20 Years Ago - NCHS Color Guard Takes Europe

I was recently reminded of our high school trip to Europe, which happened 20 years ago during this time of year--December 26, 2000 through January 3, 2001. It's wild that this event was more than half my life ago! I felt like going down memory lane and writing about the journey, so henceforth commences my first blog post of 2021, commemorating a long-ago adventure during simpler times (pre-9/11, pre-adulthood, pre-any type of responsibility).

The whole music department at Normal Community High School went--marching band, color guard, choir, and orchestra--and we all had performances whilst overseas. I was 16 years old and it didn't register to me at the time how big of a deal it was. I totally took the experience for granted, but, with the proper hindsight now, I'm super grateful. It couldn't have been cheap and I don't think my parents had that kind of disposable income readily available. I wish I could go back in time and truly take it all in, appreciate it fully, and thank my parents profusely.

I only took disposable cameras with me. Remember when we couldn't see how a photo turned out until after we got the film back? The pictures I took and that are included here are obviously horrible quality. I might have other photos in storage, but these are what I had readily available in a scrapbook that I made forever ago. Sadly, I have zero pictures of our performances because I was, well, performing.

In any case, this is still fun for me to do, if only to reminisce. I kept the itinerary for the trip, which is helpful in jogging my memory of what we did and when. Here goes! 

December 26 - We Fly!

We took school buses up to O'Hare and I sat next to my friend TJ during the ride! Was it snowing on the way up to Chicago? I think so. Did the snow delay our ride up to the airport? Perhaps. We flew direct to Paris. (Paris!) I didn't get to sit with my friends on the plane; we were all scattered about. We did visit each other throughout the flight, though. I remember there was some turbulence where a few of the overhead bins came open, which was a bit frightening! (Did I make this up or did this occur on another flight I've been on? Please confirm or deny.)

Sheila, Ashleigh, me, Erin, and Nicole in the NCHS cafeteria before leaving

Sheila, Erin, and Nicole at O'Hare

Ashleigh and Erin on the plane

December 27 - Arrive in Paris

High schoolers in Paris, nbd. I don't remember Charles De Gaulle or getting into central Paris. My first memory of Paris is seeing huge, black wrought-iron fencing with gold on top. I had never seen anything like that. We were dropped off to do sightseeing on our own, not far from the Champs-Elysees. We were without adults for that afternoon in Paris, which seems strange now. We didn't venture too far from where we were dropped off, and I have no clue how we found our way back to the charter buses. 

Some of that black and gold wrought-iron I mentioned.

In front of the Champs-Elysees. Why I didn't change into jeans, I'll never know. Showing off my classiest self in super dirty Pumas, fleece pj pants, a felt purse, and a hunter green microsuede winter coat. 

I feel like we just wandered the same street for a few hours, but ended up at Notre Dame, which, according to Google Maps, is a 45 minute walk. Did we really walk that? I don't remember taking a train or bus anywhere in Paris. Why didn't we go to the Eiffel Tower instead since it was closer? I remember we saw the memorial near the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed. We were also amazed to see a movie theater with movies listed in French.

We stayed at a hotel that was a bit of a drive outside of central Paris, probably 30 minutes or so. It was pretty bare bones and the outside felt a little creepy. None of us set an alarm or slept through the one we did set, so we only had minutes in the morning to get ready.

December 28 - Disneyland Paris

We had a few hours at the start of the day to walk around Disneyland. I don't remember riding any rides. For our first performance of the trip, we were in the parade down the main street of Disneyland, which I recall nothing about at all. I remember getting on the charter bus immediately following the performance, which was in an area where the characters got ready. We saw Chip and Dale behind the scenes, which was thrilling as a 16 year old.

In front of the castle, which (fun fact!) is Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland Paris

We rode back into Paris and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café. What an authentic Parisian experience lol.

At Hard Rock Café. My choice of musical note scrapbook paper is on point.

After dinner, we took a Seine river boat tour, which was amazing. We got to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame from the water. I remember that this part felt surreal and was pretty magical.

Very high quality Eiffel Tower photo

The Eiffel Tower is in the background here haha. What did I buy at Hard Rock Café?!

December 29 - Travel to the French Riveria

I remember spending quite a bit of time at a train station and then even more time on the train. The ride was pretty fun, just being with friends hanging out. We were headed towards Marseille on the southern coast of France. The itinerary says the train trip took 8 hours!  From the train we got onto charter buses and rode to Eurovillage, which is where we were staying for the next three nights.

Eurovillage was cool. It felt isolated, in the woods. Each group of kids got essentially their own apartment. Ours had more than one level. It was pretty rustic, yet charming. 

Ashleigh making a great pose in the kitchen of our "apartment"

December 30 - Explore St Paul de Vence, Perfumery Tour, and Nice

We had breakfast at Eurovillage, which was proper French cuisine which means that I, as a 16 year old, was not into it. I remember hard, crusty baguettes. I didn't appreciate French bread at this time in my life.

