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To read reflections on the 2010 Summer tour:

• READ ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST.
  


• Scroll down the right side of this page
  and use the section marked "Blog Archive."
  


• Click on the small triangle next to month of June or July.
  A menu of entries will appear. Entries in a blog are shown most recent first. Click the bottom link first.
  


• Several June entries are "Preliminaries."
  They are the first entries of the journal, but the "last" entries in the Blog Archive.
  


• Continue using these links to move to the second day etc.
  


• Some great pictures that didn't make it into the pages of the journal will be posted in "slide shows" on the right hand margin. Check back to see them shortly.
  


• Thanks to all those who posted pictures on Facebook, to those who have contributed to or commented on this blog. I hope you enjoy reading about the fruits of our labor this year.
  
  Emily

Thanks Most of All

Thanks to three exceptional women, without whom the 2010 CCVA tour would not be possible.

Thanks so much to Mrs. Ann Ellis, our extraordinary accompanist; to our fearless leader Mrs. Marge Campbell, who this year more than any in memory worked so hard behind the scenes to maintain the quality experience that Chester County Voices Abroad has come to take for granted; and to Ms. Florence Crews, who always tends so quickly to the tiniest of details. The tour wouldn't be the same without you!

Though I just had to find a context for this picture, it wouldn't really be fair, and Mrs. Campbell would be the first to acknowledge that behind every successful women there is usually if not always a strong and supportive man. To Mr. Terry Campbell, thanks so much for your ever present wit and wisdom.

The gift that you each has given all of us who traveled to France this year is never about dollars and cents, can hardly be described and can never be repaid. Thank you all so much. Each of you, along with CCVA, hold a very special place in my heart.

Thanks to You!

Thanks so much to traveling companion #1 and roommate extraordinaire, Lisa. I surely would not have made the trip without you. There was story time and giant cups of water in Paris; being scared by our loud wakeup calls; being attached at the hip until thought of as one person ... you made this trip so great for me. I owe CCVA so much for bringing us together and giving me the gift of one of my best friends. Thanks for a wonderful four years. Here's to the next four and more!

Thanks to another pair of roommates, Emily and Meghan. You girls made this trip so much fun for me, and I'm so glad I got to know you both better during our two weeks together. It really wouldn't have been the same without you. I miss you already!

And what would a CCVA tour be without a few good men? John and Carter, perhaps the most photogenic of the 45 of us, always made delightful company too. John, you always found a way to make me smile on the trip. Carter, we're basically the same person. Sure, Lisa and I are still the best pair of roomates, but you guys are pretty awesome, too. ;)

And last but not least, a very special "shout out" to Mary Grace for exceptional camera work and her invaluable contribution to this blog! I wish you had been able to be on our bus. Thanks so much for taking such great concert pictures for me. You're the best!

Going Home Again

Thoughts of packing up, dealing with arrival and departure minutia: keeping tickets and passports at the ready, making connections, negotiating customs and baggage claims are sometimes daunting. But why worry, when we're traveling with the well oiled, touring maching we affectionately know as CCVA?

OK .... OK. There was this one time when a certain roommate figured out that she had thrown out her return ticket to Newark, but why bring it up now? After all, Lufthansa knew who was in our group. We did make it onto the plane and everything did turn out all right, even though it did take us a little while to chill out, Lisa!

Armed once again with Benadryl, I slept during the entire flight home. It was a little bit of a shame, considering that there were some wonderful in-flight movies to choose from, but the plane ride certainly went by quickly! We arrived at Newark airport thrilled to be back in America, where all the signs were in English first, but already missing the wonderful experiences we had while in France.

I was happy to be home for many reasons. I was looking forward to getting together with my friends and sharing my stories. I was even looking forward to getting back to work at Barnes and Noble! But most of all, I was looking forward to seeing my family. My parents had intended to come on the trip again this year, but due to family circumstances, they were forced to withdraw from the trip. I missed not having them with me; they would have loved France. But hopefully, with the memories and pictures I brought home, it will feel as though they had been there!

To say that driving away from everyone, having returned to the Saints Simon and Jude parking lot was sad, is to state the obvious, but it wasn't goodbye. I knew that a week later, we would be seeing each other again as we gave our return concert. I do have to say that I really was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again!

