20th Century France: Artists, Writers, and War Travel Tour

If you were a writer or artist in the 1920s, Paris was the place to be. It was the center of an explosion in the arts and a lab for both intellectual and social experimentation. This period was bracketed by horrific war, introduced by World War I and brought to a definitive end by World War II. This tour explores the rise of Modernism in literature and the arts, with a special look at Paris in the 1920s, and on how it—and western culture generally—were shaped by the experience of world war.

We start in Paris, re-imagining the 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein, Pound, and Joyce; and of artists such as Picasso, Braque, and Brancusi. We also take in many of the traditional sights of this great world city.

We then travel north for two nights in Amiens and a day touring the battlefields and cemeteries of World War I. From there we coach to Giverny, Monet’s famous home and source for his water lily paintings, and then to Bayeux in Normandy where we spend a day touring the D-Day beaches and fields of Normandy. The next day we coach to the great island monastery of Mont St. Michel, spending the night in Chartres, home of one of the world’s greatest cathedrals, before returning to Paris.

The tour is led by Bethel Professor of English Emeritus Daniel Taylor, Ph.D., with the assistance of Bethel University Professor of Art Wayne Roosa, Ph.D. It is open to alumni, parents, employees, and friends of Bethel University. Daniel and his wife Jayne have led many student and adult trips to places around the world. To learn more about these trips, visit his website.   

Tentative Itinerary (subject to change):

• Tuesday, June 21: Depart from USA
• Wednesday, June 22: Morning arrival in Paris. Afternoon walk (Notre Dame and environs).
• Thursday, June 23: Morning: Paris writers talk and morning walking tour (Hemingway’s Paris). Afternoon free. Optional walking tour: Louvre (outside only), Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower.
• Friday, June 24: Morning: Talk on Paris artists and walk to Pompidou or other museum. Afternoon free. Evening trip to Sacre Coeur and Montmarte.
• Saturday, June 25: Morning free in Paris. Mid-afternoon: depart for Amiens/Somme. Tour Amiens cathedral.  
• Sunday, June 26: WWI tour: Battle of the Somme.
• Monday, June 27: Amiens to Bayeux via Monet’s home at Giverny.
• Tuesday, June 28: D-day Normandy tour.
• Wednesday, June 29: Morning tour of Bayeux tapestry, then to Mont St. Michel. Late afternoon to Chartres.
• Thursday, June 30: Morning tour of Chartres cathedral and return to Paris. Farewell dinner.
• Friday, July 1: Return to USA or extend stay.