English

Ayelet Tours Traveling University Presents:
The Great War and Normandy
A tour with Professor Stephen Berk
July 25 - August 5, 2018

Tour Rates & Dates:

There are no Departure Dates available for this Package.
*Please note that all rates displayed are based on standard room double occupancy.
All rates above are in US Dollars, and are based on full payment by credit card unless otherwise noted.
If check payment discount is available for this tour, it can be selected after clicking "BOOK" above.
(Deposit can still be paid by credit card). Upgraded room categories may be available to book later in the booking process.
If Land & Air price is displayed, the air portion includes tax and fuel surcharges, which are subject to change until ticketed.

Tour Overview:

Download a PDF version:

Escorted Tour Includes:

INCLUDED - These prices include:

Jewish Heritage tour of Paris including:
Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr
Memorial de la Shoah
Pletzl Jewish quarter
Rothschild Blvd. & Sephardic synagogues
War memorial tour of Verdun & Normandy including:
Verdun battlefield
London trench
Pointe du Hoc & Omaha Beach
American Cemetery
WWII Museum
Jewish Heritage & Holocaust tour of Brussels including:
Kazerne Dossin - the Memorial & Museum to the Holocaust
Jewish quarter
Breedonk Memorial
National Monument to the Jewry Martyrs of Belgium
The Great Synagogue

4 nights Crowne Plaza Republique Paris, Paris, France
1 night BW Plus Moderne, Caen, France
2 nights Crowne Plaza Republique Paris, Paris, France
3 nights NH Collection Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Breakfast daily
Welcome dinner in Paris
Shabbat dinners in Paris & Brussels
2 dinners at local restaurants
Farewell dinner in Brussels
All touring with a local licensed English-speaking guide in an    
air-conditioned motorcoach
One group transfer is available on arrival and departure based on the group flights. Participants arriving at other times are responsible for their own transfers. Ayelet Tours will be happy to arrange private transfers at an additional cost
All entrance fees per itinerary
Porterage

NOT INCLUDED - These prices do not include:

Roundtrip airfare (Please contact Ayelet Tours for flights)
Any border taxes or visas
Tips to guides, driver, and dining room waiters ($18.00 per person, per day-pre-collected)
Any meals not listed above
Any items of a personal nature
Travel insurance (highly recommended)

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Wednesday, July 25, 2018: DEPARTURE

• Depart from New York on our overnight flight to Paris, France.

Day 2: Thursday, July 26, 2018: WELCOME TO PARIS

• Arrive in Paris.
• Meeting and assistance by our local representative.
• Travel by motor coach to our hotel in downtown Paris to check in.
• This evening we enjoy a welcome dinner together, Parisian style, with Professor Stephen Berk!

Overnight in Paris

Day 3: Friday, July 27, 2018: JEWISH PARIS

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Morning lecture by Professor Berk.
• Begin our Jewish Heritage tour of Paris at the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr, honoring the European Jews who were killed during the Holocaust.
• Visit the Memorial de la Shoah, a center established to document the history of Jews in France during the Holocaust, including the Wall of Names.
• Drive by the famous Notre Dame Gothic Cathedral, built in the 12th century, and St. Chapel.
• Next we see the Monument of Deportation, dedicated to the 200,000 people who were deported from France to German concentration camps during WWII.
• Continue to the Marais district and enjoy lunch (on own) at one of the many kosher restaurants.
• This afternoon, we visit the Pletzel Jewish Quarter, known in the 13th Century as La Juiverie (the Jewry), where we learn about the expulsions that drove out the Jewish population from the area.
• Visit the Museum of Jewish Art and History, including objects returned in 1951 as a result of the American Jewish Restitution Successor Organization.
• Continue to the Faubourg Montmarte district to see the Rothschild Synagogue and First Sephardic Synagogue.
• View the plaque dedicated to the 12,000 Jewish Parisian children deported to Auschwitz.
• This evening we enjoy Shabbat services and Shabbat dinner together in Paris.

Overnight in Paris

Day 4: Saturday, July 28, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM!