Finales and Farewells

First thing on our agenda this morning was a thirty minute concert at the most well known and iconic cathedral in France, Notre Dame de Paris. Though our schedule didn’t allow for much exploration of the cathedral itself, let alone time to hunt for Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame, the group marveled at this quintessential example of gothic architecture (it was one of the first structures to utilize flying buttresses) and could scarcely comprehend that we were were about to give a concert here.

Our last concert was a difficult one, given the echo within the church and the lag time between created by the placement of the choir and the distance to the organ, but we overcame these challenges and left the cathedral knowing that our mission as CCVA had been accomplished. We gave wonderful concerts and touched lives with our music.

After changing back at the hotel, we traveled by bus to the Museé D’Orsay, the Impressionist art museum. The itinerary for the day couldn’t have been better. We woould be seeing Monet’s paintings of the very gardens we had visited the previous day. Once used as a train station, the museum is a beautiful experience, in and of itself.

Impressionist art is a "trip" for the brain. Up close, it is difficult to distinguish anything at all of such paintings. Lines and dots of color all blur together. But as one steps away from the painting, the dots and lines merge into more than themselves to create something extraordinary: a glimpse of a moment in time. There is just as much attention to detail in an Impressionist painting as in Realism, if not more so, and the emotion in Impressionist painting is just as clear. We had a wonderful afternoon taking it all in.

After freshening up and changing, we embarked on our last evening in Paris. We began with dinner on the Eiffel Tower: truly an amazing experience. We crammed into the elevators that took us to the first floor and had a wonderful meal together as a group, already beginning to discuss our fondest memories of the past two weeks. What a fantastic trip and what a great dinner with which to end it.

We took some time to gaze over the city of Paris before heading back down and taking a boat cruise of the Seine River. We passed many of the sights we had seen over the past three days in Paris, and remarked at how different and beautiful they looked lit up in the night. As we pulled back in to depart, we were treated to the beautiful sight of the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night sky (it sparkles every hour on the hour once it gets dark).

We returned to our hotel energized by the great night we had shared together, yet a little saddened, knowing that we were all heading back to our rooms to pack for our flight the next morning. To say that these past two weeks were special would be an understatement. Yes, it had been the same trip I took with CCVA five years ago, but it had been an entirely different, unique experience: another never to be forgotten.

Monet and Music

Up bright and early this morning, it was another stunning day for the hour and a half bus ride to Giverny, the home and gardens of Impressionist artist Claude Monet.

My 2006 visit had been the stimulus for a presentation to my high school French class on Monet and his visionary style. I had been able to combine a few notes from Art History with a little français and my very own pictures from this place. I was anxious to return with wider, sharper eyes.

The gardens were filled with so many different kinds of beautiful flowers, and it was nice to have the time to take a leisurely walk through them. As we passed by the now famous water lily gardens that Monet painted so often, it struck me again how revolutionary Monet and the Impressionists were - how they painted things not as they were in reality but how they were seen in their minds' eye. Monet painted the same pond hundreds of times, yet each painting was unique. His use of color and light were extraordinary, and it was wonderful to be in the place where his genius came to fruition.

As I reflect on the "reality" of nature and "impressions" of it, I recall a discussion during my intro. course in Theology at Villanova. When any person, regardless of his or her faith tradition views a beautiful painting, especially by an artist as accomplished as Monet, none doubts the existence of its author, the artist. Yet, in society today, so many hold the view that the "composition" that inspires the painting exists simply by coincidence, an "accident of nature," no author, artist required, just a set of random events. For me, at least, the beauty of this place is powerful proof of the existence of God.

My Photo Reality

His Painting Impression

My Photo Reality

His Painting Impression

Our free afternoon went by quickly, with lunch, perfume shopping for me and my mom, and even a quick nap! Soon, it was time for our concert at the American Church, which has several magnificent choirs and is widely known as sponsor of a wide variety of choral and cultural programs. The extra rest must have done the choir a world of good, because the evening's concert was clearly the best of the tour!

Knowing that we had given a good performance, we headed back to the hotel for the evening, excited to “sleep in” the next morning until 8 a.m. I can’t believe that this has become an operative definition of "sleeping in!" Even more so, I couldn’t believe that the next day would be our last in France. These two weeks have flown by!

