April Sketch Trip and Final Reviews... Au Revoir, Paris!

It's been a difficult adjustment, making the transition from Paris to America, but now that most of us are settled in at home we finally have some time to reflect on the last two months of our study abroad experience in Europe.  

The April sketch trip was the highlight of the end of the year.  During the weeks leading up to it, we worked day and night on our design projects and studied as much as we could for our Structures final.  Along with a few other assignments that were due, plus the fact that some of us still hadn't finished booking all of our travel arrangements, it was a pretty stressful time.  But once we turned in our projects, all burdens finally gone, we realized that the weather in Paris had suddenly become perfect and we had free time to do whatever we wanted.

Most people had a few days in Paris before leaving for their trips, so we spent our days picnicking in the château gardens, sightseeing, and drinking wine along the Seine at night.  But we still had to pack (fitting 3 weeks of clothing into one hiking backpack = a difficult task) before setting off towards the Mediterranean.

This year, there were 3 sketch trip options, and all of them were led by "sketch trip leaders" other than our usual professors.  One group went with Hub White to Santorini (Greece); another group went with Jack Kelly to Florence and Tuscany (Italy); and the third group went with Lenore Baigelman to the Amalfi Coast (Italy).  As it was only a 10-day sketch trip, we had some time to travel before and afterwards, so people went all over the place: to Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Venice, Prague, Croatia, and who knows where else.

Each group sounded like they had a ton of fun, wherever they went.  After spending most of the time sketching, we were able to relax -- Italian- or Greek-style, depending on the location -- and explore the local customs and cuisines.  I know that my group in Amalfi had a ton of fun, sitting on the beach and taking boat rides and climbing the mountains... here are some photos of everyone's trips!

The ancient city of Pompeii, with Mt. Vesuvius looming in the distance

The paradise-like island of Capri

Our home base in Sorrento, Italy

View from the mountaintop village of Ravello 

The ritzy town of Positano, Italy 

Some of the best-preserved Greek ruins, not in Greece, but at Paestum, Italy!

The blue and white architecture of Santorini, Greece 

A village in Santorini

A beautiful view of Florence's Duomo from the Piazza Michelangelo

Also in the Tuscan region, the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Wine tasting in the Chianti region of Tuscany

There was no sketch trip here, but most of us went anyway... lovely Venice!

And naturally, being the good architects that we are, almost nobody skipped out on visiting Rome.

After coming back north to Versailles, we were all finally well-rested, much tanner, and much happier than we had been before.  All we had to do now was present our semester design projects to a panel of reviewers, who came from all over the world to see our work.  It was a little nerve-racking as usual, but overall the day was a success.

The panel of reviewers with our program director, Alex (far right)

Some of our beloved professors

It was extremely sad to hear all of the farewell speeches and final goodbyes at the end of the day, though fortunately, most of us still got to pop by the office a few more times to clear up paperwork and say goodbye again.  Everyone was returning to the US on different days, so some people traveled through Europe some more while others remained in Paris to get in one last week of French fun.  I'm sure everyone was happy to see their families at last, but I know there are a lot of things we're going to miss this summer and next year: the wine and cheese, the relaxed attitude toward life, those nights along the Seine, the beautiful architecture, the lovely gardens, the beautiful French language (as tough as it was to deal with!), the fashion, even those 1- and 2-euro coins.... the list goes on and on.  It's good to be back home, sort of, but after 3 months I'm sure all of us would do anything to be back in Versailles.  So to next year's group: we're all extremely jealous, but good luck, and enjoy it!  You're about to have the best year of your life.