We boarded the charter buses again for a short drive to the nearby St Paul de Vence, an "ancient walled village with many chi boutiques an an artists' colony" according to the itinerary. I really did love this little village. It was perched atop a huge hill, so the walkways were on hills too. Super cute and quaint. The shops were too sophisticated for teenage me.

I think this is the first picture I was ever proud of taking.

After 1.5 hours in this village, we boarded the charters again to go to a perfumery. In my mind's eye, I can see an industrial setting for the tour of this facility, but I didn't take any pictures inside or they weren't cool enough to include in my scrapbook. I think I bought some soaps?

I totally remember the outside of the perfumery looking like this.

Here is a photo of the setting from the perfumery website. Pretty spectacular.

After the tour, we traveled to Nice and had an afternoon to explore. It's funny that I don't remember anything about visiting Nice except for the photos I include here.

This street performer has two black cats on his shoulder and is motioning at me while I was taking a photo because he wanted a tip. I remember feeling scared about that lol.

I remember getting choked up talking to my mom for a minute on the phone here. My dad told me somewhat recently that my mom was worried about me going. I'm not exactly sure what she was afraid of; probably just her daughter being so far away for the first time. 

 

December 31 - Travel, Performance in Monaco, Parade and New Year's Eve in Cannes

After our second night at Eurovillage, we traveled to Monaco, which was maybe my favorite. It was so beautiful. We had a little time to explore a small area in Monte Carlo, but then assembled for our performance for the prince at the palace square. 

Another photo I'm kind of proud of!

Our performances were always quick versions and our work as color guard was pretty minimal. The palace square was really nice.

We left for Cannes right after the palace performance. We were doing a parade in Cannes and I remember the streets being so narrow for this. We did do a little bit of work (flag twirling) in this parade and I was afraid I was going to hit the by-standers. The area where we did the parade was really pretty. Apparently we had some free time in Cannes, but I don't remember what we did for that. I think this is where I was pining for some gray Adidas shoes in a shoe store, which I still have on my mind to this day.

Sometimes I see these at DSW. Someday I'll buy them.

This night also was the ballet and New Year's party. I think I was one of a handful of kids that enjoyed the ballet. I remember looking back in the audience and seeing mostly everyone asleep. I can't say I was completely riveted or anything (I definitely was ready for it to be over sooner than it was), however, it was pretty cool to be at a ballet on New Year's in Europe.

Did we change before or after the ballet? It seems like we would've been dressed up for the ballet, but I'm not sure. I really loved the dress I brought for New Year's, but don't have any good pictures of it. It was black and red with an asymmetrical hem and tied in the back. We had dinner in a ballroom and there was dancing, but not much dancing was done by me and my friends.

One sad thing happened this night. We changed in the building where the New Year's party was at and we all left our belongings in a hallway. All of my money was stolen that night. Luckily, I had brought mostly traveler's checks, so they couldn't be used. (Remember traveler's checks? Ha!) Sheila's parents attended the trip, so they were able to loan me money to use for the rest of the time, so I was super grateful for them! I don't know what I would've done otherwise! My passport wasn't stolen, so I got lucky in that regard.

January 1 - Travel to Switzerland

We traveled through Italy and all I remember about it is a truck stop to get food and kind of a rude person who took my money for what I bought. (I don't blame them, since they were dealing with hundreds of kids all at once.) The itinerary on this day says we stopped in Milan near the cathedral for a meal and sight seeing, but I do not remember that nor do I have any pics of Milan? Did that happen for the marching band and color guard?

We saw a lot of stuff through charter bus windows

We arrived in Lugano, Switzerland just in time to fall asleep.

I really wanted to show off this colorful shower in the Lugano hotel, I guess? Also, I loved that vintage Braves shirt for two reasons: 1) I found it at House of Funk. Remember House of Funk?! And 2) My family are actually Braves fans, so it was perfect.

January 2 - Switzerland

We had the whole day to explore the city of Lugano, which basically just meant walking around and shopping. From what I could tell, the town was really lovely. It snowed the largest snowflakes I had ever or have ever seen, even now! Apparently we ate at McDonald's like proper Americans do whilst in Europe. We saw a Smart Car, which we had never seen before. So small! I remember shopping in a store that was like a European Bergner's. I bought a bucket hat there that I still have! Also, I got some Toblerone because I was in Switzerland.

No idea what this is,  but it's pretty cool.

Standing in front of a huge tree decorated for Christmas! Aforementioned huge snowflakes obscuring the shot.

Snowflakes!

The highest-end McDonald's.

January 3 - Travel Home

I guess we flew home from Milan; again, I remember nothing of Italy. We had a layover in DC on the way home and for some reason I got upgraded to first class on the flight from DC to Chicago. So fancy!

Very excellent bucket hat purchased in the Swiss department store

Quite comfy on this flight

Writing about this trip went quickly; I'm sure the trip itself flew by. This is not enough days to spend in Europe haha. I had fun remembering and hope you had fun reading! 

Au revoir!

Ciao!

Auf wiedersehen schweiz!