Palaces and Paintings

We awoke to another beutiful morning and rode the bus to one of my favorite places, Versailles. The night before, Lisa and I had listened to the soundtrack of the French musical, Le Roi Soleil (the plot is based on the life of King Louis XIV who had Versailles built), so we were both even more excited to visit the palace.

Walking up to Versailles’ golden gates never ceases to completely amaze me. I can’t even imagine living on such expansive grounds, let alone having the means to create them! Each room was more fascinating and elaborately decorated than the next, but my favorites will always be the hall of mirrors, with its many chandeliers and Marie Antoinette’s bedroom, with its pink, delicately detailed bed coverings. The interior design here is a little too elaborate for my tastes, with intricately patterned fabrics often lining the walls, but the regal beauty of the rooms cannot be denied.

Although the palace itself is remarkable enough, my absolute favorite part of the Versailles experience is the visit to its gardens. The second time I visited Versailles was when I was studying abroad in London last year. When I visited then, it was February; the trees were without their leaves, there were no flowers planted, and everything looked stark and a bit sad. That was not the case this time around, and we stepped out onto the back steps of the palace for a tremendous view of the fountains and topiaries along with the palace’s truly expansive lake that seems to stretch on for miles.

In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful views I have seen. We walked through the gardens to reach the bus, which took us back to the hotel to get ready for our second concert at La Madeleine.

To me, the façade of La Madeleine has never seemed to be what a church of its stature should look like. The building’s architecture lends itself much more to being a judicial building and is much more reminiscent of a temple than of churches commonly associated with European style. However, its interior speaks for itself, with its large altarpiece depicting Mary Magdalene being carried up to heaven by angels. The Renaissance art here is beautiful. What a gorgeous place in which to sing!

After our concert, we changed, had a quick dinner, and visited the Louvre, an Art History student’s paradise. The minute we walked into the main lobby, I began to recall all the essays and projects that my Academy classmates and I worked on in Art History. At the time, the artists and paintings were only words and pictures in a textbook. But since then, traveling with CCVA has allowed me to visit the very places where the artists stood, see and in some cases touch their work!

Before I knew it, I was again face to face with one of my favorite sculptures: the winged victory statue from the Hellenistic period of Grecian art.

I was thrilled to be able to share the story of the statue with my friends. Actually, the statue used to be a fountain, which created the first documented piece of dramatic art, involving all the senses to evoke emotion. I can’t exactly say why it’s one of my favorite pieces, but I think it’s stunningly beautiful.

We moved through a gallery of religious paintings and icons before reaching one of the most famous pieces of art in the Louvre, the Mona Lisa. In my opinion, the experience is rather anticlimactic, since the painting is so much smaller than many imagine. It is almost as if her iconic smile is one of taunting, watching the faces of semi-disappointed museum patrons as they realize that her portrait isn’t as glamorous as they had expected. Regardless, it’s an incredible feeling to stand so close to such an important part of Art History; perhaps it is true that great things come in small packages.

After seeing the Mona Lisa, I visited some of my other Art History favorites like Medusa’s Raft and The Coronation of Napoleon. After about an hour in the museum, a fraction of the time you truly need to see even the highlights, we went back to the hotel in the hopes of getting enough sleep before another early wakeup call!

Landmarks and Landscapes

This morning after a wonderful night’s sleep in our extremely cushy beds (perhaps even more comfortable than my bed at home), we boarded the bus for a driving tour of the city. Along the route, we passed many of the sites we would be visiting later, such as the Arc de Triomph and the Eiffel Tower.

After passing L’Hôtel des Invalides, where Napoleon is buried, our bus dropped us off at the Palais Garnier, one of Paris’ many opera houses. This one however, holds a special place in my heart, since it is the opera house upon which The Phantom of the Opera is based. My obsession over all things Phantom has cooled slightly since the first time I had visited the opera house, but the excitement was certainly still present. I still got chills as I entered the building, remembering that there actually is an underground lake under the building. Of course, its story isn’t nearly as exciting as the novel and its accompanying musical would have visitors believe! When Garnier built the opera house and began to dig the foundation, he found water; lots and lots of water. He realized that not only would it be handy to keep the water under the opera house in the event of a fire but the water would also help with the acoustics of the auditorium! Reasons definitely more practical than providing a lair for a mildly psychotic musical genius! As we made our way up the world famous staircase and through the halls of the opera house, I was astounded again by their intricate decorations and the attention to detail that can be so lacking in present times. It is truly one of the most enchanting buildings I have ever been in. After taking plenty of Phantom inspired pictures with box five, the Phantom’s box, the group was given some free time for lunch.

