Study art history in one of the great cities of the world: Paris, France. The 10-day program will cover art and culture from the Renaissance to the present through the lens of artworks in French collections, and students will receive course credit for Art-115: Art History Survey II.

Course content will be delivered online, and students will have two meetings before departure to cover travel information and preview course material.

During the program, students will visit La Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame, the Louvre Museum, the Musée d'Orsay, the Orangerie, Versailles Palace, the Picasso Museum and the Centre Pompidou, the Villa Savoye and other locations. Students will have the opportunity to see world-famous artworks by Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Van Gogh, Picasso and countless others.

Students will also explore well-known sites in Paris: the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, the Opera (Palais Garnier) and the Luxembourg Gardens, as well as take walking tours of the Montmartre neighborhood, the Left Bank, the Île Saint Louis, the Marais and others.

Apart from museums and art, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the beauty and ambience of the city. Students will visit markets, parks and architectural landmarks and walk through neighborhoods, sampling pastries, coffees and whatever else the class discovers.

Trip details

Dates: May 31-June 9

Faculty: The course will be led and taught by Wake Tech faculty members Dr. Robert Mayhew and Dr. Allison Fox, who have extensive knowledge of Paris and its world-famous art collections.

Accommodations: Hotel Magenta 38, a boutique hotel in Paris' 10th arrondissement, near the Place de la République.

Meals: The hotel provides a hearty breakfast every morning. Daily low-cost meal options will be available in area markets and restaurants.

Cost: $3,689 (subject to change), but Study Abroad scholarships are available.

The cost includes the following:

• Direct, round-trip flights between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris
  Travel is booked through Wake Tech's travel agency liaison, and arrangements made through course leaders. Students may make their own flight arrangements to lessen the cost.
• Comfortable hotel with private bathroom and extensive breakfast daily
• Ground transportation (commuter rail and metro passes) for site visits and sightseeing tours
• Museum entrance fees, guides and audio headsets
• Farewell dinner at the historic Bouillon Julien restaurant

The following items are not included in the cost:

• Wake Tech course fees and tuition ($240)
• Mandatory Wake Tech international health insurance through GeoBlue ($12)
• Any airline baggage fees
• Cost of a passport
• Incidental expenses
• Optional excursion to Giverny (Claude Monet’s home and gardens) and/or the Chartres Cathedral

Itinerary

• May 31 (Day 1) – Depart RDU on an overnight flight to Paris
   
• June 1 (Day 2) – Introduction to Paris
  A bilingual Travel by Design assistant will greet students at the Charles de Gaulle Airport and accompany them to the hotel. Once checked in, students begin the field section of the course. After a brief introduction to the neighborhood, the class will head to notable Parisian landmarks, including the Île de la Cité, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Île St. Louis for a late-afternoon pick-me-up, before ending in the cozy Marais District.
   
• June 2 (Day 3) – Paris and its historical neighborhoods
  Explore some of Paris' rich architectural roots:
  • Visit the Cluny Museum for a taste of medieval Paris
  • Walk through the stately gardens of the Tuileries and the 17-century Louvre Palace
  • Visit the world-famous Opera
  • Take a walking tour of the medieval village of Montmartre – home to many modern artists – which commands spectacular views of the city
     
• June 3 (Day 4) – The Renaissance
  Students spend the day studying the Renaissance and Baroque collection of the Louvre Museum, including artwork by Da Vinci, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Rembrandt and many others. The museum has 9 miles of artworks and 403 rooms, students will also tour some of its lesser-known artworks and smaller spaces.
   
• June 4 (Day 5) – Baroque and Rococo
  Students will spend the day at the Versailles Palace, a few miles outside Paris, exploring the Royal Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors and André Le Nôtre's stunning gardens, including Marie Antoinette's fairy tale Hamlet, where she spent her days in the guise of a peasant shepherdess.
   
• June 5 (Day 6) – 19th Century
  Students will first examine the collections of the Musée d'Orsay, including Courbet, Manet and Van Gogh. After lunch, they will visit the small, but spectacular, Orangerie Museum to view some of Monet's Water Lilies series, which was commissioned for the museum. The day will conclude with a visit to the iconic Eiffel Tower.
   
• June 6 (Day 7) – Optional trip to Normandy
  Students can take an excursion to the country and travel to Monet's bucolic gardens and art studio in Giverny.
   
• June 7 (Day 8) – 20th Century
  Students will spend the day at the Centre Georges Pompidou to view Matisse, Picasso and key modern artists and consider the impact of experimental and controversial artworks, as well as examining the stunning building itself. In the afternoon, the class will have the opportunity to visit the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton, which opened in 2014.
   
• June 8 (Day 9) – Free day in Paris
  Students will have the opportunity to return to favorite places or find new ones. The day ends with a farewell dinner at the historic restaurant Bouillon Julien, a jewel of art nouveau architecture (subject to availability).
   
• June 9 (Day 10) – Depart Paris on a same-day flight to Raleigh

Questions?

For more information, email Robert Mayhew at [email protected] or Allison Fox at [email protected].