France: City of Light to Coastal Delight

Meet the other students and Rustic Pathways team at the departure airport for our overnight flight to Paris. Get to know everyone and get some rest, because tomorrow will be a big day!

You’ll meet your program leaders straightaway when you arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). We’ll head straight to our accommodations to get some rest, shower, change and get some lunch. Then we’ll take the afternoon to explore the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées, and Tuileries.

In the June 20 session – We’ll spend two nights “glamping” in wooden chalets in a private campground in Paris. 4 students will share each tent and have private restrooms. Then, we’ll spend the next two nights in a hostel in the Marais. We share gender-separated rooms of 4-8 students with private bathrooms.
In the July 6 session – We’ll be staying at a hostel in the heart of the Marais district. We share gender-separated rooms of 4-8 among the group, with private bathrooms.

Cutting through the heart of the city, the Seine River defines the vibrant city. We’ll have a walking tour of the two islands in the heart of Paris – Île de la Cité & Île Saint-Louis. We’ll walk the iconic bridges and soak up the beauty of the cozy eateries and boutiques.
We’ll take a trip out of the city to Versailles. Considered one of the finest achievements of French 17th century art, we’ll tour the château, have a picnic dinner in the garden, and enjoy a special summer event where the garden is filled with music, lights, and fireworks.
We’ll visit the Eiffel tower and have a picnic lunch in the nearby gardens. Then we will visit a local partner and help with their project to distribute food aid to people in the city. We’ll get to be involved in the work, but also to understand the ways that NGOs help combat food insecurity.

Today we don our artist hats! We’ll spend the morning in Montmartre soaking up the cobbled streets, the stunning Basilica, and the charming neighborhood while learning from a local artist to paint our own postcards of the views. We’ll lunch at the famous Butte Chaumont park. Then it’s off to the Louvre. The largest and most visited museum in the world – but we have something special planned to escape the usual plodding tour of it’s unparalleled collection of art.

We say au revoir to Paris and we hop on a train to the southwest and Bordeaux. Enjoy the countryside rushing by your windows and be ready for lunch in the old city center. Along with our Bordeaux local program leader, we’ll see the past and a vision for the future in the city. We’ll tour the historic city center that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Then, we’ll cross to the Bastide district and the village square of Darwin. Coming here is like coming to the future. It’s home to a village with a vision for the future where art, sport, sustainable food, and work come together. We’ll be inspired by this vision of what urban life can become.

We’ll stay in a charming downtown hostel with shared private rooms of 4-8 with private bathrooms.

Today we make our way to the coast! We catch a morning train to the coastal village of Arcachon. We’ll rent bikes and ride the beautiful coastal bike path. We’ll climb the largest sand dune in Europe, Dune du Pyla, and soak up the sun and wind.
Archahon is famous for it’s oyster cultivation. We’ll head out on the water to tour the farms and learn how the ecological systems work and the challenges they face in a changing climate. If you’re up for the challenge, learn how to open and enjoy some of the best oysters in the world. Later, we’ll have a picnic lunch and an afternoon to relax and enjoy games on the beach.

We’ll spend the next two nights at charming hotel right on the coast, just 300 m from the beach. We’ll have shared rooms of 2-4 with private bathrooms.

After a slow morning in Arcachon, enjoying the sea breeze and sun we’ll retrace our steps back to Bordeaux and further explore the historic city. We’ll return to stay at the same hostel here as we did on Day 6.

We go even further south today, right up to the Spanish border. This is the Basque Country, home to fiercely independent people who live in this region along the border of France and Spain. We’ll be staying in Hendaye, right on the coast. Today we’ll visit the coastal fortified village of Fontarrabia and have a tapas tour of the village experimenting with all the different delicious specialties of the Basque Country.

We’ll stay the next 4 nights at a surf camp with comfortable permanent tents with beds, linens, and other comforts, but with the sea breeze just outside. We’ll share with 2-4 students with shared bathrooms.

These three days will be spent getting to know the amazing Basque Country down along the border with Spain.
We’ll take train ride up La Rhune and enjoy hiking and the views of the mountains and valleys around us. We’ll visit a Basque cake musuem. You’ll by guided by the pastry chef to learn about the origins of this cake, it’s importance in the Basque culture, and a live baking demonstration. Then we head to Espelette to tour the gardens famous for the fiery red chili that adds spice to so much of the food from this region.
We’ll meet with the local Surfrider Foundation and spend the morning building eco-responsible rainwater gardens. The project helps to reduce the amount of downstream pollutants carried from rain through urban or agricultural areas and into the ocean. We’ll explore those waves up close later with a surf lesson on the famous beaches of Biarritz and then explore the town, famous for its beaches and picturesque buildings.
We’ll spend a day in the countryside. We’ll explore classic villages, hike in the beautiful valleys, and visit a dairy farm and learn how the famous local cheese is made and get the chance to taste it.

Today we’ll make our way back to Paris by train. We’ll check back into our original hostel in the Marais district. In the evening, we’ll take a river cruise of the Seine We’ll marvel at the city’s finest monuments, including Notre-Dame, the Conciergerie, the Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower. With the bridges and monuments lit up it becomes a fitting final night in the City of Lights. We’ll end the program with Rustic Ties, a unique and powerful activity to help us capture the experiences and memories of this amazing journey.

We’ll have a last breakfast before heading to the airport to say goodbye to our program leaders and make our way home.