• Breakfast at our hotel. Shabbat in Paris - a unique experience!
• Join us for services at the Union Liberal Israelite Synagogue at 24 Rue Copernic.
• Remainder of day at leisure. You many choose to visit the Louvre and Orsay Museums on your own.

Overnight in Paris 

Day 5: Sunday, July 29, 2018: VERDUN

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Early this morning, we depart for Verdun. Professor Berk lectures on the bus.
• We enjoy a guided tour of the Verdun battlefield, site of fierce WWI battling.
• Travel past the London Trench, a point where British troops delivered medical assistance and much-needed supplies, to our next stop, the Ossuary of Douaumont. The memorial contains the remains of more than 100,000 unknown soldiers - both French and German - who died in the battle of Verdun.
• Stop for lunch together before visiting the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, the largest US cemetery in Europe.
• Return to Paris.

Overnight in Paris

Day 6: Monday, July 30, 2018: NORMANDY

• Breakfast at our hotel. (Bring an overnight bag with you).
• Full day bus tour to Normandy. Professor Berk lectures on the bus.
• View the Bayeux Tapestry, detailing the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror.
• Continue to Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach as we learn about the history of D-Day.
• Visit Saint Laurent and the American Cemetery, where we view the Wall of the Missing and the gravesites of those who lost their lives during the D-Day battle and ensuing military operations.
• Visit the Museum at Arromanches, where we learn about the fascinating construction of the artificial harbor.
• Continue to St. Mere Eglise, where we learn the story of the American Airborne Division and the D-Day operations.
• Check-into our hotel with time to freshen up.
• Dinner together this evening.

Overnight in Normandy

Day 7: Tuesday, July 31, 2018: CAEN

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Begin our day with visits to the World War II Museum and St. Come Belvedere.
• Return to Paris and continue to Giverny where we enjoy lunch and some rest and relaxation among Monet's beautiful gardens.
• Remainder of the day is at leisure to explore the city of love on your own!

Overnight in Paris

Day 8: Wednesday, August 1, 2018: VERSAILLES

• Breakfast t our hotel.
• Morning lecture by Professor Berk.
• Drive to Versailles to see the magnificent palace built by Louis XIV in the mid-17th century, and site of the signing of the treaty ending WWI in 1919.
• Visit the Drancy Camp to learn about the tragic history of the Nazi persecution of French Jews.
• We return to Paris and enjoy a boat ride on the River Seine.

Overnight in Paris

Day 9: Thursday, August 2, 2018: BRUSSELS

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• This morning we drive to Ypres, Belgium. Professor Berk lectures on the bus.
• On the way, we stop and pay tribute at the Vimy Ridge Canadian Memorial.
• Once in Ypres, we see the site of the famous WWI battle and visit the Flanders Field Museum.
• We see the Cloth Hall and the Menin gate, as well as the Memorial Museum Passchendale before continuing on to Brussels.
• Check into our hotel.
• Dinner together at a local restaurant.

Overnight in Brussels

Day 10: Friday, August 3, 2018: ANTWERP

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Morning lecture by Professor Berk.
• This morning, we drive north and see Kazerne Dossin, the Memorial and Museum to the Holocaust, a historic center that is proof of the tragedy of the Jews of WWII.
• Continue to Antwerp Central Station, arguably the most beautiful train station in the world.
• Head to the diamond district.
• We visit the Sephardic Synagogue and Jewish quarter.
• On our way back to Brussels, we also see the Breendonk Memorial, a WWII “waiting camp” designed to receive Jews and political prisoners before their transfer to Germany.
• Shabbat services and Shabbat dinner together tonight.

Overnight in Brussels

Day 11: Saturday, August 4, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM!

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Morning at leisure for optional Shabbat services at one of the local synagogues.
• This afternoon, we enjoy a walking tour of Brussels, where we see the National Monument to the Jewry Martyrs of Belgium and the impressive Great Synagogue.
• We end our day exploring the Belgian Jewish Museum.
• Tonight, we gather for our farewell dinner.

Overnight in Brussels

Day 12: Sunday, August 5, 2018: DEPARTURE

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Transfer to the airport for our departure to the United States.

THE MEMORIES LAST FOREVER!
*itinerary subject to change