It was the summer of 2017 I had the opportunity to visit France on a school trip. I was very excited to visit, especially because I had six other friends that were going too. We had to take the bus to the airport where we would have a direct flight to Nice, France, where the adventure would begin.

My two roommates were both very close friends of mine. When we arrived in Nice, I was the first to pick for beds, something that was really important for a good night’s sleep. At Nice, the most memorable thing was the beach. The water was a beautiful color and was very salty. When we entered the water there was a 12-foot drop off, so we had to be good at swimming. We also played volleyball at the beach, which was very fun especially because a lot of people took interest in watching us. We stayed in Nice for two days.

Next, we went to Normandy. We were able to visit battlegrounds where we saw old barbwire and bunkers. There were huge holes in the grounds from bombs. We learned the history and watched a movie about World War 2 in France. It was really eye-opening to see what had happened there. After that, we were allowed to walk on the beach to see what it must have been like to come ashore, and the amount of distance that needed to be covered by the soldiers was a lot. After that, we visited the graves of the fallen soldiers during the war. There were thousands of graves, most of them with white marble crosses. Normandy was a one day trip.

Our last stop in France was Paris. There was so much to do there, but the best part was eating at a French McDonalds. They had some different menu items and comparing it to the American McDonalds was neat. The best menu item was the “Croque Monsieur” (ham and cheese sandwich). Besides that, we got to see Musee D’Orsay which was formerly a train station with awesome paintings. We also got to visit the Louvre and got to see the Famous Mona Lisa. The last thing we did was visit the Eiffel tower until midnight which was truly amazing. I walked to the top and got to see all of Paris. When it was dark out, the Eiffel tower lit up and it was spectacular.

Going to Nice, Normandy, and Paris were the highlights of the trip. France was a really awesome place and learning about its rich history was very fascinating. What made the trip even better was going with friends and classmates. If you are thinking about going on a school trip, I strongly recommend it!

By Jake Erley