AP French and Latin classes are taking trips to Paris and Rome respectively over spring break for the first time since COVID-19 began.

“I think that staying with a French family will be an incredible experience,” Taylor Dudek ‘23 said. “I will be able to see what their daily life is like. I am also really excited to meet new people and fully experience the culture.”

The French trip starts in Paris and will include sightseeing at famous sites, such as the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. Eventually, the group will move to Rennes, a city about 220 miles west of France, Dudek said. In Rennes, students will stay with a host family, for whom they have prepared scrapbooks and other gifts.

“I think that seeing these [monuments] in person is going to be incredible,” Dudek said. “[The trip] allows students to experience other cultures and use what they have learned in the classroom in real life.”

The Latin trip starts in Rome but also covers Athens, Greece, and a Greek island cruise on the Aegean sea, Latin teacher and trip supervisor Sean Sweany said.

“I think it’s really fun to see how eye-opening it is for the students,” Sweany said. “To go and experience these places and these cultures [is] really cool. We’re going as Latin students. We study the Colosseum and gladiators, but then when you actually get to go and see it and experience it for yourself rather than on YouTube, it’s really cool.”

Jake Gripp ‘23 is a four-year Latin student anticipating the upcoming trip as well as the monuments and food that accompany it.

“I signed up for this trip because I have learned and heard so many amazing things about the places we are seeing in class and I figured it would be a great opportunity to have my first out-of-the-country travel experience with this trip,” Gripp said.

The trip is set to leave on March 24, and return on April 3.

“I think my favorite part of the trip will be seeing the Colosseum in person because I’ve learned so much history about it in Latin class that it’s gonna be amazing to see the real thing,” Gripp said. “Besides the food, I am most looking forward to our layover in Vienna because that is gonna check two stops off of my passport and I get to experience a whole different country in one trip.”