Mrs. Marciano, my roommate Lisa’s mom, is a true Francophile at heart and had been traveling with us on the trip. She knows Paris better than anyone I’ve ever met, so Lisa and I decided to spend the free afternoon with her parents. What a great time! Just when I had begun to panic over what to bring home for my dad, the Marcianos' told me about Maille, their favorite mustard shop in Paris. With 260 years of experience and entire walls filled with different kinds of mustards and vinaigrettes, I knew this would be a wonderful place to find a gift for my dad. He loves mustard, especially of the spicy variety. Maille had sooooooooo many options, that certainly there would be several here to suit his tastes!

After a bit of shopping there, the four of us walked down the street to Laduree for lunch. It’s a pastry shop, the décor of which practically screams “Paris” at you, and the food was just as wonderful as the small restaurant and bakery looked. Lisa and I were thrilled with our éclairs, and before we knew it, we were ready to rejoin the group and walk up a rather steep hill to Le Sacre Coeur.

We took the scenic route, passing the Moulin Rouge as well as the houses of Renoir and Toulousse-Lautrec. The art history nerd in me was ecstatic! We reached the monumental church at the top of the hill and were given free time to explore. After walking around the tiny artist village and making a visit inside of the Sacre Coeur itself, the group walked back down the hill and rode the Metro to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, one of the most famous streets in the world, for food and shopping. This night, instead of eating together as a group, we were given meal vouchers so that we could eat at any restaurant that would accept them. Lisa and I had a fabulous dinner together then squeezed in some shopping time before we had to meet up with the rest of the group near the Arc de Triomph.

Fortunately, this afternoon I was able to catch up on my multilingual Harry Potter collection. Everyone has something they collect from each place they visit: shot glasses, postcards, figurines. When I was in Germany with CCVA two years ago, I decided that I was going to create a multilingual Harry Potter collection, purchasing the series according to the order in which I visit various countries. I hadn’t thought of the collection the first time I was in France, and had only managed to find a paperback copy of the book on my last visit to Paris. So, I headed into the three-story Virgin Megastore in Paris, and there, in their book section, was a beautiful special edition, hard cover version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Now, my collection is almost complete; I only have to visit two new countries!

After more browsing and a few more purchases, Lisa and I rejoined the group yet again, this time to climb up the Arc de Triomph. I had never seen the view from the top of the Arc de Triomph, and I was excited to get some pictures of the city from its high vantage point. Of course, one can take some beautiful pictures from the top of the Eiffel Tower, but the Tower itself can’t be in them!

We all managed to get some great cityscape photos, then made our way back to the hotel for the evening after quite an exhausting day of walking and touring.

Prayers and Paris

Before we left Omaha and the Normandy region this morning, we stopped at Pont-du-Hoc, one of the sites overlooking the beach that had been occupied by the Germans during WWII. It was still surprising to me how serene and beautiful the grounds seemed despite the fact that the bunkers and structures from the war still remain there today. After having time to walk around and reflect on the time we had spent in Normandy, we continued on to Lisieux, the home of St. Thérèse.

As a choir, we had been praying a novena to St. Thérèse since the beginning of the trip; we sure had a lot to pray for! Given Mrs. Campbell’s own devotion to St. Thérèse, and by association, the choir's, our journey to Lisieux gave us a sense of what it's like to participate in pilgrimage.

The town of Lisieux is very small, and although I had been there before, I never cease to feel amazement at being in a place of such incredible meaning. One can't help but feel a sense of awe when in places where such good, really sacred people once lived, prayed, and worked.

