World War I. After leaving the Palace we wandered through the beautiful town of Versailles and shopped in an outdoor market.  It was a great opportunity to see what France looks like outside of Paris. I really enjoyed touring the Palace and town of Versailles and hope to return to France soon.

Stephanie Lizardi, Class of 2014

Day 12

After what felt like a very long trip Day 12 finally arrived. I could not believe that this was our last day in Paris and have to start the process of heading home. Although the trip seemed very long because our jammed packed days we have only been away for 10 days. Personally I did not want to go home. I could have stayed in Europe for another week. Today was no different than any other day on the trip. We all were up at the crack of dawn getting ready for the days events. Today was the first time that everyone was able to decide which event they would like to go to. Many of us went with Betty and Ron to Invalides, a museum of military history of France, as well as a hospital and retirement home for war veterans. The museum was packed with European military equipment throughout the last 200 years. On display were different uniforms and weapons used throughout many famous wars. One of the best parts of Invalides was the tomb of Napoleon. His bodies lies in a huge tomb in a beautiful hall with a high dome, which is ironic because of how small he was. After viewing the Napoleon's tomb most of started to head back to the hotel to get ready to leave.
          After leaving the museum everyone packed their suitcases and waited to be taken to the airport. Some of us went to the Eiffel tower one last time before we had leave.We finally left the hotel and made our way to the airport. At this point everyone said there goodbyes to Paris and were off to the United States. On the flight I believe the majority of us stayed up the entire time and watched as many movies as possible. The second the plane landed everyone turned their phones back on and were bombarded by mass amounts of emails and texts that were not received over seas. After this everyone said their final goodbyes. Some people were leaving from Logan airport and others were heading back to Bryant for the night. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience, and is something that I will never forget. We had such a great group of students and leaders that made everything so much fun. Hopefully I will be able to return to Europe sometime soon.

Alex Marenco, Class of 2014

Louvre and Bus Tour of Paris

Bonjour everyone!

 

It's such a beautiful time to be in Paris!  We had great weather today in the upper 80s and it's feeling like summer!  Our day consisted of visiting the Louvre and taking a bus tour! We got to the museum around 10am and split into 2 groups and met our tour guide.  She showed us around to the different paintings of Napoleon, famous queens and kings, and Egyptians.  We also saw many different sculptures and one of my favorites was the Mona Lisa!  It was a lot smaller than I imagined but it was a great experience!  After we walked around for an hour we got some lunch at the food court outside the museum and had a chance to do a little shopping.  I got a Paris bag with a map that covers the bag, a charm bracelet for my mom, and a little music box.  After we all met as a group, we had a bus tour of the city of Paris!  It was a great, we got to see shops, the Arc De Triumph, and travel all around the city!  Paris has been amazing so far and I can't wait to travel all around the city and discover new places and more deserts! 

 

Au revoir!

 

Pamela Sitkiewicz

Class of 2014

London Day 3

After a jam-packed day full of insurance markets, museums, musicals, it is almost time for bed.  It was a very long, very hot, very tiring day, but it was all worth it, because we're in London!!  This morning we donned our formal business suits and headed to the tube in order to listen to a presentation by Paul Dalton from Lloyd's of London, the world's leading insurance market.  I personally found the presentation to be very interesting as he discussed the origins of Lloyd's and the different components of an insurance market.  We then headed to Lloyd's of London.

Lloyd's of London was a very interesting building, very different than those we see in the States.  To tell the truth, it is almost ugly, but it is very cool to see.  All of the things that would normally be found on the inside of the  building were placed on the outside to allow for more room on each floor.  All of the water and other pipes and even the glass elevator can be found on the outside of the building.  From the top floor of Lloyd's, we could also see the Olympic Stadium which was very awesome.  Lloyd's of London also held a lot of English History.  For example, it had the logbook of the original sinking of the Titanic, among other things.

After Lloyd's we visited the Bank Museum and learned all about the gold standard, the origins of the National Bank and other interesting things.  We also got to walk around the Royal Exchange which was very high-class and luxurious.  As if that wasn't enough, we then got back on the tube and headed to the British Museum which was massive and beautiful.  My friends and I capitalized on the opportunity to view the Rosetta stone.  We also checked out the Egyptian galleries, which have always been my favorite.

This evening we got to see Mama Mia which was amazing! I had never seen the show or even the movie before so I was so excited.  The music was so catchy and the actors were so talented and engaging.  The entire audience was standing and singing and dancing at the end of the show.  Overall it was a great day.

Summer Lyons, Class of 2014