After visiting St. Thérèse’s tomb and spending some time in the Carmelite chapel, we walked up the hill to the house where she lived. The tour was short, but we were able to many interesting things, like the school books and toys from St. Thérèse’s childhood as well as her hair! (She had her hair cut when she entered the convent, since it was difficult to wear a veil with long hair)

Next, we drove to the cathedral where we would be singing. After rehearsing in the beautifully and colorfully mosaiced lower basilica, we performed our third concert of the tour, featuring our all-female piece, Thérèse’s Canticle of Love. What an honor to sing finally sing it in Lisieux! Surprised yet again, we gave an encore to our audience, and afterwards, one of the priests at the basilica congratulated us, saying that he hoped that music like ours greets him in heaven.


Before we left, we took a quick peek at the beautiful and ornate upper cathedral and then practically ran to the bus to make our way to Paris! Most of us couldn't help but catch a little shut-eye, but our tour guide woke us up just in time to see our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower dominating the landscape of Paris.

Immediately, the landmarks I had seen during my previous two trips to this wonderful city flashed through my mind, reminding me why Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. I couldn’t wait to begin experiencing it again. We all had a late dinner and went to bed full of anticipation for our four day whirlwind tour of La Ville-Lumière!

Victory and a Veteran

We were certainly ready to celebrate America today as we remembered those who fought in WWII, especially those who were a part of the D-day Invasion.

We began our day at the National Peace Memorial, a museum dedicated to educating about every aspect of the World Wars, especially WWII.

In one sense it was depressing, to see so many instruments of war and violence. What pain and sorrow a world at war causes. I was especially touched by the many letters written by soldiers to their loved ones and the prayer books and hymnals that were on display.

As we walked through the museum, it was hard for any of us to grasp the difficulites - the harshness of life for the soldiers of WWII. My grandfather hasn’t told me much about his time in WWII and his involvement at Omaha, but he’s said enough for me to know that thinking and talking about events that happened almost 60 years ago are still a burden. Knowing that he was right here, and being surrounded by such vivid pictures of the sacrifices he and his friends made for our country made the day’s experiences even more emotional and real for me. How blessed we are in America!

In the afternoon, we visited the American cemetery at Omaha. Mrs. Campbell always reminds CCVA travelers that we wouldn’t really appreciate the significance of what we’ve seen until we get home and “absorb” it all. I have to admit that something felt much different when I stepped onto the grounds of the cemetery for a second time. I was incredibly moved by the endless rows of crosses that marked the burial places of thousands of brave men who died in service of their country and the stories that accompanied them.

After our tour of the grounds was over, we convened at the central memorial for our brief outdoor concert of American music. During the concert, we were interrupted by the cemetery superintendent. As it turned out, it was his day off, and he had been woken from a nap by our singing.

During our chat with him, he asked if we could do him a favor and turn ourselves to face both the cemetery and the wall behind us. He explained that while it was wonderful that we were singing towards those buried at Omaha, he would also like for us to sing to the memorial of names behind us: names of those soldiers who are still missing in action. It was a beautiful request.

I felt so blessed to be able to sing Amazing Grace in the place where my grandfather and so many others fought, and was even more honored to assist eleven other choir members, who were selected to participate in the flag lowering ceremony.

Just before the ceremony began, however, we learned that one more person would be joining us: a WWII veteran. He told us his story about his time serving in Germany and his subsequent careers as a teacher, principal, and superintendant of schools in California. What was so much more striking, most impressive to me, was the way his eyes seemed to shine when he talked about America and how lucky we are to live there. What courage. What loyality. Truely, the Greatest Generation.

And what of those serving right now in Iraq and Afganastan? Isn't their sacrifice as great? Greater, at a time when service is more likely to mean working in a soup kitchen or building a house in an inner city neighborhood, where love and honor of country seems harder to find? This place gives all who visit a deeper appreciation for all those capable of the Greatest Sacrifice.

We lowered the two flags on the grounds and then sang once again for our new veteran friend. He sang right along with us, with joy and gusto, and thanked us profusely for making his trip to visit his fallen brothers even more significant. His thanks was the greatest gift we could have been given that day.

We made a quick trip to Omaha beach to collect sand before going back to the hotel for dinner and an evening in. As we had been anticipating, Lisa and I took advantage of our “privileged room”, relaxing, journaling, and reflecting on the trip so far with our robes, slippers, and free sodas of our choosing. What a wonderful end to a powerful and emotional day!